Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 96:3

Proclaim the glory of the Lord among the nations, His marvellous deeds to all peoples: great is the Lord and worthy of praise.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Almighty God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the cross, and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. CW

Almighty God, you search us and know us: may we rely on you in strength and rest on you in weakness, now and in all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord. CW Shorter Collect

First Bible Reading Jeremiah Chapter 4 11–12, 22–28

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgement against them. ‘For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.’ I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;  and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger. For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed;  I have not relented nor will I turn back.

Second Reading 1 Timothy 1:12-17 

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. NRSV

Gospel Reading Luke 15:1-10

All the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

So he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ NRSV

Post Communion Prayer

God our creator, you feed your children with the true manna, the living bread from heaven: let this holy food sustain us through our earthly pilgrimage until we come to that place  where hunger and thirst are no more; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Commentary

We have a reading today from Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus is accused by the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and Scribes of a clear and obvious crime, that he ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

In other words Jesus should have disassociated himself from such people who had clearly gone astray in life.

It is important to understand the reason why this question was asked by angry Jewish leaders. We are told that, 

‘all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen

to Jesus and the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling’

I would suggest that what provokes the stories about the lost sheep and the lost coin and of course the parable of the prodigal is a feeling of resentment. The Jewish leaders recognised that Jesus was more popular than they were. Having said that it must also be recognised that at that time tax collectors and sinner were excluded from the religious community and so there would have been a self righteous disapproval of these unworthy individuals getting attention. When we read passages in Proverbs we can see this as they warn Jews of the danger of spending time with sinners. The teachers of the Jewish laws spelled out the dangers of such things as eating untithed food and simply being in the company of those who were sinners showed a form of acceptance of their behaviour. (Proverbs 1:15, 13:20, 14:7)

There is a prayer of the Pharisees from the first century which gives us some insight into how the Pharisees felt .

I thank you Lord, my God, that you have set my portion with those who sit in the sanctuary, and not with those who sit on street corners. I rise early and they rise early: I rise to attend to the words of the Torah, and they to attend to futile things. I exert myself and they exert themselves: I exert myself and receive a reward, and they exert themselves and receive no reward. I run and they run: I run to life in the world to come, and they run to the pit of destruction (B.Ber 28b)

Jesus turns the tables on those who thought in this way and made it clear that holding such discriminatory attitudes demonstrated that it was they who were not actually God’s friends. We need to consider carefully why tax collectors and prostitutes and the like would feel comfortable in the company of Jesus. Clearly he was above reproach himself, but that never came across as self righteous or of him taking a position of criticism.

Jesus responds by speaking about a shepherd. It is interesting that he chooses somebody from this occupation because Pharisees considered shepherds to be members of an unclean profession, it was a proscribed trade. These shepherds went to synagogue and their word was not trusted. It is into exactly this kind of situation that Jesus is heard to speak the words of the parables about lostness that we have today.

Jesus poses a question to the crowd around him,

‘which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave

the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?’

The answer might come back, that nobody would do such a rash thing. Why expose the 99 sheep to danger whilst going off into the wilderness to try and find a single sheep which might already have been eaten by wild animals. Interestingly when mention is made of the wilderness then that reminds us of the travails of Israel in the wilderness and God bringing them to a home.

Jesus also tells about a woman who loses a coin and searches for it. It was a drachma, worth the value of a whole days wages and interestingly the same cost as a sheep. Homes at the time had stone floors with cracks in which things could fall. We know that this kind of thing happened frequently because the crevices between these stones are often explored by archaeologists who find coins and fragments of pottery which are then used to date the homes.

The message is clear in both stories that God takes time, takes effort, takes a risk and considers that which is lost to be of such significance that it is worth his time and energy to get it back safely. Jesus had an intimate relationship with God and this was what he knew of the Father’s love. Jesus spoke about a God who was very different from the God the people had heard about before. Jesus was speaking about a God who did not demand a pound of flesh as a sacrifice before he loved them. No wonder the religious authorities were angry at parables and teachings which seemed to show God more interested in the lost than the faithful.

