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Losing and Finding!

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“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.

@chaplaineliza

(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

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Searching Until Found!

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“Searching Until Found!”

Luke 15:8-10 – August 20, 2023

            Can anyone relate to this scenario? You are using a pen – perhaps it’s your favorite pen – and you put it down. Just for a moment! And when you go back to write something down, you can’t find that pen! Or perhaps you are using a tool, and something distracts you. Or, the phone rings. And when you go back to pick up that tool, it’s gone!

            Can you relate to the woman in our parable? She just had that silver coin just five minutes ago! Where did it go? Did she accidentally drop it on the floor? Did it slip down between the table and the wall? Where, oh, where did that coin go?

            The unnamed woman in our parable is featured in a series of three parables in Luke chapter 15: the chapter of the Lost Things. We see the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. The Rabbi Jesus takes the unusual tack to highlight a woman in one of His parables. Unusual, and so relatable! Yet, here we see that is exactly what Jesus does!

            Think about the Good Shepherd. Exactly what Jesus calls Himself in the Gospel of John. Today’s reading is from chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. But, so much the same Shepherd metaphor! As Jesus tells the first parable, He is describing a Good Shepherd who diligently searches for the one lost sheep, until that sheep is found! Then, the Shepherd – the Good Shepherd – calls together his friends and neighbors and says, “Rejoice! Rejoice with me!”

            In the third parable, we have the extended parable of the Lost Son, also known as the Prodigal Son. Running off to the far country, going far astray, getting hopelessly lost until he hits bottom and comes to himself. And, we also see the Loving Father, watching and waiting for his son to return. When the son is still far off, the father runs down the main street of town to meet his boy, publicly welcoming his lost son home.

Can you hear him calling, “rejoice with me! My child was lost, and now is found!”

            Let’s focus on this second parable, which features a woman, keeping house. It’s probably a small house, and this woman is not well-to-do. She loses one out of her ten coins, and this is a lot of money – to her! Actually, in the original language, Greek, the coin is worth one days’ wage. We see a woman who is bound and determined to find that coin! She takes the initiative and searches high and low for that coin until she finds it.

            Let me read the verse again: “Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’”  

            The lost coin was a passive participant in this whole operation. As commentator Stephen Cole says, “the only reason it was found is that the woman initiated a diligent search for it.” [1] What is more, in our case, God took the initiative. The Lord has great love and compassion, indeed. There was and is no way that we can take the initiative in saving ourselves. As the apostle Paul says in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God launched the search for each of us!  

            One of my favorite commentators, Dr. Daivd Lose, tells about his son Jack, years ago at an amusement park in Minnesota. His son was small, four years old. Right by David’s side all the time – until he wasn’t. David frantically looked for his son Jack all over the place, and recruited the security guards. Thankfully, three minutes after Jack’s description was called in, one of the guards found him at the next ride in the park.

            David Lose said, “I was just relieved and, even more, joyful. My son, who had been lost, was found. Safe and sound. Back with me. It was pure joy. And that’s how God feels anytime anyone is drawn back into relationship with God, or chooses life, or lives into his or her potential, or helps out another, and in all these ways is found. Joy. Pure joy.” [2]

            In these parables, Jesus highlights three representations of God. Jesus says that the woman did not give up until she found that missing coin. It’s the same with the lost sheep. The Good Shepherd goes after every lost sheep, no matter what the weather is like. No matter whether it’s a dark and stormy night or the middle of a scorching hot day with the sun beating down. We will all be found and brought safely into the Shepherd’s care, into God’s care.

            Just as our woman from the parable says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ So we can rejoice as the Rabbi Jesus tells us! “10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

We know it is not because we were seeking God and actively trying our hardest to earn our salvation. In the parable, you and I are found by the woman, by the shepherd, by the loving Father because God sought after each of us. God kept diligently seeking, as the woman did by sweeping and searching all night long, until she found that coin she valued so, so much!

            Some in Jesus’s audience were Pharisees, scribes and other Jewish leaders. They just didn’t get the blessed fact that God is primarily about love, rather than rules. God wants to be about joy, not filled with anger or fear or impatience. God wants abundant joy for all of us! [3] God wants to rejoice, with all of the angels in heaven, because of each of us precious ones!

