There Shall Be Joy in Heaven

In Nomine Iesu!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sermon Text: St. Luke 15:1-10

“‘I say unto you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance.’”

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:

O Gracious Lord + Jesus Christ, Who camest into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, and art not ashamed of the company of sinners, we thank Thee for Thy goodness, and beseech Thee, grant that we may daily be found walking in sincere repentance, and there be joy in heaven over every sinner that repenteth; for Thy Name’s sake, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen. 

My dear friends, last Sunday we heard about how our Lord + Jesus sat down to eat bread with the scribes and Pharisees in the house of one of the chief Pharisees. Today, those same scribes and Pharisees accuse our Lord of eating with publicans, that this, tax collectors, and sinners. Their hospitality last week is revealed today for what it truly was: a way to catch Him in some act in which they could accuse Him. Today, they accuse Him of eating with publicans and sinners. They had placed a man with dropsy in front of Him to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. He did! Because no one would leave an animal in a dangerous and uncomfortable situation on a Sabbath. So, no less should one leave their fellow man in dire straits on a Sabbath, if they have the means to help Him.

There was even one among the Pharisees who said how delight it would be to eat bread in the kingdom of heaven, when our Lord + Jesus talked about inviting not just their friends and confidants to a meal, but also to invite the lame and blind and maimed and poor. Our Lord’s parable showed that his intent in saying that was not one really of joy, but of sarcasm, of basically saying, “Bless your heart!” Now today, the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees is fully revealed. Their hatred for our Lord is on full display. For instead of rejoicing that these publicans and sinners had repented of their sins, they again accuse the Lord + Jesus of doing something contrary to the Law of the Lord God. Their reasoning was that if He is eating with publicans and sinners, then He must be one, too.

This is where our Lord + Jesus begins to tell them three parables all with similar meanings. The first is the parable of the lost sheep. One sheep out of one hundred goes astray. Just like with the parable told when He was presented with the man with dropsy, He shows that even they would not be so cruel as to ignore that one sheep, even though they have ninety and nine more sheep. The loss of just one sheep is too great of a loss. They would gladly leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness to seek that one lost sheep. And when they find it, they rejoice that they have found the lost sheep. They even call all their friends to rejoice with them. The loss of just one sheep is too great for them to ignore, even though there are still ninety and nine other sheep.

Our Lord interprets this parable to show us that this how it is in heaven. The loss of one publican or sinner to the fires of hell is too great. Our Lord + Jesus leaves His home in heaven to come down and take upon our flesh in order that He might call all sinners into repentance. And when they repent, He is there to offer forgiveness to them. For faith always comes before repentance. A person cannot repent of their sins if there is not faith first. The repentant sinner’s faith clings to the Lord + Jesus; to the promises of life and salvation that He brings on account of the forgiveness of their sins. They are repentant because they believe that in the Lord + Jesus, the Christ, they have forgiveness of all their sins. They are no longer a lost sheep, because they cling in faith to the Lord + Jesus.

At this the angels of heaven rejoice! Think on that my dear Christians! When we turn away from our sins and transgressions, when we cling in faith to our Lord + Jesus, the Christ, and seek His righteousness, and not our own, the angels of heaven rejoice! The angels of heaven are rejoicing over us this day! For we have confessed our sins, and the minister has forgiven all of our sins and iniquities in the stead and at the command of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Our Lord promises that there shall be joy in the kingdom of heaven over just one sinner repenting of his sins. At our repentance this day, we have filled heaven with joy.

This joy in heaven is such a great and wonderful thing that our Lord + Jesus does not stop with just one parable, but He tells two more. One of which is also a part of our Gospel reading from the Evangelist St. Luke. The second parable is the parable of the lost coin. A woman, who symbolically is the Church, has lost a piece of silver. And just like the one hundred sheep, the loss of just one piece of silver is too great for her to bear. Even though she still has nine other pieces of silver, she still lights a lamp and sweeps the whole house, seeking diligently to find her lost piece of silver. And when she has found it, she rejoices. She calls her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her.

