Sermon - New Years' Eve 2024 - Luke 12:35-40

The Light of the World, William Holman Hunt, 1904

Make ready your hearts For Christ.

1. Why was there circumcision in the Bible?

2. Circumcision of the heart

3. Don, therefore, the name of Christ and your baptism this new year

From a secular perspective we consider today New Years’ Eve and tomorrow New Years’ Day. However, in the church January 1st is the Feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. The appointed Gospel for this day of the church year is the shortest of them at just one verse: “Luke 2:21: And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” 

This may seem like a strange thing to celebrate, especially since on Sunday we heard about Jesus being presented in the temple at 40 days old, and now we go back to the eighth day. However, 8 days after December 25th is January 1st, so it is only logical that we Christians would observe this. From ancient times Christians refused to even acknowledge the secular new year, since we celebrated the new year on the first Sunday of Advent. 

Additionally, the New Year celebration of ancient pagan Rome was quite sinful and wicked, filled with debauchery and drunkenness, and as such the Christians refused to participate in such things. Many New Year celebrations are often like this today as well, and so it is meet, right, and salutary that we would purposefully end this year by turning our hearts and minds to Christ. Indeed, Jesus instructs us: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Having heard that, make ready your hearts for Christ.

I know the topic of circumcision is an awkward subject, however it’s a common subject in the Bible, and therefore it deserves at least a little bit of explanation. When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham the Lord made a covenant with Him, promising that he would be fruitful and the father of many nations. He promised Abraham that He would be his and his children’s God, providing for them all. Ultimately, the Lord promised Abraham the Messiah, saying: “To your seed/offspring I will give this land.” St. Paul explains this for us: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” Thus, the covenant of circumcision was a sign that God would provide the Messiah through Abraham. This is why this particular part of the body was cut.

But why did anything have to be cut? Because this is how God does covenants, and it’s really what a covenant is. The phrase “cut a covenant” refers to the fact that in order for a covenant to be made blood had to be shed. When God made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 animals had to be cut in half with a path between the two halves, and the Lord passed between them in order to ratify the covenant. Perhaps this seems barbaric, but these are the consequences of sin, and in order to atone for our sins lifeblood must be shed, death must occur. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” “For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death.”

Circumcision was therefore a covenant, a promise, in which the Lord pointed the Israelites ahead to the Messiah who would save God’s people from sin and death. The Israelites were brought into this promise through the sacrament of circumcision. In many ways it was the Old Testament version of  the sacrament of baptism, through which God brought His people into His covenant, and declared that these people were His and belonged to Him. Grace was applied to God’s people through circumcision just as it is now applied to us through baptism.

When Christ Jesus was circumcised at eight days old, He fulfilled the covenant of circumcision and thus brought an end to that covenant. When Jesus was baptized He ushered in a new sacrament by which Christians are brought into the church, when He told us to “Make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” 

Here it’s important to note that baptism and circumcision entail more than just the physical act of performing those things once. Baptism now saves you, and indeed baptism is efficacious because the Lord works through it to save His people. Nevertheless, with baptism comes teaching. The same was true of circumcision.

In Deuteronomy God’s word teaches us “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” And again: “The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Or the Lord explains through St. Paul in Romans: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” Christianity is not merely a matter of outward appearances. Just because you were baptized and confirmed, have your name on a church roster, and call yourself a Christian does not mean you actually are a Christian, for Christianity is a matter of the heart.

The scripture teaches us that Abraham, who had received all of the outward things, “believed the Lord, and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.” Likewise us, we are saved not simply because of outward displays of Christianity, but through faith in Christ Jesus. The Works of God in Christ Jesus are received by us through faith in Him.

So when the Lord Jesus instructs us to “be ready,” He is instructing us to keep the faith. He tells us to “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.” Perhaps this sounds mysterious, but it’s not really. Our Lord Jesus has ascended to heaven, and we are now awaiting His return. In the meantime, before Jesus comes back, we are to keep the faith, not merely as an outward show, but inwardly within our hearts.

What does this mean for baptized Christians? It means to don the name of Christ and embrace our baptism. Just as Abraham was renamed at circumcision, and Jesus was given the name announced by the angel, so are we named at baptism. The name given to us is Christian; we are named little Christ’s when we are baptized, and thence forth we are to live as Christians in this world. 

We are to be dressed for action! Servants staying awake at the locked door are dressed for two purposes: Firstly, they’re dressed to fight in case a thief shows up, they’re ready for adversity. Secondly, they’re dressed to serve the master when he comes home, they’re ready to be in the presence of the master. Likewise, we are dressed for battle, for this is satan’s hour and the hour of the power of darkness, and we must be ready to do battle against that thief whenever he shows up. We are dressed to serve the Lord, prepared to live lives of holiness according to His Word.

We keep our lamps burning, we remain awake and alert. Never knowing when He is going to appear, we do not want to be caught asleep in unbelief. In many ways this is the boring part of christianity, that we need to be prepared for the coming of Christ every day and at all times, and oftentimes waiting is not the most exciting thing to do. Christianity is very much so a habit, like brushing your teeth or taking a shower, and you just do the same things over and over again. You read your bible, say your prayers, sing hymns, go to church, receive communion, go to confession, on repeat for decades. Maybe it’s not the most exciting thing to do, but this is why we need the encouragement to keep it up, to keep the lamps burning.

Imagine you get bored locking your doors at night, so you quit, and do more exciting things. But then your house is left to get broken into, and you will have lost everything. Likewise, keep the lamp of your faith burning, keep up the habits of Christianity, because Christ will come when you do not expect Him, and if you’re not ready, you will lose everything.

For you who are here tonight, I say God bless you and well done! Blessed are you servants who are dressed for action and keeping your lamps burning. You could be out doing so many more interesting things right now, but instead you are here, and that makes my heart glad. As you begin a new year tomorrow boldly don your name of Christian and stay dressed for action in your baptismal gown of righteousness.

Merry Christmas and happy new year!