...hath a continual feast.” And is not this our calling, people loved by God? Has not Christ our Savior given us abundant cause for a merry heart? He Himself is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world! He Himself has promised us “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” He Himself has assured us through His holy apostle that He works all things for the good of those who love Him. He has promised us nothing less than the Kingdom. He consoles us that those we lose in this life who die in Him are not truly lost to us at all. He promises that He will wipe away all the tears from our eyes and that He cares for us so that we can indeed cast every care of our lives upon Him.
When we think of it, how can we NOT have a merry heart enjoying the continual feast that He has summoned us into? Luther once said that the devil is a sad spirit. True indeed. What sorrow is greater than definitive rejection of Him who alone is our joy and our life. “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” And no wonder the man could preach upon the Annunciation: “But for a man who belongs to everlasting kingdom all is well, and it is fitting that he should dance through life forevermore!” (Sermon, 1544) Oh, Lord, give us one and all merry hearts that we may witness Your joy in our lives.
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