More than that, “when you think how ordinary were the persons representing God – a shepherd who stands at the very bottom of the socio-economic ladder in first-century Palestine, a woman with only ten silver coins to her name – you realize that maybe these aren’t just metaphors, but rather that they are reminders that God often works through ordinary people to do the extraordinary work of helping to find someone.” [4]

Each one of us once was lost, and now is found. Praise God! Jesus welcomes you, and He welcomes me, too. We can all rejoice with that very Good News. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-71-god%E2%80%99s-lost-and-found-luke-151-10

[2] https://www.davidlose.net/2016/09/pentecost-17-c-joy/

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

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Who Searches for the Lost?

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“Who Searches for the Lost?”

Luke 15 word cloud

Luke 15:1-10 – September 15, 2019

Are you familiar with a lost-and-found box? A box full of lost belongings, perhaps at the senior center near your house, or at the school your children or grandchildren attend? Or, at the YMCA near my husband’s and my condominium? All kinds of lost valuables can be found there—valuable to someone—lost things someone is diligently searching for.

Before we get to the lost things talked about in this bible reading, we need to set the scene. The Rabbi Jesus is again eating with those nasty social outcasts, the tax collectors, and other outcast people who are labelled “sinners.” We talked about them two weeks ago, when we had the Gospel reading about Zacchaeus the tax collector. I mentioned how horrified the “decent folks” in Jericho felt about a respectable Jewish Rabbi like Jesus eating with a tax collector like Zacchaeus.

Horrible! Outrageous! Simply scandalous! But, isn’t this just like Jesus? Always doing the unexpected? Always going out of His way to do the next loving thing?

Let’s see how Dr. Luke sets up this scene. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Jewish law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Here we have real outcasts—yes, racially and ethnically they might be Jewish, but the “decent folks” would not have anything to do with these Jewish tax collectors and other sinners. These outcasts were not even allowed into the synagogues, so they could not join with their communities in worship. Imagine, being forbidden to enter a house of worship because of who you are and how you make a living. How isolating, and how demeaning. But, that is not all. Verse 2 tells us the “righteous, decent folks” were outraged and upset that these outcasts and sinners were even listening to the Rabbi Jesus, much less eating with Him. Imagine, a respectable Rabbi eating dinner with the likes of them??

The very next verses show us Jesus telling a parable. We do not know whether Jesus was telling the parable gently and earnestly, or cynically, trying to make a challenging point. Sometimes we can tell, from context clues, but here we are not sure. These words are recorded by Dr. Luke: “Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “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?”

Here our trusty, loving, compassionate Rabbi tells a story about one hundred sheep. These sheep are not labelled “good” or “bad.” The lost sheep is doing just what sheep do – sheep wander.

This parable reminds me of a conversation I had years ago with my father-in-law, who is now deceased. My father-in-law grew up on a farm in Iowa during the 1930’s, and his parents kept all kinds of animals: chickens, cattle, pigs, and…sheep.

My father-in-law told me a number of things about sheep. Sheep are timid and anxious, and they startle easily. Sheep are by turns stubborn and frightened, willful and easily led. Sheep are not particularly smart. Did I mention my father-in-law said sheep were stubborn, and they often wandered off and went their own way? The lost sheep is doing just what sheep habitually do – sheep wander.

Both the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament describe the nation of Israel and the Jewish people as sheep. I suspect that most everyone listening to the Rabbi Jesus understood these basic features of keeping sheep. (Not so much today, with the urbanization of people hearing the Gospel message, and the distance of people from a rural setting.)

In this parable, Jesus mentions a shepherd with one hundred sheep. One of them gets lost. One out of one hundred is only one percent. In modern terms of data marketing and warehouse management, one percent is usually an acceptable percentage of shrinkage. After all, the shepherd has ninety-nine other sheep in front of him. One little sheep is an acceptable loss.

Except, this is not an acceptable loss to Jesus. The difference is this particular Good Shepherd.

Here is the end of Luke’s parable: “5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’”

This parable has been interpreted in various ways, but I would like to highlight the actions of the sheep. Sheep—I mean, people get lost. Sheep—I mean, people wander. People are human. It is human nature to wander away, sometimes, and get lost.

