In Luke Chapter 15 are recorded three famous ‘lost but found’ parables of Jesus; The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Lost Son. Jesus told all three at a sitting, in response to the Pharisees and the scribes who criticized him for dining with people they considered sinners.
The parable of the lost sheep is a story of a shepherd whose one out of a hundred sheep was not found among its brethren. We can safely assume that the shepherd was not negligent on his watch because the whole flock would have scattered and then he would have had to look for most of them. So it was just that sheep that wandered off, or lagged behind and got missing. The need to thrive in the wilderness may have weighed so heavily on it that when the rest of the flock moved on, it decided to rest awhile. Or maybe it got distracted by a bird singing in a tree or a butterfly fluttering by and floated farther and farther away in its distraction until its horns got caught in a thicket like the ram in Abraham’s story….
One sheep sneaked out of the fold and the shepherd noticed its absence! Have you ever seen a flock of sheep? They mostly look identical save for size, yet the shepherd knew that one was lost, out of a hundred! Did I hear you say you were not important in the Kingdom of God? Did that thought just cross your mind again that you were good for nothing, insignificant, not worth sweating over? Did the shepherd say, “Oh well, I’m glad I still got my ninety-nine”? Did he throw his hands in the air berating sheep for being so naturally stupid and blaming the silly one who left his covering to go into the open country? Did he dally, expecting the foolish sheep to saunter back the same way it wandered off? Did he give up his strayed sheep to lions and bears that prowled the woods? Did he submit that the lost sheep deserved whatever it was doomed to face in the wild alone? This is what the good shepherd did. He went after the lost one. It might have taken him a few minutes or a number of days, but he did not return until he found it. Whatever condition he found it in; trapped, frightened, confused, frustrated, angry at itself and its shepherd, filthy, hungry… it couldn’t have fared better than how it was when it was with the flock, for what it thought was grass on the other side were indeed thistles and what he perceived as a pool of water was only a mirage….
The second parable tells of a woman who owned ten precious coins and then one rolled off and she couldn’t tell exactly where it got into. Suddenly, it found itself thrown in the dark. One moment everything is bright and beautiful, the next moment you are asking God, “Lord, how did I get here?” You are a silver coin who once took pride in your worth but now you often find yourself questioning who you really are? You have been cast in a place where your value is not recognized and your worth trodden upon. You are not where you ought to be and are clueless about your next step. You cannot even seem to hear God anymore. You are lost.
This woman did not say, “Oh well, I have nine other coins just like that one that rolled away so I’ll ensure these ones are safe for now and one day, I’m certain I will happen upon it and then, whenever that is, I will put it back among the rest. It’s definitely somewhere here – I’ll come across it one of these days…” This is what she did; she put the other nine back in her purse, turned on the light and began a Rescue Mission for that one coin. She swept a clean house all over again for its sake. She unpacked the whole house in her bid to trace where it might have been trapped; under a bushel, behind the cupboard, beneath the pile of hay, between the chairs and the table, among the grains…. The bible says she sought diligently. She did not wait an extra day; she did not sit down until she had regained the coin which once was lost.
The third is the parable of the lost son – you know the story too well. When he came to his senses and made his way back home, his father who had been waiting for that moment, ran towards him, embraced him and kissed him. While he was busy reciting his rehashed apology, his father was busy ordering a banquet to celebrate his return.
You may argue that his father did not literally go out in search of him but the truth is, he did. When the lad ran out of resources and was left with nothing – that was his father reminding him of when once he had no need to buy anything and everything was provided for him. When a severe famine came upon the land where he sojourned – that was his father drawing his attention to his nakedness and need. When he had to feed swine in order to survive – that was his father showing him the depth of his fall; the wide gap between where he was and where he used to be. When he longed to eat the pigs’ lunch – that was his father saying ‘Son, it is time to come back home….’
The sheep, the coin, the son; these stories were not told for those who had never known the love of God, but for you and I who are in his flock. You may still be in church, yet lost. You may still be singing in the choir, yet trapped. You may even be the pastor’s chief protocol, yet in the dark. These stories were told for you.
The sheep was never lost; it belonged to the shepherd. The coin was never lost; it belonged to the woman. The son was never lost; he belonged to his father. You can never be lost, you belong to Jesus.
God has never lost a thing. If you feel like that lone sheep – wandering in a wilderness and filled with uncertainty and fear – stay still, cry out to your Shepherd and stop trying to sort yourself out. You will only get deeper and deeper in the woods, far away from your God. He is coming for you already; there is much room on his shoulders for you to rest your weary limbs. He will find you right where you are and take you back to His watch; away from wolfs and hyenas that seek to eat up your flesh.
Or perhaps you feel like that silver coin stuck in the dark, wondering what exactly is going on in your life and why the Lord would let it be so? Hold on, the light of his Word will beam on you. He has already mapped out a rescue plan for you and as long as you do not run helter-skelter trying to get yourself an alternative escape route, our God will soon sweep you out of that dark corner. Brace up for your breakthrough!
Or maybe like the lost son, you are wondering if He will receive you back again after all you had done with the grace he bestowed on you. All you need to do is take that first step in godly sorrow towards him; He will meet you half way. He will forgive you and wipe away your past faults, beginning afresh with you.
Take courage. Our God never loses a thing. Not even you.
- Sista Mercie
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