[Read Luke 15:1-10]
In Luke 15, Jesus tells 3 stories.
* Each story speaks of something lost and then found. A lost sheep. A lost coin. And a lost son.
* And at the end of each one, Jesus describes a party, a celebration.
* The shepherd throws the party for the lost-now-found sheep.
* The housewife throws a party because of the lost-now-found coin.
* And the father throws a party in honour of his lost-now-found son.
Three parables, each ends with a party. Three stories, each with the appearance of the same word – rejoice.
* Regarding the shepherd who found the lost sheep, Jesus says, “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” (15:5 NAS) and he calls together his friends and neighbours and says, “Rejoice with me…”
* When the housewife finds her lost coin, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me…” (15:9 NAS)
* And the father of the prodigal son explains to the reluctant older brother, “we had to celebrate and rejoice…” (15:32 NAS)
Jesus says “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (15:10)
* The point is clear. Heaven is most happy when the lost are found.
* Charles Spurgeon says, “Christ is not glorified because He was born in a manger but because He is born in a broken heart.”
How do we explain such a joy? Why such a hoo-ha over this?
* We are not talking about a whole nation of people or even a city of souls.
* We are talking about the joy over one person.
* Jesus says (15:7) “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Imagine this. You went home one night and the family was there, and they burst into cheers because it was your birthday.
* You were in class, and the teacher suddenly paused his teaching and greeted you, and the whole class burst into a birthday song. The principal walked in to congratulate you.
* You step into the hall and the whole church, the congregation of 130 people sang you the birthday song. And there was this huge cake with lighted candles in the middle of the room.
How do you feel? Overwhelmed, and you may feel it’s a little overdone. It isn’t that necessary. How could one person create that much excitement?
* But that’s what Jesus wants us to see – the hosts of angels (1000s or 10,000s) celebrate the salvation of one soul.
Most of the time actually, we feel average, or even neglected and unnoticed. Who bothers about me, anyway?
* According to this passage, God is. Heaven is. [Don’t let the devil fool you!]
* When one person turns from sin to God, he makes a tremendous impact on the unseen world. Heaven pauses for a celebration.
You see, heaven throws no party over our other achievements.
* When we graduate from school or open our business or closes a deal, as far as we know.
* But the angels celebrate over the salvation of one soul. One is good reason to call for a party and great rejoicing.
It is a BIG deal. You are, and I am. And everyone is.
* Do we share that same perspective? Do we share such enthusiasm today? I ask myself.
* When I hear of a soul saved, do I drop everything and celebrate for a moment?
* Well, I may be happy, but I cannot say I am always as overwhelmed as heaven is.
* There are some who may even echo the elder brother’s sentiment – “So what’s the big deal?”
Why do Jesus and His angels rejoice over ONE repenting sinner? Can they see something we can’t? Do they know something we don’t?
* Yes, I think so. They SAW about heaven, and they SAW about hell.
* The angels have first-hand knowledge. They see, hear and feel the glorious presence of God and the shining beauty of Christ in heaven. They tasted it, literally. Nothing is comparable.
* And they know the horror of hell, where God isn’t there. (The parable of the rich man and Lazarus give us such a hint.) Imagine a place void of any good sense, no kindness, no comfort, no love, no hope, no music but sounds of perpetual weeping, pain, despair, and moaning. No wonder they were so excited seeing someone crossing over!
The angels also KNOW something else – they saw the love of the Father.
* It is not just a love of a Creator for His creation. It is more significant than that. It is a love of a father for His child. The heart of God is a Father’s heart.
* And they saw the love of Christ – that of the Bridegroom for His bride, the church.
* There is this qualitative twist to it. It good to know your friend loves you, your pastor cares about you, but there is something about a father’s love for his son.
* Jesus took pains to express that in detail, in the 3rd parable. There is a relationship that is at stake here.
Can you see now why the angels rejoice when ONE sinner repents? It’s a big deal!
* It is a matter of heaven and hell; it is a love relationship that must be cherished.
Can you see why we should rejoice as well? Do we see what the angels see?
* Could this be the reason why many believers are living frustrated, tired and often unhappy lives? They are not doing that which is most significant.
* They are doing many things (like the elder brother), but not the one thing that can bring true joy (loving the lost).
How can our hearts be changed so we can rejoice like Jesus and the angels?
* We got to see the way God sees this world. His perspective is simple, you are either heading towards Him (heaven) or away from Him (hell).
* At the sinking of the Titanic, over 2,200 people were cast into the Atlantic Ocean. On shore, the names of the passengers were posted in 2 simple columns – saved and lost. It is that simple.
For us, that piece of paper may be cluttered with more columns.
* Is he rich? Is she pretty? What is he working as? Where did she graduate from? What church he goes to? We size up people in many ways. These are irrelevant to God.
* The more we are like Christ, the less columns we would have. Many things in life don’t really matter. We will end up with just 2 columns – saved or lost.
* We pray that God will give us such a perspective, or deepen that perspective for us.
[Robena Hestenes, chairperson of the board of directors of World Vision International, a former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, in URBANA 1987, a mission conference.]
Paraphrase of Luke 18:35-43
Many years ago there was a blind beggar who sat by the side of the road, and as the traffic went by no one paid much attention to him. But one day he heard the noise of a crowd, and he knew that something was happening. Someone important was passing by.
He asked, "What’s happening? What’s going on?" The bystanders replied, "It’s Jesus of Nazareth. He’s coming. He’s on his way with his disciples to Jerusalem."
Then the beggar cried out, "Jesus, son of David have mercy on me."
The disciples said to this beggar, "Shut up. Be quiet. Don’t disturb the status quo."
All too often I sense that we are afraid to feel the hurt, the pain and the suffering of this world. We anesthetize ourselves. We keep ourselves flooded with sensations and with noise and with activities so we won’t see the pain of this world.
Jesus’ disciples were walking down the road, and Jesus had important things to do. They were important people because they were with Jesus, and who’s got time for blind beggars?
But the blind man would not shut up. He cried out even louder, and Jesus did something astonishing. He stopped, and everyone with him had to stop - why go if Jesus isn’t going with you?
Then Jesus called to the man. In the midst of the press of the multitude and the dust and the noise of the crowd, Jesus had time for one person’s hurts. And He healed him!
God has placed us in this generation to do the same.
* The things we do today can either make an eternal impact, or it will go down wasted for eternity.
* God has a divine purpose for you and me, if He places you and me here in KT. Don’t you think? Or in a particular school, or company, or in this nation, don’t you think?
Let’s do that which can fills our heart with the greatest, unspeakable joy.
* There is nothing comparable! True lasting joy comes when we work hand-in-hand with God in saving the lost, and see them come home, one by one by one.
CLOSING SONG: MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Pray.