Jesus does not differentiate between sheep that are “sinner” or “outcast,” and “righteous” sheep—and neither should we.

Finally, the aftermath of this story, as told by Jesus: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Dr. Lois Malcolm of Luther Seminary mentions “We should note, however, that the emphasis here is not on a contrast between two different types of people: “tax collectors and sinners” versus “Pharisees and scribes.” ….Tax collectors were corrupt, dishonest, and had colluded with the Roman Empire. By contrast, the Pharisees and scribes were the religious leaders of the day, much like professional clergy [and the church leaders] in our time.” [1]

Yet, Jesus classifies them all as sheep, both the decent, “righteous” folk as well as the tax collectors and sinners. Sheep are not particularly smart. Sometimes, these stubborn sheep willfully stray, and straggle on the path, and go their own way. That is what sheep—and humans—do. That is just built in, in the basic nature of sheep—and humans.

As Dr. Malcolm says, “The shepherd evokes images of a God who not only actively seeks out individuals who are lost — note the emphasis on the “one” out of the ninety-nine – but also rejoices when they are found. This God is not a tyrant who demands subservience to impossible demands, but rather a God who actively seeks restoration: “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15, etc.).” [2]

The Rev. Alyce McKenzie relates “One Sunday morning several years ago, on my way into the church our family attended in Pennsylvania, I spotted the Lost and Found box in the entry way and decided to look through it to see if I could find my son’s missing blue mitten.

There was no blue mitten in it, but there was a pair of glasses in there. A set of keys. A watch. There is a lot that can show up in the lost and found box of your life lying in there unclaimed while you go about your ministry.” [3]

We can all thank God that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, does come looking for us when we are lost, wherever we may be, even if it takes a long time. Getting lost is a very sheep-like—and human—thing to do. We can celebrate that our loving, caring Savior actively seeks us out, puts us on His shoulders, and restores us to the joy of our salvation.

Alleluia, amen.

[1] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1782

Commentary, Luke 15:1-10, Lois Malcolm, at WorkingPreacher.org, Luther Seminary, 2013.

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.patheos.com/progressive-christian/lost-found-alyce-mckenzie-09-09-2013.html

“Lost and Found,” Alyce M McKenzie, Edgy Exegesis, 2013.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2019: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

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Sought by God

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“Sought by God”

luke-15-lost-word-cloud

Luke 15:1-10 – September 11, 2016

Many people have expectations of leaders and important people. I am not sure whether these expectations are realistic or not, but regardless—many people do have them. Think of teachers or professors. Executive directors, or CEOs. Partners in executive firms, or coaches of athletic teams. And—what about pastors and ministers? Leaders of houses of faith? Do people have expectations of them? Sometimes, unrealistic or disapproving expectations? Of course they do.

Here in Luke 15 we have a crowd of tax collectors and “sinners” gathered around the Rabbi Jesus. But, the Pharisees and teachers of the Mosaic Law Code—the righteous religious people—were disapproving. These self-righteous folk had misconceptions. They had the wrong kind of expectations about how the Rabbi Jesus was “supposed to” minister. Imagine that!

Let’s take a step back, and look at the setting of this passage for today. Luke 15:1-2 tells us that the Rabbi Jesus ”welcomes sinners and eats with them.” It seems to be the case that Jesus was the host at dinner—at least, part of the time. But that isn’t the main thing, for the self-righteous folks. What about those tax collectors and “sinners?” What was the matter with them?

Yes, it was all about those evil, disreputable “sinners.” The people who did not keep the Mosaic Law Code were considered “sinners,” by the orthodox, observant Jews. A Pharisee and any of his family were forbidden to have anything to do with “those people.” No business dealings, and certainly no meals together.  According to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, Jesus was mixing in really bad company, especially for a decent, self-respecting Rabbi. At least—that was an unrealistic expectation a lot of people had about Him.

Luke chapter 15 is all about Jesus telling three stories. The first two stories—the two parables we had read to us in our Gospel passage today—could be about anyone, anyone at all. Not necessarily about Pharisees, observant people who were extremely strict about keeping the Mosaic Law, but about anyone. Anyone at all.

