The evangelist Billy Sunday said, “If you have no joy, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.” The theologian Helmut Thielicke explained it well when he offered, “The glum, sour faces of many Christians… they rather give the impression that, instead of coming from the Father’s joyful banquet, they have just come from the Sheriff who has auctioned off their sins and now are sorry they can’t get them back again.” Jesus declared, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (Jn 10:10, The Message). His followers inevitably will be marked by joy as recipients of this super quality joy.

The Gospel writer paints a profile of joy in the three classic stories in Luke 15. Addressing the company of tax collectors and “sinners” who had gathered to hear Him, as well as the religious leaders who were muttering under their breath that He “welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:2), Jesus described His Kingdom as a Great Party.

In the first story, when the shepherd found his lost sheep, “he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep’” (Lk 15:5-7, emphasis mine). The point of the story, Jesus stressed, is that “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk 15:10). It is contagious joy where the shepherd’s exhilaration is shared by the angelic hosts.

In the same way, when the woman in the second story found her lost coin, “she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin’” (Lk 15:9, emphasis mine). The reiterated purpose of the story is that “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” It is the resounding of multiplied joy! The sense is irrepressible, spontaneous, delirious joy. One person embraced into God’s family can bring about side-splitting, belly-aching guffaws among holy cherubim!

The stories build to a climax when the ultimate return of the prodigal made his father so joyful he exclaimed, “Let’s have a feast and celebrate!” (Lk 15:23). A boisterous celebration that called for music and dancing that could be heard “a long way off,” the fattened calf that was reserved for a worthy gala, and the involvement of the whole village. A fiesta that rocked in wild abandon! I cannot remember when the Church of God reflected the Kingdom of God in this manner!

Imagine the prodigal surprised by joy on his return home. He came back with a prepared and rehearsed speech, sincere in his intention to earn his place among his father’s servants. His consciousness was stung by the pain of loss, the humiliation of rejection, the stench of pig slop, and the indignity of the invisible who fall through the cracks of society. The party the prodigal’s father threw for him established his worth that his shame sought to rob from him. But restoration was possible only when his guilt was forgiven. There is exuberant joy only when the offense is pardoned. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “You must be made miserable before you can know true Christian joy… the real trouble with the miserable Christian is that he has never truly been made miserable because of conviction of sin. He has bypassed the essential preliminary to joy; he has been assuming something he has no right to assume.”

In most cultures, it is common to celebrate a joyous occasion with a meal. For the Jews, an invitation to a meal is an invitation to intimacy. Strict Jews do not eat with strangers, enemies, or pagans. It is significant that the Asian dinner table is round; so the invitation is to come into the circle of family or friends. When a member of the family is deceased, their place at the table is kept for at least a hundred days to indicate that his/her place in the hearts of family members is secure. A party is a sensible way to express joy because it is an invitation to the heart of the host. When we cannot share the joy of the party, we are not in sympathy with the host.

The more rambunctious the party is, the louder the declaration of hope. When one sheep is found, a celebration is called for to acknowledge there is a shepherd who is always searching for a lost sheep. There is joy in knowing that whenever a coin is lost, there is an owner relentlessly looking for that coin. That calls for a celebration of hope. It calls for the most earth shaking party to declare that when a child is rebelling or lost in wanton waste, there is a Father who is waiting and pleading, ready to embrace a returning child.

We need every reminder that God is present and active. Especially when the days are dark and the nights are long, or when the void aches so painfully. When the doors are all slammed shut, when the fig tree does not bud, when there are no grapes on the vine, when the olive crop fails, when the fields produce no food, when there are no cattle in the stall, we need a clarion call that God is in control and He is not absent! That’s what joyous parties do – they declare the hope that God is in the midst of our pain, actively restoring, redeeming, and reconciling.

No wonder the angels rejoice. They are merely reflecting the father’s heart when he said, “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Lk 15:32, emphasis mine). William Barclay notes that “a gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms, and nothing in all religious history has done Christianity more harm than its connection with black clothes and long faces!”

We may need to stay away from the religious party-poopers to experience joy. Why, they even gave Jesus a hard time, accusing him of dining with sinners! There will always be those who pride themselves in their ascetic religiosity, deeply serious spirituality, who take themselves too seriously. But, out on the margins, where the “sinners” are, the reasons for joyous parties are more obvious. There, the deep transforming work of God is unmistakable, inexplicable, and unavoidable, escaping neat cognitive categories and demanding spontaneously joyful and wild celebration. Let’s pray that those who return to the Father, the reason for joyful parties, will not meet the older brother before they meet the cackling angels!

References:
Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Spiritual Depression – Its Causes and Its Cures. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965.

Peter Chao is the Founder-President of Eagles Communications.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced unless otherwise stated.