Happy New Year! I pray that it will be a good year for all of you. But what will it be like? In the Oriental, Chinese calendar, it is the Year of the Cow. Will this year be like a cow? Wall Street investors hope so, because a so-called gbull marketh is a market that is on the rise. I cannot predict he future, I can just pray that it will be good for us.

I thought it might be fun to look in the Bible and see what it says about cows. There is quite a bit, actually. According to Genesis Chapter One, cows and cattle were created on the sixth day (Gen.1:24). And so they are part of Godfs plan for creation.

Cows and bulls have the reputation of being strong and fierce. (Ps. 22: 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.) That strength is utilized as farm animals and for pulling wagons. (1 Kings 19:19) (2 Sam.6:6)

And the milk was used for drinking, for butter, cheese and yogurt. (Isaiah 7:15) And of course, beef was part of the diet. (1 Kings 19:21) The gfatted calfh became the feast for special guests (Gen. 18:7).

We sometimes hear about ganimalfs rightsh and the humane treatment of animals. Even the Bible we read about this. For example@Deut.25:4@Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. Luke 14:5 Then he asked them, gIf one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?h

One of the important uses of the bull or ox in the Bible is as a sacrifice. Sometimes it was offered as a whole burnt offering, as a sin offering. But usually only part was burnt on the altar to show worship and faith, and then the rest of the meat was eaten by the family as a thanksgiving offering, or even as an ordinary meal.

Then there was the Golden Calf made by Aaron in the Wilderness when Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and nights. Aaron said that the idol was the Lord God who brought them out of Egypt. But this made God angry. Moses destroyed the idol and punished those who worshiped it. Many years later, when the country of Israel was divided North and South, the Northern Kingdom did not want to go to Jerusalem to worship, so the king made new golden calves and set them up in the towns of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-30) for the people to worship. And this became a great sin for the people.

Then there was the worship of the idol god called Baal. Baal was usually made in the form of a bull. Baal worship was for agricultural success. It was associated with many evil practices forbidden by the Lord God and caused many Israelites to sin and fall away from the true faith.

For us Christians reading the Bible, we remember that bulls were sacrificed for the forgiveness of sin. This is important. Sin separates us from God. Sin keeps us separated from God. Sin separates us from all the blessings we pray for. The greatest sin is unbelief. Unbelief keeps us away from God and true worship and the forgiveness of sin.

We have just celebrated Christmas. The Angel told Joseph to name the child gJesush because ghe will save his people from their sins.h (Mt.1:21). The name gJesush means gSavior.h This is the purpose of the birth of Jesus, that is, to save us from our sins, to forgive our sins. And that was done through his sacrifice on the cross. Usually we call Jesus the gLamb of Godh because sheep were used more often than bulls, but the effect of the sacrifice is he same.

The Letter to the Hebrews speaks a lot about the many Old Testament sacrifices and the one and only sacrifice of the New Testament. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, because he was the Son of God, was better than all the many sacrifices of the Old Testament and was sufficient for the forgiveness of sins of all time. That is why we do not offer sacrifices on the altar in New Testament times. It is not necessary to burn sheep and bulls on the altar because Jesus died on the cross once and for all. In Christ we have been forgiven, so Hebrews 10:18 says, gAnd where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.h

What this means for us who are starting the New Year of 2009 is that our sins are forgiven. In the eyes of God, our sins of the past will not haunt us. We may have regrets. Some people may not be as ready to forgive as God is. We still have to pay our credit card debts and other obligations. But before God we are forgiven. Because we believe that Jesus is our Savior, we are saved. The burdens of the past are removed. This is the freedom that we begin the New Year with. It is a good feeling. We are free from the past, free for the future.

I wonder how this year will be for me personally. I was born in the Year of the Cow. So it should be a good year for me, I pray! There is an English expression, "stubborn as an ox." That probably fits me pretty good. That can be both good and bad. I pray that it will mean that I can rededicate my life as a sacrifice to God and be faithful and strong in my duties to God and the people I love and serve.

But of course, the church of Christ counts this year as gThe Year of our Lord 2009.h It counts from when Jesus was born. It means that this is his year. It is a year of grace given to us from Christ. It is a year to give back to Christ in service and love, just as he serves us and loves us.

Amen.

@@Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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