The Theology of the Face
Thursday’s Verse:
From Proverbs 15:13 ESV
“A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.”
One of the beautiful teachings of the Lutheran church is the doctrine of vocation: God works His will through us to serve our neighbor. When we talk about vocation, we typically mean jobs or roles, such as being a parent. However, our presence is also our vocation. When you enter a room, your neighbor’s first interaction with you will be with your face.
A smile is more than a facial expression; it’s a physical proclamation of the Gospel.
Solomon exhorts us that our face should shine because of the gladness of our hearts.
The face reflects the heart. The heart is glad, not because you are naturally chipper or your heart is unaffected by life’s dirt. Your heart is glad because you have been made glad by Grace’s Justification. In Christ, your greatest well of grief, sin and death, has been nailed to the cross. Once you take in that Truth, it naturally springs upward.
Our world tells us to grin and bear it. To fake a smile until making it. But the second half of the verse doesn’t ignore that there are times our spirit is crushed. Lutheranism doesn’t ignore suffering. When we smile through the pain, we aren’t trying to ignore it. We smile through the ashes because we know the story's ending.
Even now, while we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Consider your smile a tool of comfort. When you smile at that stranger, stressed-out cashier, lonely sibling, you shine the peace of Christ. You declare to them, “I see you, you are loved, and there is peace that exceeds all understanding.”
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have given us the gladness of heart that springs from knowing our sins are forgiven. Cleanse away the dullness of our spirits and allow Your light to shine brightly through our countenance. Let us use our smiles today to be a simple tool of Your grace, comforting others and shining the joy of our King. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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