Luke 15:8-10

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

After seeing how people can become lost in pleasure, pride and pain now Jesus reminds us of how we can become lost in our plans and:

• PRIORITIES

Jesus talked about a lost sheep that needed a shepherd, as well as lost sons who needed to be in fellowship with their Father. Now He talks about a lost coin that has value and needs to be put into circulation. It is here that Jesus once again voices our value. In the story of the shepherd the sheep was worth looking for at the expense of leaving everything else. In the story of the prodigal the son was worth waiting for and now in the story of the coin we are worth stopping everything to search for. So why was this coin worth so much to this woman? First it represented about a day’s wage, so it had financial value and purchasing power but it was more than just worldly worth. It had value from a sentimental standpoint as it could have been part of her wedding day attire. When a Jewish woman married she took ten silver coins and sewed them into a headdress, which she wore on her wedding day to signify that she was married and belonged to her husband. Our modern day equivalent would be a woman’s wedding band studded with diamonds. Wedding bands have financial worth but their greater worth is found in the relational connection they represent. Just like the woman in Jesus story my wife once lost one of the diamonds in her wedding ring. She lost it the week we were packing to move from Arkansas to Nebraska. My wife had the same response as tis woman, she looked everywhere and even vacuumed the house and packed the bags of dust into the U-Haul to search through later. Have you ever lost anything of great worth to you? For others it may just represent stuff but to you its significant. For me the sentimental significance is found in pictures of my children that hang throughout my house. They are worth only a few cents in terms of their physical value, but priceless to me because of who and what they represent. They preserve precious memories, significant stages of life at which my children will never be at again. The paper and frame are only worth a few cents, but the image is priceless, because its about a person not a picture. Yet this is not only about something of great financial and emotional value that was lost but also where it was lost. The story of the lost sheep tells us that the sheep had wandered away from the safety of home, the fold, and that the son willingly walked away from home. Yet here we have a coin that is lost at home, it didn’t willingly or carelessly wander off it was carelessly misplaced. It may have seemed to be in a place of protection and apparent safety, nevertheless it became lost. Jesus had been bringing people of all lifestyles back to God, the poor and the prostitutes, the immoral and the ill, the dispossessed and demon-possessed, the wealthy as well as the weary. The marginalized and the misunderstood were finding freedom and forgiveness. The bruised and abused were finding peace and a place at God’s banquet table. Yet the religious establishment did not rejoice this repentance, instead they griped at God. They complained at the change because the focus had shifted from self to the Savior. Here were sheep that had never left the fold, but their heart was far from the shepherd. They were like a lost coin, still at home, but nevertheless lost and out of spiritual circulation. Which forces us to face the question, “do I have something lost at home, something significant that is out of spiritual circulation?” What if I have misplaced what really matters, and taken God’s gifts for granted. You see God doesn’t really care about coins but He does care about children. What if like the coin there is someone lost in your home through inattentiveness or neglect? Are those who we see as safe in our homes secure in heaven? In this trilogy of parables being lost means being in a place of danger and despair, away from God’s peace and protection. It means spending life where you’re not supposed to be. It’s the tragedy of trading a meaningful life for a miserable one. Instead of being and belonging there is only emptiness and longing. Lost means living with no valid point of reference outside of self. Lost is waking up to learn that your child didn’t walk out or wonder away they were never in. It’s the realization that what we value might not be a mess but they are missing. It’s the tears over our true treasures because we got caught up in our cares instead of our children. We were caught up in the trivial when they needed our time, we were busy when they needed the bible. We were caught up in our plans when they needed prayer. We showed them selfishness when they should have seen the Savior.  We left them alone when they needed love. We never made learning about their personalities our priority. We slighted what was significant for a million reasons only to discover that we misplaced our most cherished coin, our children. We were like Martha who became absorbed in the unimportant, and so consumed by the insignificant that she insulted all who didn’t join her. We don’t have to be sheep in the wilderness, or a son in sin city to be lost. We can become lost in our homes, fussing over the perfect table setting and missing the Savior? Maybe Jesus is saying it’s time to let the dishes soak in the sink so we can soak in Him. How many of us are lost in our busy routines and sacred schedules, caught up in the temporary and the trivial? So preoccupied with our plans that we lose sight of what we  have lost. Why do we put our effort into the empty, because we have forgotten our true treasures, it’s not the coins that we cherish but our children. It’s time to cultivate what we say we cherish. When this woman realized what was lost she stopped everything to search.  She lit a lamp to illuminate the darkened corners where the coin may have fallen. She swept the house clearing out the straw that would have covered her floor. She made the search her priority, taking time for her true treasure. She gave herself to the task, she didn’t just look around a little in her spare time, she stopped everything to search. Foot by foot she went over the floor searching for what mattered most. To reach the lost at home, we need to light the lamp of God’s Word by living according to His Will. We must sweep our homes and empty out the straw that litters our floor. This is the stuff and the fluff that gives the enemy a foothold over our families. As a parent my children are my priority not the youth pastors, I need to take time to learn and to love them not leave them to others. Today we put more effort and energy into looking for our keys than we do our kids. As parents we hold back instead of holding on. Our children fall through the cracks because our priorities revolve around our plans not God’s. We need to hug more and hurry less, we need less lists and more love, we need more listening and less lessons. We need to make prayer our priority and pursue God’s plans. Did my wife ever find her diamond? Yes she did, it was in the most unlikely place, our son’s car seat which she discovered half way to Nebraska. Our baby boy was sitting on a diamond but what and where was our real treasure? Well diamonds don’t go to heaven, they might be lovely to look at but they have no life. So love what really lasts, expend your energy on the eternal not the earthly.

