Redeemer Anglican Orthodox Church Mission

LUKE 15:1- 10, THE LOST SHEEP AND THE LOST COIN. A Sermon for the Third Sunday After Trinity, by David J. Miller, Vicar, Redeemer AOC

June 21, 2010 | 6 Comments

LUKE 15:1- 10, THE LOST SHEEP AND THE LOST COIN. A Sermon for the Third Sunday After Trinity, by David J. Miller, Vicar, Redeemer AOC
Luke 15:1-10  Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.  2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.  3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,  4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?  5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.  7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?  9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.  10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
INTRODUCTION
These two parables form a trilogy with the parable of the prodigal sons which follows. Notice that the value of what is lost increases with each parable: the sheep is worth something to the shepherd, even though he has ninety-nine others; the silver coin could buy many sheep, and the two lost sons (both the one who left physically and the son who stayed home were equally lost!) are of the greatest worth.
But, having said that, notice that the parables are not about the value of the lost ones; they are about the diligence and love of the one doing the seeking. The shepherd had ninety-nine other sheep; he could tolerate loosing one, couldn’t he? The woman who lost the coin – she still had nine; it’s not like it was the last one she had.  Yet the owners expend a great deal of effort to find these lost things.
By asking, “What man of you…?” our Lord seems to imply that any one of us could identify with the shepherd and the woman. I know that if I can’t find a particular book, I can sometimes search for an hour or more, not because the book is so valuable or indispensible (after all, I could probably google the information or quote I wanted the book for); rather it’s acquired a value to me, call it stubbornness or perhaps pride, but I want the satisfaction of finding it.  So the value of these things may not really be so much in the things themselves as in the seeker’s attitude toward them.
Before we look at these more closely, just a word about parables themselves. As you might guess, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about parables since I’ve been following the discipline of preaching through the Gospel readings each week from the prayerbook. Parables have been defined for Sunday School students as, “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” That’s not bad, if its words are defined correctly, but there’s a lot that should be added to that. C.S. Lewis once said, “sometimes fantasy says best what needs to be said.” Parables are not fantasy, but they are stories that integrate reality. They make the truth clear by tying things together. Sometimes that makes the truth clearer, somewhat like an illustration (but parables are not mere illustrations), but sometimes they make the truth harder to see, for those who’s heart attitude is not right. Jesus spoke to this odd purpose in Matthew 13:10-13 :
 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.  12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Parables sometimes do an end run around our prejudices, making us see things our pride or prejudice would blind us to. We see this in Scripture, as when the LORD speaks to pagan kings, like Pharaoh of Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Genesis 41:15 ff and Daniel 2:1 ff). The Prophet Nathan used a parable to get to the heart of King David with a very sensitive subject (2 Samuel 12:1-13).
Our Lord is here using these parables to do much the same thing as Nathan did with David; He is delivering integrated truth in a form that makes it unmistakenly clear to anyone with the ears to hear.
 LOOK AT THE TRIGGER THAT CALLED FORTH THESE PARABLES
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.  2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 
The Pharisees complained that Jesus received, that is, He welcomed those known as sinners.  And that wasn’t all; He extended that welcome to sitting down to eat with them. This was sharing fellowship with them, treating them with respect, as if they were respectable members of society.
We should notice, though, that this did not imply any approval of sin in any way, shape or form; He wasn’t just joining with them, as if their lifestyles did not need to change.  They “drew near to hear Him;” as He spoke of God’s forgiving grace and held out the glory of fellowship with the Father, the sinners found themselves drawn to Him. They may have been hiding from God and from self-righteous, self-appointed representatives of God, but they found that they were irresistibly attracted to the Savior who came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
 This profound seeking is nowhere better expressed, perhaps, than in Francis Thompson’s (1859-1907)poem, The Hound of Heaven. It’s too long to read this morning in its entirety, but these excerpts will be enough to feel the mood of it:
1. I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
2. I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
3. I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
4.    Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
5. I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
6.             Up vistaed hopes I sped;
7.             And shot, precipitated,
8. Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
9. From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
10. 
11.            But with unhurrying chase,
12.            And unperturbéd pace,
13.        Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
14.            They beat—and a Voice beat
15.            More instant than the Feet—
16. 
17.        “All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”
18. 
19.     Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
20.             Still with unhurrying chase,
21.             And unperturbéd pace,
22.         Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
23.             Came on the following Feet,
24.             And a Voice above their beat—
25. 
26.         “Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.”
27. 
28.                 Now of that long pursuit
29.                 Comes on at hand the bruit;
30.             That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
31. 
32.                “And is thy earth so marred,
33.                 Shattered in shard on shard?
34.             Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!
35.             Strange, piteous, futile thing!
36. Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
37. Seeing none but I makes much of naught” (He said),
38. “And human love needs human meriting:
39.             How hast thou merited—
40. Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?
41.             Alack, thou knowest not
42. How little worthy of any love thou art!
43. Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
44.             Save Me, save only Me?
45. All which I took from thee I did but take,
46.             Not for thy harms,
47. But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.
48.             All which thy child’s mistake
49. Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
50.             Rise, clasp My hand, and come!”
51. 
52.     Halts by me that footfall:
53.     Is my gloom, after all,
54. Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
55. 
56.     “Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
57.     I am He Whom thou seekest!
           Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.”

