Lent Reading: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 

God wants us to share his joy. This is the heart of the three parables Jesus tells in Luke 15 of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons. When the man finds his lost sheep, he invites his friends and neighbours, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ (v6) When the woman finds her lost coin, she invites her friends and neighbours, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ (v9) When the father has his lost son return home, he invites his household and angry older son to, celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ (v32). God has great joy when people who are lost, far from him, return. God wants us to share his joy. 

There was no joy in the Pharisees and religious teachers who observed Jesus and muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” As pious men, how could they have missed what God is like? Maybe the more relevant question is, can we?  

Jesus offers a picture that draws us right to the heart of God,  

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. (v20) 

This is what God is like when we, when anyone, comes home to him. If you know God like this, then every time you meet someone who is seeking, what will you do? Every time someone lost, or deeply struggling, comes to church, what will you do? Every time someone comes home to their father in heaven, what will you do? The invitation is to celebrate with God who says to us, “Rejoice with me’! 

In Him, 

Jason 

Photo by Austin Schmid on Unsplash