St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church -- Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for New Year’s Eve and Day -- 2004-2005

Dear followers of the God who leads us to our eternal home. Amen

It is that time of the year. It is that time of the year where we change from one year to the next. It is only by God’s grace and mercy that we are allowed to pass from one year into the next. It is our hope that the goodness and the mercy of our God will be with us both at the end of the old year and at the beginning of the new year, and throughout the new year.

When we make mention of the milestones of life, we realize the truth that we often think of our life in this world as of a journey which we are making -- a pilgrimage. This is not a new way of looking at our life on this earth. It is something quite old and ancient. In our text we have the words of Jacob, who says: "The years of my pilgrimage area hundred and thirty." Already back in the days of the Old Testament, Jacob considered his life a pilgrimage. With this thought in mind we will mediate on the theme:

Our text is part of the conversation, which took place between Jacob and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, when Joseph brought his father to the King. Pharaoh said to Jacob: "How old are you?" Then came the answer given in our text in which Jacob refers to his life as a pilgrimage and to the life of his forefathers in the same manner.

When we make a journey or pilgrimage, our experience is that the scenery constantly changes. For a time we might be on a level prairie; then we might come to the rolling hills country. From there we might proceed into bigger hills and may even come to high mountains, as our Rockies out West. At times we might travel through places where very few people are seen, and then again we come to crowded cities where many people live. But one thing is certain, the scenery continues to change. We see pretty lakes and beautiful rivers, followed up by wilderness and vast wasteland It is easy to say that on a pilgrimage there is change upon change.

So it is also in the pilgrimage of our lives on this earth. The pilgrim of this world passes through the various stages of life and development. First, there is infancy, with few responsibilities. This is followed by childhood, with its toys and joys. Then come the years of youth, with all of its mischief. Soon there are the early years of being an adult, with its great activities and ambitions. Then comes the more involved stages of being an adult, with its many traditions and a more fixed routine. Finally, we gently slide into what we might call old age.

In other ways the scenery changes. Sometimes the situation in this world through which we are passing is rather pleasant and quite enjoyable. Yet it may quickly give place to another situation, which is anything but pleasant and enjoyable, which is hard to face. In this way our lives on this earth go on and on. There is one change after the other. When we let our thoughts go back only a short time, we soon realize that in many respects our lives then were much different from what they are today; and if we think back a little further, the differences are even greater and more numerous. In some things there have been no changes: Today the same sun, moon, and stars look down upon us from the skies that were there 25 years ago, 50 years ago; in fact, ever since the fourth day of Creation. We live on the same earth and have the same heaven above us. Yet in other things, when we study the manner in which we lived fifty years ago, we think of the many primitive things with whic! h he had to get along, and when we compare them with what is at our disposal today, what a tremendous difference! Life is indeed like a journey.

Jacob makes mention in our text of the fact that the pilgrimage of life is short. Says he: "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers." Perhaps it could seem to some of us that the words of Jacob are something of a contradiction. On the one hand, he speaks of his years being few; on the other hand, he says that he has already lived 130 years. Seventeen years later he died — at the age of 147! We call that a long, a very long life. Jacob, however, makes a comparison between the span of his own life and that of his fathers. His grandfather Abraham lived to be 175 years, his father Isaac 180; In this way, by comparison Jacob’s life was short. When we go back still farther into the history of mankind, recalling that Adam reached the age of 930, and Methuselah of 969 years, then we must say that the life of Jacob was relatively short and that his ! years were few.

Now let us think of our own day and age! A few generations ago the average span of life was shorter than it is now; but God graciously has given unto us the advantage of advanced medical science. Men today know the human body so much better than people of years ago. They are better acquainted with the various organs of the body and understand more fully the functions that they are to perform. We are better informed as to what is harmful and what is beneficial to our bodies. In this area of life we have made impressive strides forward. Today we have more preventive medicines and surgeries, which enable us to cure diseases which years ago were regarded as altogether incurable, or at least curable only in isolated instances. As a result of all this, the span of the average human life today is longer than it was in the recent past.

When we glance at our text once more, we find that Jacob speaks of life not merely as being brief, but also difficult: "My years have been few and difficult." Difficult, yes; but not his whole life. A study of the life of Jacob reveals that God had been very good and gracious to him. As a young man he had crossed the Jordan possessing only a staff; twenty years later he returned and recrossed the Jordan having many possessions and large herds of cattle. The Lord had made him rich. He had blessed him with material things. He also blessed him in other ways. He was blessed with children. He had thirteen -- twelve sons and one daughter. Later, when he moved to Egypt, the number of his family was about seventy-five. He also had the opportunity to meet his son Joseph, whom he had thought was dead These were some of the joys, which Jacob experienced, in his earthly pilgrimage.

