Today’s Advent Reflection is from Julie Hackney
You Know when People are Feeling Joyful!
Luke 15:1-10
Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
So, he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
Reflection
You know when people are feeling joyful. You can see it on their faces.
In my job as headteacher of a Primary School, I could easily become swamped with the amount of emails, paper work, meetings and so on, which I had to deal with each day.
But the joy of my job was being with the children, not in completing a form, and so I made sure that I spent as much time with them as I could. That may sound odd but sometimes the bureaucracy could take over if you let it.
One of the things I looked forward to each week, was having the children altogether to sing. When I was a child it was called hymn practice. If you want to see joy on children’s faces just watch them when they are singing.
There were a number of joyful songs that we loved. “You shall go out with joy”. Which they did! Out into the playground still singing. On a gentler note, “Joy is flowing like a river” and a simple, but great favourite “I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul”. Granted, the accompanying actions played a big part in the joyfulness!
I mention all of this because I wonder if there was any singing at the party which was held when the lost sheep was found?
Jesus told The Parable of the Lost Sheep when the Pharisees and Rabbis around him were complaining that he was welcoming sinners and eating with them.
The well known parable tells of the shepherd who has lost one of his hundred sheep and cannot rest until he has found it. When he does find it, he carries it home on his shoulders and is full of such joy that he gathers everyone, neighbours and friends, together to celebrate with him by having a party.
There wasn’t anything special about the one sheep that was lost. It wasn’t any different from the other ninety nine. But the point was that this sheep had been lost but now it was found and that was why there had to be a joyful celebration.
There are actually three parables in this Chapter of Luke’s Gospel; The Parables of the Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin and The Parable of The Prodigal or Lost Son. Through each of them Jesus is basically telling us the same thing, which is that when one person repents and follows him, God is so full of joy that there will be a party in Heaven to celebrate.
At the end of The Parable of The Lost Coin, when the woman finds what she had lost, just as the shepherd did, she invites her friends and neighbours to come and celebrate with her.
And then, Jesus paints a wonderful picture of a Heavenly party when he says, “I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
What a wonderfully joyous party that must be! And what singing!
Although current restrictions prevent us from singing together in church this year, singing carols is an intrinsic part of Christmas worship for me. They are part of my way of celebrating the birth of Jesus and, Mark will tell you, I can be heard singing them throughout the season.
Well, it’s another party! And this one is a birthday party of course!
Wishing you all, a very merry, musical and joyful Christmas!