I know that there are those who believe that much Christian theology has misunderstood Judaism and described it wrongly. For example Jewish leaders would not have thought that there were ‘ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’ Clearly repentance and sacrifice were all a part of Judaism. However Jesus is responding to a charge made against him by Jewish leaders who thought that they were more righteous than the people Jesus was associating with

The Apostle Paul in Romans Chapter 3 quoted the psalms

‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ 

One thing which we know for certain is that Jesus knew his Bible and the scriptures of the Old Testament make this clear. In Isaiah 53 it says there is no such thing as a righteous sheep

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way,

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

The Pharisees might have thought that they were above reproach, but they were only fooling themselves and Jesus reserves his very worst condemnation for them and their hypocrisy. 

The outcome of finding the coin and finding the sheep was one of rejoicing, so much so that friends were invited to come and rejoice. The question might be asked as whether the cost of the celebrations might wipe out the value of the sheep or the coin. The point is that these stories are not about economic sense, or financial worth, the joy of God has no price tag. Jesus says that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Jesus was speaking at a time when in Jewish tradition the angels in heaven generally took great interest in God’s workings on earth , each person was assigned at least one guarding angel. Jesus is making the point that God watches us and not one of us is  disposable or beyond his care.    Charles Royden

Meditation

We sing the hymn ‘I was lost but Jesus found me, found the sheep that went astray.’ Well that is surely true but it isn’t just a one time thing. We get lost many times and we need to be reminded that God places a value on each one of us which means that in those times in our lives when we feel lost, God is still looking for us. There are many things which can disturb us spiritually and challenge our faith. It might be a break down in a relationship, or the loss of a job, a serious illness or a death of a loved one. Whatever it is which causes us to feel far from God, when our prayers seem to be unanswered or when hymns fail to raise our spirits, when we don’t feel God’s presence or power or hope, God is still looking for us to bring us home. Charles Royden 

Hymns

All earth was dark

For I'm building a people of power

Go forth and tell

Jesus calls us o'er the tumult

Ye servants of God

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Lord, you have consecrated the world by sending your Son into the midst of it and by making all things new in Him. We ask you to give us the courage and power we need to share fully in His mission to the world and to further His kingdom in the lives of all people to the honour and glory of His name. 

Our loving Father, we give thanks for your goodness and love; for the joy of home and family, and the companionship of friends and neighbours; for the strength that supports us and the love that surrounds us, both when our joy is complete and when it is touched by pain. We give thanks for your Son Jesus Christ: the glory of his humble birth, the graciousness of his selfless life, the obedience and trust that led him to the cross, and the triumph of his resurrection and ascension. We give thanks for your Holy Spirit at work in your Church and in our hearts, revealing your truth, renewing our lives, and bringing us to your eternal Kingdom

Grant, O God, that we who are one in our need of your forgiveness, may be one in our acts of compassion. May we who are made one in your love become one in our common life. May we who are made unique and individual in your sight, dwell together as one race. We pray for peace in our world and especially we pray for countries across the Middle east, remembering the people of Syria and continuing to be mindful of those other countries where human life is taken away by violence everyday. We pray for Christians living in violent situations and persecuted for their faith. May our world leaders be led by your wisdom, give to them a resolve to seek peace and justice and end to the bitterness and hatred which divides people. Forgive us when we use faith, tribe, family or other human distinction as a reason to divide ourselves from one another, help us to remember that you are the father of all humankind and love all of your children equally. Unite us in mutual love and care across the barriers of race and culture.

Comfort those who have lost loved ones. Support the injured and those near death. Inspire the emergency services. Lighten the darkness of those who are near despair. Do not let threats multiply or power be used without compassion. Rekindle hope in our lives, so that we may not walk alone through the valley of the shadow of death confident of your presence alongside us through all that we face. 

