Being The Broom! Series

Being the broom. Luke 15:8-10

Jesus tells us this little wee parable about lost people being found; in it he compares those people to a silver coin a lost silver coin.

Now in our day and age with rampant inflation a silver coin is for most of us not a big deal. Back in the day this coin a ‘denarius’ was an average days wage. For a woman it may have had a more significant use as part of her wedding head-dress of ten coins…a special grouping of coins that would have taken her years to accumulate. I would pick that in today’s world it would be like a lady losing a stone out of her engagement ring. As you can see this would have been quite a blow.

So we get this picture of a woman having lost something of real value. Jesus is comparing this woman to God and the coin to the lost sinner. A fairly brave thing to do back in the day, comparing God to a woman.

Now I’ve previously spoken about the coin and the woman, but today I want to speak about the broom. Now you might be thinking what about the broom? Well as you can tell from the stunning example of broomness I hold in my hand that there are a couple of fairly important features to any broom the head and the handle.

Back to those features in a minute. What was this whole “sweep the house” thing about looking for the coin? Well the house was dark and the lamp was a tiny oil filled lamp that put out about as much light as a candle. The house was still darkish. The broom was used so that the lady could hear the coin as she swept, so looking as she swept, for a glint of light, listening for the sound of broom hitting coin she was attuned with those two senses to find this valuable possession.

The head of the broom, bristles used for sweeping, the handle of the broom in the hands of the woman knowing where to sweep responding to the move of her wrist and arm looking for what is lost.

Like us in relation to God, are we willing to respond to the move of his arm, to be sweeping for the lost in the places he calls us to go? God seeks after the lost are we doing our part in the sweep for their redemption. Just maybe we will be worn just as the bristles of the broom are; a little damaged but still able to sweep, maybe eventually well-worn for his kingdoms sake.

1) The interesting thing with this parable is that when the coin is found there is a whooping great celebration which Jesus compares to a celebration in heaven when a sinner repents. The point is that as we allow ourselves to be held in God’s hands and too respond to his Holy Spirit moving in the ways he wants us to go we are part of his work bringing the lost into his kingdom.

2) I suggest that for any of us to be useful and used for this work of God’s, God will want to take hold of a clean handle, I’d go as far as to say a holy handle that is willing to be used for his kingdoms sake. Now don’t get me wrong this is not about works but the relationship between the broom and The Sweeper. The broom, the Christian is to have their relationship right with God to be used the most effectively in his hands.

Then as you play your part, responding to the Spirit of God, you also can take part in bringing forth celebrations in the presence of angels in Glory!

Please rate this sermon, P.S. Be the broom!