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LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 97

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

Joy:fully Lutheran: Rejoice Always
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16

Rev. Dr. Thomas Egger
Assistant Professor, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
67th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod • July 22, 2019
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, and greetings in Christ to all of you
from the faculty and students at Concordia Seminary in
St. Louis, where I teach Old Testament. And greetings
especially from my summer Hebrew students, who are
pretty happy, I’m sure, to have a break from me this
Monday!
This morning, we continue our series of essays under
the convention theme “Joy:fully Lutheran,” which Dr.
Herb Mueller kicked off for us yesterday by
emphasizing that Lutheran theology is biblical
theology, and that sound theology centers upon the
proclamation of Jesus Christ for you, the Good News that
alone brings true comfort to sinners. Following Dr.
Mueller’s essay, there will be three more, which will
unpack Paul’s wonderful exhortation in 1
Thessalonians, chapter 5: (1) Rejoice always, (2) pray
continually and (3) give thanks in all circumstances.
And my essay this morning takes up Paul’s first
statement: “Rejoice always.”

In the original Greek, it’s two words, just like in the
English: Pántote chaírete (πάντοτε χαίρετε). Always
rejoice. Pántote (πάντοτε) — always — at all times, in
all circumstances, for all time. Chaírete (χαίρετε) —
rejoice, all of you — be joyful, express joy.
THE YES! OF REJOICING, AND ITS OBSTACLES
To rejoice is to feel and to express a wonderful Yes!
Picture an athlete having just clenched a key victory:
the winning pitch of the World Series. Yes! The winning
goal of a hockey game. Yes! There was a fair amount of
loud shouting in the Egger family living room earlier
this summer, the night the St. Louis Blues won the
Stanley Cup! Four times during that game, that final
game, every time the Blues scored a goal, we all jumped
from our seats and yelled, “Yes!” — and scared the crap
out of the dog, every time. An employee gets news of a
big promotion. Yes! A marriage is celebrated. A baby is
born. A husband returns safely home from war. Yes!
Rejoicing is feeling and expressing a wonderful Yes!

Brothers and sisters, we are Christians. And Jesus
Christ brings joy.
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” we sing at
Christmas.
At Easter, we sing, “Awake, my heart, with gladness”
(LSB, 467) We sing, “All the earth with joy is sounding,
Christ has risen from the dead!” (LSB, 462). We sing,
“This joyful Eastertide, away with sin and sorrow. My
love, the Crucified, has sprung to life this morrow”
(LSB, 482).
Even in our somber observances of Good Friday, we
pray the ancient prayer of adoration: “We adore You, O
Lord, and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection.
For behold, by the wood of Your cross, joy has come into
all the world.” 1
We are Christians. And Jesus Christ brings joy. For this
reason, Paul can write to the Thessalonians this simple
exhortation: Rejoice always.
Convention Essays

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 97