Iglesia Apostólica de la Bahía

Luke 15:8-10

Do you like stories with happy endings?  This parable is a happy ending story like the lost sheep parable of last week.  Both illustrate God’s surprising mercy for the lost and outcast.  Here the ruined soul is represented as a lost coin.

It seems Jesus was using the Jewish custom of a marriage dowry in telling this story.  In Bible times, a gift or payment was made to the bride’s father from the groom but the father would also give his daughter a gift.  In New Testament times, the gift given the bride by her father often took the form of coins.  Holes were drilled in the coins and they were strung together.  The bride would wear them around her neck like a necklace or around her head as a headband.  These coins were her wealth and she kept them during her marriage.  If her marriage failed and she divorced, her coins represented her value.  Thus, they were very important to her.

A lost soul is very important to God.  Here, the ruined soul is represented as a lost coin.  This parable teaches that God positively misses each lost soul.  He longs for its restoration to its place with him and the work for which it was created. 

The lost soul is something lost for God.  But why was it lost?  Did the string that held them together brake?  Sin breaks the relationship with God.  We “roll away” feeling guilty or to blame because of sin.  We may not be able to put our feelings of guilt or blame in words because we may not understand that guilt is the source of our discomfort.  We express ourselves in anger, violence, depression and many other ways.  But if Christ “reaches out to pick up the lost coin,” and you are the “lost coin,” then he is reaching out to absolve you of guilt and blame. 

God rejoices in all his works, but particularly in the works of grace.  He rejoices to do good to a sinner who has repented of his or her sins.  When Peter finished preaching to the crowd on the day of Pentecost the Bible says that the people were, “pierced to the heart” (Acts 2:37 HCSB).  This means they felt as if a sharp needle or instrument had cut them to their hearts.  It implies the idea of sudden sharp and severe grief because of their sins.  Their question to Peter was, “Brothers, what must we do?”  Peter’s answer was, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38 HCSB) 

“When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’” (Luke 15:9)  Again, as in the parable of the lost sheep, the woman wants others to rejoice with her.  The comparison is God’s desire for us to rejoice with him when lost souls are found.  This type of rejoicing is the revival that all churches want.
The humble rejoicing of the woman celebrating with her neighbors shows us God himself.  God is rejoicing with his Church and his angels over the salvation of a single sinner.  “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)  The lost soul is of great value to God and all of heaven as it was to the woman of the parable.

This parable has a happy ending with great rejoicing at the end.  Do you want your life to have a happy ending?  Is your life filled with guilt and blame?  Know that Christ died for you that you might not be lost.  Your life’s end shouldn’t be filled with shame and despair.  A happy ending story will always be yours when Jesus Christ finds you.

(Sermon preached by Pastor Oceguera to Bay Apostolic Church on May 10, 2009)

 Luke 15:1-7        

Question: What’s makes God anxious?  God being Almighty and the creator of all things doesn’t get anxious.  But speaking figuratively, in the parable of the lost sheep, we find that God is anxious when one of his sheep is lost.

A parable is a story or a saying that is intended to communicate spiritual truth by comparison.  Lost sheep were images the Jewish community understood because there was much shepherding being done throughout Israel.  Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep because the Pharisee and scribes criticized him because he welcomed sinners and ate with them.

In verse four the lost sheep represents one who is not considered respectable by the Jews.  It is a lost soul and though only one is mentioned, in truth there are many lost souls.  In the eyes of God, it indicates the value of a person’s immortal soul and how anxious God is for it to be found.

It is very important that sheep should not be allowed to stray away from the flock because when by themselves they are utterly helpless.  If they stray away they must be brought back.  The Psalmist prayed in Psalm 119:176, “I wander like a lost sheep; seek your servant” (HCSB).  Isaiah compared man’s waywardness to that of sheep: “We all went astray like sheep” (Isaiah 53:6, HCSB).  David sang of his divine Shepherd, “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3, NIV).  

God not only cares for the lost, but he has sympathy and compassion for the lost soul.  Sympathy is not merely sentiment or courtesy.  True sympathy is working to help a person in distress.  Likewise, compassion isn’t simply pity for a person.  Compassion requires a relationship and pity does not.  The shepherd went to look for the lost sheep and when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulder and returns home rejoicing.

In verses four and five the straying sheep is restored.  It is a principle of human nature that the recovery of an object in danger of being lost brings much more intense joy than having many that are safe.  For example, we rejoice most in our health when we recover from a dangerous disease.  We rejoice over a child rescued from danger or disease more than over many who may be in health or safety.  We rejoice that the property is save from fire or storm, more than over much more that has not been in danger.  Thus, the shepherd rejoices in finding the lost sheep.  God has found the lost soul and is bringing him back to safety.

Christ told his audience that the shepherd rejoiced and craved for the sympathy of his friends.  He would have others share in his joy in finding the perishing, suffering sheep. (Verse six).  Church, true revival is bringing the lost to Christ.  But Jesus says that even if men don’t approve of God’s compassion and sympathy, the celestial beings do.  “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” (Verse seven, HCSB)  There is approval in heaven, which is far more important than man’s because this is eternal approval.  It means eternal rewards.

The shepherd brings the lost sheep, not to the sheepfold, but to his own home—a place of honor and blessings.  Those of you who have turned from sin, Jesus can use you for his greater purpose and fill you with blessings.  Church, we must bring those who have strayed furthest from the paths of righteousness to repentance.

Friend, do you want to participate in God’s approval and in his blessings?  Let Christ’s compassion heal your inner wounds with love and forgiveness.  Brother, your evangelistic work is greatly approved in heaven.  Don’t get discouraged in well doing because God is anxious for the lost