New Year’s Eve – 2011

FATHER, LET ME DEDICATE THIS YEAR TO YOUR GLORY!

Psalm 116:12-14 - How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me? ¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. ¹⁴I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

I. To You I Dedicate My Heart!

An old year now sets in the rearview mirror, and in its place a new year lies before us. This is only by the grace of God. And as we stand on the threshold of this New Year, perhaps we find ourselves asking: “What will the New Year bring?” If we’re honest, we will have to answer, we don’t know. It could be sorrow, hardship, even pain? But even if that is the case, past years have revealed to us Christians that when God permits evil to afflict us he also works it for our good. We are confident that God’s goodness toward us far surpasses any evil which he may, in his wisdom, permit to come into our lives. Therefore, we enter the New Year without worry and fear.

We know that our gracious God will be with us to lead us safely through this world to himself in heaven. When he delivered up his own Son on the cross to take away all our sins, God guaranteed his loving presence with us. If God loves us so much that he sacrificed his own dear Son for our sakes, then surely he loves us enough to be with us from day to day and help us through all our lesser troubles. His promise to us is that he will bring to completion the good work which he has begun in us by keeping us in faith to eternal life. Our God is all in all to us.

It is when we stop and ponder this undeserved mercy and favor; when we stop and consider the height and depth of his love; that we also find ourselves joining with the Psalmist of our text, asking, “How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me?” Now, of course, we could never repay God in the sense of doing enough to compensate him for what he has done for us. But we can “repay” him in the sense of honoring him with the love, gratitude and service which is an appropriate expression of thanks for what he has done for us. So, as we face the New Year, let us resolutely say: “Father, let me dedicate this year to your glory!”

Such a dedication must begin with a rededication of our hearts to the Lord. Now, God has had our hearts ever since the moment he brought us to faith in Christ Jesus our Savior through the Gospel. This truth is seen as he moves us to worship regularly and repentantly receive the Sacrament. It is evident as he helps us control unkind tongues and helps us in our daily struggle to avoid sin. It is apparent in the joy and peace with which we close our eyes each night.

But while this is true, it is also true that our hearts do not always bring glory to God. Sadly, this is seen in our lives when we give into our sinful nature. Like those times when God and his Word are not our highest priority and instead we set our hearts affections on the things of this life. Like those times when we gladly give into anger or are filled with worry. We give evidence of our failure to love God as we ought by our attitudes, what goals we make, and how we spend our time. Even what men consider “small” sins give ample evidence of hearts that do not always bring glory to God.

But we cannot give into the temptation to think lightly of sin, no matter what they may be. Instead, we must look upon every sin as a despicable crime against our God and seek his forgiveness daily. Such a repentant heart brings glory to God. At the same time, let us struggle against our sinful flesh that wants to prevent us from loving God above all things. When we are tempted, look again to the cross of Jesus. There we receive the strength to overcome temptation and to keep God in first place in our lives and to put the things of this life in their proper perspective.

Likewise, the heart that belongs to God is one that continues to struggle against work-righteousness. Now, work-righteousness is a very real temptation for each of us. It wants us to think that somehow we can assist in our salvation by what we do. But what can our works earn from God? Nothing! As Isaiah said, they are all as filthy rags. We stand acceptable before God in the Judgment only because of Christ and his holy works for us. So, as we face the New Year, let us resolutely declare, “Heavenly Father, to you I dedicate my heart!”

#402 (1,2) - “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”

II. To You I Dedicate My Will

The person who has dedicated their heart to God will also then dedicate thier will to him. That means we will gladly set aside our own will so that God’s will might be done. But what, exactly, is God’s will? Often times we speak of three specific things —

1) First, God’s will is for each of his believers to be strengthened and preserved in faith to the end.

It is because of this that the Lord commands us, repeatedly, to search the Scriptures and urges us to grow by that Word. It doesn’t take long to see how serious God is about this command either. Read through the Bible and it will jump out at you again and again: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:47). “Crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). It only stands to reason then, that if faith comes from hearing the message, then faith is strengthened by that message. But the opposite is true then too. If faith is strengthened from hearing the message, faith grows weak when we don’t hear the message.

Consider this: if a child regularly refuses to eat the good food their parents provide for their nourishment, that child will not fare well. They will become weak, sick, and even die. If we only eat the spiritual food of God’s Word once in awhile, we will become spiritually weak, sick, and can even die spiritually. Instead of dedicating our will to God, we would be setting his will aside. But God’s will is for each of his believers to be strengthened and preserved in faith to the end – that only happens when we search the Scriptures and grow by the Word.

2) In 1522, a brief, simple, but expressive eulogy was pronounced by Martin Luther upon a pastor at Zwickau named Nicholas Haussmann. "What we preach, he lived," said the great reformer. This brings us to the second aspect of God’s will: God wants us to live holy lives.

God wants us to live as his dear children, in obedience to his holy commandments.

Remember, when Christ conquered sin for us, he also made it possible for us to overcome sin by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our heart through the Gospel. Once again, that means we must turn repeatedly to God’s Word to learn more clearly what holiness of living is and to gain the strength to do God’s will. Listen to our Savior Jesus stress this truth: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4,5).

With these words Jesus points us to the secret of living holy lives – remaining in him. It is only then that we can be who we are, remembering that as a child of God there is a certain way our Savior wants and expects us to act.

3) Finally, God wants all men to come to know the salvation which you and I know.

