Lost Things: A Sheep, A Coin, and Me

Intro: Hook

Good stories, stories that endure, do so because they touch deep longings, desires, yearnings in the audience

How many stories are told of attempts to recapture youth

Ponce de León and the fountain of youth

Body Swap stories like Big

Greek mythology about the goddess that grants youth

It is, then, little wonder why one of those stories that has endured is that of Peter Pan

The boy who never grew up, nor wanted to grow up, because “all grownups are pirates”

So what would happen if Peter Pan grew up?

That’s the premise of the Robin Williams movie, Hook

And here is your spoiler alert for a movie that came out in 1991

Peter fell in love and left behind the forever boyhood

He got married and had kids

And forgot everything

He forgot about the Lost Boys

He forgot about Neverland

And he forgot about Captain Hook

But James Hook did not forget about him

The moment came and Hook broke into our world and kidnapped Pan’s children

What followed was the story of Peter having to go back to Neverland, remember who he was and rescue his children

But key to that: he needed to remember how to fly

And how does someone fly in Neverland?

By holding on to his happy thought

He needed to find his happy thought

To defeat Hook, to rescue his lost children, he needed to find his happy thought

Incidentally, one of the other characters, Tootles, walked around saying, “Lost, lost, lost, I’ve lost my marbles”, which was very funny

Transition

Ok Pastor, so where are you going with this

Tonight we come to two short, interrelated stories

Just as Hook is the story of lost things that need to be found

Lost memories of Neverland

Lost identity of who he is

Lost boys

Lost children

Lost happy thoughts

And yes, lost marbles

Our two parables are stories of things lost… and things found

A lost sheep, a lost coin… and a lost me

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-10

Luke 15:1–10 ESV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his 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 coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And 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 before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Pray

Recap

In verse 3, it says, “So he [Jesus] told them this parable”

Note the singular

Kinda surprising Jesus doesn’t use the plural here

After all, he proceeds to tell 3 stories

Tells 3 stories, but 1 parable

3 different angles of seeing the same thing

Tonight, we are looking at the first two of those stories that comprise the threefold parable

A parable of lost things being searched for and being found

Story 1 - Lost Sheep

Man owns 100 sheep

As I’m sure is a regular practice, counts his sheep

97, 98, 99… uhh, this is not good

Counts again - nope - only 99 - 1 of them is missing

So he leaves the 99 in open country

Knows they are safe and under watchful eye of a friend

And goes in search of the missing sheep

Because a missing sheep is an at risk sheep

Sheep are not good with maps and don’t have GPS

They can’t find their way back home

As soon as they stray, they are in danger

Danger of walking off a click

Danger of starvation

Danger of getting stuck in thorn bushes

Danger of attack from a wild animal

That sheep could not survive, could not return

Could only wait for rescue

So shepherd goes searching for his lost sheep, searching everywhere

When he finally finds it, he picks it up and throws it over his shoulders and begin trek back to the rest of the flock

Bigger deal than it may seem

According to Oklahoma State University, average weight of a adult ewe (female sheep) is 120-160 pounds

This is both a huge burden for the shepherd and a huge comfort for the sheep

For the shepherd, that is a lot of weight to carry

It is a burden to carry the sheep all the way back

But for the sheep, it is a moment of unique comfort, safety, and security in the arms of and around the shoulders of the shepherd

Upon arriving home from his successful rescue mission, the shepherd celebrates

He tells everyone - he calls all his friends and neighbors

It’s time for a celebration

Luke 15:6–7 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his 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.”

Story 2 - Lost Coin

Jesus moves directly from telling the story of the lost sheep to telling another story

A woman has 10 silver coins and loses one

Way story is told, we can assume that this was all the woman had

Her entire life savings - everything she had in the world - is represented by those 10 silver coins

Losing 1 is a big deal

This is not us having a penny fall out of our pocket and roll under the car and deciding it is not worth it to get down on our hands and knees to find that one penny

No, this woman goes on a search mission

Lights the lamp, sweeps the house

“Seek diligently” - love those words

In our world about the only thing many of us will “seek diligently” for is the remote if it falls through the cracks in the couch

And even then we recognize as soon as we move the couch we are going to have some extra cleaning to do with everything that gathers under the couch

Old popcorn kernels, that back to the earring you couldn’t find, couple of Lego bricks (at least in my house), some crayons

Oh, and lots and lots of dust and dirt!

But it is worth it to recover the lost remote!

So she seeks diligently until she finds her lost coin

Then, like the shepherd, she celebrates

Luke 15:9–10 “And 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 before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

Transition

Two stories - two lost things found after diligent searches and two celebrations that what was lost has been found

I’ve entitled this message, Lost Things: A Sheep, A Coin, and Me

In this parables - these two stories

Jesus is the shepherd, Jesus is the woman

We are the lost sheep, we are the lost coin

So here is what I want to ask:

How are we like the lost sheep and the lost coin?

