Rejoice With Me
“Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
— Luke 15:8-10 (BSB)
Jesus told this because the Pharisees were grumbling that he ate with sinners. The coin here is a drachma, roughly a labourer's daily wage, so for a woman in a poor home it was a real loss. Village houses in Galilee had tiny windows and earth floors or basalt floors full of cracks, which is why you searched with a lamp and a broom, listening for a clink. Oil for the lamp cost money too. In this short story the woman is the picture of God, and not everyone in that setting was ready for that. The words for friends and neighbours are feminine, so you can see a whole lane of women. Whoever hosted them for such an occasion might spend more than the coin was worth. Jesus does not say God takes back the found one with a sigh. God rejoices over a person out loud, and wants others to rejoice with him.
Sometimes good news stops with you. A lost document turns up, someone pays back a debt, some small thing works out, and you shrug, because it is not right to boast, because someone else has it worse, because it is only a small thing. The joy stays inside and goes out by evening. In this story someone finds one coin and calls the whole neighbourhood. Jesus says that is what God looks like when he finds a person. Do the same today, even over something small.
Call someone to rejoice
- 1Find one good thing from the last few days, big or small: a debt repaid, a peaceful night, a lost key found, an exam passed. Call someone today to be glad with you: ring them or knock on a neighbour's door and say: I have good news, be happy with me.
- 2If you have nothing like that, look for someone else's good news. Call them and rejoice with them, adding nothing about yourself.
God, thank you for what is good, even when it is small. I am often embarrassed by joy, or I go looking for the hole in it straight away. Teach me to rejoice the way you do, out loud and with others. Thank you that you rejoice over me too. Amen.
I do not hide my good news today; I call someone to be glad with me.
How much was the lost coin worth?
A drachma was roughly a labourer's daily wage. For a woman in a poor home that was a real loss, especially since she only had ten.
Why did she need a lamp?
Village houses had tiny windows and earth or stone floors full of cracks. You searched with a lamp and a broom, listening for the clink of the coin.
Who was Jesus telling this to?
The Pharisees, who were grumbling that he ate with sinners. He answers with a picture of God who does not take back the found one with a sigh, but calls others to rejoice.