Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents

 

Christ the Shepherd with the lost sheep.  Roman Catacombs, 3rd century

 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, swept 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 time in Christ's 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 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 throw 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."   Regarding today's entire passage, my study bible explains that for pious Jews, fellowship with sinners was defiling.  What follows in Christ's response to the Pharisees and scribes are three parables giving the image of a man, a woman and the father (this third parable is recorded in the verses in tomorrow's lectionary reading).  These are seen as representing Christ, the Church, and God the Father.  My study bible quotes St. Ambrose of Milan:  "Christ carries the sinners, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."

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."   There is a spiritual interpretation of this parable in patristic commentary:  the hundred sheep represent all rational creation.  The one sheep who goes astray symbolizes humankind.  The ninety-nine represent the angelic realm.  

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, swept 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."  My study Bible comments that ten silver coins comprise a single necklace worn by a married woman -- a bride, which is an image of the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32).  The lost coin (in Greek, a drachma) carried the image of the king.  My study bible says this image symbolizes human beings, 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.

Christ's parables are about longing, a depth of love, and especially a deep understanding of incompleteness without the missing sheep, or the missing coin.  These are images that give us a sense that it is the whole of humanity with which Jesus is concerned, the whole of His creation for which He fervently desires redemption, salvation, and union -- a return back to love and communion with Creator.  We're given pictures of what constitutes a whole set:  not just the ninety-nine sheep, but the complete one hundred are so fervently desired that Christ would leave behind all rest in the wilderness to seek out the one.  The woman with the necklace of ten coins will go to great lengths to seek out the one that is missing and complete the set, reunited altogether, for her understanding is one of great urgency that one is missing.  Altogether, Jesus is expressing His great love for each one of us, even the ones who are lost or straying.  We don't earn God's love in this sense that we are unworthy of that love when we stray or sin.   God's love is God's prerogative, not up to us, and God's very nature is love.  Therefore, even when we sin, we ought to be assured that a return in humility and honesty is always going to be conditioned in that love.  That is to say, God is a parent whose love is unconditional.  That doesn't mean always approving of everything we do!  It means real love, One who wants what is best for us, and what is best for us is to be in communion with the One who loves us best, better than what we can understand.  When we see God's love in this light, we understand discipleship to be healing (as Christ speaks of Himself as physician in another such encounter - see Luke 5:30-31).  In the Revelation, the Lord says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19).  From Jesus' parables in today's reading, we can understand the ground of all of our reality is really the love of God, sustaining all, and all of us.  When we wonder why there is such evil in the world, perhaps we'd best turn to these parables to understand God's deep love and the time we're given in hopes of repentance and return.  I find myself reminded also of the story of the man who identified himself as Legion, for whom Christ set sail with the disciples across a frighteningly stormy Sea of Galilee, to a very strange place to find that man, occupied by a legion of demons and living among tombs, in order to heal him (see this reading).  Christ's ministry opened up grace for all of us, the Lord coming into the world to reclaim those who were lost, and seeking after each one.  The Spirit has been poured out upon the world, and we simply have to say yes to this deep invitation of love to all of us.  

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance

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 lam, 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

In yesterday's reading, we were told that great multitudes went with Jesus. 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 throw 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."    My study bible tells us that "mealtime fellowship with tax collectors and sinners was considered to be defiling for pious Jews."   So, it's not a situation where Jesus is simply having something to do with these people and paying them attention as followers, but rather a defiling act, a sort of contamination.

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."  My study bible says, "Joy in heaven for the repentance of each sinner is the main theme of this chapter.  Jesus connects repentance with joy, not sadness."   Jesus teaches, "I am the good shepherd" in John's Gospel.   But Luke here gives us a particular angle on repentance, on the return of even one lost sheep out of one hundred.  It is the illustration of what has been lost and now is found.  Somehow the finding of the one that was lost creates a kind of preciousness made by love. 

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lam, 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."  The great joy in heaven that Jesus speaks us tells us something not only about the gift of human faith and its connection to God, but also the power in one act of repentance.  If even the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents, then we must understand how carefully we each are thought of, how deeply we are truly loved.

Jesus makes palpable in today's reading, the great longing and love of God for those who stray or are far away.  The impact of these parables isn't about someone who has always been gone, but rather one that for certain came from a "home," a particular place of belonging, and has strayed, or has been lost.  It is  a kind of longing that makes particularly joyous the return of this thing, this person, who has been gone, who has strayed or been lost.  It's a love made potent or powerful through the retrieval of what was thought to have been lost.  If we think about it, it tells us a great deal about God, about heaven.  Does God feel such a longing for each of us?  Do the angels feel the loss of one human being, so that a triumphant shout of joy is the result of one who returns?  This is a powerful understanding of God's love, and of what it really means to return or to repent, to come back to find God's way, the ways the angels would have us return to their places, to union of assembly with them.  So it is with the sinners who sit at table with Jesus, and His great love for them.  It doesn't matter where they've been; what matters a great deal more is the joy in heaven over their return, to have them back together at the assembly where we are among the communion of saints, where we worship together with the angels.  I don't think there could be more effective parables illustrating the longing and love of God, the true worth of one single human being, the great joy in heaven over each one of us just because we return.  When you come to God, consider Jesus' parables, how much we are loved, and what it means to return even a single human being to this love.  Perhaps then we will understand "right-relatedness" with a true depth befitting God's mission to us in the form of His Son whom God sent to reclaim, reconnect, and heal, so that the joy in heaven may be truly boundless.