New Year’s Day

SERMON

Text: Matthew 28:20b

"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

In Christ Jesus, the foundation of our faith, the source of our love, the basis of our hope, dear fellow redeemed:

Here we are—poised at the beginning of a new century and millennium. What it will bring, only the Lord knows for sure. The most recent issue of U.S. News & World Report [January 3-10,2000] reports that more Americans feel positive about the future than at any time in recent history. In addition, a great deal of time is spent speculating about what the 21^st Century will be like in terms of medical and scientific advances. It is fascinating to say the least. Yet in its final editorial David Gergen suggests that as a nation, "Our Judeo-Christian values are now the greatest gift we can pass on to the 21^st Century." While I am unaware of Mr. Gergen’s religious persuasion, it is obvious to see that he recognizes at least in part an important truth of Scripture. We might paraphrase that truth in this way, “Man does not live by bread (technology) alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (cf. Matthew 4:4). We human beings need the values revealed in God’s Word to meet the challenges of this life and to do so with honesty and compassion. However, we need something even more important than values, for values finally are only a reflection of God’s law. They express how we are to think, to speak, and to act in our relationships with each other. They do not speak to the inner needs of our souls to know and feel the love of God. We need God’s gospel message expressing His love and His forgiveness towards us in view of our sin and all of its consequences in this world.

The new millennium is certainly going to be exciting and no doubt many of us are viewing it with positive attitudes, just as the writers of U.S. News & World Report suggest. However, as we enter it, some of us are entering it alone, having recently lost a loved one, or hurting, seeing our marriages and families in disarray. Others of us are entering it faced by diseases that are destroying our bodies. Still others are facing this New Year in the midst of financial difficulties at a time when others are prospering economically. Yes, for many of us problems surround us as we enter this new millennium. Where and to whom should we all look for comfort and encouragement. The answer is the gospel promises of Jesus Christ and our Savior Jesus Himself! They will sustain us in the midst of any trial. They reveal truths upon which we can build our lives in both good times and bad times. Let us this morning consider the most frequently stated promise in all of the Bible—THE CHRISTIAN’S GREATEST COMFORT: "I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!"

I.

Jesus made this promise to us just before He ascended into heaven after His death and resurrection. It is a promise that restates a truth confirmed time and time again to Christian after Christian throughout the Bible. We are not alone in this world! God is not some distant, impersonal force out there somewhere in the universe. Not at all! He is present. He is powerful. He is interested. He will make His presence known and felt!

This was a message that Jesus’ disciples needed to hear and which we need to hear since Jesus has withdrawn His visible presence from us. Throughout His earthly ministry as His twelve disciples were trained by Him, He was there for them whenever and wherever they needed Him. When the waves began to fill the boat they were in while crossing the Sea of Galilee, they were able to reach out and touch Him in order to request that He save them. When the scribes and Pharisees came with their questions, they could sit back and listen as Jesus explained to them the truths of God. But now that Jesus’ work was finished and it was time for Him to return to the side of His heavenly Father, Jesus made the promise of our text to reassure His disciples then and now that He has not abandoned us to the forces of this dark world. No, He Himself is present with us, as He promised!

Who is Jesus, however? The Bible assures us that Jesus is true God, one with the Father (cf. John 10:30). There are many in our world who reject that truth. They may well claim to honor Jesus, but they view Him as merely a prophet of God, as a fine teacher of morals, or as one of many outstanding ethical leaders produced by this world. But, this is not who Jesus is! Jesus’ words are very interesting, for they tie Jesus in a very special way to God the Father. In the original language, there is special emphasis on the personal pronoun “I” as it is tied to the intransitive verb “am.” Jesus claims here to be the “I am” God, even as He did earlier in His ministry when in He told those who opposed Him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58).

This name of our God takes us back to Moses and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt as we heard in our Old Testament reading earlier in our service. When God called Moses to go back to Egypt and lead His people out of slavery, Moses asked God for His name should the children of Israel ask. God told Moses, “You shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). What is its significance? It is really twofold. First of all, if Jesus is “I AM” He is and will never be an "I was!" Jesus is not a "has been"—great at one point, but now feeble and unable to provide assistance. No, Jesus is eternal—“the same yesterday, today, and forever” as the writer to the Hebrews claims (cf. Hebrews 13:8) and as our children proclaimed this past Christmas Eve. Secondly, He is a personal God who knows, loves, and cares for us. He is not a remote force out there in the universe, but rather our Savior God who can sympathize with our weaknesses and can provide appropriate and needed help when asked!

Consequently, let us recognize that THE CHRISTIAN’S GREATEST COMFORT can be Jesus’ promise "I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS," for Jesus is the one, true "I AM" God!

II.

It can be our greatest comfort as well, for "always" means "to the end of the age!" We live in a disposable age—disposable bottles, disposable bags, disposable diapers, disposable almost anything including relationship in the minds of many. We don’t think of things lasting just too long. That makes it difficult to comprehend the wonderful nature of our Savior’s commitment to us. Even our most intimate relationships here on earth end due ultimately to death if not for other reasons. Jesus’ commitment to us, however, is not disposable—it was meant to last and last it will! Jesus Himself will walk with us each day of each year of each century of each millennium that He sustains us on this earth!

What a comfort this thought is, for we face so many difficulties in this world! Think of what it meant to Moses as he led the children of Israel through the many difficult situations and times in the wilderness to know that His Savior God was with Him at all times. When faced with shortages of food and water; when faced with enemy armies; when faced with the grumbling and complaining of his own people, Moses was able simply to turn to God in prayer and talk to Him, the Bible says, “as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).

Think of what this truth meant to someone like St. Paul who at one point spent two entire years in prison in Rome awaiting trial. Instead of sinking into despair, we find St. Paul sharing the gospel with the guards who watched him. He was able to write the Philippians and tell them that “the whole palace guard” had heard the gospel, and that they should join him and “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 1:13; 4:4).

Even so today, as we face any and all challenges, as we experience any and all blessings, we can do so with confidence knowing that our Savior Jesus is with us at all times and in all places. We can rest assured that He will remain with us not just for a limited time, but for all time until the great day that we are either called into His presence through death, or when He Himself makes His visible presence known on the last day.

Dear friends, may we rejoice in this greatest of Christian comforts—our Savior Jesus assures us, “I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!” Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting