What Makes the Angels Rejoice?

Click here to listen to this sermon.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Dressed in the finest white gown, this beautiful young blonde comes to meet her Bridegroom and receive His name. She’s escorted down the aisle by her father, and her mother joins in giving her away at the front of the church. Eight days old, she’s certainly unable to come up on her own or speak on her own behalf. The pastor marks her with the sign of the cross as one redeemed by Christ the crucified and baptizes her in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And “there is joy before the angels of God.”

Dressed in faded blue jeans and an old flannel shirt, he feels a bit out of place among the suits and ties, dresses and skirts, of those standing with him. But then, he’s certainly not there to make a fashion statement. He’s not even sure why he’s there. He feels so lost and alone. It’s been a long time since he’s joined in the assembly. At first, the words come to him with great difficulty, but soon the confession he learned as a young boy rolls off his tongue. Then comes the absolution, sweet music to his ears: “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And “there is joy before the angels of God.”

Dressed in his Sunday best, the old man walks forward to the rail just as he’s done almost every week for the last 75 years. Today, for the first time in decades, he comes by himself. Kneeling, he receives a small piece of bread and a sip of wine. It doesn’t look like much, but through the eyes of faith, he sees a heavenly feast. This is the Lord’s Supper, the only food and drink that truly satisfy. This is the meal that will strengthen and preserve him in body and soul unto life everlasting. Here at the Lord’s Table, in the presence of his fellow sinners, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, including his beloved wife, who went to be with the Lord only a few days earlier, he receives his Savior’s precious body and blood for the forgiveness of his sin. And “there is joy before the angels of God.”

Dressed for bed, she’s weighed down by the normal cares, struggles, and mistakes of the day. She makes the sign of the holy cross in God’s triune name, recalling her Baptism, as she does every morning and evening. She repeats the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Then she whispers this little prayer: “I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that you have kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Unburdened and with a clear conscience, she cheerfully goes to sleep at once. And “there is joy before the angels of God.”

“There is joy before the angels of God.” Something special must be happening. What could make the angels rejoice? It has to be something pretty big, does it not? It must be something really special!

The Bible mentions only three times when the angels rejoice. In Job 38:7, God Himself tells us that “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” at the dawn of creation. In Luke 2:13-14, the evangelist reports that the angels sang for joy the night when Christ was born. We repeat their hymn almost every week: “Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And in our text for today from Luke 15:1-10, we hear “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

What makes the angels rejoice? Creation, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the repentance of one sinner. All three are miraculous, powerful, creative works of our loving and gracious God. That’s what makes the angels rejoice.

Today, we will focus on the third. Each of the opening stories is an example of one sinner repenting, of someone confessing his or her sins and receiving God’s gracious gift of forgiveness and life. If repentance is the cause for the angels of God to sing, it is obviously important for us to understand it clearly.

Unfortunately, repentance is a concept that is often misunderstood today even as it was in Jesus’ day. Many mistakenly see repentance as a human activity, what I must do to make myself right with God. Others think of repentance more in terms of a one-time conversion experience— “the day I accepted Jesus into my heart.” Both misunderstandings turn us inward and away from God’s gracious work. Both lead people away from the real joy that true repentance brings.

So, let’s turn to the only place that can help us rightly understand this wonderful teaching—God’s holy Word—and our text from Luke 15:1-10, where Jesus teaches the Pharisees, His disciples, and us about the joy of true repentance.

The previous section of Luke’s Gospel had concluded with Jesus’ admonition: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This new chapter tells us who did gather to hear: tax collectors and sinners. And not only did they listen to Jesus—they were even welcomed to eat with Him! The word “sinner” may refer to people who were especially immoral and wicked. But it can also refer simply to people who were not strict about fulfilling all the requirements of ceremonial law.

The question of eating with tax collectors and sinners had been raised previously when Jesus called Matthew to become one of His followers. “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners,’” the Pharisees asked. Jesus answered them. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Here, once again, the Pharisees and scribes mutter about the people with whom Jesus associates. In answer to the criticism, Jesus tells three parables in which there is joy over finding what was lost. We have two of them today: the lost sheep and the lost coin.

The description Jesus gives of the shepherd joyfully returning home carrying the lost sheep is heartwarming. He bids his friends to come and celebrate with him the recovery of one lost sheep. There is no mention at all of the ninety-nine sheep out there in the open country. All attention is focused upon the lost sheep that was found. Jesus says that the same is true in heaven: there is more rejoicing over the lost sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.

The suggestion that some people don’t need to repent sounds wrong to us. Jesus had said to the crowds, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:5). Everyone needs to repent. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We need to understand Jesus’ statement as a criticism of the Pharisees who thought they were so righteous that they did not need to repent. Jesus is saying to them, “God is not rejoicing over you and your self-righteous attitude; God is rejoicing over the lost sinner who realizes he is lost and repents.”

The second parable presents a woman who has lost a coin. But she diligently seeks until she finds it. She lights a lamp and carefully sweeps the dirt floor. She uses every possible means to recover what she has lost. That a poor woman should search so diligently for a lost coin does not surprise us. But that she should invite her friends and neighbors to join in celebrating her find is a bit much. It’s the way in which Jesus stresses the divine joy over the repentance of a single sinner. “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”