God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord. We remember those who have died and ask for your comfort and peace upon all of those who mourn. We remember especially … Amen.

Lord, you have consecrated the world by sending your Son into the midst of it and by making all things new in Him. We ask you to give us and all your people the courage and power we need to share fully in His mission to the world and to further His kingdom in the lives of all people to the honour and glory of His name. Amen

O God, you have called men and women from every land to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, the church of your dear Son: unite us in mutual love and care across the barriers of race and culture, and strengthen us in our common task of being Christ and showing Christ to the world He came to save. Amen

Draw your Church together, O God, into one great company of disciples, together following our Lord Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving Him in His mission to the world, and together witnessing to His love on every continent and island. Amen. 

God the Sender, send you; God the Sent, go with us; God the Strengthener of those who go, empower you, that you may go to do His will; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen 

God our Redeemer, who called your Church to witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us so to proclaim the good news of your love that all who hear it may be reconciled to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 

Additional Resources 

Commentary

When Jesus tells a story about lost stuff it is a sure thing that everybody would be able to engage with it. We all put things down and then forget where we put them, or they fall down behind something and then we turn the house upside down trying to find them. I have my keys on a lanyard now because I so frequently lose them, this helps because I can sometimes see the rope sticking out from under the sofa or one of the multitude of other places where they hide. We all know what it is like when things go missing. 

Today we are told that ‘All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to listen to him’. In other words Jesus is creating a storm and the people that he is attracting are some of the ones who would not normally go and listen to a religious person. Your normal tax collector or prostitute would give the religious folks a wide berth because they would surely be condemned or used as an example of a bad person. Jesus is actually having the opposite effect, these are the very ones who find in Jesus a message which they can understand and feel comfortable with. 

Of course this is not going down well with the Pharisees and religious teachers who were angry with what Jesus was saying. A shepherd leaves his sheep to go and look for something lost. It is a huge risk but the thing which is lost is valuable and therefore it is worth taking that risk and going to search. A woman loses a coin, she doesn’t just ignore it and hope it will turn up, it is of sufficient value that it is worth turning the house upside down and going to look for it. The message is not lost on those who hear these words, God takes time, takes effort, takes a risk and considers that which is lost to be worth his time and energy getting it back safely. Jesus had an intimate relationship with God and this was what he knew of the Father’s love. Jesus spoke about a God who was very different from the God the people had heard about before. Jesus was speaking about a God who did not demand a pound of flesh as a sacrifice before he loved them. No wonder the religious authorities were angry at parables and teachings which seemed to show God more interested in the lost than the faithful.

Jesus asks an interesting question “which one of you, having 100 sheep and losing one, would leave the 99 in the wilderness and search for the lost one?” If we think about this logically it is not particularly clever to leave them in the wilderness. Quite rightly the answer should be nobody would do that ! Jesus asks 

“which one of you, having ten coins and losing one, would sweep the house 

all day long until it was found, and then call your friends for a party?”

Now I know how pleased I feel when I find my lost keys, but I have to say that when I find them I never throw a party to celebrate. So the honest answer to the second question is most likely the same, - nobody would do that. 

So we need to think carefully what Jesus is getting at. The first thing which stands out is that Jesus chooses numbers which are significant, there are 100 sheep and there are 10 coins. If one is lost then we have 99 sheep and 9 coins and it is immediately obvious that this is a number which lacks completion. The numbers speak for themselves that there is something missing. Last year in our Harvest Weekend you will remember Adrian Plass sharing with us and saying that ‘parents are only as happy as their least happy child’. God is like a parent and no parent is happy when one of the children is missing. 

