A sermon on Luke 2:21 for the Circumcision of Our Lord / New Year’s Eve. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

So if you haven’t been able to tell already, I’ve tricked you. You’re here under false pretenses. This isn’t really a New Year’s service. Celebrating January 1 as the beginning of a new year is a pagan practice connected to the Roman calendar. In antiquity, Christians were very critical of these New Year’s celebrations because they would be marked by typical pagan debauchery. Maybe some things haven’t changed.

In the church, we’ve already celebrated the new year on the first Sunday of Advent. January 1 just happens to be eight days after we celebrate the birth of Christ and eight days after a Jewish boy was born, he would be circumcized. So today’s service is really celebrating Christ’s circumcision, as odd of an occasion as that might be.

Now, I’m not trying to disparage New Year’s celebrations, I hope you have a good time with the rest of your evening. It’s just a rather odd coincidence that a secular holiday and a religious holiday occur on the same day. But I think there actually can be a significant amount of thematic overlap between the two. In essence, New Year’s and the circumcision of Jesus are both about new beginnings. As we begin a new year with all of its hopeful resolutions, we see Christ begin His determined path of salvation. And that can influence our resolutions as well.

I. Our Resolutions

The history of New Year’s resolutions goes back to ancient Babylon and was continued in ancient Rome. There’s some really interesting history there that probably only I think is interesting, so I won’t bore you with that. And most New Year’s celebrations and resolutions today are divorced from that pagan context, which is good. But suffice it to say, the desire to make resolutions at the beginning of the year, to have aspirational plans for the future, runs deep.

These resolutions can cover just about every aspect of life. People want to eat better, exercise more, put away savings, spend less time on their phones and more time with family. But they can either be so vague as to not really be measurable or enforceable or, on the other hand, so strict that they don’t allow for any failure.

80% of people break their resolutions by early February and only 8% make it to the end of the year. This is something that’s so common we joke about it. New Year’s resolutions don’t really matter, they’re probably not going to do anything, we just like having a more positive vision for the future.

But more seriously, our lives as Christians are lives of continual resolutions. And here, the stakes are far higher. Christ calls us to a new life. And we see quite clearly the path set out before us. We know what sin is. We know what we’re supposed to do and what we’re not supposed to do. We have this idea of who we should be, who we want to be. But so often that, too, is only aspirational.

Actually being a better Christian is a lot of work. It’s tough. It means staying on top of yourself and constantly monitoring your actions and motivations. It means being careful with every word that you say and every thought that you think. It means making yourself do things you don’t really want to do and keeping yourself from things that you really do want to do. It’s a high standard. It’s impossible to ever fully “get there,” you’re always striving. It’s exhausting to have Christ shape every aspect of your life.

So what do we do when we fail? What do we do when we break those resolutions? What do we do when we waste a new beginning? We have a couple options, and both extremes are bad.

Maybe you don’t think about it that much and go along with your day-to-day life just doing your thing. Maybe you cut yourself a little bit too much slack and say, “Oh, well, we’re all sinners.” At times we take the riches Christ gives us for granted.

Or, on the other hand, maybe it’s all you can think about. Maybe you can’t see past your failings and become discouraged at the monumental task in front of you. Maybe you’re harsher on yourself than God is and don’t allow for forgiveness. At times we reject the riches Christ offers us because we think we’re not worthy.

So much of our lives is spent swinging back and forth from one extreme to another. From pride to despair, from self-righteousness to worthlessness. In both cases, it’s not seeing the new beginnings that Christ offers us for what they really are.

II. Christ’s Determination

But also on January 1, more important than the beginning of a new secular year, we see the new beginnings of Christ as He is circumcized. And there’s two different ways that we can view this event. The first is as the beginning of Jesus’ active obedience, the beginning of the perfect life that He would live to obey the Law in our place.

Circumcision on the eighth day was commanded by the Law of Moses. So this command is the very first one that Jesus fulfilled. Even as a newborn infant, Jesus is fulfilling the Law. This event is an outward demonstration that Christ is under the law.

But, as our Epistle showed us, circumcision was given first to Abraham, not to Moses. So this is about more than completing the Law of Moses. Being circumcised meant and represented the removal of sin. In that regard, Jesus doesn’t need it, but He accepts it anyway as He shows whose side He’s on. Jesus is on the team of sinful human beings. He comes not only to fulfill the Law, but to do so in your place. And every place where we have failed, every time that we have fallen short, Jesus makes up for by His perfect life of obedience. His perfect life under the Law counts for you. And that all begins here.

But the circumcision not only shows us the beginning of Jesus’ active obedience, of His perfect fulfillment of the Law, but it is also the beginning of His passive obedience, of everything that He would suffer and endure for our forgiveness.

Usually we use the term “passive obedience” to talk about Jesus’ suffering and death. But we can see that same aspect here on the eighth day. As a newborn, there’s not much that the baby Jesus could do to decide to be circumcised, to actively fulfil the Law in that way. No, this was something that was done to Him, something that He had to endure. This is the very first drop of blood that Jesus would shed for you.

It’s hard to even imagine how profound this is. The blood of God is shed for you. Here, it’s just a few drops. But it’s a sign of things to come. Even one drop of God’s own blood is valuable beyond measure. But He doesn’t stop there. On the cross, this precious blood is poured out in streams. This is the price He willingly paid for your redemption as His blood washes away all of your sins. This is where salvation starts as Jesus sheds His blood for you, this is the beginning of redemption.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus offers you new life, a new beginning. And when we see this Christian resolution as flowing from Christ and His work, it changes how we view our daily struggle.

If you haven’t made a spiritual resolution for this year, I encourage you to do so. Maybe that means coming to the midweek service and Bible study we’ll begin next week or coming to church more regularly, but I’ve found that a greater struggle than coming to church is taking church with you into the home. So commit to reading the Bible and praying more regularly, these are things that we know we’re supposed to do, but, more importantly, things that we need.

And grounding these resolutions in Christ makes it possible to not drown under the pressure of it all. Because every day is a new beginning. If you commit to reading the Bible daily and you miss a day or a couple of days, don’t beat yourself up about it. Don’t feel like you gotta make up for it and burn yourself out by reading a week’s worth of readings at once. You can’t change the past, and you can’t be perfect, that’s what Jesus is for.

But Jesus gives us the strength to do better, to face each day as a new day, a new beginning. Day by day we drown our sinful nature and rise to new life in Him. Day by day Christ is renewed in us and we are recommitted to the Christian resolution. Day by day Christ gives us a new beginning and new opportunities to walk on the path set before us.

This daily grind is an encouragement because whatever failings are in the past are covered by Christ. And the day before us is a new day, full of potential and hope as Christ works within us and through us.

Today is a day of new beginnings. And not only the beginning of a new diet or exercise regimen, but the day when we see the beginning of Christ’s saving work as He begins to fulfill the Law in our place and as He begins to shed His blood for us. Now come to be nourished by His body and blood that Christ may be renewed within you and keep you in His paths unto life everlasting. Amen.