"Do Everything In The Name Of The Lord Jesus”

It’s that time of year once again. December 31st brings reflections on a year that is ending. There may be anticipation mixed with some anxiety for a new year that is just beginning. Whether you have plans for a “count-down” party with corks popping or flipflops dropping (Folley Beach) at midnight, or if you will be in bed by 8:00 p.m. tonight there is one thing many millions of us will do. Surveys say that a sizable number of people have already made or will be making New Year’s resolutions—or goals for the new year.

A survey taken last year revealed that 37% of Americans said they had a goal or a resolution they wanted to achieve in 2023. 87% said they were very or somewhat likely to keep it through the year. However, the average resolution lasts just under 4 months. (That actually seems longer than I would have expected.) So, truth be told, the reality is that in just a month or two, many of these New Year’s goals, resolutions, and habits will have been forgotten about or we’ll just give up on them.

So, if we still want to make resolutions today, and many of us will, how can we do better at making changes that will last? This week I received an e-newsletter from an organizational instructor that listed “7 Mistakes to Avoid When You Set New Year’s Goals for 2024. The man’s name is Dean Bokhari. Anyway, this is his list. 1. You’re setting too many new year’s goals. That makes sense. We have to keep it simple. 2. You’re aiming too high, or too low. 3. You’re not setting deadlines for your new year’s goals. 4. You’re not keeping your goals visible. That reminds me of what have been called SMART goals. 5. You’re setting resolutions (rather than goals or habits). 6. You’re not creating contingency plans. 7. Your goals aren’t anchored to strong beliefs. There is a great deal of practical advice in looking at each of those mistakes if we really want to keep our New Year’s resolutions.

What if I told you that I know of a way to overcome all 7 of those mistakes. Does that sound impossible? Using our Second Reading from Colossians 3 we can learn God’s way of making changes in our lives in 2024. One phrase summarizes the life you and are called to live in the new year. And that same phrase reveals the key real change in our lives. We are told:

“DO EVERYTHING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS”

I. Be clothed with Jesus’ perfect love

II. Let Jesus’ peace rule in your heart

III. Let Jesus’ Word fill your mind

Of course, we don’t have time during our sermon to summarize the whole Letter to the Colossians. But before bringing up Christian living the Apostle Paul spent the first half of his letter laying the foundation of the faith. The Colossians needed to get back to the truth about Jesus. The life-giving words of Jesus would keep them strong in the faith and healthy in their Christian living. That is why they needed to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly. It was to be their constant companion.

I.

Our Second Reading for today began with a list of all that comes from the perfect love found in Christ. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” That’s what it looks like to “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” We clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We wear forgiveness like a bodysuit! And we put on love.

But we each have a big problem. We have the filthy rags of sin on us. That’s the easy outfit that our sinful nature wants to wear. Instead of compassion there is unfair judgment. We love to put on unkindness, pride, roughness, and impatience! When we look into the mirror of God’s LAW we see our old self clearly. In each of us there is an “old Adam” or an “old Eve” that wants to love itself first and everyone else can get in line after us.

So exactly how do we put off our old sinful self? Martin Luther stated it well in his Small Catechism, “…our Old Adam with his evil deeds and desires should be drowned by daily contrition and repentance, and die, and that day by day a new man should arise, as from the dead, to live in the presence of God in righteousness and purity now and forever.” We have been clothed in the holiness of Jesus through our baptism. But baptism did not rid us of our sinful nature. He or she still rises up to sin against God. So, every day we must hold our old Adam or old Eve under God’s wrath. We can’t let our sinfulness breathe or see the light of day in our lives. But we are to let our new nature—the one given to us in baptism—rise up and take a deep breath of God’s mercy and forgiveness so we are empowered to live a new life.