In a little over 4 1/2 hours, we will be starting all over again. There's almost a sense of magic that comes with midnight. Midnight brings changes. At the stroke of twelve, some organizations dissolve and major decisions come into force. While in Springfield yesterday, we visited the Lincoln Museum. I learned the Emancipation proclamation, the statement which freed the slaves of the Southern states came into force at the stroke of Midnight Jan 1, 1863, that magical hour.

Soon it will be upon us. There is the sense that all the past is erased, and everything that lies ahead is possibility. Isn't that why people make resolutions? "This year is going to be different." Unfortunately, the older we get the more cynical we become. "No, it's not going to be any different"…but it can be.

Before we get into the theme which is fixed by our text, which doesn't sound even sound like a New Year's Eve text, I do want to say something about the past being erased. We look back at the year and see horrible regrets. We made mistakes, and many of them were caused purely by sin--by pride, by selfishness. Defending our sin, we tried to make ourselves feel better, but we only made it worse. We've made the wrong choices and hurt people-sometimes ourselves, but that's not our major concern. Our greatest concern should be that we have hurt others. Here's why: We live on earth to help others, to serve them. This is why we are not taken out of this world as soon as we are baptized. We have a whole lot of serving, of thinking about others and their needs, between the time we become children of God and when we are laid to rest in our Savior's arms, waiting for the last day.

So, if this is our purpose on earth, and we neglect to serve, but rather hurt, and sometimes even intentionally, then this should really bother us. And when I talk about service, I'm not talking about helping strangers through volunteering and charities. I'm talking about our neighbors that live in the same house as we do, who work at the same job, who go to the same church, and so on.

Hopefully, the people you have hurt have forgiven you, and hopefully you have forgiven them for the pain they have caused you, but it doesn't stop there. In fact, the sin doesn't even start with them. It starts with the Lord Himself. Remember what David had said, "Against you, you only have I sinned O Lord, and done what is evil in your sight." Therefore, His forgiveness, as His child, is what you need the most, and the most you need to hear. You need Him to serve you, by coming and speaking words of forgiveness.

On this evening, when we prepare to say goodbye to all our mistakes and really hope they are gone because we are starting a new year, we hear the forgiveness from our Lord. He speaks to you. We look to the cross and see that all of our sin was washed away, all of our ugliness and filth of this past year, drained out with his blood. And then we are brought to this very moment, where He gives us that forgiveness, here in our worship, as He serves you, relieving you of the concern of where you stand with Him, He sets you free to serve others.

Service. That's the name of the game. Him serving you. You serving others. And that is what our text is all about.

Tonight's message is going to sound like a reprise from the past couple months. Advent and Christmas, when they are treated properly, always has us looking past this moment, to the return of our Lord, when the peace that we hear all about at Christmas, really will be on the earth. The weeks before Advent get us primed for this, and this reading could have easily been in the middle of November.

Jesus speaks to us and tells us to have our robes tucked for two different reasons. The first is a reference to serving. This is the way servants would wear their robes, so they could be bustling about, taking care of their masters. They would have the ends tucked into their belts, so they could move about freely. Have you ever seen me try to run over to our house with my robes on? It's not a pretty sight. If I would think about it, I would take the ends, and tuck them into my rope, so I could move a little easier. This is what servants would do so they could serve their master.

Do you know who your master is? I'm sure the first answer coming to your mind, would be God, but that's not right. I won't accept that answer. He's your master and Lord, but He's not your master in the sense that you serve Him. How can you serve Him who needs nothing from anyone? No, the master you serve is your neighbor. Y'know, that neighbor that lives in the same house, even sleeps in the same bed, or in the bedroom next to yours, works at the same place, goes to the same church. This is your master.

Always serving those neighbors, your masters. Not because you must, but because you can. Serving others. This is your spiritual act of worship.

The second reference is to the Passover meal. They were to eat the Passover with their bottom of their robes tucked into their belts, so they could move quickly. The idea is to be ready to go at a moment's notice. At the first Passover, if you recall, the firstborn of all of Egypt was being put to death by the angel of death, while they were eating their meal. With their forks in their hands, the head above the plate, their eyes were on the door. At any moment, the cry in the streets could go out and heard in every household, "Let's roll. The Pharaoh is letting us go. We're free, but we need to get out quickly before he changes his mind again."

In the same way, we serve our earthly masters, with our eye on the door, waiting for our heavenly master to come through the door and tell us we are free. Telling us to come with Him into His heavenly glories.

He's not going to change His mind, but He tells us it will be good for us if He find us watching for Him when He comes. Why are we watching? Because we can't wait to be with Him. We don't know what it will be like, we can't even imagine it, but our God who is so loving, so caring, so merciful has promised us only good things, and we are going to be with Him. Why wouldn't we look forward to His return, serving our neighbor while we wait?

In order to keep serving our earthly masters, though, we need to be able to see. We need to see why we serve these masters. If we think we must, because we will be rewarded for it, we will lose the joy of service. We will feel forced, manipulated, even tricked. But if our light keeps burning, we will be able to see, not only to serve, but to see why. We serve, because we have been served. We have been given the assurance of eternal life, guaranteed because of what Jesus has done, made new creatures in our baptism, so that our first thought as new creatures isn't our needs, but the needs of others.

But that light needs to burn. We need to keep getting the oil for our lamps constantly replenished. That oil is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit comes through the service of our God to us. He gives us His Holy Spirit through His Word. We receive that word when He speaks it, or He gives it to us attached to bread and wine.

So it comes back to us always first receiving from Him-our heavenly master-Him serving us, just as we are at the Divine Service, with the "Divine Serving us," and then serving our earthly masters, our neighbors, our family, co-workers, customers, students, friends, fellow citizens, fellow parishioners, and so on.

So, what does this have to do with the New Year? I think it should be obvious. Let's makes some resolutions, ones that we know we won't keep perfectly, in fact, know we can't, but we know will have the blessings of our Lord, because these are exactly His wishes.

First, make it a point to keep your lamps filled. You need the Holy Spirit to be a happy servant. Without the Holy Spirit, your service dries up or becomes a chore. You think about yourself and what you need, and in the process hurt the very ones you have been called to serve. The Holy Spirit comes through the Word, and the Word comes through the Lord Himself serving you. Therefore, make it a point to be in the Word this year. At the very least, be sure to attend worship as much as possible, where you know the Lord will be speaking to you.

Second, serve your neighbor, your heavenly masters. This is your whole purpose for being, the reason why you are alive. And yet, if you keep filling your lamp with the oil of the Holy Spirit, this will fall into place.

Finally, keep your eyes open for the return of the Lord. He will come back with little notice. So keep serving, expecting Him to come at any time. Keep your eye on the door, just like the Hebrews during the Passover. Actually, I don't have to tell you to look forward to his return, because if you keep getting filled with the Holy Spirit, which comes when the Lord serves you at worship, your eagerness for His return will increase.

So, really it comes down to one resolution. Keep your lamps burning. Keep being filled with the Holy Spirit. That means to keep coming to worship to receive His gifts and then-everything else will just fall into place.

AMEN