There is another important truth which comes across from the parable. Hands up if you are in the group of ‘ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’ Surely we all know that each one of us is really a sinner who God wants to save. Perhaps that is why the shepherd fails to go and check on the 99 righteous ones, they simply don’t exist! There are no 99 good ones! Instead he goes home and gets his friends together for a celebration party. We are left with the understanding that Jesus has been playing with us. We are reminded of the writing of St Paul in Romans Chapter 3 who quotes the psalms when he say says

‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ 

What Jesus is really saying is that there really are not 99 sheep which can be left in the wilderness unprotected. Humanity is lost, all have gone astray. In other words all of humanity is represented by the one lost sheep. One thing which we know for certain is that Jesus knew his Bible and the scriptures of the Old Testament make this clear. In Isaiah 53 it says there is no such thing as a righteous sheep

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way,

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

We could search the whole world over and we will never find 99 who need no repentance. The Pharisees might have thought that they were above reproach but they were only fooling themselves and Jesus reserves his very worst condemnation for them and their hypocrisy. 

The parable of the lost coin is a story about one of 10 coins which goes missing. The coin has no feelings and there is no way that it could ever know that it was ever lost. However the fact that it is lost matters to the woman, to her it is of value. God is like that woman he will seek out the missing because without even one the number is incomplete and when that which is lost is found there has to be a party! 

There is a lovely line in the 23rd Psalm which is perhaps one of the finest pieces of scripture which we have and which uses this picture of God as being like a caring shepherd. The Psalm concludes with the statement . 

“surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” 

I had enough difficulties at college learning the Greek of the New Testament, I am afraid the Hebrew of the Old Testament was a step too far. However my commentaries tell me that these words ‘shall follow’ are not a great translation. A better translation into the English would be this 

“surely your goodness and mercy shall track me down all the days of my life.” 

Jesus knew that Psalm, and he makes sense of it in this parable, he shows a God who ‘tracks us down’ and will not let go because if he does then what he has will never be complete. Charles Royden 

Commentary 

Well it is an interesting dilemma this morning presented by Jesus. Does God really rejoice more over one sinner who repents than 99 who are righteous? As I ponder this question my first response is to say, ‘I doubt it’, there are two reasons, 

Firstly, Jesus is just making a point, it is a lesson which we all need to hear. We tend to be critical of the lost, and somewhat resentful that they can just walk back and say sorry. 

Secondly, even to be asking this question shows just how misguided we all can be. Let me ask the question, how many righteous people do you actually know? Where are the 99? If we are honest we have to admit that each one of us is a lost sheep, there are now self-righteous people, just people who think that they are. 

So today is party a lesson in not being self-righteous. It is self-righteousness which makes us resentful of God’s forgiveness, even though we desperately need it ourselves. God however is never resentful, he rejoices without any feeling of bitterness. 

Imagine how the father of the prodigal son must have felt when his son asked him for his inheritance and went off to squander it on the wrong sort of lifestyle. The poor father must have had so many conflicting emotions, sadness at the lack of wisdom shown by the son, perhaps some resentment or even anger. We will never quite know, but we do know that he let the son go. He did not try and make him stay, or change his mind. He knew that the son had to go and find out for himself, so he allowed him to make his mistakes. Sometimes this is the only way that we can really learn, from our own mistakes. This is for us a model of what the love of God is like, allowing us to make mistakes. 

Frequently parents see children make mistakes and they know that these are exactly the kinds of things which they themselves did! Sadly we cannot put old heads on young shoulders. All that we can do is to be there when they come home, perhaps realising the error of their ways, and make sure we don't say I told you so. This is how God is with us. God allows us to make mistakes, even big mistakes, we learn the hard way. God is there for us and welcomes us back without the hint of recrimination, just love and forgiveness. The readings this morning show that God cares deeply for those who are lost and far from him. God isn't resentful when they are found or angry that they strayed, rather God rejoices. Are we able to rejoice in welcoming back the lost or would we be more likely to tell them that is was their own fault. 