Luke 15:11-12, 20-21

11 “To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son’ 22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”

• PAIN

In the story of the prodigal son we typically focus on the problems surrounding both brothers and often pay little attention to the problems that the Father faced. Yet while the younger brother was lost in pleasure and the older in pride it would have been easy for the Father to have become lost in His pain. When a child heads down the road of rebellion they are not the only ones in danger of becoming lost, this is where parents fall prey to become lost in guilt and grief.  Third John 1:4 says “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” and the reverse could also be said, I have no greater sorrow than to see my children cast aside the Savior. How many parents have had to endure the pain of a rebellions child or the pain of a religious one that refuses relationship? Today we have bought into the belief that blessing is guaranteed for the godly. That if we do our part in parenting God will provide a problem free future. But we forget the clash between the Fathers will and free will. Sometimes our children exercise their wants to the point that they war with the Father more than they work with Him. As a parent doing what is right is not a guarantee against rebellion. Like the prodigal, Cain was raised in a family of faith yet he chose to run down the rebellious road that led to ruin. It is here that I need to stop and speak to the spectators of parent pain, because we need to be careful what and how we communicated to both the parent and the child. They don’t need another put down they need a prayer partner.  So often the church casts a disapproving glance, meeting grief with guilt, when what is really needed is grace. Parents in pain need partners, yet so often our response to others rebellion is to swing to either side of the wrecking ball, we either choose the side of the bystander or they get a bible beat down. People don’t need left alone and they don’t need lynched they need love. In the story of the prodigal son we know it wasn’t the Fathers fault, yet He still stepped onto the path of parent pain and experienced the heartache of family failure. Unlike the prodigal’s parent most people know that they are not a perfect parent, they don’t need a lecture they need loved. So why do we spend our time pointing the finger, because it’s easier than prayer. Pointing the finger allows me to remain in the position of the Pharisee and pretend that I have it all together, pray cuts through the pretense and admits my need. Pointing lets me remain in a superior position, prayer reminds me I’m a servant. Pointing places me in a high position, prayer puts me in my place prostrated and pleading. Pointing lets me rely on my knowledge, prayer calls me to rest on my knees. Prayer calls us to remove our pride and return to the position of piety. Be careful if you are seeing spiritual success in your kids let it encourage and fill your heart not your head. It’s easy to get caught up in parent pride, where we pat ourselves on the back and think we are all that. Sure you might be following God and pursuing His plan for parenting but that doesn’t give you a right to recognize self. When we do we forget His hand that helped, we consume all the credit and close the door on Christ. When we gloat in His glory we are basking and bathing in His work for our own benefit. We are selfishly shutting out the Savior as we celebrate self, taking credit for what He created. Many who experience success when fishing brag and take credit for their skills because they caught the fish but do we ever give credit to the One who created it? When you experience success never forget whose pond of grace you were fishing in or you will suffer your success.  When you understand God’s grace there is no room to gloat. We need to be careful we don’t become prideful parents who point to self and our success. It’s easy to become parent plagiarizers who pretend that we are responsible for writing the story of success. When we do our parent parade only adds to the pain of other parents and sets us up for a life of pretending, where we have to cover for our less than perfect family. What parents need today isn’t another holy pep talk it’s prayer that brings hope and healing. Instead of condemnation they need compassion. But compassion costs, it’s easy to throw in your 2 cents but what about your time? Failure doesn’t need a reminder it need reassurance that someone cares, it needs the familiar face of a friend. But so often we bundle our so called concerns in the blankets of blame, but blame doesn’t better it bitters. As a parent I don’t know the pain of a wayward children but I do know the power of prayer in the life of a rebellious one. I have not experienced the heart hurt over the runaway child but I have seen its reflection in the eyes of a pained parent. I was the prodigal son but now I’m a pastor, the product of a parent’s prayer. Parenting will never be pain proof but we don’t have to be consumed by the pain of our children’s choices. We don’t have to let pain gain the upper hand over prayer. Pain provides the perfect opportunity for a pity party but as long as I have prayer I have power over poor me. Sorrow wants to side track and get you stuck in the miserable mud of why me! But the Father didn’t let the pain of a runaway rebellious child rob Him. He didn’t let the sorrow from the wake of His wayward son swamp His ship. He focused on forgiveness not failure. He chose to believe instead of become bitter. Instead of holding onto resentment He held onto the royal robe that He believed He would one day use to cover and cloth His child. Grace doesn’t give up, it looks lovingly and longingly down the road of rebellion and believes in repentance. Sometimes we can become so lost in our pain that we lose sight of those who are lost without God’s love and peace. The Father didn’t get focused on the pain but looked past it, to the praise to come. If you are experiencing the blessing of godly children realize the gift and don’t take grace for granted. Be prepared to partner in prayer with that pained parent. If you’re living with the loss of a rebellious relationship keep praying and be prepared for the party?