Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 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. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, 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 that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:1-10, NRSV)
This chapter of Luke is one of my favorite set of verses in the bible!
I love the story most know as the Prodigal Son. I refer to it as the story of the loving father.
But I had a revelation this morning as I sat in the sanctuary of the congregation I am supplying for and I sent this tweet:
As I sat in the pew and prayed my mind went with lost things and then went to Disney…
I am a bit of a Disney freak and look for examples to use in sermons to help illustrate texts. And I really can’t believe that I did not see this connection before this morning. But the text this week is about lost things, specifically in Luke chapter 15, a lost sheep, a lost coin and 2 lost sons… And I connected this morning with Tinker Bell and one of her discoveries upon her arrival in Neverland, lost things!
You see in Tinker Bell lost things are items that come from the main land and wash up on Neverland. They include buttons, and springs, and the one item that Tinker Bell finds and fixes is Wendy’s music box. Lost things actually help to save spring and help Tinker Bell realize the gifts she has and how she is called to be the best tinker there is. But that is not where it ends…
You see in the 4th movie in the Tinker Bell series is The Secret of the Wings. In this movie Tinker Bell meets her sister Periwinkle. And at one point in the movie Periwinkle and Tinker Ball are going through their similarities, and they both look for and use lost things, only difference is Periwinkle does not call them lost things, she calls them found things…
And it hit me there in the pew, that is really what these readings are about. They are not about lost sheep, lost coins, or lost sons, they are about found sheep, coins, and sons and the length to which the Father and savior will go to have them be found things. You see all of us can be lost, even when we are righteous and not in need of repentance, we can still be lost, but thankfully God looks upon us as Periwinkle does the things that come to Neverland, not as lost, but as found.
Thanks be to God that He has found us and if we wander away, He will go to great lengths to find us and bring us back to the party!
aSacredRebel 