In the spirit of this poem you can catch the sense of the phrase I’ve often quoted: “Cheer up! You’re a much worse sinner than you think you are, but Christ is a far greater Savior than you could ever dare imagine!” (Dr. C. John Miller). It also embodies what C.S. Lewis meant when he said that, as an atheist, whenever he heard anyone speak of “man’s search for God.” He would cringe, for to him, they might as well have spoken of “the mouse’s search for the cat!”
THE LOST SHEEP
Probably none of us grew up on a farm, or had much to do with sheep. So we are all inclined to think of sheep as cute little cuddly things, that when they wander off and get lost, they are terrified and just sort of sit in fear, hoping their shepherd will come and rescue them. When the shepherd does find them, we might imagine that the little sheep is so grateful, that he’s just so glad to see the shepherd, that it’s sheer delight to be hoisted up on the shepherd’s shoulders and carried the way a father carries his little child on his shoulders, enjoying every minute of the fun ride. Right?
Wrong! We need to wipe that sentimentalized image right out of our minds! That’s not what our Lord is describing here. W. Philip Keller, a professional shepherd who wrote books about the Scriptural lessons to be learned from shepherding, explains what the shepherd finding a lost sheep would really be like. 
Keller says that when a shepherd finds a lost sheep, the sheep darts to and fro, trying not to be caught. Sheep, in case you didn’t know, are really stupid creatures. They could not survive in the wild, but would die of starvation, thirst or be eaten by wild animals without the watchful care of the shepherd.  So the lost sheep does not want to be found; he doesn’t know what’s good for him!
In order to retrieve the lost sheep, the shepherd has to do some pretty hard work; he has to catch the sheep and then throw him to the ground!  He has to tie up his front legs and his back legs, so he can’t run away again. Then, to get him back to the fold, he has to lift him onto his shoulders, because that’s about the only way he could carry the sheep back through the fields and terrain to get him home. It’s not a fun thing! But it’s what the shepherd knows he has to do, if he wants to bring back his lost sheep. That’s real love!
THE LOST COIN
Like the shepherd, the woman expends a great deal of effort and trouble in searching for her lost coin. Unlike the sheep, there’s no living thing involved to elicit the seeker’s love (despite the stupidity of the sheep, the shepherd still loves them), but the value is in the lost thing itself. But the coin only has value if it is in the woman’s possession. As long as it is lost, it might as well be just another piece of dirt in the corner of the house.  Only if it’s found can it live up to its potential and be used for good.
THE CELEBRATION
Notice the extravagant celebrating common to all three of these parables! In each case, the finding of what was lost occasions a rather great party, inviting friends and neighbors to celebrate. And in these first two parables, the analogy is drawn by our Lord between these over-the-top earthly celebrations and the celebrating of the angels in heaven over one sinner that repents.
The first thing we may learn from this is that God delights in saving sinners!
The Almighty takes pleasure in even one sinner that repents.
 Luke 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Second, we learn that there is great joy and pleasure to be in God’s presence and in a right relationship with Him.
What a welcome this parable pictures for the returning sinner. And this message is not just for non-Christians; it’s for each of us, for repentance is a way of life, not just something we do once.
Third, we do well to think often of the great cost to God of our salvation.
A Quaker family lived in Pennsylvania. Against the father’s wishes, the son Jonathan ran off and enlisted in the cause of the North during the Civil War. Time passed and no word from Jonathan. One night the father had a dream that his son had been wounded in action, was in distress, and needed the care of a father. So the father left the farm, and discovered where the troops might be. He made his way to the scene of action. He asked the commander about his son. The commander replied that there had been heavy action earlier in the day and many had fallen wounded. Some had been cared for, but others were still left out in the trenches. But he gave permission to the father to go and try to find his son. It was now about dark, so the father lit a lantern, and the light fell across the wounded young men, some calling for help, many too seriously wounded to cry for assistance. The task seemed impossible. How could he find his son among all those wounded and dying? He devised a little plan. Methodically he swept back and forth across the battlefield but that wasn’t fruitful. As he stumbled over body after body he almost despaired. Then he began calling loudly, “Jonathan Smythe, thy father seeketh after thee.” Then he would walk a little way and call again, “Jonathan Smythe, thy father seeketh after thee.” A groan could be heard here and there. More than one soldier said, “I wish that were my father.” He kept diligently at his search. Then he heard a very faint, barely audible reply, “Father, over here.” And then, “I knew you would find me.”
“Think much of the Savior’s suffering for you on that dreadful cross, think much of your sin that provoked such suffering, and then enter by faith into the love that took away your sin and guilt, and then give your work your best.” (C. John Miller, The Heart of a Servant Leader (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2004), 22).
Psalm 16:11   11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Fourth, remember that the Shepherd carried the sheep home on His shoulders.
Remember, that means the sheep was tied up! Sometimes the LORD deals with us in “tough love,” for our own good. Sometimes the props need to be knocked out from under us, that we might learn to trust our Lord alone, for that’s where our true happiness is to be found. Think of the wisdom Francis Thompson wrote into his Hound of Heaven:
1. All which I took from thee I did but take,
2.             Not for thy harms,
3. But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.
4.             All which thy child’s mistake
5. Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
6.             Rise, clasp My hand, and come!”

Mark 10:28-30  8 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.  29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,  30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Joel 2:23-25   Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.  24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.  25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
The bottom line is that if we have the LORD, we have everything. Sometimes the Good Shepherd appears to fight against us to teach us that, but the truth is, He alone is our all in all.
1 Corinthians 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
AMEN!
David J. Miller, Vicar, Redeemer AOC, June 20, 2010

Categories: News

Share This: