In a Christmas letter from one of our dear friends she always ends her note with the phrase: Do not be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there. What a good reminder!! And, if that is true for Christmas that is also true for the New Year. It is especially true for this New Year.

Maybe I’ve been watching too much news on the TV lately, or from the Internet, or in the newspapers, but I don’t catch a lot of excitement about life there. I don’t hear much about that I don’t need to be afraid of tomorrow because God is already there. Rather I seem to be hearing apprehension and pessimism about jobs and finances, about people losing their homes to foreclosures, about people spending too much (too much debt) or about people spending too little (not stimulating the economy enough). And then we have issues like the national debt and budget cuts and what health care will look like now and in coming years and the fear of terrorism, and on and on. Maybe that is why people drink a little too much tonight. The alcohol can help us forget our problems!!

I can see why some folks say – “I don’t watch the news – it is too depressing!” Get rid of the newspapers and news magazines and blogs on the Internet, too!! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the greatest worry we had was if the Broncos will make the Playoffs on Sunday?

But then I turn to Scripture, God’s words to us and I find a whole different way of speaking and anticipating. Instead of a dismal outlook, instead of putting our head in the sand, I see folks that are excited about life. I hope that when we are exploring what God says about life we can be excited about it.

New Year’s Eve marks an end and a beginning. We conclude one year, even a whole decade, and begin a brand new one in just a few hours. We can be excited about beginning brand new, as God’s forgiven people!! Three years ago a new ‘holiday’ was created in New York City. It is called Good Riddance Day. In Times Square there is an industrial size shredder that allows the old to be done with – in an instant. One New York Giants fan shredded the paper from last week’s football game that ended the playoff bid for his team. Next year will be better!! A twelve-year-old girl named Alissa won the prize for the most creative item shredded – the memory of a counselor who went on a week-long school trip with her and her class. The counselor was recently featured on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted!!” She would like to forget that he was one of the chaperones!

This can be our Good Riddance Day for the sins that plague our life and the remorse that we carry. This is the night that we ask forgiveness from God. We have done that in the Confession of Sins, we will speak those words when we pray the Lord’s Prayer (forgive us our sins…) and we will hold out our hands asking for a clean heart to be granted when we receive the gifts of Christ’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion. It is good riddance to the sins and burdens of the soul on this night and as we begin a New Year. Paul to the Romans says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (5:1)

We are excited about life because we live under the providing hand of our generous God!! We boast that God can treat us so kindly, that He removes the disgrace of our sins and that Jesus has made us pure!! For many years the Lutheran Church and other liturgical churches had worship on New Year’s Day. (I don't know of any Lutheran Church having service tomorrow morning now-a-days). But the reason for the worship was this – on the eighth day - January 1 – Jesus received His name, which means God saves. We spent a day talking about His name that blesses our name.

We should be excited that all these things - forgiveness, everlasting life and peace with God are all gifts from God. We are excited that we live by grace. St. Paul, who was challenged by many obstacles in his life of faith wrote this about the struggles and the gift of God – “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassing great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:7-9) We are excited that God’s grace will provide for us not just our salvation but also the strength that we need for daily life. Every day for any difficulty or challenge that is much greater than us we have a God who gives us grace upon grace. He makes us strong!! When Paul writes Timothy he speaks about the confidence that He has in Christ’s strong hand, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” (II Timothy 1:12)

I don’t know where my friend got her quote, “Do not be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there.” But it sounds a lot like Jesus in Matthew 6. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they?” And then toward the end of the teaching Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:25-27, 33) We are in His hands. We see His good provisions.

But the excitement in life is not just about getting, as wonderful as that may be. It is also in doing, in giving, in returning to the giver. Our text says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17) Patrick, our three-year-old grandson, headed back to Indiana yesterday with his brother and parents. Patrick is three which is awful close to two. And there were times that Patrick would act his age and get into trouble. One time I had helped Patrick pick up some toys and get ready for bed. His father, our son, asked Patrick, “And what do you say to Grandpa?” And Patrick replied, “I’m sorry!” And my son, Danny, said, “No – you say thank you!” Quickly Patrick said, “Thank you, Grandpa!!

There is a time to say, “I’m sorry.” But there is also a time to say “Thank You!!” The thank you’s that we say to God come by the words of praise and they also come by our deeds, our life. In Philippians we are told that we will “shine like stars in the universe, as you hold out the word of life.” (2:15b-16a) How will God grow our life this year? What lessons will He teach us? How will He use our life for the good of our family and co-workers and neighbors and people that we haven’t even met yet? Isn’t that part of the excitement of life? God has a good and holy purpose for us, as His disciples, His followers, in this New Year. And I always anticipate what God will do through this congregation in this New Year.

Excited about life? I hope you are. God is. He is giver of the fullness of life. He is the cleanser and healer of our soul. He is our creator and provider. He gives us much more than we ever deserve. He, in His joy, allows us to be His vessels of blessings to others in our life. Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Do not be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there. Amen!!