I know that you are Biblically smart and intelligent. I know that many of you will recognize immediately this gospel text as being a “Lucan pair of stories”…bookends if you will.
You know that Luke likes to pair stories of men and women together…and this is another one of those pairings…lost sheep – lost coin – male- female.
There are those 3rd and 4th World – feminist theologians that see this text as being all about God – as man and God as woman. See if you agree!
Others see it as story’s about God waiting for us to “return to him” – to “come home,” as it were. But God does not wait around passively – he goes right out and continually seeks and searches us out. God is “in pursuit of us” – and always has been!
The background of the text is easy. The context of the text is that the religious leaders are once more “grumbling about Jesus. “ Hanging with tax collectors and other sinners is definitely not “an honorable thing to do.” This Jesus character – is always seen hanging with disreputable types. That and that alone is cause for their concern! In part – because he is bringing dishonor on the leaders for their previous association with him. They should have known “what kind of a man he was.”
The way he tells these twin stories is horrible. He sets them up. He reels them in. He is the master story-teller. He has them, right where he wants them – from the get –go!
He begins by asking a personally engaging question: Which one of you?
Oh me, me, me! If it is a good thing, it is me. If this is going to be a story about the righteous one, it is about me…Raises hand…
Over here! Waving my hand around!
Jumping up and down – like at a Badger’s game! See me?
Then he sets up a very desirable situation: “Which of you having a hundred sheep?”
Yeah, I only wish that were me. 100 sheep wow! That’s quite “THE” HERD! I would be on top of the world. I would have money for years to come.
I would be so rich. I would be a major player! What wealth! I would “love” to be the owner of 100 sheep.
And then, Jesus goes on… “And losing one of them…”
The question here is: “Who” has lost a sheep? That would be a dishonorable thing to talk about publicly. Who would mention such a thing? Such a loss… That would only bring disgrace and dishonor! This is not social media! You do not air your dirty laundry – like on Facebook for all to see. Have a little respect for yourselves!
You can bet your last dollar that “the owner of the sheep” – would not be “out there” looking for one lost sheep…traipsing around…all over.
It would have been the hired shepherd doing all the dirty work. So suddenly, it turns out that HAVING 100 sheep did NOT MEAN OWNING a 100 sheep; it meant looking after someone else’s 100 sheep – it meant being a shepherd.
Now you are a part of a despised occupation. Now you are considered to be a sinner, too! Dirty and unclean, as well.
Jesus’ innocent sounding words were really entrapment. It was a “gotcha” kind of thing! Now they are all hooked into the story! God is not a well-fed priest in a majestic temple somewhere, nor does he live in a royal palace. Consider this! God is like a despised shepherd who is extravagant about the well-being of every single one of his charges.
He loves them all…each and every one of them…including those who grumble about others behind their backs…including those who think they are better than someone else…including those who point fingers at others…
This woman tells all. She is completely shameless. She is a blabber mouth. She randomly shares her dirty laundry with others on social media. She doesn’t care what they think.
The coins in question probably would have been a dowry. This was big stuff. Losing even one coin would have been a disaster for the whole family. Marriages were public arrangements. A familiy’s honor was placed before the entire community. They had to be true to their word. Their word meant everything or it meant nothing. Losing even one coin was paramount to losing the honor of the family. You do not tell others about your carelessness. Some things are better left unsaid. Shame on her, for telling everyone about her private shameful business…
She doesn’t care. She searches, she seeks diligently and she tells everyone her story. She has no honor. She looks until she finds what was lost. And then she rejoices.
It does not make sense to us. No one leaves the 99 in search for the one. No one abandons the 9 in search for the one. And no one talks about these things publicly.
Airing your dirty laundry publicly and posting whatever it is you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner (with an accompanying picture) is a phenomenon of today, not then.
There was once a time of restraint and filters, not so today…people share and tell everything.
But when it comes to God, he will do whatever it takes to seek out the lost and do whatever it takes to return them “home to him.”
There is no shame for him.
He is a God of pursuit, a God who seeks, a God who searches diligently…and for him, there is no dishonor in seeking you out…only joy…great joy at “bringing you home to him.”