Luke 15:1-10

09102022 – Luke 15. 1-10

Dustin E. is an incarcerated man of color. He wrote the following poem from his prison cell. Because on that given day, the scriptures spoke to him. It was actually the first time he ever heard about “the lost coin.”

Here’s what he penned.

“If you feel like a big disgrace;
Feel like you’re lost and out of place;
Don’t have any idea where you’re going;
Feel like an old and discarded lost coin.

Do not fear what is around;
He will not give up until you are found.
He is eager and waiting for you to join;
He will never give up on the lost coin.

We celebrate the Savior, we celebrate the saved;
Like the coin that was lost but found today.
We run in the streets welcoming others to join;
To celebrate the finding of the lost coin.

We didn’t deserve it;
But we received it that day.
For it is by grace through faith
That we have been saved.

He sacrificed Himself,
Not thinking the cost;
He gave us his life
For the coin that was lost.”

Most people do not think of themselves as being “LOST.”

We are “the ones” that have it all together. (At least seemingly so!) You might even say that we are people of “privilege.”

The “interesting thing” from the standpoint of this parable is that the Scribes and the Pharisees would have NEVER seen themselves as being LOST. Ever.  It was an impossibility.

They were the Hebrew ELITE. It was not possible for them to be considered lost.

These two parables about “LOSTNESS” were told to a group of “highly religious people.” They would have “seen themselves” as being the “99 sheep” or the “9 coins” that were never lost.

They were the goody two shoes that would never run off, they would never slip under the passenger seat which never fails to collect all kinds of things…in our cars…

They were the ones at Synagogue every Sabbath. They upheld the laws (the Torah) and paid their tithes. They were considered the righteous of their day.

They would never be “impressed” nor could they ever “comprehend” a God who would spend ANY TIME whatsoever having concern for a sinner, muchless seeking out the lost.

Instead God should be devoting all of his time, to the well-behaved-righteous-ones who seemingly have never left his side.

When LUKE speaks of “sinners,” he is talking about someone whose pattern of sinning is SO HABITUAL, even SECOND NATURE, and the whole community knows of it.

Similarly, by “RIGHTEOUS” – Luke doesn’t mean those who are either perfect or self-righteous, but rather he describes those who “actually” and “actively” attempt to live up to the law.

All of which means that Jesus is welcoming the “local” UNTOUCHABLES and ne’er-do-wells, the “moral disgraces” and the “public outcasts” — welcoming, accepting and befriending them to the point of public embarrassment. Why he even sits down and dines with them! The “decent folk” in the area, are CONCERNED and TALKING. Tongues are wagging…

Hanging with “tax collectors and sinners” is definitely NOT an HONORABLE THING to do, especially if you are a teacher, a rabbi in Israel.

And by associating with these people, NOW, Jesus is bringing DISHONOR on “the leaders” for “their various associations” WITH HIM. That’s just how the honor and shame societies worked.

People will say, “THEY” should have KNOWN the kind of guy this Jesus-guy was…and they should have realized that he would associate with DISREPUTABLE types. So, the failure was theres.

So the concern coming from the “Pharisees” and the “Scribes” is really about THEIR OWN HONOR and shame. And HOW “they” appeared to others.

Jesus was demonstrating a “DEEP” and “ABIDING ACCEPTANCE” of those society has DEEMED “beyond the moral pale.” He didn’t care.

He would eat and talk with anyone. To eat with someone implied acceptance, trust, and peace. He would rub elbows with the “dregs of society.” They too, needed a savior.

So, what Jesus DOES is he points out the two groups that were in CONFLICT: the “Tax collectors and other sinners” VERSUS the “Pharisees and Scribes…”

He could have said, it is your problem, you guys deal with it. You figure it out for yourselves.

INSTEAD what he does is tells two quick stories, the lost sheep and the lost coin.

The Kingdom of God, is always a place for those who feel lost, or caught up in sin, and righteous alike. Like it or not, there is ROOM FOR ALL. Amen.