A few weeks ago, we were watching as a family, a show named “Bluey.” The show “Bluey” is about a cartoon dog named Bluey and her family. In the episode we were watching, the grandpa, Grandad, comes over to play with Bluey and her sister, Bingo. They are playing “Restaurant,” and they offer to cook Grandad some food. He goes to verbally tell them his order when they interrupt him saying, “Stop! Use the app!” “App? What’s that?” And so they pull out a pretend smart phone, and show him how to use a pretend food app. He “places” his order, and then goes to his pretend home, where he is told to use the pretend delivery app. When Bingo delivers the food, he goes to hand her pretend money, only to have her scream, “No! Use the money app.” So he hits the pretend money app on his pretend phone to pay. He then asks, “What do I do as I eat my pretend food?” They say, “Use the TV app.” So he pretends to watch TV on his pretend phone. Grandad then decides to have some fun with them by throwing a toy snake in their restaurant, saying, “Use the exterminator app, and I’ll come rescue you!” And so they do, and he comes and saves the day by removing the toy snake.
We live in a rapidly changing world, don’t we? That little skit could not have been done a few years ago. Think about how our lives have changed over the last 10 years, minus the pandemic. Put that to the side for a moment. We no longer use physical maps, but Google maps. People don’t have landlines anymore, but smartphones, from which we can access the world at our fingertips. We text rather than talk. We don’t shop in stores as much, but use Amazon, Target Circle, and other shopping apps. We don’t have cable, but streaming services, and video stores have but disappeared. How we listen to music has changed: iPods are about gone and records are coming back! They outsell CDs. Morals have changed, values have changed, political discourse has changed, how we engage others has changed, people change, I change, everything seems to be changing all the time! In a changing world, it is a comfort when things don’t change. We look for consistency, and stability. Today, Jesus tells us an unchangeable and eternal truth. In Luke 15, we see a God Who joyfully seeks and saves the lost. That never changes, although many things do. People change, I change, shopping changes, life changes, but not Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And He joyfully seeks and saves the lost. This morning, we see this eternal truth illuminated in two ways.
Jesus starts by telling us a parable about a Shepherd with 100 sheep. And that is a lot of sheep. A normal flock was about 30-40 sheep, so His is exceptionally large. Despite the size though, the Shepherd feeds, gathers, guides, calls, protects, grooms, and names them all. When one goes missing, He is willing to leave the other 99 in the open country to search for that lost lamb. Even though the others could get lost, stolen, attacked, hurt, or killed, He won’t leave the one. It seems like a terrible idea. It got lost on its own accord, and He has 99 other ones that He needs to tend to. Why not let it go? Why search?
Well, one is important, even if lost by its own accord and account. When people are lost, no one ever says, “Well, there is another 7 billion people, what’s the big deal?” No one says that about the missing children’s pictures you see at Walmart, or when you get an Amber alert on your phone. One is important. One has value. One is loved, cherished, and precious. One is important to the Shepherd with 100 sheep, even though he has 99 more.
And so, the Shepherd searches. He knows the dangers of the canyons, cliffs, and swamps. He knows of the thorns and poisonous plants that can hurt the sheep. He knows the destructive wolf and hungry lion that are on the prowl. He knows the thieves that come to steal, kill, and destroy. And when He finds that lamb, He is happy. You would expect the Shepherd to be grumpy and grumbling about the time, energy, and danger He put Himself through finding this sheep, but He isn’t. In fact, He calls together a party and celebrates! One lost sheep is important to the Shepherd.
And Jesus feels the same for you. You are valuable. You are precious. You are important, cherished, and loved by Jesus and to Jesus. He searches for you when you are lost, and lost on your own accord. Sin is often like an undertow that slowly and subtly pulls you away. I have lived in every state that touches Lake Michigan, and in every state, I have heard warnings about the undertow. The undertow slowly, and subtly, pulls you away from the shore without you knowing it! It pulls you out to the deep, and keeps you in its pull. Sometimes, it kills people; its hard to get out of. Sin is just like that.
A little bit of anger can grow to full-blown hate. A little bit of gossip can lead to a tongue that only criticizes, judges, and, of course, gossips some more. A little bit of lust can lead to unfaithfulness, or a porn addiction. A little bit of coveting can lead to an active plotting on how we can make something, or someone, ours. A little lie can lead to many more. Sin slowly pulls us away, and we can become lost without ever realizing it. We end up like sheep who wander from the fold, and away from the voice of the Good Shepherd. We might not know it.
But, remember the eternal and unchanging truth, when I’m lost, Jesus finds me. He knows the dangers of sin, how it kills, separates, destroys, distorts, and hurts me, and others. It is why He searches! He leads us to repentance through His Word, and with His Word, He pleads, reaches out, searches, and calls until He finds us. And when He does, He joyfully restores us, and brings us home once more. Jesus joyfully seeks and saves the lost, even when it is their own fault they become lost! That never changes.
And Jesus shows us another aspect of this eternal truth with the next parable. Jesus says that a woman loses one of her ten coins. And so she searches diligently for it. Homes in those days had few windows, if any, and they were often small windows, too. Homes typically had dirt floors as well. And what does the woman do? She lights a lamp to see if she can find it. She sweeps the floor, not knowing where it might show up.
In football and some other sports, they have an “Excessive Celebration” penalty. That flag should be thrown here. When she finds the coin, she is overjoyed! She is so happy that she throws a party, and celebrates it with her friends and neighbors. Have you ever been to a party that celebrated something like that? Have you ever hosted one? No, right? And the irony is that perhaps the party might cost more than the coin! Maybe it is the same price! She probably has to spend some of the coin, or money, for the party! Regardless, she is overjoyed at finding that coin. There is joy in finding what was lost. The absurd celebration highlights the point.
This lost coin is different from that lost sheep, though, and it shows us something different. The lost sheep wandered on its own accord. It was the sheep’s fault that it got lost. The coin is inanimate, though, and it can’t do anything; it is completely helpless. It gets shuffled around, kicked, stepped on, dirty, and full of grime. They coin can do nothing to save itself, or to be found. It will forever be lost until someone finds it.
The coin shows our innate helplessness before God. It shows that salvation is being found by Him, and not finding Him. Jesus makes the first move, He searches, He looks, He sweeps, He finds, not me. I cannot do anything, spiritually; neither can you. We are like a coin that is stuck on the ground. That is where we’ll always be until someone grabs us. Jesus doesn’t leave us on the ground. He searches hard, and won’t stop until He has us in His hand once again.
And when He finds you, and me, what does He do? He removes the grime and filth that sticks to us. Is there a little bit of rust? No problem, He takes it off. Is there some dirt? He washes it away. He polishes us to look like new, and when we lose that luster, sparkle, shimmer, and shine, He does it again. Jesus seeks and saves the lost because I’m helpless, you’re helpless.
Unchanging things in a changing world are a good thing; they are things we can depend on, and be certain of. And you can be certain of this: you have a Lord Who seeks and saves the lost, even when it is their own fault, even though they are helpless.