REPENTANCE – SUCH JOY!

In my first blog, I mentioned the fact that the message of repentance is woven throughout the New Testament. It was such a central part of Jesus’ message that He not only talked about the essential need for it, but He told stories about it as well. Last week we discussed one of those stories told specifically in an attempt to get the super-religious Pharisees to see themselves for who they really were, prideful and condemning of others (Lk. 18:9-14). But there were other stories that Jesus told in order to illustrate the need for repentance, and three of those stories are recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

Jesus told of a shepherd with a flock of 100 sheep, and one of them wandered away from the others and became lost. Realizing he still had 99 other sheep to provide more than enough profit for him, he could have easily disregarded the one and simply made note of it in the “lost” column of his ledger. Not so with this shepherd, as he left the 99 in the pasture and went out to search for the one who was lost. And then, once found, the shepherd placed it on his shoulders and carried it home, rejoicing that he had finally found his lost sheep. Upon reaching the village, he called all of his friends and neighbors to continue the celebration with him, and then Jesus drives home His point about repentance saying, “There is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents….” (Lk. 15:1-7).

The second of the three stories has to do with something else that was lost, this time, it was a single coin, and specifically, one of ten special coins the woman had. Not content with still having nine, the loss of a single coin (maybe it was part of her dowry) caused her to search the entire house until she found it. And after finding it, she called together her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her over the coin that had been found. And again, Jesus drives home the point that there is “….great joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:8-10).

Wow, people on earth rejoicing, all pointing to the fact that the angels in heaven are rejoicing over just one sinner who comes to the realization that he has wandered far from God, making some really destructive choices in his search for fulfillment. The “sinner” has come to the realization that only God can forgive him and fill that “God-shaped” vacuum in his soul. Jesus loves to hear the sound of people rejoicing, whether on earth or in heaven, and so he calls us to repent. We are all “sinners” until we repent, and when we do, God cleanses and removes our sin. He gives the repentant sinner a whole new “life,” and in the process, he takes on a new identity, being transformed from a “sinner” to a “Child of God.” Now that’s cause for rejoicing, both on the part of the sinner who has found “life,” as well as with the angels in heaven.

In Jesus’ first illustration, it was a shepherd looking for one lost sheep out of a hundred, and in the second, it was a woman looking for one lost coin out of ten. In the third story, it was Father who had lost one of his two sons. With each story, the stakes got higher and the potential loss more pronounced. Furthermore, if the sheep were caught on a precipitous ledge or in a thicket, he was helpless until the shepherd found him. And, the coin could only lie on the floor of the house until it was found by someone. But in the third story, not only are the stakes higher, but unlike the shepherd or the woman, the Father who had lost one of his sons decides not go searching for him. Losing one out of two sons, how could the father stay home?

Well, this third story will be the focus of next week’s blog.