"Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

We talk a lot about joy in the church. We sing about it, we preach about it, we tell people they should have it. And most of the time when we think about joy we think about our own well being, our own happiness, our own peace of mind. That's not wrong, but it's incomplete.

In Romans 14:17, Paul tells us the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We understand righteousness and peace as kingdom components. If righteousness increases, so does the kingdom. If peace increases, so does the kingdom. But it sounds out of place to say that when joy increases, when it multiplies, so is the kingdom. And yet that is exactly what Paul is telling us.

So when you look at Luke 15 you find something incredible. Jesus gives us three parables, a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son, and every single one of them lands in the same place. Not the lostness. Not the seeking. The celebration. The joy. In the parable of the lost sheep, there is joy in heaven. In the parable of the lost coin, there is joy before the angels. In the parable of the lost son, there is a feast and gladness because the one who was dead is alive again.

Now watch this... the goal of these parables is not just for you to feel sorry for the lost. The goal is for you to arrive at the same destination that heaven does. Celebration. Joy. And if every parable ends at the same place, then maybe joy is not just something that shows up after the work is done. Maybe it is the thing that drives the work in the first place.

Joy, just like love, is the fruit of the Spirit, and just like love, it has to be cultivated. We experience the love of God that draws us to Him, but we have to work on our love for others. Joy is no different. We have to learn and cultivate a joy that is expressed in love for the lost. And this love is a sacrificial love, because it cannot be a love that celebrates the return of the lost into the fold until it is a love that is willing to leave the comforts of the fold.

So here is the question right now. What is your highest joy? Is it something that perishes, something temporary, something that fits in your hand and fades by tomorrow? Or is it the eternal joy that heaven itself throws a party over? Because if we are going to multiply the kingdom, we need to understand that joy is not just waiting for us at the finish line. Joy is what helps us get us out the door, in hopes of who we might find.

Tomorrow we will look at what makes God Himself rejoice, and it might surprise you how personal it is.

Read all of Luke 15 in one sitting. Pay attention to how each parable ends. Ask the Lord to begin shifting your understanding of joy from something personal to something kingdom sized.