1. The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employees home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whispered, "Hello?"
The boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?"
"Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?" the man asked.
To the boss’ surprise, the small voice whispered, "No."
The boss persisted, "Is your Mommy there?"
"Yes," came the answer.
"May I talk with her?"
Again, the small voice whispered, "No."
“Well, is there someone else there I might talk to?" the boss asked the child.
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
"Well then, may I speak with the policeman?"
"No,” whispered the child “he is busy"
"Busy doing what?" asked the boss.
"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
Now the boss was growing concerned and just then he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice.
Alarmed, the boss nearly shouted: "What is going on there?"
In an awed whispering voice, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper!"
"Why are they there?"
There was a muffled giggle as the child said, "They are looking for me!"
2. Two sides to a similar problem:
a. Forgetfulness – “The Great Here-After” – we are sitting in one room, remember something we need in another, go into the room and say, “What am I here after?”
b. Chronic misplacement of things
3. Luke 15.8-10
a. Background – Yeshua’s (Jesus’) critics are offended with the company he keeps
b. He uses “Lost & Found” stories to help them understand his purpose – to seek and save the lost (Luke 19.10; Ezekiel 34)
c. The first story – a sheep is lost from its shepherd and the shepherd goes into the wilderness after it
d. This story – a woman loses a coin and searches until she finds it
I. The Object of the Quest
A. The Pursuit of People (Luke 19.10; Ezekiel 34)
1. Created by in the image of God – image on coin?
2. Value expressed – lost sheep; lost coin
a. May have represented 1 of 10 coins on a woman’s wedding attire – never to be taken from her; similar to wedding rings and diamond sets; sentimental value?
Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number. Jeremiah 2.32
b. May have represented a day’s wages – survival (daily bread)/10 days’ savings; this is evidence of stewardship if the woman, entrusted with this money as the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31;
B. The Prominence of the Words of God (Proverbs 2.1-5)
1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
1. We seek earthly things – silver & gold; Of how much more value is the eternal – God’s word?
2. These critics needed to do some Torah-searching for themselves – they were forgetting such things as “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19.18)
a. In dealing with sinners there is the temptation to avoid them so as not to fall into temptation
b. In dealing with sinners there is the duty to restore them
c. Then again, who isn’t a sinner? – Luke 15.7 (humor of Yeshua)
II. The Effort of the Quest
A. There was a Cost – lit lamp; used oil and wicks – significant to the poor
B. There was Exertion – sweeping straw/dirt/stone floor – basalt in Capernaum
Lay bare the floor
Open selves to God
C. There was Diligence – Not an Easy Task
1. Dark Houses (stone/small or no windows – required lamps)
2. Small Houses – 1 car garage
3. Tireless love of God
[Henry Lauder was a comedian, & during World War II his 2 sons were drafted into the army. Both of them died in combat. After the war was over Henry Lauder was near a nervous breakdown. He went to his doctor, who recommended complete rest & relaxation. So he went to the seashore & walked along the beach. He spent his time reading & meditating & relaxing.
He made a few new friends, & one of them was a small boy. One night Henry Lauder & this small boy were walking along the beach as the sun was going down. They listened to the waves, & looked at the scenery around them.
The boy noticed that there were little flags with stars on them hanging in the windows of some of the houses along the beach. He asked Mr. Lauder what that meant. Henry Lauder said, "It means that in every home where there is a flag that that family sent a son to war." "But," said the boy, "some of the stars are silver & some are gold. What does that mean?"
Lauder said, "Where there is a silver star it means that the boy came home safely. Where there is a gold star it means that the boy died in combat."
They walked a little further & night came upon them. The boy looked up at the first evening star, & he said, "There is a star in God’s sky - & it is a gold star! Does it mean that God sent His son to war?"
Lauder stood for a moment, & with a catch in his voice said, "Yes, son. It means that God sent His son into war - the greatest war that has ever been fought. And yes, the star is gold because God’s son died in that combat."
4. Woman stopped all of her chores to search – what is God doing today?
III. The Initiator of the Quest
A. A Responsibility – “I lost the coin”
1. A Critique of the Leaders of the Nation – Losing the people
2. did not seem to care
B. A Representation
1. God has a feminine side – YHWH – ½ is masculine/1/2 is feminine
2. Cares for us as a mother to her children – Isaiah 49.13-16
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me."
15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
IV. The Conclusion of the Quest -- Celebration
A. The Thrill of the Find
B. The Relief of Restoration
"A victim of mental depression, once went to consult a skilled physician regarding his condition. The doctor prescribed some lively amusement, and told him of a celebrated clown, who was entertaining great companies in a certain place of amusement in the town. With an expression of despair on his haggard face, the visitor exclaimed, "I am that clown." The man who was moving thousands to laughter each night, was a victim of depression himself." (John Ritchie. 500 Gospel Sermon Illustrations. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1987, p. 131). With God the JOY is REAL!
Conclusion
1. This and the other stories in this chapter give us insight into the heart of God.
2. EVERY person matters to God, EVERY ONE of us!
3. Have you ever interrupted someone? How do you feel? How were you made to feel?
4. You are not an interruption to God – you are the most important thing in the world to him!
According to Svetlana Stalin, as her father, Joseph Stalin lay dying, he was plagued with terrifying hallucinations. He suddenly sat halfway up in bed, clenched his fist toward the heavens once more, fell back upon his pillow, and was dead.
The incredible irony of his whole life is that at one time Josef Stalin had been a seminary student, preparing for the ministry. Coming of the age of Nietzsche, he made a decisive break from his belief in God. This dramatic and complete reversal of conviction that resulted in his hatred for all religion is why Lenin had earlier chosen Stalin and positioned him in authority—a choice Lenin too late regretted. (The name Stalin, which means “steel,” was not his real name, but was given to him by his contemporaries who fell under the steel-like determination of his will). And as Stalin lay dying; his one last gesture was a clenched fist toward God, his heart as cold and hard as steel.
God seeks and finds but we still have the choice as to how we will respond to him.
