What Makes the Angels Rejoice?
Luke 15:1-10
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19)
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel reading Luke 15. What makes the angels celebrate? Let us think about that for a moment. What makes the angels in heaven rejoice? There are at least three references in the Bible about angels having joy. In Job 38:7 we are told that the angels rejoiced at God’s creation of the universe. This makes perfect sense. The creation of all things is quite an amazing thing. God created every star in the sky and named them. He made our planet and all that that is in the world. With the power of His Word He made the sea and the land. He created all the different kinds of animals. He designed time and a way of measuring time with hours, days and years. He created human beings and gave them a soul. He made people so that they would be able to think and feel. He even created the angels. When God finished His work of creation the angels sat back and marveled at what God had done. They celebrated and rejoiced.
The second time that the Bible mentions celebrating angels is at the birth of Jesus Christ. In Luke 2:13-14 we are told that a great heavenly host appeared to the shepherds singing praises to God. This also makes perfect sense. Jesus, the Son of God, had come into the world to save humanity from eternal death. It was a glorious event. The angels sang praises to God because they marveled at God’s love and devotion to His people. They rejoiced and sang because they saw the Son of God become a human being so that He could redeem sinful humanity. What makes the angels celebrate and rejoice? They celebrated at the creation of the world and they celebrated when Jesus came to the earth to be our Savior.
The third time that the Bible mentions angels rejoicing is in our reading for today from Luke 15. Jesus tells us that the angels in heaven rejoice every time a lost sinner is found. Jesus tells us that the angels in heaven celebrate every time a person is brought to repentance. He tells us that the angels experience great joy every time a person turns from their sins and has faith in Christ for their salvation. Jesus tells us that a sinner who repents causes the angels to rejoice and be glad. The angels celebrated at the creation of the universe. They celebrated at the birth of Christ and know they celebrate every time a sinner repents.
Our Lord’s mission is to find the lost and bring them into His eternal Kingdom. In our reading we see Jesus walking with the tax collectors and sinners. He spoke God’s Word to them. He ate with them. Jesus reached out to all of them including the Pharisees. Jesus mission is to find the lost and when He finds them He brings them to repentance and faith in Him. Repentance is sorrow of sin and faith in Christ for salvation.
Jesus came to find the lost. But as we look at our text we see that the Pharisees did not have any time for our Lord’s mission to save the lost. They looked down upon the Lord because He sat with sinners. The Pharisees were self-righteous. They refused to recognize their own sins. They did not think that they needed God’s forgiveness. They believed that they were righteous before God based upon their own code of conduct. So they refused to repent and believe in Jesus and in doing so rejected God’s grace. They remained lost.
Satan wants all of us to turn away from the Lord and be lost in the darkness of sin and death. Satan wants us to get comfortable in our sins. He wants us to get so comfortable in our sin because than we will not see a need for Christ. We are sinners but we hate to admit it. Our sinful nature that still clings to us hates to admit sin. “Sure, I’ve made mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes. To err is human. Nobody’s perfect.” This is the soothing confession of our sinful nature. Our flesh clings to the illusion of our own goodness. Yet we cannot rely on our own goodness because we are sinners. The only one who is good is God. Without Christ we all would be lost and condemned.
But the Good News that I get to proclaim to you this day is that Jesus came into the world to find the lost and save them. Our Lord tells two stories to illustrate this point. He tells a story about a shepherd who goes out to find his lost sheep. Once he finds the lost sheep he carries it back to the flock and rejoices. He calls his friends and neighbors and celebrates that fact that He found the sheep. He is so happy because the sheep was important to him. Jesus tells a second story about a woman who loses one of her coins. She searches the entire house until she finds the lost coin. When she finds it she calls her friends and neighbors and celebrates the fact that she found the coin. She is so happy because the coin was important to her. The shepherd going after the lost sheep and the woman searching for the lost coin are illustrations that point to Jesus our Lord. You are so important to the Lord that He went out to find you when you were lost.
Jesus came into the world to find the lost and save them. He did so when He went to the cross. Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself and died in our place. His shed blood cleanses us of our sins. His sacrifice on our behalf means that God’s grace and forgiveness belong to us. The resurrection of Jesus gives us the assurance that God loves us and wants us to be in His presences forever.
Jesus mission is to find the lost and save them. He sent the Holy Spirit to bring the Gospel promise to you. He came to you at your Baptism and brought you into His eternal family. He comes to you in His Word proclaiming the Gospel message of salvation. He comes to you in His Word and moves you to a life of repentance. Repentance is sorrow for our sins and faith in Jesus for our salvation. When Jesus speaks about repentance He is talking about continual repentance. That is living the Baptismal life of repentance and forgiveness all the days of our life.
God is interested in you. He is interested in who you are and what you are doing. Through Christ Jesus He delights in you. But what makes Him rejoice the most is when you repent of your sins and believe in His Son, Jesus. Jesus has found you and brought you into His kingdom. When we look at what the Lord has done for us we can say from the bottom of our hearts. “I once was lost but now I am found”.
Jesus’ mission is to find the lost and bring them to repentance. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we do indeed live a life of repentance and faith until the Lord brings us to the Father in Heaven to live with Him for all eternity. Do you hear the angels rejoicing? At the moment we don’t but we know that they are. Jesus tells us that that the angels in heaven rejoice every time the Lord finds a lost person. Jesus tells us that the angels celebrate every time we repent and turn to Him. Amen.