And how are we different than the lost sheep and the lost coin?

How are we like sheep and coins?

We are valuable

Lost things are worth finding

For the shepherd, he left behind everything to find that lost sheep

For the woman, she scoured the whole house in search of her lost coin

We are worth it - you are worth it!

Many of us struggle - maybe this is you right now - to believe that you are valuable, that you are worth it

Here these verses from the Bible

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Isaiah 43:4 “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…”

Matthew 10:29–31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Could go on and on

The teaching of the Bible is that you are worth more than any sheep, more than any coin

You are precious, desired, loved, valued

You have incredible dignity and worth simply because you are!

You, like the sheep and the coin, are valuable and worth finding

Lost things don’t find themselves

The lost sheep was in danger of attack from a wild animal, of wandering off a precipice, etc.

And that lost sheep had no way to find itself or to rescue itself

The coin was just laying wherever it was

Maybe under a pile of dust, maybe in a crack in the wall

Wherever it stopped rolling, that’s where it was

The lost coin had no way to find itself or to rescue itself

We are worth celebrating

Finding something that valuable that was lost is cause for celebration

The shepherd finds his sheep and calls his neighbors and friends to celebrate

The woman finds her coin and calls her neighbors and friends to celebrate

In both of these stories, the result of finding that which was lost was to celebrate

It is for this reason that part of our ministry strategy at New Creation Church is to celebrate

Connect. Belong. Thrive. Celebrate.

At each step in God’s work in our lives, there is cause for celebration

You are worth celebrating!

How are we not like sheep and coins?

Our lostness is on us

The sheep just kinda wandered off, because that is what sheep do

The coin fell out of a pocket or out of a purse and rolled away or was simply misplaced

They didn’t lose themselves

Not so with us

We actively walked away

For us, being lost is a result of our willfull rebellion against the Good Shepherd, not just passive wandering off or falling out of a purse

But it is actually much greater

It is not just 1 in 100 sheep that are lost or 1 in 10 coins that are lost

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Able to recognize our lostness

The sheep couldn’t articulate the danger it was in

Sheep are known for getting anxious when alone

But get paralyzed by it

The coin is inanimate, not able to make any noise or call for help

But us, we can recognize our lostness

We can look at our own hearts and realize that our lostness is both our own fault and has left us unable to help ourselves

Able to delight and rejoice in being sought and being found

We are helplessly lost, not hopelessly lost

Because the shepherd, the woman - Jesus - comes to find us

The Good Shepherd

Jesus carries us not back to the rest of the sheep but to the cross

The burden for Jesus was not just putting a heavy sheep around his shoulders but of putting the weight of all the sin of the world upon his shoulders

The sheep may have experienced a drop in anxiety in being found by the shepherd

The coin felt nothing at being placed back in the purse of the woman

But us? We recognize that we have been sought for and have been found

We didn’t do it - Jesus did - he is the one who sought for us, rescued us, and carries us safely forever

And we can rejoice in that!

Application

Offer us a couple of specific applications to this parable, these two stories

First, repent of our sins

Confess to God that we rebelled against him

We caused our own lostness

Second, delight in God’s work in us

You are not a bleating sheep or an inanimate coin

Rejoice that you have been found by God!

The one who searched for you is the very one against whom you rebelled

Yes by carrying your sins all the way to the cross, you are forgiven of them!

Third, delight in God’s work in others

Luke 15:10 “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

It is our unique opportunity, our privilege, to rejoice and celebrate what God is doing in others as well

We are going to be a church that celebrates because all of heaven celebrates the redeeming work of Jesus!

Fourth, take the opportunity to ask in your own heart what you have lost and what you have gained over the years

Two interrelated questions have really helped me process events in my own life

For all that you’ve lost, what have you gained?

That is, it’s easy for us to be held up on all those things that have been lost in our lives

A lost innocence, a lost job, a lost love

But in losing those things, what have you gained?

Ask God to help you see how his providence has been with you and the blessings that you may have missed if not for those losses

For all that you’ve gained, what have you lost?

The counter to that is to recognize that for all that you have gained, some things have been lost along the way

A promotion that led to a missed opportunity somewhere else

A move that led to a lost friendship

It’s ok to grieve that which was lost along the way even as you celebrate what you have gained

Conclusion: Hook

Peter Pan finally found the happy thought he needed to be able to fly: his children

His delight in his children literally empowered him to fly in Neverland

Jesus’ happy thought: us

Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The thing that was lost was me… and you… and your lost friends and family

And with us as his happy thought, he gave everything, his own life, to find us and to rescue us from sin and death

Pray