"Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away; they fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day."

It is an inevitable fact...the new year is about change.

Now, if there is one thing to be said about us Lutherans, it's that we don't take too well to change. I'm not saying this to sound cynical or opposed to change...or in favor of it, for that matter. This, again, is a fact (and also the stereotype).

Still, we must come to grips with the fact that change with the new year will happen for us, as individuals, as a community in northern Turner county, as a parish of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It won't be change for the sake of change, but change because that's the way things happen. It won't be change because tomorrow is a new year, but because tomorrow is a new day. Change is the way things happen here and now, this sinful world on this side of eternity.

But, we can categorize things, especially changes, a lot easier by the year it happened in or how things are different this year from the past year or years.

For instance, all you have to do is have someone recall the "insert-name-of-event-here" of 2003, and they instantly know what you are talking about. For example, recalling the "Tornados of 2003" instantly brings to mind "Tornado Tuesday" (as it has come to be known) for residents of southeastern South Dakota.

But when it comes to comparing changes, it is always easier to do so with regard to years. Imagine, if you will, how different things were in 2003 from 1953. We needn't go half a century into the past; imagine how different things were in 2003 than just a decade ago. The teenagers in our families were but little children (some may still act that way...I know I do sometimes at 27). Social values change as social conditions change...one could hope that morals stay the same, however. Businesses and buildings that once stood are no longer there. Trains no longer come through town that once used to. Even the weather acts a little differently.

And so, we enter 2004, unsure of what it will bring, certain only of the changes that we will face from 2003, 1994, and 1954. "Out with the old, in with the new."

It is this uncertainty that haunts us. You see, it is not just Lutherans who fear change, almost everyone does, even those who advocate it. When the very fibers of what we have come to rely on change, we become unsettled. Things no longer work for us as they once did. Things no longer look, feel, sound, taste, or smell the same. We become shaken and easily fall into the depths of woe. We are sometimes like this, even when things change for the better. We are almost always like this when things change for the worse.

And when we are rattled and shaken, we begin to question God. We begin to wonder if God is really as merciful as He says. Why would He allow such things to happen to us? Worse yet, why would He do such things to us? When we fall into the depths of woe, we often begin to lose a grip on the faith which He has given to us. We are tempted to curse God, hate and despise Him, and reject the grace and mercy He has and does indeed show us.

It's only natural to do so...as much as being sinful can be called natural. When the things we come to depend on change before us, we begin to question everything else that we think we can depend on, and that includes God, our Creator and Sustainer. Even when we call it natural, that is no excuse. Turning from God and relying on ourselves is a sin no matter how "natural" we think it is. It is selfish, and it condemns us to death and the despair of hell.

Those of you who have lost a loved one can relate to this. Some of you may have observed it in those who have lost a loved one. One of the reactions to the loss is anger, especially toward God. The widow, widower, parent, or child sometimes blame God for the loss: "Why would God do this to me? What kind of a merciful God is He when He takes my dear one from me?" Do you see the selfishness in this? Even this is a change that we cannot bear to face; though some of us have this past year and some may have to in the coming year.

But there is another change that has taken place here and has been for the past few years. Several years ago, you had a pastor here that you all loved; he took a call elsewhere. Then, an interim pastor stepped in, and you loved him as well. You issued a call to a man straight out of seminary; he left for more schooling. Again, the interim pastor stepped in. Once more, a call was issued to a man straight out of seminary. Changes have been made and made again. Things are being done like they have not been done before. Each man was different, and they do things differently...it can be unsettling for some. However, each man carried the same message.

It is that message which does NOT change from year to year. Amid all the turmoil and uncertainty of this life, the changes that each day brings, there is one thing needful and He does not change: Jesus. His love and mercy endure forever, beyond 2003, into 2004, and beyond that into eternity!

Now, we come to the time when Jesus was about to be circumcised; nearly eight days after His birth. Why is that important? It is also the time He would receive His name. As was the custom in His time, names meant something, and the name Jesus (or Joshua in the Hebrew tongue) is no exception. It means that God keeps His promises, that He is unchanging, and that His mercy endures forever. Jesus means "YHWH saves," and this has been done through Jesus.

That was the message proclaimed by Pastor Hafner. It was the message proclaimed by Pastor Helling. It was the message proclaimed by Pastor Seaver. All of these men were charged with bringing the Good News that YHWH saves in the person of His Son to you. In spite of all the changes and chances of life, as the years went by, as you were faced with gains and losses, these men were here to remind you that you were Baptized into Christ, who has saved you.

It is the same message that I have been charged to proclaim to you. As the years go by (and, God willing, I go through them with you), and they bring the changes that shake your foundations, I am here to remind you that you have been Baptized into Christ, who has saved you. So, I echo St. Paul this evening: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"Jesus! Only name that's given under all the mighty heaven whereby man, to sin enslaved, bursts his fetters and is saved."