Prayer: My I speak in the name of the father, son and holy ghost, and let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Amen,
Thanks Martyn.
On a different note, today’s sermon is on the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. … Last Sunday, Martyn thanked me, for leaving him with a very difficult reading … but he has gotten his own back today, because todays readings are very familiar to us, and it is therefore very difficult to give you something new, thank you Martyn.
Introduction and background, (Jesus association with the sinners).
In today’s reading we find Jesus responding to the Scribes and Pharisees’ accusation that he welcomes, and eats with sinners and tax collectors; meaning he receives them as friends. … And he did so to befriend them, to love them, (not their evil deeds), and guide them home towards his father in heaven, from which both received a great amount of pleasure.
And these three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, are the best illustrations in Scripture, about God’s great joy, on the recovery of lost sinners.
Introduction to the parable of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son.
Now this three-part parable is initially directed towards the Scribes and Pharisees, and of course us too, and they all relate to something tangible, something we all easily understand … that of losing something, that of finding it again, and that of celebrating its recovery.
In the parable of the lost sheep.
For example, in the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd loses a sheep, one of one hundred sheep … and he is so upset by this, that he leaves ninety-nine sheep on their own, so he could go off, and find that lost sheep. … And when he finds it, (he doesn’t blame the sheep), he rejoices in that the sheep is found.
That is about it, that is the pattern of these three parables, and we can all relate to this formula of losing something, something probably trivial, but something that really niggles and unsettles us, and that until we resolve it, we won’t be at be at peace.
An example, (optional).
For me lately, I have a warning light on the car that comes on every 5 minutes to tell be there is a minor fault in the circuit of a seat in the back of the car, despite the fact no one is, or about to sit on that seat, (it’s a 7-seater, and there will never be seven people in my car). … It is so annoying because it comes on every 5 minutes, and it is a fault that will take ages find; but 5 seconds to repair. I wish I could find it and return to some kind of normality when driving. … Notice, it’s the same formula, or process, and I am sure, we have all been there.
Lost Coin and the Woman’s Search
Let us now look a little more closely at the parable of the lost coin, verse 8, “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”
Woman House, (optional).
Now this woman, we assume, has a house about the size of a one car garage, that some of us may have, but instead of windows, there would only be ventilation slits in the walls, meaning there would be very little light in that house, and it is little wonder the woman had to light a lamp, to search diligently for her coin.
Faith it was there.
Jesus said that the woman had ten silver coins, and she lost one coin, leaving her very unsettled, as she focused on that lost coin and not the nine remaining. She therefore had to find this coin, to make up the ten coins she already had to begin with. She searched with determination, knowing it had to be in the house., having faith that it was in the house, knowing it was in the house.
The woman finds the coin.
This is one of these very annoying problems, on the scale of things, it is really quite minor, but it does something in our heads that makes it an unsurmountable problem that has to be resolved now. This woman searches the house diligently, … probably frantically, with an element of panic thrown in, to give us a bit of drama; and eventually she finds it.
The Woman Celebrates.
And what does she do when she finds it, she rejoices. … In fact, she invites her friends and neighbours in, and says, “rejoice with me, I have found my lost coin”.
Being Cynical, (optional).
Now being a natural cynic, I would have thought that if she was as quick to call her friends and neighbours to give thanks at finding it, why was she not so quick to ask them to help, and help her find the coin in the first place, but I digress, that takes away from the story.
What I want you to notice here are two things happening, one obvious, and one not so obvious.
1. There Is Celebration on Earth (15:9b)
The obvious thing was that there was a celebration on earth. She called together her friends and neighbours as she was so happy that she could not contain herself, and she had to share her happiness with others; or she would burst, which shows you the strain, or tension she was under.
We have all at some time frantically searched to find something similar, and when find it: physically, we let out a huge sigh of relief, our blood pressure would drop, and we would relax into a deep contentment and satisfaction … for a while anyway.
We also, emotionally and mentally, let our thoughts of fear, (fear which had been building up, and getting worse as the search intensified) … suddenly disappear as we realise … that these fears will not now happen. Then we would feel a sense of relief, now that the problem is resolved; and maybe a sense of gratitude, which would be dependent upon the significance of the lost.
Notice, there is a lot going on here, both in our body … and in our mind.
2. There Is Celebration in Heaven (15:10)
Now that is the obvious reaction, but what is not obvious however, is how it affects us spiritually, and that to me, is more important, and it is much more difficult to define … as spiritual matters require different senses … senses which can be difficult for us to use, or even perceive.
Spirituality, we are here this morning to worship our Lord, whether we perceive him or not, because … we believe deep down, that he exists, that he hears us, that he loves us and that he is watching over us. It therefore takes faith to worship the lord in heaven, spiritually, while here on this earth.
Is spirituality mentioned in the process of recovering the lost, well yes, in the conclusion of each of the three parables, however, the conclusion for each parable is very strange.
