LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 101

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At meals, we pray to Him who satisfies the desires of
every living thing, Luther writes, “because God gives to
us and to the animals so much food as to make us joyful
and of good cheer.” 21 It’s true, isn’t it? There can be a lot
of joy in a good meal, and even more when it’s received
as a gift from our loving Father.
With the Catechism’s Morning Prayer, after
commending ourselves and all that is ours into God’s
hands, Luther instructs that we should “go to [our]
work with joy,” singing a hymn. This joy in daily work
springs from the assurance that life is lived under God’s
mercy and care. But there’s more. In his discussion of
the Commandments, Luther delights in the assurance
that our daily work is commanded by God and pleasing
to Him. Here Luther writes, “Should not the heart, then,
leap and melt with joy when going to work and doing
what is commanded, saying, ‘Look! This is better than
all the holiness of the monks,* even though they kill
themselves fasting and praying upon their knees
without ceasing! For here you have a sure text and a
divine testimony that God has commanded this. But
concerning the holiness of the monks He did not
command a word.” 22 Whatever your vocation, go about
your daily work with joy, serving others in accordance
with the Ten Commandments, with the joyous
assurance that your daily work is good, meaningful,
and a joy for you, for others, and for God.
In particular, Luther extols the God-pleasing vocation
of marriage and family life as a source of joy. In the
Large Catechism, he deplores “the filthy, loose,
disorderly behavior that runs riot the world over in
open prostitution and other shameful vices arising
from disregard for married life.” He says that parents
and government should restore marriage to its place of
honor by bringing up children with discipline and
respectability and by providing for them to marry in the
fear of God and honorably. And Luther adds, “God will
not fail to add his blessing and grace, so that people
would have joy and happiness from marriage.” 23
And since about half of you here are pastors, I should
note the joy that God desires to give in that daily
vocation as well. In one of his Friday Evening Lectures
to seminarians, Dr. Walther said: “I cherish another
wish concerning you … that you may be filled with great
cheerfulness to proclaim this most blessed doctrine
some day with joy to your congregations. If you had to
preach nothing else than sterile ethics, you might
consider that a tedious task, yielding meager results.
But if you have experienced in your heart what it means
to convey to poor, lost, and condemned sinners the
consolation of the Gospel … you cannot but look forward
Convention Essays

with joy to the day when you will stand for the first time
before your congregations to deliver this august
message. Moreover, you will surely be forced to say: ‘I
have certainly chosen the most beautiful and glorious
calling on earth.’” 24
But married or single, pastor or layperson, farmer,
teacher, factory worker, engineer, nurse, son or
daughter, neighbor, friend — whatever your vocation,
day by day, the eternal joy which you have been given
in Christ can shine. Eternal joy in Christ, shining in our
daily lives.
5. THIS JOY IS A SHARED JOY
A fifth and final observation is that Christian joy is a
shared joy.
In Paul’s charge, “Rejoice always,” “rejoice” is a plural
imperative: “y’all rejoice.” He calls upon the
Thessalonians as a body, as the family of God, together,
to share in the joy of Christ. And throughout his letter,
Paul makes clear that his own joy in Christ is a shared
joy. Paul is writing this letter because he is physically
away from these people; he is separated from them.
And so again and again he conveys his longing to be
with them again, to see them. The joy that Paul has in
Christ, he wants to share with them again, by being
with them. 25
As the one who first brought the Gospel to this place,
Paul’s greatest concern is to see that they are walking
in the faith. He speaks about the reports he has received
regarding the Thessalonians’ faith and love, and writes,
“Now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” 26
Their faith in Christ is a great joy to Paul, and he
anticipates that it will be an even greater joy on the Last
Day. “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting
before our Lord Jesus at his coming?” Paul writes. “Is it
not you [O Thessalonians]? For you are our glory and
joy” (1 Thess. 2:19–20).
You pastors knows this; you labor for this. You long to
share faith and joy in Christ with your people, forever.
You Christian parents knows this; you labor for this.
You long to share faith and joy in Christ with your
children, forever. We should all labor and long for this
— sharing faith and joy in Christ with those around us,
forever. For Jesus Christ brings joy, and joy is meant to
be shared. Think of Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep and
the lost coin. In the joy of finding, the shepherd and the
woman in these parables invite their friends and their
neighbors: Come, rejoice with me! 27
Joy in Christ is a shared joy, forever. And thus Paul
encourages those Thessalonians who are grieving the
loss of loved ones. He assures them that the day is
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 101