Do you remember high school groups and cliques? The popular kids, the cool kids. The math nerds, the science geeks. The jocks, the honors students. The Pharisees and teachers of the Mosaic Law considered themselves to be the ultra-cool kids. The kids who wouldn’t hang out with anyone else. They were the only kids who were going to make it into the presence of God. Everyone else? Tough luck. No way. Maybe—just maybe if the other people followed the Mosaic Law especially closely, dotting every “I” and crossing every “t”. Maybe, just maybe, God would allow the other groups and cliques into heaven, too.

What does Jesus say to these ultra-cool kids, these Pharisees and teachers of the Law, He tells some stories. The first story is about a shepherd and his hundred sheep. It was hard work being a shepherd. There was not a lot of arable pasture land in Palestine. Being a shepherd took a great deal of grit, persistence, and self-sacrifice. In this story, the shepherd lost one of his sheep—one out of one hundred.

To today’s loss prevention and quality assurance mindset, one sheep lost out of one hundred was an acceptable loss. Think of the rough and rocky terrain. Expecting a shepherd to keep track of all hundred sheep? To some people, that could be an unrealistic expectation. Shrinkage happens. It isn’t a huge deal. Except—to that one little lost sheep. What’s more, shepherds were excellent at tracking. They were personally responsible for each sheep under their care.

Let’s take a look at the second story. The Rabbi Jesus tells a parable about a woman. (Unusual for the Bible! Out of the ordinary for Jesus, too.) Reading from Luke 15:8-9, 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ “

This second parable is a similar story about a lost thing. The typical Palestinian home was not huge. One room, two at most. Can you imagine this woman, losing a precious silver coin? The interior of the house probably did not have many windows. So even in the daytime the interior was dark, necessitating the lighting of a lamp. Can you see her sweeping carefully, methodically, listening for the clink of a metal coin?

The woman’s coin was lost. It didn’t grow legs and run away. All the same, the coin was lost. The sheep may have strayed away, but it still got lost. Both parables have lost things. What is to be done?        

Let’s go back to the ultra-cool kids, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. If you can imagine such a thing, they avoided all contact with anyone—anyone at all—who did not keep the Mosaic Law Code to the absolute maximum degree. If you can go a further step in your imagination, these ultra-cool, ultra-strict Jews looked forward to the destruction of the “sinners.” Not, as Jesus said in 15:7, 7 ”I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” And in 15:10,  10 ”In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

This is something radically different. Jesus sends a message of lost and found. Jesus sends the welcoming message to everyone, to anyone, a message of radical welcome. At least, as far as the Pharisees and teachers of the law are concerned.

Both of these parables are about God seeking the lost. How dare God forgive sinners! This is about false expectations about God, just as much as Pharisees had false expectations about Jesus.

Do we have false expectations about God? Is there someone who we don’t think God should look for? The woman in the parable was diligent in finding that lost coin. The shepherd was determined to seek out that lost sheep.

As one of the commentators on this passage said, “Many of the flocks were communal flocks, belonging, not to individuals, but to villages. There would be two or three shepherds in charge. Those whose [sheep] were safe would arrive home on time and bring news that one shepherd was still out on the mountain side searching for a sheep which was lost. The whole village would be upon the watch. When, in the distance, they saw the shepherd striding home with the lost sheep across his shoulders, there would rise from the whole community a shout of joy and of thanksgiving.” [1]

Do we have faulty expectations about God? Or, is the woman from the parable diligent to search and search, turn her whole house topsy turvy until she finds that lost coin? Is the Great Shepherd of the sheep concerned about absolutely every sheep that wanders away—no matter what? That is the picture Jesus paints for us in these two parables. God knows the joy of finding someone who was lost. No Pharisee ever dreamed of a God like that, a God with extravagant welcome, a God who would seek and save the lost, no matter what.

And both parables? They end with a grand celebration. “Then the shepherd calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” God does not want sinners—or anyone else—to be lost. These stories from Jesus illustrate that the goodness and mercy of God is for everyone, especially the most neglected and despised. Truly, good news for us all. Alleluia, amen!

 

[1] Barclay, William, The Gospel of Luke (The Daily Study Bible Series), (Westminster Press: Philadelphia, 1975).

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2016: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!)