Lost and Found

Lost and Found Luke 15:1-24 Ever gone to a lost and found box to look for something you may have forgotten? I was with my brother at a restaurant once, just a hole-in-the-wall diner. We each had a hat and had put them aside when we sat down. We had our meal and went home. Well, the next day I got a call that he had lost his hat. It was a very special hat. His daughter had it custom made for him as a Christmas present. It was a ball cap that had the family farm name on it and the years of service it was in operation. I got one too. Well, not finding it, we went out of our way to go back to the restaurant to see if it was there. It wasn’t. Christmas was coming up so I called the daughter and asked if she could have another one made up as a surprise gift. “Sure,” she said. Christmas came and a new hat appeared, just like the old one. However, in the meantime, he had found his old hat. Guess which one made him happier? Well, both, really, but the first one maybe a little more. These parables are like that story. They could be about something one had, lost and is found or about something new that is added the collection. In the parables today some things are lost: a sheep, a coin and a son. Question: Were these valued treasures already under the roof or in the family - or were they new to the environment? (pause) As the sheep, coin and son stand as symbols for something or someone else, i.e., believers and unbelievers, the righteous and unrighteous, which one are we talking about – that is, are these parables about believers coming back into the fold or unbelievers having a come-to-Jesus moment? Traditionally these parables have been about unbelievers coming to Jesus, about people who are in God’s universe who haven’t yet come to the awareness of God loving and longing for them to come into the Kingdom. But may I suggest that these parables are about an even more intimate relationship, and that the parables are about believers who have gone astray and that God loves and longs to have them back. Or, in the best of both worlds, it is about both. So, to the Scripture, the Pharisees and the scribes were murmuring against Jesus for receiving sinners, being their friend, having audience with them and not shunning them as they thought He ought to. So Jesus defends Himself, or rather, seeks to open and broaden their mental horizons and understanding of the Kingdom, with three great parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. How do you usually react when you finally locate some missing item? You’ve probably lost and then found not only coins, but keys, glasses, watches, pens, books, socks, slippers, telephones, and I’ll wager even 2 your car in a really big parking lot, along with a myriad of other things; but how often have you felt a party was warranted when you found them? So when Jesus asks, “Which one of you would not have a party?” a lot of us would confess, well, maybe not so much. But what if you lost a pet? Would you celebrate if they returned? As a pet owner, having lost your personal or family companion and then found it again, you might at least call your friends and tell them how happy you are. Maybe you’d even have a party. What if you lost a full day’s pay and it wasn’t much at that, but it was all you had to live on from day to day? The lost silver coin was the equivalent of a day’s pay, the only resource to provide food for the family. Without it, someone’s going hungry. Now that it is found, whew, what a relief. Happy now? Losing a son, well, who can measure the loss? But the son finds himself, sees his current reality, humbles himself, and returns, willing to be a servant but celebrated as the treasure any son or daughter would be under such circumstances. Party time yet? You bet. Who can say why, after all the members of the human race God has created, why God experiences such exhilaration over the conversion of a single individual? But that is where joy is found, for God and the individual. While it is foolish to say we know the mind of God, such verses as Isaiah 43:21, “I formed them for myself so that they might declare my praise,” and Revelation 4:11, “for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created,” as well as the image of God as a jilted lover in Hosea…, such verses and many more, at least suggest that God is a Creator who is lonely for His created ones. One might ask, “Why did God create in the first place?” Answer: that He may be known, have companionship, be loving and loved. So, when even a single sinner turns to God in faith and trust, God experiences joy, and there is a party in heaven! Angels and all the heavenly hosts marvel and rejoice over one sinner who repents. So the traditional and most common view on these parables in Luke 15 is that the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son all refer to unbelievers, and that Jesus goes out of His way and finds them and brings them back to Himself. So when people ask about the meaning of Luke 15 and the three parables, the answer that most people get is that unbelievers are becoming Christians. But is this really all that Jesus meant by these stories in Luke 15? There is more… Here’s a news flash - The Lost Sheep Are Not Unbelievers, but Believers. Read more closely and you may realize that the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Prodigal Son are not just about unbelievers 3 becoming Christians, but more so about straying Christians repenting and being restored back into fellowship with God. For example, the lost sheep already belonged to the shepherd. The lost coin already belonged to the woman. The lost son, well, he was already a son of the father, obviously. How has the church missed this understanding? The Shepherd does not get a NEW sheep into his sheep fold, but returns one that was lost and found. The same is true of the lost coin and lost son. Furthermore, the Gospel of Luke itself is not an evangelistic book in the Bible, but is a discipleship book. That is, Luke does not say much of anything in his Gospel about how unbelievers can receive eternal life. But he does write a lot about how believers can better follow Jesus and grow in their faithfulness and obedience to Him. It is the Gospel of John that is the real evangelistic book in the Bible, and it says over and over and over how to receive eternal life, namely, believe in Jesus for it. “God so loved the world…, that who so ever believes… (John 3:16) So again, in the broader context of Luke 15, we see that the issue is not unbelievers becoming believers, but straying believers being brought back into the care, protection, and provision of God. In light of the circumstances of Jesus’ day, He reached out to His own first, the righteous, then to the Gentiles, the unrighteous, and with the terms He uses in the passage, this seems to be what Jesus is saying, “Come my fellow Jews, inherit the Kingdom of God prepared for you, and come you Gentiles, all are welcome.” Today Jesus may say, “Come back church, and come in, you who are in the world.” The truth from Luke 15 is a great encouragement to you and to me. It shows us how much God loves us, and that even if or when we stray, God will not shrug His shoulders and say, “Good riddance! Bye bye!” No, instead, God will go to every length possible to find you and bring you back into His care. He will search high and low. He will scour every nook and cranny. He will never stop watching, waiting, and looking. And when He sees you far off in the distance, He will not make you crawl back and beg for forgiveness. No, He will run to you with open arms and throw you a party for your return. Have you ever strayed from God? It’s okay. Hopefully, you have learned a few things while away. Now is the time to return to Him. He is ready, willing, and waiting to welcome you back.