Lamentations 3:22, 23 * December 31, 2003 * New Year’s Eve * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:

Tonight is perhaps the number one party night of the year. For several weeks hotels and restaurants have been advertising special celebrations for New Year’s Eve. Seating is limited. Reservations are required. Make your plans well in advance so that you are not left out.

Maybe some of you have made plans for later this evening. There is nothing wrong with that. I like a good party too. And it is not my intention to spoil the festive mood that we associate with the New Year. But the text for tonight’s sermon comes from a book that can take the joy out of just about any occasion.

Lamentations is a book of laments attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. It is likely that this man (known as the weeping prophet) composed these words shortly after he witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. What he saw filled his heart with sorrow. What he witnessed filled his soul with grief.

To give you just a taste of the anguish he felt inside, here is a sample of what Jeremiah wrote in the first chapter: “The Lord has rejected all the warriors in my midst; he has summoned an army against me to crush my young men. In his winepress the Lord has trampled the virgin daughter of Judah. This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed” (1:15, 16).

This is how Jeremiah summarizes the situation in his homeland at the end of the book: “Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned” (5:12-16)!

Lamentations doesn’t begin on a positive note. There is no happy ending either. But in the middle of this sad song there is an oasis of comfort, words of hope for God’s people of every generation: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3:22, 23).

These words restore confidence. These words inspire joy. These words help us put everything in perspective as we look back at the year that was…

2003: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

I. A changing world

II. A changeless God

The year 2003 gives credence to the saying that the only thing that remains constant in life is change. Maybe you remember some of the major events of the past year. You might be surprised to see how many things you have already forgotten. Let’s take a few moments to recap some of the high points (and low points) of 2003.

Beginning with world events, a coalition force led by the United States went to war with Iraq in March. Even though the war is officially over (it lasted only 43 days), and even though Saddam Hussein was recently captured, allied forces will continue to occupy the country for the foreseeable future.

2003 was the year we added the word “SARS” to our vocabularies. This very contagious respiratory illness began in China and killed almost eight hundred people worldwide, but eventually health officials were able to contain it.

These worldwide events remind us of the worldwide effects of sin. The name of the battlefield may change. The disease may attack the body in a different way. But the result is always the same. The wages of sin is death.

2003 was also a year of profound change in our country. A body builder/actor was elected governor of the most populous state in the union. Fifty million people in eight states lost power on a single day. The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated trying to re-enter our atmosphere, killing seven astronauts in the process. The most heated debate on the floor of many state legislatures wasn’t about taxes or healthcare or education. The issue in question was whether to expand the definition of marriage to include same sex unions.

If nothing else, these events prove to independent, self-reliant Americans that we cannot control the future. They also remind us that we are living in a country that is becoming less and less Christian.

About this time every year, some television program pays tribute to celebrities who passed away during the previous year. The list of famous faces who died in 2003 includes: Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn, Johnny Cash, John Ritter and Mr. Rogers.

In the span of the same twelve months, seventeen members of St. John’s traded in their earthly clothes for heavenly robes. None of them were rich. None of them were famous. None of them will be remembered with life-size monuments erected in their honor. But God himself has placed their names into his Book of Life, and they are enjoying the blessings of eternal glory.

While these members are now numbered among the saints triumphant, the Holy Spirit brought thirty children into God’s family and the St. John’s family in 2003 through Holy Baptism. In addition, ten adults confessed their faith in the triune God and became members through adult confirmation.

Another change for our congregation in 2003 was the construction of a new educational facility. After years of careful planning, after years of fervent praying, the Lord allowed us to move forward. And after only a few months, we can already see the blessings of our new building.

All of these church changes have one thing in common, faith. In baptism, faith is ignited. In death, faith is rewarded. In planning and building and dedicating a new building, faith is put into practice.

Faith is an important part of our every day lives. That is why we are in church on the biggest party night of the year. 2003 was a year of change for every one of us, and perhaps your faith in God helped you cope with some of those changes. Some of us lost jobs. Some of us lost our independence. Some of us lost loved ones.

But maybe none of those things happened to you. Maybe you consider yourself fortunate. Maybe you are thinking to yourself: “I made it through another year unscathed.” Maybe you are even tempted to think that you have everything under control.

No matter how good (or bad) 2003 was for you personally, you did lose something. You lost your daily battle with Satan. You succumbed to his temptations. You listened to his lies. You deserve his punishment. In a changing world, in a changing country, in lives that are ever changing, there is one thing in your life that will be the same until the day you die, sin.

Now I am starting to sound like Jeremiah. Now it is beginning to sound like I am composing my own personal book of laments. And maybe I should. As unpleasant as sin is, it is real. And the consequences are real too. Jeremiah wanted his people to see that. God wants us to see that.

But God also wants us to know that there is hope. Even though it sometimes feels like we are drowning in a sea of sin, even though it sometimes feels like we are being swept along on a sea of change, we will not be overwhelmed because we have a changeless God.

What did God say to his people after their country had been devastated? What did God have to say to his people as the temple lay in ruins? What does God say to us as the stock market rises and falls? What does God say to us as the terror threat level is elevated to orange? What does God want every one of his children to know as we face the prospect of an uncertain future?

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3:22, 23). No matter what you went through last year, no matter what is happening to you right now, no matter what the future holds, remember this: The Lord is compassionate to his people, and that will never change.

Moses called the Lord “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). David said this about him: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). Paul made this personal confession about him: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (I Timothy 1:15).

No matter how others have said it, no matter what words you choose to describe him, it all comes down to this: God loves you! Because of the Lord’s great love, he sent his Son into this world. Because of the Lord’s great love, he sacrificed his Son for the sins of the world. Because of the Lord’s great love, we will not be consumed by the fires of hell. Because of the Lord’s great love, our future in heaven is guaranteed.

Our God is a changeless God. That means he is always compassionate to his people. That also means he is always faithful to his Word. When you wake up tomorrow morning, you won’t have to wonder: “Did God change his mind?” or “Did God change the rules?” The God who saved us from our sins also spares us from uncertainty. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. And so are his promises.

The promise he made to Abraham, the same promise he repeated to David, the same promise he affirmed with his people in exile is the promise he makes to you: “What you could never do, my Son has done. What you could never achieve on your own, I give to you by faith.”

Because the Lord has fulfilled this grand and glorious promise, he will remain faithful to every other promise in his Word. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will hear us when we pray. He name will be hallowed. His kingdom will come. His will will be done. He will send his angels to watch over us. Through Word and sacrament he will strengthen us.

The date on the calendar makes absolutely no difference to our changeless, compassionate, faithful God. Until he returns he will continue to do everything he has been doing since the creation of the world. Can you think of a better reason to celebrate? Amen.