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Rejoice
How often do you think about that happening at the center of the Universe? Rejoicing sounds so, well, exuberant, delighted, excited, happy,even celebratory! For as often as the Bible invites us to rejoice, you have to wonder sometimes how that sentiment got lost along the way for so many who have found other primary emotions to substitute in its place.
But even more rich and amazing is what it is that causes the rejoicing.
The passage in Luke 15 begins with the experience of being lost. Not exactly a cause for rejoicing. Being lost is generally not a fun experience. Sometimes we are aware that we are lost, sometimes we are not aware of just how lost we are until sometime later. But however we experience it, it is not a good place to be. These parables are stories about how God is with us when we are in the midst of the experience, whether or not we are aware of it at the time. In each case, central to the experience described, is the rejoicing over the recovery of what, or who, is lost. Oddly, this does not always go over well - especially among those who are least likely to be aware of their own lostness.
Several things surface in this story. The sharing of table fellowship, and act which proclaimed a willingness to welcome, receive, and be with, those who others insisted did not qualify. Why is that "the religious" are often so bent on pointing out how God cannot be with people who they consider as lost? Jesus suggests something quite different here, which gives us some corrective insights into the character of God. The "religious" accused Jesus of being a glutton and drunkard, and worse, which reflects just how much they had missed and distorted about the character of God and the priorities of His Kingdom. Jesus apparently had not gotten the memo about how you needed to shun those who are not "one of us."
And so Jesus tells these stories. A lost sheep. A lost coin. A lost son. And how God feels about them all. What is central to the Kingdom. And in the last story, the reaction of those who miss the point of it all - for whom rejoicing was the last thing on their mind - at least as a result of what motivated the Father.
How is it that the elder son could be around the Father so much, so correct in so many ways, and yet so out of tune with the heart of the Father? Have you ever heard people disparage those who are more interested in loving well than being theologically correct? Have you ever noticed how some in their desire to be theologically correct feel perfectly justified in running down and disparaging those with whom they disagree? How offended people can be when God rejoices over those whom others find objectionable in some way! How sad that people are willing to give up being in tune with the heart of the Father, and do so in the name of the Father! So Jesus tells these stories. Are we willing to listen, really listen? Are we willing to hear? Are we willing to accept the invitation to come and stand along side of the Father, and go where the Father goes, and be the kind of person, the Father is.
There is much to reflect on here! We need to read these thoughtfully, and prayerfully, and allow them to sink deeply into who we are.
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Luke 15
NIV
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
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