There Will Be Great Rejoicing In Heaven Over A Sheep And Lost Coin.

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”.