WHAT DO ANGELS CELEBRATE?

Not long ago, I was asked to put together a study on angels. After I accepted and hung up the phone, I started thinking about what I knew about them. Well, they are servants of God bringing messages to people. My first thought, “It’s going to be a short study.”

But I was wrong. The Bible gives quite a bit of information. Unbeknownst to me, information was tucked away in the text that I had many times read right over. Some of those revelations were shocking while others were, all I can say, life-changing. I’ve been reminded again that reading Scripture does not equate with absorbing Scripture.

Of all that I learned about angels, this is one thought-provoking revelation that I doubt I will ever fully wrap my head around.

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:8-10).

This is not an unfamiliar passage to me, but instead one that I’ve struggled with. After a woman loses a coin, she searches her home and finally finds it. She’s so excited that she calls her friends and shares her delight. This is paired with the angels’ celebration of “one sinner who repents”, making it more perplexing. I just could not figure it out. When I lose a coin, I rarely hit the level of euphoria when I find it, but this woman did. Why?

At the same time I was gathering information for this study, I was involved in another study written by Kristi McLelland. She shares the message of the Bible from the Middle Eastern perspective. To gain a real grasp of the biblical text, it is important to read it from the viewpoint of the author. When I reread this passage from a Middle Eastern perspective, I was overwhelmed by the powerful testimony that it revealed.

This woman who found the long-lost coin was probably a widower with no sons to support her. This was practically a death sentence in biblical times. Widows were thought of very lowly. Remember Naomi? She was blessed with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who unselfishly remained with Naomi and gathered the leftovers in the field for their survival. Ruth could have gone back to Moab and found another husband, but she chose to stay with Naomi and take care of her. Every grain of food and every coin was invaluable for their survival. Yes, if Naomi had found a lost coin, she would have danced with delight and gathered her neighbors to celebrate! I can practically hear the cries of joy and excitement because that coin meant a bit more grain and oil for another one- or two-days’ meal.

Likewise, angels celebrate when one lost sinner comes to repentance. But wait. How is that? My immediate thought is to compare this to celebrating a different friend’s birthday each day. Though I would enjoy the festivities and delicious cake that each day would bring, I’m certain after a week or so I would eventually grow tired of the daily celebrations. So, what keeps the angels celebrating with each new conversion? Like Naomi, the only way to truly understand the never-ending joyfulness of the angels is to put it into their perspective.

Angels may not be all-knowing, but they have enough of an understanding about eternal judgment to recognize its consequences—forever separation from God. Think about that for a moment. I’ve been pondering it for months. As the woman knew that life and death depended on each coin, so the angels know that eternal life and death of each soul depends on their repentance. The angels recognize separation from God is so utterly torturous that they never tire from being filled with joy when another person is saved from such fate. Take that in for a moment. It’s life-changing.

I don’t believe we fully grasp the ultimate repercussion of denying Christ as our Savior. If we did, we would never tire sharing the Gospel each and every day. We need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (Jas. 1:22-25). I think we may need to change our perspective on lost souls and share God’s saving grace like there’s no tomorrow.