“Losing and Finding!”
Luke 15:1-7 (15:7) – September 14, 2025
Lost and found—this concept is very real and meaningful to many people, especially children. I have four children, and at various times, they have had to go looking for various possessions of theirs. You know, small items, things that were very precious to them somehow got lost. And oftentimes, they went looking everywhere for those precious things.
I can remember when my son was younger, probably in first grade. He had a favorite stocking cap he wore almost every day in the winter. He wore it to school, out to play, on the weekends, almost everywhere. And then, one day it got lost. My son could not find it anywhere. He was heartbroken at the loss of this precious stocking cap—precious to my son, at least. We searched everywhere—and I mean everywhere—in the house, in the car, in his classroom, in his locker. He even looked in the lost and found at his school. Sadly, we never could find it.
Can you relate? Have you ever lost anything that was precious to you? Maybe not valuable in a monetary sense, but precious to you, your very favorite. And let’s go further. What about the things that are worth a great deal? Valuable in a very special way, in terms of both monetary and sentimental value. Losing something precious can be quite a blow.
This is exactly what our Lord Jesus talked about in our scripture passage today. He tells the parables of the lost things. In fact, one nickname for this chapter, Luke 15, is the chapter of the lost things—the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son.
Dr. Luke sets the scene for us. He says, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Tax collectors and “sinners” were two groups of people who were especially hated by the good, synagogue-going Jews! And, especially by the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and teachers of the Jewish law, who had particularly high standing in their local community! How dare that upstart Rabbi Jesus waste His time with riff-raff, with no-good, low-class, dregs of society?
And, that’s not all the Rabbi Jesus is doing! “Eating — that is, sharing table fellowship — is a mark of camaraderie, acceptance, and friendship. And so in eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus is demonstrating a deep and abiding acceptance of those society has deemed beyond the moral pale.” [1]
In response to this complaining and carping from the Jewish leaders, Jesus has a response. Three responses, in fact. This week we look at His first parable, the parable of the Lost Sheep. As with many of the parables of Jesus, this one starts out in a straight-forward manner, but somehow doesn’t set quite right.
Jesus says, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” In other words, if you are a shepherd, you put the other 99 sheep at risk! You leave them in the wilderness, with no protection or shelter while you go seeking the one that is lost! And, how about that lost sheep? How does that sheep feel? Lonely? Hungry? Injured? Scared?
From an accounting, balance-statement point of view, the loss of one percent of your stock or flock is an acceptable business loss. Why do we need to leave 99 sheep at dangerous risk? Just for one, single, measly little sheep? But, God does not take that point of view!
Sometimes, people – individuals – get lost. Can you and I relate? “Sometimes you can identify why you feel lost and other times you simply feel unmoored — unable to give a name or reason for a sense of confusion, disorientation, bewilderment, abandonment, loneliness — all of which can be manifestations of lostness.” [2]
I work during the week as a full-time hospice chaplain. It is sometimes my heartbreaking job to go to see patients in dementia, and sometimes even severe dementia. I would like us to listen to this heartfelt vignette from Pastor Janet Hunt, about a longtime family friend.
“Norma became not only a family friend. She was our church secretary (back when we called them that) at my home congregation for forty years. What I especially remember most about that time was that she would listen and answer and go deeper with me about whatever it was we had learned in class that morning. There are a lot of people whose influence factors into one heeding the call to become a pastor. Norma was certainly one of those for me.
“I know that I am blessed to serve not so far from home for I have the chance sometimes, still, to connect with those I knew when I was young. I especially knew it this last Saturday morning for Norma’s son called me up to ask my thoughts about nursing home options here. Both of their parents’ health are failing and her Alzheimer’s Disease, in particular, is making this next move necessary.
“Sunday afternoon I went to see Norma. I sat down next to her daughter and we visited a while. I don’t know for sure if she really remembered me or not, but her smile was as radiant as it ever was. Before I left, I asked if I could pray with her. She placed her hand palm down on the tray table in front of her. I put my hand on top of hers and her daughter put her hand on top of mine. I prayed simply and briefly – asking for God’s protection and strength and peace. When Norma took her hand back, she wiped her eyes for those words had somehow broken through.
“She may only have pretended to remember me, but still she knows somehow that God remembers her. Slowly but surely the disease that is erasing her memory will not finally erase what matters most. In some ways, she may seem ‘lost’ to those who have loved her, but she is not lost to God. I expect, or at least I hope, that in that moment she knew God’s persistent love embracing her once more. ‘Found’ once more, I hope her comprehension of God’s tender love for her never leaves her.” [3]
No matter how we are lost, how we are wandering in the wilderness, in the hospital or care center, or when we concentrate so much on our physical or financial situation, or in the busy-ness of life, running from place to place – God never stops seeking us. We know who is loving and caring and seeking for each of us.
Which of you, Jesus asks, would go to such lengths to search and find and then welcome back and celebrate? Truth be told, none of us would. But God would. [4] Our Good Shepherd goes after me, and after you, too. He searches for us, and makes sure that we are back with Him, in the place of security and protection, and says, “Rejoice with me! For I have found my sheep that was lost!” To me, the news about our good Shepherd is the best news in the world. Alleluia, amen.
(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!
[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/lost
[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/lost-and-found
[3] http://words.dancingwiththeword.com/2013/09/lost-and-found.html
[4] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/lost
Pastor, Preacher, Pray-er 