Yet it is true that on his journey he got to know many difficulties. Read those chapters of Genesis in which the life of Jacob is recorded for us. There you will learn that the sins of his sons brought much grief and disgrace to Jacob. Think of that long separation during which he was denied the presence and the company of his favorite son Joseph! Think about that journey of nearly 500 miles which he was forced to make to save his life, fleeing from his own twin brother Esau, who had threatened to kill him. Remember the evil treatment he received when for twenty years he was the servant of his uncle Laban. Review his life in its entirety, and you see an abundance of sorrow and of suffering, of heartache, and of near heartbreak. His life was not a bed of roses, but a journey on a path where indeed there were roses, but likewise many wounding thorns.

As we continue to make our pilgrimage of life today, we must say that in our life, too, there is joy and there is sorrow. There were joys and blessings over the past 12 months. When we count our blessings one by one then we become more mindful of the things that have come to us and the good things that we have been permitted to receive and enjoy in this present year. As this unfolds before us, our hearts will want to shout out in joy. We can shout from the bottom of our hearts the opening words of Psalm 103: "Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." It is most certainly true that the Lord has been good to us in this past year. His blessings have been given to us in abundance, His mercy was new to us every morning.

Nevertheless, it is also true that our pilgrimage through this world is a journey on which we must endure much grief and sorrow and suffering and disappointment — all the result of man’s fall into sin. See how in large letters sin is written across the highway of life where we are making our pilgrimage! The bitter consequences of sin are always with us. We see it so prominent in wars and rumors of wars and fears of more wars. Look at any newspaper from 2004, and you will notice that there is so much of sin and its effects all around us. Yet, when we think of sin, let us not think merely of the sins of the world in general, nor only of the sins of some certain individuals, (other individuals). But let us, especially today, think of our own sins: I will think of mine, and you think of yours.. As we think of these sins, let us remember that they are sins that are committed against the Lord God Almighty. Our sins have brought guilt to our soul, so that frequently we feel! uneasy, unhappy, and troubled by an evil conscience. This is all part of the pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is something that is limited in time. It is temporary and not meant to be permanent. When we make a trip, it lasts so many hours, or so many days, perhaps so many weeks; at most, a number of months. It will come to an end. So will the pilgrimage of our life come to an end. In the course of this year many pilgrims laid down their pilgrim’s staff. If the roll could be called of all those who were marching with us when last we wrote the date of January 1, it would be revealed that during the passing year many of our fellow pilgrims dropped out of the ranks and are no longer here on earth. They have heard the call of the Lord of life and death:

Some time, sooner or later, everyone here today, will hear that final call of our Lord and Savior. We will find that we are included in the people that will leave this pilgrimage for the eternal stay in heaven. How much longer will we be pilgrims in this world. It may well be that in the course of the year about to begin, I, or you, or a number of us, will stop marching on the highway of life and will reach the end of our earthly pilgrimage. But the joy is that we know where we are going when this pilgrimage is done. May we make every effort with the Lord’s strength and power to be ready for the day when the Lord calls us from this world to eternity in heaven.

Being reminded of the fact that our pilgrimage is short on this earth., I pray that we see how important it is to focus on the Cross of Calvary and the Savior who once hung on that Cross. On that cross Jesus suffered as our Redeemer and Substitute. What a blessed thing it is to know that Jesus died for us, and for our sins, and that by his suffering all our sin and guilt is washed away. Because of that we can say that by the grace of God we will close the old year in the assurance of God’s forgiveness and begin the new year with a clean slate. If we continue in the faith day by day, week by week, month by month throughout the coming year and into following years — then the fact that our pilgrimage is short and someday must end need not frighten us. The end will bring us to our grand and glorious goal. Heaven is our home Let us in the new year be diligent and devout in our use of God’s holy Word, so that our faith may be strengthened and preserved. This is important ! as we think of the many dangers and the temptations that are in this world. With faith in Christ Jesus as our personal Savior from sin we will continue on our pilgrimage joyfully and unafraid. Through that faith we are sure heirs of heaven, where we shall be eternally at rest and at peace in the company and sight of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.