“I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance. . . .I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Kids have a built-in desire to do what makes their fathers happy. There was a time when I was growing up that I said I wanted to be a lawyer. Why? Because my dad is an excellent lawyer, and I wanted to be like him, to make him happy. I soon thereafter realized I was built to be a teacher, and thankfully he gave me the extremely significant gift of supporting me in whatever I pursued, so all was well. But that desire to please him never really went away. I suspect that if you have a healthy relationship with your dad, you’re the same way. Well, God is consistently described in the Scriptures as our heavenly Father. Let’s talk about something that makes Him happy.

I don’t think I actually managed to teach any of my kids how to ride a bike. That wasn’t for lack of effort. I spent a fair bit of time with all three of them doing the whole run-behind-the-bike-while-holding-the-seat thing, but they never did get it when I did that. And I wore myself out as well. Several times. Instead, each one of them ultimately figured it out on their own when they were ready. But while the egotistical part of me was a little bummed I wasn’t the one to actually do it, that small part was easily swallowed up by the joy of seeing them cross that significant life hurdle.

Seeing our kids do things they are supposed to do successfully brings joy for us as parents. Seeing our kids do things right brings joy for us as parents. It brings the contented satisfaction of having done the job we are supposed to be doing well. Even if we weren’t directly the one to bring to that point ourselves, still, their success is a reflection of the life skills we have taught them by shared wisdom and actual example.

God made us to be in a right relationship with Him. Of all creation we alone were made in His image. We were created with His relational, moral, conscious decision-making nature. We were made His stewards over creation. Most of all, though, we were made to be His children, the recipients of His love.

Then sin came along to mess all of that up. We decided that we know better how to run our lives than we did. We decided that fulfilling our own desires was more important than obeying His commands. And because of this, our stewardship was corrupted. Our relationships were poisoned. Our decision-making abilities were fractured. Our morality became deeply flawed. We rejected our heavenly Father and His love. His image in us was broken. It was still present. But sin cracked the mirror so the reflection became marred, imperfect at best.

Our Father, however, loved us too much to leave us in this state. He made us for a loving relationship with Him, and He wanted more than anything to bring us back to that relationship even though we are the ones who left it behind. We rejected Him. We decided to do things the wrong way instead of the right. But He wasn’t going to let that stop Him. Bring us back to the point that we are pursuing what is right again, that we are doing what we were made to do, that we are in the relationship with Him He made us to enjoy and to enjoy with us was more important.

To put that in other words, seeing sinners repent brings God joy. Saving us is not a chore to Him. It is pure pleasure. He loves doing it. As Jesus puts it twice here in Luke 15, once in the parable we looked at yesterday, and then again in the next parable, the repentance of sinners brings God joy. It brings Him intense pleasure and immense satisfaction. “I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.” And again, “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” When we turn from the wrong to the right, all of heaven throws a party.

This is the heart, the passion of our God. You are that heart. You are that passion. Your being in a right relationship with Him and no longer in the grip of the sin that drags you down means more to Him than anything else in the whole world. We see this not only here; this is not only a generic sermon to be preached at any time of the year. This passion of God for lost sinners lies at the very heart of the Advent story and the coming of Christ.

Both Luke and Matthew report that when Jesus’ birth was revealed to the people who would play key roles in the process, His mission to save sinners was right at the core of the message. In Luke, after John the Baptist was born, his father, Zechariah, finally able to speak now that the punishment for his unbelief had ended, spoke a word of prophecy over the life and ministry of his son. The focus of this was his future efforts to prepare the way for the coming Messiah – Jesus.

In Luke 1:76-79, the faithful priest declared this: “And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. Because of our God’s merciful compassion, the dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

In Matthew, when the Lord revealed to Joseph in a dream that it was safe to marry Mary, that she hadn’t been unfaithful to him, that this whole thing was really God’s doing, Jesus’ mission to save people from their sins was the point of His coming. From Matthew 1:20-21: “But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'”

God’s efforts to be reconciled with sinful humanity through the work of Christ lies right at the heart of the season of Advent and the story of Christmas. Nothing more matters to God in all the world than that. His passion for you goes beyond all attempts to fully describe it. And when you respond positively, nothing brings Him more joy.

This means one more thing: If you are someone who has already responded to His efforts, and have already brought Him this greatest of all joys, this doesn’t mean you now just get grouped in with the ninety-nine and forgotten about as God goes off after the rest. It means you now get to share in God’s deep and abiding joy by joining in His mission of mercy for salvation. You get to be a part of the celebration. You get to help invite new guests to the feast. You get to spread the word and share the news and bring those who are lost back to the fold with you to enjoy all the bounty of the good shepherds provision. In other words, once you have received God’s offer of salvation, your journey isn’t over; it’s just beginning. There is all of eternity to take part in His good work. Let’s get started!