St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

New Year’s Eve December 31, 2005 Psalm 90:3-5 and 14-17

You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning—though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered…Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

If you read in a very thin book called Sermon Texts—it says since New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are only hours apart, some texts are appropriate for either one. However to avoid becoming repetitious the preacher will do well to observe a distinction in emphasis and let New Year’s Eve be an occasion for looking back and New Year’s Day an occasion for looking ahead. When you look back on 2005 do you remember blessings God gave to you, your family, our congregation, our Synod and our nation? Or do you remember the losses, the frustrations and the troubles? Do you see in the most difficult times—still—the loving hand of Jesus? Just the other day a man named Kerry Packer died. The news said Mr. Packer was the richest man in all of Australia. His personal wealth? About 7 billion—with a “b” 7 billion dollars. Mr. Packer made his money in publishing, broadcasting and casinos. Jesus loved Mr. Packer very much! I wonder if Mr. Packer knew that? Mr. Packer apparently had a heart attack 15 years ago—while playing polo. He was clinically dead for 8 minutes—before his heart started beating again. Afterwards he was quoted as saying, “The good news is there’s no devil. The bad news is there is no heaven. There’s nothing!” But there is! There is a devil—who is through and through evil—in the most foul and hurtful soul destroying. There is a heaven—a place of joy and peace and rest—so wonderful that words fail to explain it. Jesus loves you and me so much—he sacrificed his life to rescue us. Jesus wants all of us—from people with 7 billion dollars to people with 7c and a little lint in their pocket. Tonight is a time to reflect and take stock. Tonight—guided by God’s Word:

New Year’s Eve—Look Back!

1. The wages of sin is death

2. The gift of God…eternal life

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on is Psalm 90. The subtitle says, “A prayer of Moses, the man of God.” God’s Word says, And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone…Since then no prophet his risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Deuteronomy 34:5f What a wondrous obituary written by your Heavenly Father! Could the same be said of us? That we are people of God? That this past year we were faithful servants of the Great I AM—the Holy One of Israel? As we look back on 2005 do we need to repent for 10,000 times when we have sinned? God’s Word reminds us in the most simple powerful way—the wages of sin is death. “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning—though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered… Simon Wiesenthal was 96 years old. Simon was a Holocaust survivor—who spent the rest of his life tracking down Nazi war criminals. He helped capture Adolf Eichmann—onetime leader of the Nazi SS. He also helped capture the police officers who had arrested Anne Frank. I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say Simon Wiesenthal was obsessed—literally obsessed with capturing or killing those who were responsible for the murder of some 6 million people! Simon would travel around the world to try and track down people guilty of crimes against humanity. Guilty of unspeakable murderous evil. Simon Wiesenthal died—was swept away in his sleep—obsessed with justice in this world. Jesus died for Simon, too. And Jesus died for those people who almost must have been my relatives and perhaps some of yours—people who were tiny teeth in the tiny cogs that made the wheels that made the machine that put six million people to death in concentration camps? Jesus died for my sins and your mistakes. Jesus died for all that went wrong the past 12 months—the past 365 days. Jesus died for all our sins—maybe not sins against humanity—but most certainly sins against our Heavenly Father. And that is far far worse!

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. As many days as Jesus gives us—there is affliction and joy—troubles and blessings—happiness and frustrations. This is a constant reminder of law and gospel—of sin and grace. A man named George died this year. He was the man back in 1977 who went out and bought one Betamax and one VHS tape of each of 50 movies that you could buy. Then he opened this place in LA where you could rent these movies—watch them and return them. That’s good—except did you ever rent a movie and forget to take it back—and then you get a late fee? Did you ever rent a movie—and people were not kind—they did not rewind—or the DVD was scratched and it kept jumping ahead—or starting all over again? H. David Dalquist died this year. He’s the guy that invented the Bundt cake pan. Did you ever bake a cake in one of those nifty aluminum pans—and when you try and dump it out of the pan—part of it comes out and part of it breaks off and stays in the pan? Remember the Jolly Green Giant? Remember his, “Ho! Ho! Ho!”—when he would talk about his sweet corn niblets? The guy who did that voice passed away, too. Did you ever have frozen vegetables—and you get little chunks of corn stalk or corn silk or a little chunk of corn cob in melted butter sauce? Remember when you were little—and your mom or your dad would make you stay sitting at the table—till you choked down pasty lima beans or spinach—because it was good for you? The Lord makes us glad for as many days as we were afflicted—frustrated and troubled—because we live in a world of sin. This world is temporary. Our forever home is not here—but in heaven! That’s where we long to be!

