Why Bother? Series

Jesus concludes this rich parable with an amazing thought: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Is there such a thing as ‘righteous persons’ who do not need to repent? Not really. Jesus is exaggerating a point here. The Pharisees whom he is addressing never thought of themselves as needing to repent. But when one person admits his or her need for repentance, heaven goes crazy. What is the repentance in this parable? Did the sheep do anything special to repent? Rabbis in Jesus day made repentance into a work rather than an aspect of grace. But the sheep in Jesus’ parable was simply lost and was found. The work of repentance and restoration rested on the shepherd.

In the second parable we see a lot of similarity with the lost sheep story. One slight difference adds another lesson. A woman with ten coins loses one. In Middle Eastern culture a woman’s value was worn around the neck. In other words, her dowry was displayed so that prospective suitors could see at a glance how much money was to be gained in the marriage of this woman. Losing one coin was a big deal because it would be obvious that the full dowry was not displayed. Eastern women, being oppressed and all, would not have left the house typically, so the woman is sure she lost the coin in the house. She throws all the lights on and sweeps and cleans until she finds the lost coin. Then she calls everyone she knows together and has a party over this newly found coin.

These metaphors are beautiful in their subtlety and in their motivation for finding those we call ‘lost’ in the world. It is obvious that Jesus cares deeply about the lost and came to eat and drink with them specifically. If we love Jesus, could we do any less? He teaches us in this parable that to love God is to love what and who God loves.

Here is Christ’s motivation for us who desire to grow his Church:

1) The responsibility is mine. The shepherd is not Jesus; it is you and me. Suppose YOU had a hundred sheep!! The lost sheep is YOUR responsibility and the joy of finding it is yours too.

2) The responsibility is ours. In all three parables in Luke 15 it is a community that rejoices over the lost sheep, lost coin, and the lost son. They are not observers; they are invested in the search because they all have something to lose.

3) The search is extensive. In both parables the point is clear: the endless trouble that people will take to recover lost property and their deep satisfaction when they succeed. The deep implication is that sinners really belong to God, despite how bad they look to us, and that God wants them back and will go to all troubles to win them back. The search is all-out.

4) The party is unbelievable. There is no greater joy than seeing people accept Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. I remember scoring my first goal in Spongee league hockey after a dozen games of frustration. After that goal I felt like I could score a hundred, it energized me that much. When I have led people to the Lord, it was a million times more exhilarating. I wasn’t satisfied with one, I wanted to do more. That’s great motivation. Once you’ve scored your first goal, you’ll wonder why you wasted so much time.