1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.
3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they shall be in great terror,
for God is with the company of the righteous.
6 You would confound the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
I lost it! The ring. Not just any ring, but my mother’s favorite. It had an old family diamond in a modern setting, but its value came not from its appraised worth, but from its emotional significance. I loved that ring. When I wore it, I felt like I was closer to my mother, nearer to her. I looked everywhere for the ring, several times. I dug through purses, and retraced my steps, cried every time I came up empty handed. I waited a year before I could admit that it was gone and report it to insurance.
We all lose things. Sometimes they are gone for good, like my mother’s ring. But other times they are found. And we rejoice!
Today we are thinking about being lost. Not just rings, keys and phones, but our very selves. Have you ever felt lost? Have you ever felt like you did not fit in, didn’t have a place?
You might have been bullied into being an outsider.
Or your depression weighed you down, separating you from your family.
Or your grief has set you adrift.
Or something unique to you just did not fit in with the larger group, making you feel lost. You are not alone. We all feel lost at times. We all want desperately to be found.
Jesus knows that. That is why Jesus always made a place for those who were outsiders; the people who society made to feel small, the ones who did not fit in; like tax collectors and sinners. So when these outsiders were coming near to Jesus and listening to him it made the power people, the scribes and pharisees, mad. How could these sinners and outcasts be close to Jesus, even eat with him?
Jesus tells them three parables in response to their grumbling. We will only read two, so I will recap the third. It’s the familiar story of the prodigal son. A father had two sons.
The younger one asks for his inheritance, squanders it on loose living and returns to his father in shame. But before he can ask for forgiveness, the Father runs to greet him, then throws him the best party ever, rejoicing that his lost son has been found! All the while the older son is dutiful and feeling disgruntled.
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 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.’ 7 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.
8 “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? 9 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.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus continues on with the prodigal son.
This year at Presbytery every preacher was asked to preach on the prodigal son story from a different perspective, so I have heard three sermons on this already! What has become clear is we need to see the lost sheep and coin, the parables we read this morning, in relationship to the prodigal son, even though we never read them all together. Taken as a whole each one is intensifying the message.
First the shepherd lost one of a hundred sheep.
Then the woman loses one of her ten coins.
Finally, the father loses one of two sons.
It goes from 1% to 10% to 50% being lost! (The argument can be made that both sons are lost but that is another sermon.) These three parables tell us it does not matter if we are lost a little or we are lost a lot. If we are sinners par excellence, or just your garden variety. No matter how you are lost, to what degree, when you are found, God will rejoice!!!
So the first point is, We all get lost! We can fall away from God, we can sin, and we get caught up in new behaviors that take us away from our faith. We all get lost! Sometimes we are like the sheep wandering away. Other times things just happen. I don’t think the coin did anything to become lost. Other times we deliberately defy, demand our own way, much like the son who asked for his inheritance, even though that was forbidden.
Think of a time you felt lost? Which one of the three do you relate to more, wandering off, it just happened, or defiance? It is important to note the son had a change of heart, he came to his senses, and returned to his father, because we often need to do the same. Some have equated being lost and found with being saved and that is true. But I also believe that we can be lost from God even on our faith journey. We get to turn around and come home to God. And God will throw us a party.
The second point when we are lost and found, God rejoices!!!! God celebrates when we come to God or return to God. When the sheep rested safely on his shoulders walking back to the herd, the rejoicing begins. When the swept coin gleams in the lamp light, the woman rejoices. When the father runs to welcome his lost son home, God rejoices. It is important to note that the shepherd, the woman and the father all represent God.
I love that we have a feminine example of God in these parables. I love the fullness of God! A common shepherd doing his humble task of caring for sheep. A woman who has saved 10 coins, 10 drachmas each coin a day’s wage, and a father who bends the rules and gives his son more than he deserves and then after he squanders it, lovingly welcomes him home. When I was in college I stopped going to church. I was busy with school and social things. I would go to my home church but that was only on holidays.
When I read these parables, of how God is searching for the sheep, or looking for the coin, I find comfort in knowing that God was working to find me, to bring me back into the fold. I was lost for four years, but then I was found. So much so, that within a few years, God called me into the ministry. Maybe God is searching for you right now. Wanting to welcome you back, God on the verge of rejoicing over you! Rejoicing because you have been found!
So no matter how broken or hurt you feel, how wounded or outcast you have become, how lost you are, God rejoices when you are found! Or maybe you are feeling good right now, but a small part of you thinks something is missing. Could that be God searching for you? I think so. God moves in mysterious ways and if we learn anything from these three parables it is that God is resourceful, loving and welcoming. Yet I think we can make it hard to be found by God if we like the fools mentioned by the psalmist say, “There is no God.” For if we are certain there is no God then when we have gone astray, and it makes it harder to be found.
Finally, God not only rejoices in each one of these parables, God throws a party! The shepherd and the woman invite their family and friends over to celebrate. The father also throws a welcome home party for his found son. But Jesus takes this to another level, declaring the joy in heaven and the joy of angels when one person repents. When one person is found by God and welcomed home. Heaven rejoices when God finds us, when we repent, when we claim God in our hearts! I love that image, so welcoming so holy. But Jesus knows we need some human reinforcement too. That is why there is a party, a celebration. So while the angels are rejoicing in heaven, we have a communal rejoicing on earth. Friends and neighbors celebrate finding what is lost.
Your church family is that community. Heck the church picnic can be the party.
It can be your welcome home party.
Let’s remember, the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus, listened to him, wanted to be close to him. And Jesus tells three stories about God. Who God is, how God lovingly responds. So whether you are lost or you are found, know who God is. God is searching for you, God is welcoming you, and God is rejoicing when you are found! Amen.