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. Do you know one of the really wild Muppets—Gonzo? That comes from Hunter S. Thompson—the writer/reporter that invented gonzo journalism! That’s when you don’t just stand there and watch something happen—then get out your laptop and report it—you actually become part of the story! Not like the man in New Orleans who was surrounded by 18 police officers—and three people made video tapes. Three people made a film—while no one actually moved in and disarmed the man with the three inch blade. Now he’s dead. Not like the man in Milwaukee who honked at all the young people who were standing in the street. People watched while the man was dragged from his car and people actually jumped from on top of his car on top of his head. Nobody moved in to help. Nobody put their body between the victim and his attackers. Nobody made the attackers stop. People were what—afraid to get involved? The man who invented gonzo journalism died—not because he intervened—but because he despaired! How tragic is that? Jesus loved him, too, and died on the cross to wash away all his sins! There was joy he missed—in knowing Jesus’ forgiving love is our reason to go on living—even during the most difficult times! It is times of affliction—years full of trouble—that really show what we are made of. The most painful times reveal what is really in our hearts. It is often during the most difficult days of our lives—that Jesus makes us strong enough to reflect his strength, patience and forgiving love!

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. Nothing ever succeeds—without the blessing of the Lord! A man named Wheeler Lipes died this year. Did you ever hear of Wheeler? During WW II Wheeler was the pharmacist’s mate—the guy in charge of medicine—pills and juice and shots for people on a submarine called the Seadragon! There was a guy on the sub that had an acute appendicitis attack. Someone had to operate or he was going to die. They didn’t have a doctor on board—much less a surgeon. The best they had was the guy in charge of the ship drug store—the guy you saw for aspirin! And he didn’t have any surgical instruments! Well Wheeler made surgical instruments—using stuff like a bent spoon for a retractor. It worked. Do you know why? It worked because the Lord established the work of Wheeler’s hands. It worked because the Lord was kind and good to Wheeler and to Wheeler’s patient! Whatever we did last year that worked—whatever we did that succeeded—whatever we accomplished last year—we accomplished not because we are so talented—but because we are gifted! Gifted—means our abilities are a gift from our heavenly Father. Jesus gives us gifts—abilities—in different amounts in different combinations at different times all for the very same purpose—to give glory to him and him alone! May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.

May the favor of our LORD rest upon us. Barry Halper died just the other day. Barry owned one of the most extensive collections of baseball memorabilia in the world! Barry had some 80,000 things! 80,000 things like a baseball glove actually used by Mickey Mantle. Barry sold that glove to Billy Crystal for over a quarter of a million dollars. Barry had uniforms worn by Ty Cobb, Cy Young and Mickey Mantle—the one Mickey wore during his rookie year! Barry even owned the jersey Lou Gehrig wore when he made his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939. He had an original ticket from the first World Series game ever—from 1903! 80,000 things—that used to belong to Barry. But you know what? He doesn’t own any of them any more! I don’t know if they packed away any of those things in the casket with Barry. But even if they did—Barry didn’t really keep them. This is true of all the things and stuff of this world. In this life we can hold it tight in our little fists. But when death comes we will let go of everything—absolutely everything that we have worked so hard to own. The fact is—what matters is not the things and stuff of this world. What matters is Jesus’ forgiving love that has washed away all our sins. What matters is the inheritance Jesus has stored up for us in heaven—where moth and rust cannot corrupt—where thieves cannot break in and steal. Where our treasure is—that’s where our heart will be also—safe forever by Jesus. Amen!