In the 15th chapter of Luke, you’ll find Jesus’ “lost” parables. In each of the three, there was great cause for celebration when the lost was found. If you’ve ever found something that you thought was lost, I’m sure you can relate to this parable of the Lost Coin:
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Luke 15:8-10 NLT
At my last high school class reunion in 2013 I volunteered to help another classmate in the planning of our next reunion. Well, I blinked, 5 years passed, and it’s time to get to work. My classmate was mostly looking for help with the communication part of it as technology is not her thing and I thought I could help. We had a planning lunch last month and I was tasked with hunting down the Shanksville-Stonycreek High School Class of ‘83. There are only 29 graduates from my class, including me, so no need to feel sorry for me! I had saved the contact information that we had from previous reunions so I wasn’t exactly starting from scratch; however, there were several classmates that we had little to no information on and I haven’t seen or heard anything out of them since the night we walked across the stage to collect our diplomas.
My search began shortly after that planning lunch. I sent texts, emails and Facebook messages and made note of any responses. For those who didn’t respond, it became necessary to dig a little deeper. There was one classmate in particular that I really had no idea how to track down. No one seemed to know what became of him after high school. The only info I had was his name. So, I googled it! Of course, the search led me to multiple people by that name. Somehow, I found an email address for one person by that name that lived in PA, so I thought I’d start there. That was a fun email to compose—-“So, are you by any chance the _____ _______ that graduated from Shanksville in 1983?” Imagine my surprise when I got a response saying, “Yes, I am.” I felt like I had just won the lottery! I told some friends and family so they could rejoice with me, just as the woman did when she found her lost coin.
Another of the “Lost” parables dealt with sheep:
“So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”
Luke 15:3-7 NLT
I guess because I’m a math teacher, the numbers always strike me from this parable. He had 99 out of 100 of his sheep accounted for, yet it was the one who was lost that garnered his attention. My students would be thrilled with a 99%. I doubt any would dwell on the 1% they missed. Yet when I was searching for classmates, I found myself responding just as this man with the lost sheep. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy for each and every response that I got. But some classmates were easier to locate than others. It was the ones who required the most effort to find, that brought me the greatest joy. Just as this man in the parable of the lost sheep, my focus was on the small percentage that was lost.
Jesus used these parables to make His point in a way that we could easily understand. These two parables, along with the third about the Lost (Prodigal) Son, weren’t really about the lost coin, sheep and son. They were about searching for and reaching out with the Good News to those who don’t yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Their eternity hinges on being found.
He wants EVERY soul saved. 99% isn’t good enough. Are you looking for what (who) is lost? If you’re like me, the task seems daunting and you feel completely unqualified for such an assignment. No worries—-the Director of this Search and Rescue Operation is none other than Jesus Christ. He will equip us for whatever tasks He assigns. The key is to stay in close connection with Him so He can direct our steps. Then, of course, we must respond in obedience to that direction.
Of this we can be sure—-there is rejoicing in Heaven when the lost are found!
(And when I had obtained contact information for ALL 29 members of the SSHS Class of ‘83, there was rejoicing at my house too!)