Let’s say everybody in our town was dying of a strange new disease, and a medical scientist came up with a drug which, if it was not exposed to any light, would cure the disease. But if it were exposed to light, the drug would start turning poisonous. Two things would be important for everybody in our town to be saved. One, the drug must be given to everybody. Two, the drug must be kept pure.

Similarly, the wonderful works of God which you and I know and believe is the medicine that unbelievers in the world desperately need. And the moment our gracious heavenly Father brought us to faith, he made us missionaries who are to take this medicine to others. In our immediate family and extended family, co-workers, neighbors, friends. God wants all to come to know this salvation and be saved.

To dedicate our will to God means, if you are a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus, live like it. And not just on Sunday mornings; not just in one area of your life; but in every area and every day. Living like the child of God we are means putting him first in everything. It’s practicing daily repentance in our lives and being controlled by the new self. It’s asking, what do you want me to do, Lord, and then be willing to do what he asks! It’s making his will for our lives our number one priority. This is God’s good and gracious will. Therefore, as we stand on the eve of a New Year, let us resolutely declare, “Heavenly Father, to you I dedicate my will!”

#469(1,5,6) – “Take My Life and Let It Be”

III. To You I Dedicate My Blessings!

The one who has dedicated their heart and will to the Lord will naturally also dedicate their blessings to the Lord. All that we have and all that we call “our own” really belongs to our heavenly Father. That will be made very clear when finally the Lord calls us from this life. After all, no hearse has ever pulled a U-haul to the cemetery. That’s because we can’t take what we have here with us; we are merely stewards or caretakers of God’s goods.

But with that said, God still blesses us with many possessions. And since they in reality belong to him, he has every right to tell us how we are to use them. As we study Holy Scripture, we find five purposes for which God blesses us with money and goods, today, let us take a look at three of them…

1) Provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our family.

No doubt, we are inclined to use most of our blessings in this way. After all, we need to purchase food, pay bills, drive to work, and so on. This is good and right so to do. The Lord tells us very specifically that we are to take care of our family. But unfortunately, we often think of luxuries and conveniences as necessities of life. Too often then, we find that we don’t ask, “what do we need,” but instead, “what do I need to live in the greatest of comforts; to keep up with the neighbors; to keep my social status.” And what happens is we work more overtime to get more money to buy the toys and gadgets we want and then there is little or nothing left for any other purpose God gives for the use of the blessings he grants. This leads us to the second purpose…

2) To support the preaching of the Gospel in our own congregation and to support its preaching through

the Synod’s work.

This too is work that God places before us and tells us to do. It is part of managing the blessings he gives us. In fact, he tells us to take care of this aspect of stewardship first. We read, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income” (2 Corinthians 16:2). He tells us this is joyful work, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Yes, this is work that God places before us and tells us to do as he moves us to want to thank him for his saving grace in Christ Jesus. But how much support do we give? Well, the Lord leads us to answer that question on the basis of the loving-thankfulness we feel in our hearts toward him, keeping in mind these three things: give joyfully; give proportionately to what he has given you; and give regularly. Finally, we consider the third purpose…

3) Help the poor and the needy in this world, especially those who are one in faith with us.

Most, if not all of us, live in prosperity. This is even true of those who might receive some type of government assistance. In fact, if we were to look at the living conditions of people all over the world, we would have to say that we, who often times find ourselves dissatisfied with what we have, are wealthier than half of the world’s population.

Realizing and understanding this, it is not at all surprising that our Lord should direct us to use some of the blessings he gives us to help the poor and needy. No doubt, if we open our eyes, we can see someone in need right within our congregation. Certainly we can see it in our community. There are many non-religious charitable organizations through whom we can help. And especially let us remember the WELS committee for “Christian Aid and Relief ” through which you can help the poor and needy in this world.

By nature, our hearts are cold and selfish. We struggle against the sinful flesh that insists our money and goods are for our own benefit alone. But we need to remember that we are only caretakers of God’s gifts, and are asked to put his blessings to us to use as he directs. That will happen only when ponder again the truths we celebrated just a week ago – that God’s very own Son came into our world to take away our sins. Or in the words of Paul, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Therefore, as we stand on the eve of a New Year, let us resolutely declare, “Heavenly Father, to you I dedicate my blessings!”

#485(1,2) – “We Give Thee but Thine Own”

IV. Father, Help Me Dedicate This Year To Your Glory!

Here we are, at the beginning of a New Year. What it will bring we don’t know. Regardless of what it brings, we stand here today resolutely dedicating the New Year to the glory of God.

But by ourselves our well-intentioned dedications will all fail and fail miserably. We have no strength of ourselves to accomplish our goals. When we look at ourselves, all we see are people contaminated with guilt, polluted with idolatry, and infected with sin. So as we dedicate this New Year to God’s glory, let us first look at Jesus. We see him hanging on the cross - because of our guilt; forsaken by his Father - in order to suffer our hell; dying that death because of our sin.

Stop and marvel at that – he did it for you! Stare in awe – he gave himself! Take a step back and consider - he did everything to win the forgiveness you need to be in a right relationship with God your Father. Now when we look at ourselves, instead of seeing ugly, diseased, sin infested people we see that we are wearing the whitest, most glorious, most beautiful robe of Christ’s righteousness. We see the name of God written upon us as he marks us as his possession and calls us his own. We see all of our sin and guilt transferred to his account as he was punished for them all, and see his righteousness and innocence credited to our account.

Only then can we truly dedicate our heart, will and blessings to God!