Rejoice with me!

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

- Luke 15:1-10

Yesterday we read that, at this point in Jesus' ministry, great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish'?  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.  Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men through it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.   Here at the beginning of chapter 15, Jesus gives three parables regarding God's love for all His Creation.  This is an answer to the Pharisees and scribes who complain that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them.  In today's reading, we're given two of the parables, and the story of the Prodigal Son will follow in tomorrow's reading.  In this first parable the man is seen as representing Christ Himself.  The one hundred sheep are traditionally seen as representing all rational creation.  The one that goes astray is mankind, while the ninety-nine represent the angelic realm.

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  Ten silver coins, says my study bible, comprise a single necklace worn by a married woman, a bride, which is an image of the Church (Ephesians 5:32).  The lost coin (drachma in the Greek) bore the image of the king.  It symbolizes mankind, who although bearing the image of God, fell from grace.  Through the Church, Christ enlightens the world, sweeps away sin, and finds His lost creation.

Rejoice with me! (Greek Συνχάρητέ μοι) is the phrase Jesus uses in both of these parables.  We notice, it's not just an expression or exclamation, but it is a command.  Jesus is once again giving us a clear picture of the feelings of God.  God suffers with us when we suffer, and suffers for us, and suffers without us.  But finding one lost, the command comes out to all the rest of creation, Rejoice with me!  What was lost has been found.  It speaks of the full unity of life and all that lives, that the whole of creation is a community.  We are to rejoice together as God rejoices over even a single one that was lost to God, and lost to this community of the Kingdom.  The word in Greek, Συνχάρητέ, is not only a command addressed to all, but it means "with (συν) rejoice (χαίρω)."  And this word rejoice, is linked to both joy (χαρα) and grace (χαρις).  In the reflected meanings of these words, we rejoice not only over the one who is lost and now found, but all of us rejoice together in the grace that makes all of this possible, that permeates and commands all things.  It is only our own free will that keeps us lost; grace (and joy) always await our return.  Each of us may imagine our own feelings (or know them perfectly well through experience) should we lose a friend and then finding them, or more poignantly -- and which will be included in tomorrow's reading -- losing a child and then being reunited.  In the humblest times of our lives, we know and understand what this is.  We are invited to imagine what it is for God to rejoice and to command all of creation to "rejoice with me."  This is the very fabric of the connection we have with others, and with life itself, all living things.  It is this grace, this joy, this love.  It is found in this command.  We can't help but be glad -- no matter what our conflicting feelings -- when one is restored to a good place, right thinking, right-relationship, a righteous life.  This is inseparable from true place in community, and in the grander scheme of the community of all of creation.  It is impossible to imagine the grandeur that rejoices at the least of us returning to the fullness of this community, participating, reunited in the fullness of the promise of the image within us.  This is restoration not only to true place, but to true identity, the fullness of self found in this place of belonging.  Let us remember the joy and the grace, for it permeates every command of God, and the whole of the search for spiritual life and belonging, the true substance of discipleship.  It is the fullness of love.