We’d
been praying for this for a while. The
answer came on Saturday night. I was
already in bed, in that never-land place just between being awake and falling
asleep. Dayna came into the room with a
phone in her hand. Our 8-year-old
granddaughter Reese had called with news.
“Okay, Reese,” Dayna said, “Papa is listening. Tell us your news.”
“I
asked Jesus into my heart tonight,” she said.
Talk about news worth waking up to!
“That’s great, Reese. Praise the
Lord! He loves you so very much.” She told us a little more, said she wanted me
to baptize her. If I hadn’t been in bed
half-asleep, I suspect I’d have got up and danced.
And
why not? Angels in heaven were kicking
up their heels. One of the most
remarkable things Jesus tells us is “that
there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Jesus says that in Luke 15. In fact, He says it a couple of times. First, after He tells the story of the shepherd
with 100 sheep who left the 99 to go find the one that was lost. And then He says it again after telling the
story of the woman who lost one of her ten coins, turned the house upside down
looking for it, and finally found it in the seat cushion. In both of those stories, the shepherd and
the woman, quickly invited their friends and neighbors to an impromptu party
they threw to celebrate finding what they lost.
And Jesus says, “You think their parties were something? You should see the angels dance in heaven when
even one lost sinner gets found by God!”
And
just to put the exclamation point on the matter, Jesus then tells the story of
the man whose son took his inheritance early, ran off to Vegas, squandered it
all on gambling, women and booze, ended up slopping hogs and starving to death. Sufficiently humbled, he decided to take his
chance on going home, hoping good old dad would let him live in the bunkhouse
and work as a hired hand on the farm.
But dad would have none of that.
Dad saw him coming, ran to greet him, embraced him, forgave him, and
threw the biggest party they’d ever seen in those parts. The kid even got his old room back.
In
case you miss the point, God is like that shepherd and that woman and that
father. He looks for the lost and when
He finds them, well, it’s party time in heaven: angels dance, bands play happy
tunes, choirs sing hallelujah, and somebody dumps a cooler of Gatorade on Jesus’
back. Okay, so I made some of that
up. But it’s party time in heaven all
right. God just loves finding sinners,
angels do the jitterbug, and all heaven shares His joy.
That’s
what happened on Saturday night when Reese repented of her sins and decided to
follow Jesus. Angels did a jig of joy
over her. That just blows me away. All that’s going on in the world, and heaven
takes notice over the little prayer of an 8-year-old girl! Remarkable.
And even more remarkable is that there was a day when the angels danced
for me … for me. I can kind of understand angels dancing over
my granddaughter. After all, she is … my
granddaughter. But me?
I don’t get it. I’m thankful for
it, but it’s hard to get my mind around it.
And
maybe that’s the problem. Such things
are perhaps more a matter of the heart than of the mind, and heaven’s heart
rejoices when even one sinner is found.
Lost people matter to God. Jesus
came to seek and to save the lost and when it happens—anywhere in the
world—heaven explodes with joy. Another
lost soul is found. Another person dead
in their trespasses and sins is made alive. Another stray has found her way home. Mission accomplished once again.
How
about you? Have you been found by God? Have you trusted Christ for your
salvation? If so, take joy that one day
angels danced over you. And if not, why
not trust Christ today? Christ is seeking
you today. And in heaven: the streamers
are hung; the cake is on the table; the band is tuning up; the Gatorade cooler
is ready; and the angels are loosening up so they’ll be ready to dance over
you. Come on … let ‘em dance!