Luke 15:8-10
‘…suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
Jesus more than once talks about joy in heaven when a sinner repents. There is joy among the angels. Jesus is not talking just about our first turning to God. That will, of course, set heaven ablaze with joy. He is talking, I believe, about someone already in God’s hands who has sinned (possibly not for the first time) but has turned away in repentance, returning to God.
The woman in this short parable had not found a stray coin to add to her collection, which might be the cause of joy. She’d lost one and searched until she’d found. Remember that a silver coin is a precious item. I might just not bother searching my house for a lost 10p coin! You would not want to lose a silver coin. Imagine it as one tenth of your total wealth. It would be an occasion for joy should a coin of such high value come back into your hands. In a close society, everyone rejoices along with the woman – there’s bound to be a party in the offing!
Heaven rejoices not only when someone comes to Christ but when a child of God, his own, comes back home. We do not deserve forgiveness, but because of Jesus when we make that turn back from sin to Father God his whole household rejoices.
Angels are not just functionaries. They share in the business of heaven. They see and hear what is going on, and they love to party.
How many angels have you caused to be joyful today?
Do angels weep when you fall away?
Are you worth searching out?
What value does Father God place on you?
Do you think that we might have specific angels assigned to us?
Father God, am I really that important to you that you would come after me in Christ Jesus and bring me home? Am I, wretched, lost, the subject of your amazing saving grace? Let me spend at least ten thousand years in heaven figuring it out. Amen.
Paul