It is hard for us to be prepared to accept people when they seek forgiveness. It is a human trait to be critical and willing to judge, we naturally think God wants people to be punished. To err is human but to forgive is divine. Its hard for us to forgive, it has to be conditional; and measured and not too freely given in case it encourages bad behaviour. Perhaps it is because our own ability to forgive is so limited that we want every drop of God's grace metered and paid for, in case there just isn’t enough to go around! It's hard for us to forgive and so we think that God's forgiveness has to be earned in some way, even if it is only by asking for it properly. Forgiveness however is easy for God, it is God's nature.

There is another important feature of the 'Lost' theme today. Whilst we like to be critical of the Pharisees, we should remember that they would not have been angry with Jesus if his only message was that people who are lost should seek forgiveness. This would be called repentance and the Pharisees would have very approved of Jesus telling people to repent. The problem with jesus telling the story of the Lost Sheep and the lost Coin was that neither the sheep or the coin repented, in fact they were not capable of doing so, the coin is an object. The emphasis is not upon the feelings of the sheep or the coin,rather upon the nature of God and how God feels. The shpeep and the coin don't do anything to contribute towards their being found, God does all the work, because that is what God does, he seeks out the lost. 

Sermons today which speak of the lostness of the human soul and the need to be sorry and God welcoming us back when we do rather miss the point. The story is not about us and how wicked we are, it is not about our need to say confession or any exhortation to live better lives. The message is about God and the fact that he will become exhausted, go to any lengths to find what is his and has been lost. God is not going to give up, God is relentless and will leave no stone unturned looking for that which has gone astray. And let this be understood, the sheep and the coin have contributed nothing, didn't know they were lost. 

This searching nature of God is what causes to sing about 'a love that wilt not let me go.' This is why the illustration of a shepherd is such a good one, looking for errant sheep is what shepherds do, they go and put themselves in danger looking for stupid sheep who don't even know they have gone astray. Jesus said "The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost." This was an important message fore the Pharisees to hear, if they as the "shepherds of Israel" will not tend the flock, or bring back the strayed, then Jesus, the Good Shepherd will. 

Why does the shepherd search for the lost sheep? Is it because it is a favourite sheep? Is it because the sheep is a special sheep? Or because it has a woollier coat than the rest of the sheep? No! The only qualification the sheep has which justifies leaving the other sheep and going off after it, is that it is lost. So too Jesus cares for the lost, because they are lost and seeks them out. We so often get concerned about our qualifications for God, are we good enough for him to bother with us? And perhaps the church has and still does reinforce this, making hurdles over which we have to cross before we are good enough. I think of the teaching that you can't have communion because you're not confirmed yet. Does Jesus, who shares his last meal with the disciples only come after those who have passed the test?

As a priest my task is to reassure people of God's forgiveness and as Christians that is something which we should all do. God calls you to share in that priestly task, it is your job too. Jesus shows us from the cross that he forgives even when people do not ask for it. The Christian faith teaches us that God cares for all of us and especially the lost, we are never beyond redemption, we are never so far from God that he gives up on us. The further we have fallen, the deeper God's grace to rescue us.

Self righteousness and begrudging attitudes are alive and well, they didn't die out in 1st century Palestine. There are those who like the brother of the prodigal son will resent the fact that God is so forgiving. For many people recovery of the lost means that we are only happy when people decide that they want to join us and be like us. For Jesus recovery of the lost meant taking time to befriend and to associate with the lost. Even if it meant getting his own reputation tarnished. Think of the stories and gossip which there must have been about Jesus as a result of the company which he kept. 

We can sometimes begrudge the mercy of God being so freely given to the undeserving. We don't like people who threaten us, who appear different, who don't measure up to our standards. So it is that Jesus tells these two stories from our lesson this morning to show that God has time for each one of us. Even when the rest of the world thinks that we are too far gone, Jesus comes after us and carries us home. Charles Royden

Commentary 

We learn today that Jesus is creating quite a stir. Tax collectors and sinners were gathering to hear Jesus, but the Pharisees and religious teachers were angry with what he was saying to them. What was Jesus saying when he told these parables today that made the leaders so angry?