The three parable conclusions.
The conclusion for the lost sheep in verse 6, “Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. … I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repent, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance”.
The conclusion for the lost coin in verse 9, … “for I have found the piece which I had lost. … Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents”.
And the conclusion for the parable for the lost son in verse 32: ”It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is now found”.
In all three cases, the same process, physically, mentally and spiritually happened, yet the focus of the conclusion was suddenly on the “sinner that repented”. Where did the “sinner that repented”. come from? Where was this “sinner that repented” in the parable of the lost sheep or lost coin?
I don’t know. I somehow feel cheated here, and I feel there is valuable text missing … but the academic scholars will be very quick to shoot me down and say, the three parables are all about the sinner who repents. … And it is … because as I said earlier, Jesus was talking to the Scribes and Pharisees here, in front of the tax collectors and sinners, and that is the common message of these three parables … that there is “rejoicing in heaven, over the one sinner who repents”. … And I am good with this, we are all good with this … as we have both read, and heard countless sermons on these parables before.
It is not the only message in these parables.
But that is not the only message in this parable, as all parables of Jesus have multiple messages, and the one I am focused on this morning, is the phrase, “there was great celebration in heaven, or rejoicing in heaven”, phrases to me that are greatly undervalued, as I will now explain.
You see, “the rejoicing in heaven” was mentioned in all three parables whether it was an animal, (a sheep), an inanimate object, (a coin) or human being, (a man’s son). … In each case there is, or implied, a celebration in heaven on it being found. … So, something spiritually happens to that person on finding that which they had lost.
This quite profound, in that there is a connection with the joy of finding something that was lost, and with heaven itself.
And by heaven, I mean God, because Jesus is saying, there is joy before the angels of God, therefore it is God who is rejoicing before the angels. … God himself is filled with joy at each of these objects being found, and I think that is very significant, because there are many times in our lives, where we feel God is so far away from us, or, we simply cannot see God in a situation … yet here, the bible, Jesus himself is telling us, that at such a time that something is found, God is present, … and not only present, but rejoicing with us, over that find. Can you see the power in this?
Now, I know you might be saying God is with us all the time, and I agree he is … but there are many times we do not feel his presence with us. What I am saying is that we can know for sure, under this situation, or a similar situation, we are in contact with, or in the presence on God … and knowing that … that will make a difference on how we respond, how we see the world, and how our subsequent lives will change.
When I first became aware of this, my first reaction was to thank, (or remember to thank), the Lord straight away for returning the loss. … Later on, I used this situation to thank him for everything I had, my deep gratitude for my life and everything in it … and guess what, things got better, life got better giving me hope. … Being grateful to the Lord is so powerful, because it makes you realise deep down, just how wealthy and well off we really are. And if we feel wealthy, we are going to act wealthy, and that in itself will change our lives. … It changed mine, and it gives us a greater sense of hope for the future, as we now view the world from a totally different perspective.
Different people could use this moment of discovery to communicate something else with the Lord, and that is ok, but what I am saying is that in this situation, there is an open channel, connected directly to the Lord.
And this is so important, because think about it, when we do say our prayers, the first thing we do, is be aware that the Lord is listening. Somewhere deep down within ourselves, we are saying to ourselves, “Lord, I know you can hear me”; I mean, if you don’t do this, why pray? That is our faith.
What these parables are telling us, what Jesus is saying, is that the Lord is present under these lost and found circumstances, and we should use it. … Now I don’t think it is suitable for intersession ... but it is a window to God that is open, and should be used … and it obviously cannot be used, if you do not know … that it is there.
Conclusion
I better finish of here for now, but as many of you know, my back ground is of Science, Engineering and Production to be exact, and I can spot a process. The process here is:
1. something lost;
2. something diligently searched for;
3. something found;
4. great physical relief;
5. great emotionally or mental relief;
6. rejoicing in heaven, and number
7. using that opportunity to engage with heaven.
When preparing sermons, we preachers always want to give you something new, or different. … I hope you now see another message communicated in these three parables.
Amen
A tribute to the queen.
This has been a very momentous week on two levels: first there was a change in our political leadership of our country, and may God guide our new prime minister through recovery, and onto prosperity;
and second, (and I think more important), we have a change in our head of state, with the death of our Queen … Queen Elizabeth II, was a very humble person, who devoted her life into the service of the realm, which she carried out diligently, throughout her long reign.
Her own life however, was also not without challenges: she was a daughter, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, and part of a huge family who all had their own share of difficulties; yet she held them all together, without favour. … She was therefore a rock to her family. She was the anchor for our nation, and the mother to the commonwealth.
Whether you are a royalist or not, you cannot but respect her for her devotion, her service, her sense of duty to others, and for me, the best ambassador any country would wish to have.
Queen Elizabeth, we will miss you. The Queen is dead, long live the King, amen.
