From Luke 15: 1 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." 3So 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."
The old comedian used to say, "What a crowd, what a crowd!" And that applies to the crowd gathering around Jesus as He prepares to share three wonderful stories that illustrate the importance sinners (that's you and me) have before God. On the one hand, here come tax collectors and sinners, an all collective term to describe those looked down upon by the "right people." And on the other come these "right people," Pharisees and scribes. The second group could not believe that first group should even be considered by Jesus or hear Jesus. So, to this crowd Jesus tells two short, but powerful, parables. The first one is one of common identification. Most people in both groups had a relative or a friend that worked with sheep. It was a very common profession and to use it in a parable would get the attention of those who thought of Uncle Judas who was a shepherd, or even Dad who had been one. The parable is that all sheep matter to the owner; and in this parable, Jesus is sharing who all sinners matter to God, regardless of the crowd in which you find yourself. The good shepherd leaves the 99 in the wilderness to seek the one who is lost, and looks for it until it is found. When it is found, this shepherd lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. It is a cause for celebration. All friends are called as are the neighbors and he shares the news, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost." Then Jesus says, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
The second parable concerns a woman. This story catches the audience's attention because women were not usually the central characters in ancient literature. Women mattered to Jesus and the idea of a woman in a story might catch the attention of those who might think of their mother, a grandmother, an aunt or a female friend. This woman had ten silver coins, which was a lot of money in those days. She loses one, and does all that is required to find it. She lights a lamp, for it is hard to find a coin in the dark. She sweeps the house, for it may be under a table or another piece of furniture. The point is that she seeks carefully for it until it is found. When it is found, Jesus says, she, too, calls friends and neighbors and says, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost." Then Jesus ends the second parable with this precious words, "Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
You and I matter to God. We are seen by God as precious treasures that cannot go on being lost. The joy in our being found shows the sadness in God's heart as we wander away or hide from God. God searches for us, even as we seek to hide or think that we do not matter. When we are found there is great joy in heaven and in the presence of the angels of God, and in God's heart as well. You and I have lost things and sometimes we even give them up for being lost forever. They may be little things that to others might not matter much, but to us they do. And sometimes, these lost things show up and great joy fills our heart in having found them. On a bigger scale, sometimes we have lost loved ones to a disagreement or argument. A child may run away from home or might not call home from school where he or she is studying. The moments, days, weeks, months, and sometimes years of separation cause us great pain. The sound of a doorbell or a phone from that loved one or even better, the voice of that loved one, bring us extreme joy. In the same way, dear friend, God rejoices when we seek to be found.
Living lost is a sad way to live for us and especially for God. Whatever may have caused our wanting to wander away or to hide from God is not worth the pain that we live with; come into the fullness of joy and the fullness of God's love when we allow ourselves to be found.
PRAYER: O God, for those of us wandering or hiding from God, speak to our hearts. We thought we knew more than God and sought to hide; or we thought we knew what was best for us and we chose the wrong things. Call out to us in ways that we can hear and in ways that invite us back. We want joy in heaven over our being right with You. This we pray in the name of He who sought us back, Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