These are stories about things being lost and things being found. A shepherd leaves his sheep to go and look for something lost. It is a huge risk but the thing which is lost is valuable and therefore it is worth taking that risk and going to search. A woman loses a coin, she doesn’t just ignore it and hope it will turn up, it is of sufficient value that it is worth turning the house upside down and going to look for it. 

The message is not lost on those who hear these words, God takes time, takes effort, takes a risk and considers that which is lost to be worth his time and energy getting it back safely. Jesus had an intimate relationship with God and this was what he knew of the Father’s love. Jesus spoke about a God who was very different from the God the people had heard about before. God had always been a mighty and powerful God, a God who could send plagues and disease, a God who would crush enemies in battle. God was known to forgive if you asked for his forgiveness, but that forgiveness demanded that blood be shed of innocent animals before he allowed reconciliation. This was the God who demanded the pound of flesh before he extended the arm of compassion. 

Think to yourself of all of those Old Testament passages about God and then compare them with this God of compassion revealed to us in Jesus. In this context it is perfectly understandable that Jesus caused great offence to the religious leaders of his day. They were bound to be angry at his parables and teachings which seemed to show God more interested in the lost than the faithful. 

These were more than words for Jesus, his life was a living parable as he lived out this teaching, concentrating on the poor ones, the weak ones, the sinful ones. Jesus seemed to be at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to the religious leaders, not only did he concern himself with those considered on the outside of God’s grace, he made matters worse when he told these sorts of parables to the people. The religious leaders would have been shocked at the significance of a shepherd who went out in search of a lost sheep which never contributed anything to being found! Perhaps if the sheep had come grovelling back there might be a way of understanding the forgiveness of God but with these parables it is all so unmerited. The sheep does not deserve to be found and moreover God is made to look so foolish when we hear that the woman who finds her lost coin calls for rejoicing. How can God be made happy when he finds those who have gone astray, or who have been brushed under the carpet? The religious leaders would have been much more comfortable with the lost remaining lost and attention being given to those who tried hard to be well behaved. To them the lost coin represented those who were better out of sight and out of mind. These religious leaders had failed to be good shepherds they had let God down and the people they were supposed to protect and lead. The words of Jesus bring to mind Ezekiel 34:1-6 and the denunciation of the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves and not the sheep. 

What does Jesus mean when he says 

' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.’

Who were the ones who had no need for repentance? Everybody needs repentance ! We are all lost, one way or another. The story tells us that God will do anything to find the lost, and there is "joy in heaven" at the finding. This is why it is unimportant that the sheep or the coin do anything to assist their being found. The stories are not about us and our sin or guilt or repentance. The parables are about God and his relentless love which will never give up until the lost are found and brought home. This is a God with a heart compelled by love as would be the heart of any loving parent, driven to rescue and save children who have lost their way. The religious leaders were supposed to shepherd and look after the sheep but they have been self interested and only looked after themselves. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will ensure that people hear what God is really like and bring them home to God. Charles Royden 

Commentary 

Chapter 15 of Luke contains three different stories about finding lost things, lost sheep, lost coins and a lost (prodigal) son. It also tells us about the celebrations that take place when these lost things are found. As it does, it picks up one of the great themes of Luke, the joy of blessings showered on God’s faithful people as a result of repentance and finding new life. But the passage in Luke is not just about getting people to repent and finding new life; it’s also about valuing people as people, even when they’re lost. One of the ways Jesus shows those around Him that He values people is that He enters into close relations with them, even if they are people that the established religious order would never reach out to, the tax collectors and sinners, people of low repute. Jesus meets them on their terms. He is not prepared to write them off, as his critics did, or to say, as they would have: I will value you and welcome only if you repent. Jesus seeks out the lost, evens the lost who don’t know they’re lost, and values them as they are. He seeks out those who society may have written off as losers, no hopers, wasters, and gives them life and hope. Jesus seeks out the large and the small to redeem and value. In our own lives, He seeks out those areas which we may have written off; areas that we prefer to hide and not speak about, habits we have we wish we didn’t, areas of our lives we hope no one sees. He seeks them out because He wants to redeem those too and give us hope in the ‘no go’ areas of our lives.

