All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives. “Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.” (Luke 15:1-10, CEB)
These two snippets belong with the whole chapter here from Luke 15. Here we see the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, or Prodigal Son.
But if these stories are really about lost things, and those things repenting, as we get so often in the story of the Prodigal Son, which is not really the best name for that story, how does a sheep repent? How does a coin repent?
The sheep repents by saying, “Sorry, I was baaaaaad.” A coin repents by saying, “I promise I’ll change.”
But the stories above are not about a sheep or a coin, just as the rest of the chapter is not a story about the son.
The stories above start with “All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him, and he welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Jesus welcomed and often sought out those whom others would shun or move out of the way.
The story of the lost sheep starts, suppose one of you had a hundred sheep. So one of those listening is who is the subject of the story. The story of the lost coin begins or what woman who has 10 coins and loses one of them. These stories are about the shepherd, the keeper of the sheep, and the woman. Just as the story of the prodigal son does not begin, there was a young man who had a brother and a father. It begins there was a man who had two sons. The stories are not about the things, but the people looking for the things and the great lengths they will go to find the things.
It is about leaving sheep in the wilderness to find the one that has wandered off, it is about turning the house upside down to find half a penny, or wandering the edges of your property looking for the wayward child to come home. It is about the love of the thing that makes you look everywhere for it, and when you find it, you celebrate with everyone.
This is not about lost things, but the love of a God that seeks us out when we go wandering off. The love of a father that allows disgrace to give grace, mercy, and love.
Know you are loved and never really lost. Even when you wander, God wanders after you.
aSacredRebel 