This is how heaven views the loss of just one person to unbelief. The loss of just one person is too great. In the first parable it was the Lord + Jesus, our Good Shepherd, Who went and found the lost sheep by coming into this world to bear our flesh, and be our redeemer. In the second parable, the woman represents the Church. The Church lights up the world with the light of the Christ; with the light of the Lord + Jesus, and sweeps the whole world with the Gospel of our Lord + Jesus; that He has fulfilled the whole will and Law of the Lord God, and has suffered our punishment upon the tree of the holy cross, so that all those who believe on Him might have everlasting life. And when the Church, through the pure preaching of the Word of the Lord God, and the right administration of the blessed Sacraments—through the working of the Holy Ghost—converts the heart of just one person from sinfulness into belief, the angels of heaven rejoice before the presence of the Lord God. 

The whole of heaven is rejoicing that we are gathered here today to hear the Word of the Lord God. The whole of heaven is rejoicing that we have repented of our sins, and desire to put on the righteousness of the Christ. The whole of heaven is rejoicing that we desire to sit down to eat bread with our Lord + Jesus at this altar; that we desire to receive from Him His true and substantial Body and Blood in bread and wine at this altar. Indeed, my dear Christian friends, the angels of heaven, and all the saints, will join us here at this altar when we commune upon our Lord’s Body and Blood given for the remission of all our sins. As we sing with joy here on this earth, the whole host of the heavenly realm sings with joy with us. They join us in singing about all the great things our Lord + Jesus has done for us poor, miserable sinners. He has won forgiveness for us by His innocent suffering and death, and opens for us the gate into eternal life.

For the loss of just one sinner to unbelief and eternal condemnation in hell is too great a loss. Even though there be ninety and nine more sheep, the loss of one is too great. Even though there be nine other pieces of silver, the loss of one is too great. This is how our Lord + Jesus, and the Church views publicans and sinners. Their desire is that they would turn from their transgressions and seek the righteousness of the Christ. For this is the will of the heavenly Father. And that is the lesson taught in the third parable that our Lord + Jesus tells, which is not a part of the pericope for today.

The Father rejoices when His lost son returns. It does not matter that he wasted his Father’s goods on harlots and prodigal, that is, wasteful, living. It does not matter to the Father that he was a publican and a sinner. It only matters that he, in repentance and faith, has turned from his sinfulness and seeks to live in righteousness within the Father’s house. The Father welcomes His son back with open arms. For the son had been dead! This is what the Father says about His son. We are familiar with the parable, even though it is not a part of the historic lectionary. The son was never dead. He was a degenerate, and wasteful of the things that His loving Father bestowed upon Him, but he was never dead in the parable. But this is how the Father refers to him. He was dead, but alive again. 

This tells us how it is with impenitent publicans and sinners. This is how it is with the hard-hearted scribes and Pharisees, who in their hearts reject the Lord + Jesus as the Messiah. They are dead in their sins and trespasses. This is how we know that faith does not come of ourselves; how we know that salvation is not something that we can bring to ourselves, for those who are dead in unbelief and sin cannot bring themselves to life again. It is only through the quickening Spirit whereby the cold, stony, hard hearts of unbelievers are shattered and turned into hearts of flesh that believe on the Lord + Jesus as the One, True Savior of mankind. The Law crushes the prideful and haughty spirit of unbelievers, so that the comforting words of salvation in the Lord + Jesus alone may be preached into their ears. These publicans and sinners with which the Lord + Jesus ate, turned in repentance away from their past lives of sin and transgression, on account of the preaching of the Lord + Jesus. He preached that salvation was found in Him, and they clung to Him in faith.

We also cling in faith to Him, for the Holy Ghost has worked on our hard hearts to hear the Gospel of our Lord + Jesus. We have heard and believe that in Him is life and salvation. In Him is forgiveness for all our sins. In Him is joy in heaven over our repentance and faith. Therefore, my dear friends, let us continue to cling to Him in faith. Let us continue to look to Him for forgiveness. For He promises to us in His parables today, that the heavenly Father has sent Him to find us lost sheep. He has given us the Church to sweep the whole world and find us lost pieces of silver, so that we may be reunited with the others, and that there may be joy in heaven over our repentance and faith. Let us join the whole host of heaven in rejoicing that our Lord + Jesus has forgiven us of all our sins, and has invited us to join Him and the whole host of heaven in heaven for all eternity. Thanks be to God! In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:

Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

The Votum:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!