01.09. God's Lost and Found Department
God’s Lost and Found Department
If we lose a coat or a hat or our umbrella we usually go to the lost and found department to find the lost item. At KMS they have a coat barrel for misplaced coats. The joke around the office is the preacher has lost his keys, again.
We have before us what many see as three distinct parables while others see them as three parts of one parable. Inside these three, is the best known and loved of all parables, namely the Prodigal Son parable. We will need to return to the Prodigal Son parable at another time to explore its meaning and implications deeper. For the most part these are unique to Luke’s gospel. Only Matthew in Matthew 18:12-13 records the lost sheep portion. Some has said there is a mathematical progress of the value. The one sheep was only one of one hundred, or 1 % of the total flock. The lost coin was one of ten or 10% of the treasure and of greater valve than one sheep. The lost son was only one of two or 50% of the father’s children and of greater value still than the sheep or the coin. In addition we can see within these three a clear picture of the trinity, the Son, the Spirit and the Father.
I- The Common Threads: The common thread of these three is something or someone is lost. Jesus often referred to the needs of men that He came into contact with. He seldom called them sinners. He referred to them as lost. This sheep was lost because of being weak and not hearing the warnings. This was not calculated nor intention. The coin was lost because of another’s fault or perhaps just the lot of life. The son however was lost due to calculated self will on his part.
Another reoccurring thought is of a celebration. In the first two the neighbors are called to rejoice with them and in the third the celebration is seen implicit.
II- The Lost Sheep-- the Seeking Shepherd:
The portion of our text that deals with the lost sheep gives us a picture of someone who unthinking wanders from God. They never intended to get lost. They know the shepherd cares for them but they are away and it is getting dark and they only then realize they are lost.
In the last few months there have been several hikers, skiers and hunters that have become lost due to sudden changes in the weather or other factors. Most of them would never make it home safety if not for the rescuers. This section however speaks louder about the seeking shepherd than it does the sheep. The sheep was lost the shepherd was the seeking. Might I remind us that it was Adam who was lost and God who was seeking. It was you and I who were lost and God doing the seeking. You will notice that the shepherd looked for the sheep until he found it. Christ said He came, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 He did not come to heal, walk on the water or perform miracles to awe the crowds. His purpose was to be a sacrifice that you and I could live. What is the worth of a man? Oh! Not how much could we get from the material that makes up our bodies but the worth in the eyes of God. Perhaps an atheist would say we are worthless when we look at the heavens and see how small we are in comparison. When we measure our height by the stars we are truly small. We are but specks of dust on a minor planet in a minor galaxy. Leroy Lawson said, "It is true that astronomically speaking, man is insignificant. But it is also true, as someone has wisely countered, ’Astronomically speaking, man is the astronomer.’ The astronomer knows the stars; do the stars know the astronomer?" (The Lord of Parables, Standard Publishers, p19.)
Regardless of anything else we see the value of man in the fact of what God was willing to give to redeem us back to Himself.
III- The Lost Coin—the Spirit Working through the church.
Can you imagine the woman realizing that one of the coins she had been saving was missing. She probably would go into action. The dust would rise from the broom swept floor as she frantically sweeps the corners and under the bed with anxiety rising with each corner sweep and no coin found. The maybe in the very last possible place it could be she finds it. What relief and joy at finding the valuable. She gets on the grapevine and shares her joy with the neighbors. This pictures for us the work of the Holy Spirit as He works through the church to seek out the lost. Jesus says that the celebration pictures the celebration in heaven when someone comes to repentance. The Holy Spirit empowers us to search diligently for the lost coins of the world. They may not even be aware they are lost. They may not be conscious of their peril, as the coin was not. There is an old saying that we must get them lost before we can get them saved.
IV- The Lost Son—the anxious Father:
The shepherd goes after the sheep the woman searches out the lost coin but the anxious loving father must say at home. He has done all he can for the son but must wait for him to come home. Having done all that is need the father patiently waits for the return of the son. We know this story well. The focus is many times placed on the son who takes his leave or the brother who gets angry because of the party given when his brother comes home. However, the emphasis can also be placed on this anxious waiting father. The son gives us a picture of someone who deliberately and willfully is lost. Someone who has rejected the gospel and thinks the world has more to offer. This is the most tragic picture of the three. Could the father have gone to the son and brought him home against his will? This could have been done. Some men even speculate that the father had his spies watching the son and reporting back to him on his condition and location. Notice it says he ran to meet him as if it didn’t surprise him he was coming home. Luke 15:20 .
The father also gives him a kiss of reconciliation. The son who was lost is found and it is time for joy. Are we joyous when someone come to the Lord. Satan tells lost men and women that we will laugh. If it is laughter it is laughter of joy not laughter of ridicule.
The key to understanding is found in Luke 15:2 "This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." Certainly we can see from the lost sheep sought out by the shepherd, the lost coin sought and found by the woman and the wayward son reconciled with the father that God wants all to come home.