God also wants to use us to seek out the lost and the hopeless and give them His hope and His direction. Part of our mission activity is exactly that, seeking out situations that seem hopeless and giving hope; through our prayers, time, effort, resources and money whether at home or abroad. God calls out to the lost people and places in our lives and in our world and values them for who and what they are, and who and what they can become. As He does, so should we. 

And once the lost are found, we should rejoice and celebrate. Because in being found, in turning around and repenting, in discovering true value, all creation comes that little but closer to being restored to the way God intended it to be. And as we celebrate and rejoice, Heaven does too. Sam Cappleman. 

Meditation

When the people got impatient with Moses for spending so long up the mountain speaking with God they gathered around Aaron and made a golden calf to worship from their ear rings. Even though God was angry with their actions He still said that he would make the Israelites into a great Nation. We might have expected God to give up on the Israelites over their behaviour, but He did not. We might have expected Jesus to give up on the ‘Tax collectors and sinners’ who were lost from God, but He did not. God is patient and forgiving. Even though we may give up on Him from time to time, He never gives up on us.

Meditation

In times like this we realise how weak and inadequate we are, and our greatest need is to turn in repentance and faith to the God of all mercy and the Father of all comfort. If ever there was time for us to turn to God and to pray as a nation, it is now, that this evil will spread no further. It is also a time for us to remember the words of the Psalmist: 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea ... He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God ... The Lord of hosts is with us.'" (Ps 46:1-2, 9-11) Billy Graham

Prayer

Grant, O God, that we who are one in our need of your forgiveness, may be one in our acts of compassion. May we who are made one in your love become one in our common life. May we who speak many languages dwell together as one race, in unity with our one heavenly Father; and this we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy and Gracious God, Blessed Trinity, in your Son you have taught us that nothing in life or death is able to separate us from your love. We pray for the people of the United States of America, and people of other nations, affected by the terrorism in America in these recent days. May our world leaders be led by your wisdom. Comfort those who have lost loved ones. Support the injured and those near death. Inspire the emergency services. Lighten the darkness of those who are near despair. Do not let threats multiply or power be used without compassion. Rekindle hope in our lives, so that we may not walk alone through the valley of the shadow of death, through Christ our Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, we pray. Amen.

God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Teach us, O Lord, to love you, to trust you and for ever to praise you. Let us exalt your name both in the day and in the night. Let us serve you both in the house of prayer and in the world about us. Let us ascribe to you with all your saints both wisdom and majesty, both honour and glory, world without end. Amen. Henry Vaughan, 1621-1695

Our loving Father, we give thanks for your goodness and love; for the joy of home and family, and the companionship of friends and neighbours; for the strength that supports us and the love that surrounds us, both when our joy is complete and when it is touched by pain. We give thanks for your Son Jesus Christ: the glory of his humble birth, the graciousness of his selfless life, the obedience and trust that led him to the cross, and the triumph of his resurrection and ascension. We give thanks for your Holy Spirit at work in your Church and in our hearts, revealing your truth, renewing our lives, and bringing us to your eternal Kingdom. Alexander Siatwinda, Zambia/Halifax

God of light and love, visit this land with your healing power. In your compassion restore wholeness to communities blighted by disease, destruction, and loss of hope: have mercy on your whole creation, and guide us to wise stewardship of your beautiful world, that all your creatures may live in peace and health. We ask this in the name of him in whom all things are made new, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Michael Cruchley, Secretary of the Cytun Rural Network, Wales