President Harrison closes one of the chapters in his book on joy with a Walther quote which says, "Remember when you become ministers, you become helpers of the Christian's joy." (Little Book on Joy 123). Your pastor is called by Jesus and placed into the Office of the Holy Minister to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments in accordance with the Gospel. He is called to forgive the sins of those who repent and to withhold forgiveness from those who refuse to repent. In the end, the goal of everything that the pastor does is to present sinners to the Father with a clean conscience, free from sin, blameless and joyful that they are going to be with their Savior forever. The pastor is called to bring joy into the midst of sinner's lives, not by giving the itching ear what it wants to hear, but by preaching the Law and the Gospel to the end that their joy may be full in the mercy of Jesus the Christ.

One of the chief places where the pastor brings joy into the sinner's life is in the sermon. The sermon is in the context of the liturgy and is the climax of the service of the Word. The pastor is placed into the pulpit to do one thing, to declare sinners forgiven in the Name of Jesus and to declare them saints in the Blood of Christ. He is placed into the pulpit to deliver the gifts of the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. When the pastor is placed into the pulpit, the voice you hear is not a sinner's voice, but the very voice of Jesus. The pastor stands in the stead of Christ and preaches to you in order that he may help you in your joy in Jesus. He preaches the law to you that your transgressions may increase, meaning you may recognize your need for Jesus and see how much your Savior has taken upon Himself for you. The pastor preaches the law, and because you are the baptized, you repent of your sins because you know that you should walk in these commandments with joy and delight, but you don't. You desire to keep the law, but you fail; therefore, you repent and the pastor doesn't hand you more law to keep, but instead preaches the mercy of Jesus into your ear that it may make a home in your heart. 

The pastor preaches the sermon to the end that you are forgive all of your sins and sent away in joy and peace. He preaches the sermon that you may approach the table of the Lord in the Lord's Supper with a clean conscience, joyful that you eat and drink as a child of God. He preaches the sermon to justify you in the blood of Jesus. A sermon is not something you need to dread every Sunday, 15 minutes of day dreaming with the hope that the pastor gets to the point and stops. Rather, the sermon is a joyous occasion in which you are forgiven all of your sins and declared a child of God. You have joy in the hearing the sermon because in it you receive Jesus and His gift of forgiveness. The pastor helps you in your joy in Jesus by handing over the unconditional gift of absolution. May you have joy in the sermon, for in it you receive Jesus who gives you joy that can never be taken away.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull