Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "Lost, or Found?"

Text: Luke 15:1-10

I had one of the most interesting experiences of being lost

that I’ve ever had.

I had decided to give myself a trip to England and Scotland as a graduation present,

so I fetched me up a BritRail Pass,

and picked out a couple of helpful guidebooks,

and headed over to see as much as I could before June 17,

which was the date my passport was due to expire!

Anyhow, one of my guidebooks said

that there was a really interesting castle to be seen at Stirling,

a town that’s about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

So I hopped on the train and went.

But when I got to Stirling and got off the train,

I didn’t have a map.

And I didn’t see a castle.

And I didn’t see any signs that said,

"This way to the castle."

But I did see some signs that said

"Tourist Information," with an arrow pointing off some way,

so I followed those.

I followed them about half a mile

until they simply quit.

No more signs.

No information.

And still no castle.

I was not a happy camper.

But, the town looked interesting, so I started walking.

It was a nice road that I was on …

lots of trees … no traffic, no people.

It was also pretty steep.

And after a couple of minutes, I started to think,

this is really stupid, you probably ought to turn back …

But I didn’t, ‘cause I had just spotted

an interesting-looking cemetery up ahead,

so I wandered through it, and read the headstones,

and wondered about the lives of people four and five hundred years ago,

and then I looked through an interesting old church,

and walked off down another path that led away from the church,

and the next thing I knew,

I was in the courtyard of the castle!

It was really kind of spooky …

Because I didn’t know where the castle was,

and I didn’t really know where I was, either,

and yet, suddenly, there we were in the same place!

It was almost as if the castle had found me!

And in a way,

that’s what these two brief little parables are all about.

About God finding us.

About us being lost,

and not knowing where we are,

or where we’re going, or where God is,

and God somehow, miraculously, finding us,

and restoring us to where we belong.

Sometimes, without any effort on our part.

And that is important for us to pay attention to.

So often we are led to believe that, when we sin,

when we wander from the straight and narrow,

we are somehow responsible for finding our way back to God.

That’s not entirely true.

Sometimes, perhaps,

we will be able to get turned back in the right direction

using our own brains, or our own power, or whatever.

But more often, I think,

God has to come looking for us

and help us get turned around.

If only because, often, we don’t realize at first that we are lost!

Think about the images Jesus has given us in the parable.

A lost sheep probably doesn’t realize that it’s "lost,"

and certainly isn’t likely to find its way back to the flock on its own.

The shepherd has to go find it,

and lead it back.

Much less will a lost coin suddenly awaken, think "Oh my! I’m lost!"

and then come rolling back across the floor

and leap back up onto the table with the other nine.

No, if the woman wants that coin,

she is going to have to go search for it.

So, the good news of these parables is:

God wants us.

Enough so, that God will go to a great deal of trouble

to find us, and bring us back.

Like the shepherd … like the woman.

In a way, that’s kind of what the Protestant Reformation was all about.

Martin Luther stressed the grace of God:

God’s reaching out to us, caring for us, giving us the gift of faith,

even when we don’t even know enough to come asking for it…

John Calvin emphasized God’s sovereignty …

how it is God who takes the initiative in relating to us,

and of course, for Calvin, we are such sinful creatures

that we aren’t ever really very good at seeking God for ourselves.

We spend all our time looking in the wrong places.

These two parables are very realistic.

Most of the times, as with the shepherd and the woman,

it is God who must come searching for us.

That’s shown very dramatically

in the letter to Timothy that we heard just a few minutes earlier.

The author – whether it was Paul, or a later disciples using Paul’s name –

is describing his life to Timothy.

He recognizes, now, that he had been lost to God:

"I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence."

"But," he goes on,

I received mercy … the grace of our Lord overflowed for me."

God sought him out, found him,

and turned him completely around in a new direction.

Another thing we need to notice with Luke’s parables,

is that it doesn’t matter how you got lost;

God still comes looking.

Most of us, I suspect, are like the sheep …

when we get lost, it’s at least partially our own fault.

It’s not that we purposely said,

gosh, I’m bored here; think I’ll cause a fuss and go off to seek my fortune.

No, that’s how it happens in the story of the prodigal son,

which, as you may remember,

follows immediately after these two parables of lost-ness.

But a sheep, I suspect, gets lost mostly through inattention.

Perhaps we saw something interesting off to one side,

and strolled off after it,

instead of staying with the shepherd where we belong.

Maybe the grass really was greener on the other side of the hill,

and it was delicious, too,

but now we can’t find our way back.

Perhaps we got too far behind the shepherd and the rest of the flock,

or too far ahead,

and now, we’ve lost sight of them.

But the shepherd still comes …

Leaves the other sheep for the moment,

and comes looking for us.

Hoping, no doubt, that the wolves haven’t found us already!

And he leads us back where we belong.

Sometimes, though,

we maybe like the lost coin.

Lost, definitely,

but through no real fault of our own.

For example,

picture a child, trying to grow up,

who has never been taught the difference between right and wrong.

So, as you can imagine,

a lot of things that he does are harmful and hurtful,

to himself and to other people.

That child is certainly lost …

but it isn’t his fault.

Even those of us who do know God,

can have things happen to us that seem to separate us from God.

Grief often does it …

Having a string of bad things happen to us all at once can often do it …

There are times when we do feel that God is lost from us,

and it may happen because of sad circumstances in life,

not because it’s anybody’s fault.

But God seeks us out also,

just as God hunts for that lost child,

just like the woman turning the house upside-down

to find that one lost coin.

It doesn’t matter how we got lost …

our own fault, or someone else’s, or nobody’s, really.

God drops everything to come looking for us.

And won’t stop looking until we have been brought back safely.

Which means, of course,

that God spends a lot of time

just out looking for people!

Looking for us.

And what’s so striking is

the utter foolishness of the whole thing.

Somehow, I can’t imagine a real-life shepherd

leaving ninety-nine sheep completely unguarded

while he wanders off to look for one

that could be almost anywhere.

And most real-life women I know

have neither the time nor the interest

to scrub the house from top to bottom

looking for one lost coin!

Yet Jesus tells us,

this is the way God operates.

Leaves those who are already found,

and hits the trail to look for the lost,

even if it’s only one.

Imagine that.

Imagine: God cares enough about each one of us

to come looking for us when we get lost.

God cares for everyone,

even some folks that we can’t imagine

God would waste a moment on!

God never gives up.

The search continues, until the lost are found.

Now, the last, and maybe the most important, aspect of these parables

is what happens after the lost have been found.

The shepherd gets home,

calls together his friends and neighbors,

and says "Rejoice with me!"

The woman calls together her friends and neighbors,

and says "Rejoice with me!"

and what better time, since she’s just cleaned the house!

They have a party

to celebrate finding the lost sheep,

finding the lost coin.

Just like that, says Jesus,

there is joy in the presence of the angels of God

over one sinner who repents.

Picture that, if you can let yourself:

A whole heavenly party over one sinner who repents.

So often, we imagine God standing sternly "up there,"

arms crossed, frowning, waiting for us to come to our senses

and then saying, "Well, it’s about time!"

But that’s not at all how Jesus describes it.

Not only does God come actively looking for us …

God also rejoices when we turn around, when we repent,

when we get found and come home.

Heaven celebrates.

The angels rejoice.

Have you let God find you yet?

Have you wandered away, or fallen,

or been knocked far away from, the One who loves you?

The party is waiting …

And we can be the guests of honor.

Praise be to God!

Amen.

© 2004 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org)