Lost Sons, Lost Sheep, and Lost Coins    September 16, 2007  

Everyone had heard about this teacher, and now some were saying that he was the God’s messiah that came to save Israel. There were two kinds of people who followed Jesus. Most of them were poor and without any hope. Some were thieves, others prostitutes, and some were Roman sympathizers. Jesus was eating with them as if they were long-lost friends. With healing and power, he offered them forgiveness and hope.

The other kind of people following Jesus were those who were threatened by him. The scribes and Pharisees were grumbling. The asked, how could these unrighteous people be a part of the kingdom of God? According to their religious laws, God disdains and abhors the sins they committed. How could God allow the sinners into the kingdom? For them, that was an abomination of the law.

Jesus didn’t interpret the torah like they did. His teaching was based on the principal of God’s never-failing love for the world. He offered healing of the sick and the forgiveness of sins. In this section of Luke’s gospel, Jesus told them a story we know as the “Prodical son.”

The story goes that a wanderlust son came to his father and asked him to give him his entire inheritance now. Strangely, the father agreed. The son goes off and blows his inheritance carousing around. Finally the money runs out, and he’s destitute. He decides to go home, tells his father how sorry he is. He hopes only that his father allows him to sleep in his truck out in the driveway, and make a little money working with the his farmhands. But when the father sees him coming down the road, he runs to see him and throws his arms around him. He calls the whole family and gives him a welcome home party.

Meanwhile, his older brother was jealous. He asked his father, I’ve been with you my whole life, and you never gave me anything. But the father told him in time that he would receive the whole farm. The Scribes and Pharisees were like that older brother.

In our readings, Jesus tells these two shorter stories about the lost sheep and the lost coin. A shepherd leaves his flock of 99 sheep to find the one sheep that was lost. He’s overjoyed when he can bring the sheep back in the fold. That story is not about how to raise sheep. A responsible sheep owner would never leave his fold unattended. The point of the story is that God’s joy when one lost person is saved.

The next story is about a woman loses and coin and turns her whole house upside down. This coin is not a worth a lot of money. It’s a just drachma, which is less than a dollar. She spends half the day looking for it. And when she finds it, she’s so happy, she calls on all her friends to tell them about it.

The point is simply this. God is overjoyed to find one lost sinner. God is like the father who never stops looking for us to come home, no matter how prodigal we have been. God is like that woman who is willing to turn the whole house upside down to find what was lost. God is like the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to look for the one who is lost. God loves us and is willing to forgive us long before we ever show up.

This does not make good economic sense. Yes, the scribes and Pharisees were grumbling. The were grumbling like the older son who never left home, like the 99 sheep who were loyal enough to stay in the fold. They didn’t like people who were irresponsible. They wanted God to reward those who were loyal to God’s laws. So the stage was set. In their arrogance, they had to do away with Jesus and crucify him. He was a threat to all they stood for.

But of course, God’s love prevailed over human avarice. When Jesus rose from the dead, he showed us the way of God’s kingdom. It’s a kingdom based on repentance and forgiveness of sins. Jesus sent them out to all the world, to save those who are lost, to gather all people together for the kingdom. That’s what God wants us to do today. God wants to be like the shepherd who looks for the lost sheep, like the woman who never stops searching, like the father who is waiting for his son to return. And when one person is found, it’s time to rejoice, time to party!

So how does this apply to you and I? We are certainly not like the arrogant older brother, grumbling about the sinners that God welcomes home. We are certainly not like those who crucified Jesus because ate with sinners and outcasts. We understand the principal of God’s love, and the proper place for God’s commandments. You wouldn’t be coming to Grace if you were, because Grace is a church that dedicated to reaching out with open hearts to plant the seeds of Jesus Christ’s love.

But sometimes we feel like the lost sheep and the prodigal son. Are we lost and unable to find our way home? Lost in despair, like when every morning becomes a little more difficult that the last, and each day holds no less hope and more loneliness. We get lost in our guilt, like a broken record playing over and over again, a conscience that accuses us, and a night with little sleep, a pillow of war. Lost, like the illusions of what could have been which pull devilishly in all directions at once, threatening to explode.

Sometimes we feel like the lost coin. We get lost in a checkbook that will never balance, the feeling that no matter how much money I put in, I will never be able to pay for my debts. Lost and off course because in spite of all I have, I realize that I am still bankrupt. Lost, lost in the gnawing feeling that there must be more than this to life.

I believe that today, more than ever before, God is calling us, members of Grace Lutheran Church, learn from this and to redouble our efforts and renew our purpose as God’s people. This will take a kind of holy tenacity, and persistence to keep on looking for months days and even years to come. This may be the greatest challenge ever.

Today, we can celebrate because our flock is about to grow with baptism of Nathan. God is bringing him into the fold. God is branding him with the cross of Christ. He’s an infant that has little time for long sermons. He does not know what God is doing yet. His parents, grandparents and his church will have to teach him what is happening today. Now do we know how he will respond to the promise God is giving today. He may go on to give his whole life in service to God, or he may be a like the prodigal son or the lost sheep. The good news is that God will never forget the promise. When and if he gets lost, God will never stop searching for him. He belongs to God today, next year and every year after that, until the kingdom comes.

I pray he will hear this good news. We are people who were lost but now are found by the grace of God. Let’s sing the story of God’s Amazing Grace.

Amen!