Lost! Pt. 3

In Jesus' "Parable of the Lost", we come to the final part of the triptych - the lost son. The sheep, we have noted, was lost through its own foolishness; the coin was lost because of the woman's carelessness; but what about the son? May I suggest that he was lost because of his own wilfulness?

The first thing we may notice about this young man is the great start in life that he had. He was born, we might say, "with a silver spoon in his mouth"! Born into a land-owning family; a seemingly religious family, in which he would have received a good education in the Tanakh (the "Old Testament"), and the various rituals associated with orthodox Judaism; a loving family, in which he would have received all that he needed in life. Yes, he had a good start!

I suspect that many of those who are reading these words have also had a good start in life. Perhaps not in the same financial way, but certainly better than many in the "developing world! Sadly, just as was the case with this young, there are also sins that we have committed! In his case, the sin was one of rejection. It was, we read, sin against his father. He came to his father, and said: "Father, give me the share of property that falls to me." (Lk.15:12). He knew that, under Jewish law (and, I understand, modern French law!) his father wasn't free to leave his estate just as he wished - the family had a fixed claim. So this young man knew that a certain amount was his, by right, when his father died. But with what one commentator describes as "a certain heartless callousness", he said, in effect: "I can't be bothered waiting for you to die. Give me my inheritance now!" Such ingratitude! And he couldn't even claim that his father had driven him to such a situation.

How often you and I sin against those who love us most; those to whom we owe most. How ungrateful we show ourselves to be! But the son, as he later admitted, also sinned against God. Now, this is something that not everyone realises - that when we wrong another, we sin against God! Jesus has assured us that, when He "... comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne." (Matt. 25:31). He will then judge the nations, and some will be told: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;" (v.41). On asking why they should be so treated, the King's reply is simple: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me." (v.45; emphasis added). Jesus sees how we treat others as the way in which we treat Him!

Praise God, however, the parable doesn't end there, as we discover the salvation that this young man experienced. J.B.Phillips translates the words of Luke 15:17: "Then he came to his senses …" The implication is clear - that when we are in a state of rebellion against God, we are not ourselves; we are acting in a way contrary to that which God intends for us. The young man (and, of course it can be a young woman!) suddenly realised what a fool he had been, and his reaction was immediate: " I will arise and go to my father, …" (v.18) and, we read on: "... he arose and came to his father." (v.20).  His action now led to a new relationship of love. We hear no more about him - the rest of the parable has more to do with the elder brother, but that is a different story, and lesson. But I can only see the younger son respond to the great love shown by his father with the deep love of his own heart. The amazing lesson for us is that when I throw myself on the mercy of Almighty God, I likewise find myself enveloped by His great love, fully and freely given to me by His grace. And, as I come to Him, I enter into a new relationship of love. 

Finally, for the son there was a new evaluation of life. Again, I confess that there is an element of conjecture here, but I cannot see this young man returning to his former way of life; accepting, again, his former values. And so it is with the re-born child of God. My sense of values changes as I walk with the Son. I see things, now, as God sees them. My priorities are changed. And all of that is the evidence that I have entered into a new life in Him. (Note v.2 of the song below!).

The lost son. I wonder if that part of the parable is speaking to you as you read! If is is, then come to the Father, Who is waiting and ready to receive you - in spite of your disobedience and rebellion - and welcome you into His family. 

Lost! Pt.2

A couple of posts ago, we looked at the first part of what I referred to as "The parable of the Lost" (in Luke 15) - the part that deals with the lost sheep. That sheep was lost because of its inherent foolishness. The second part of the parable, however, deals with a different situation. It involves the loss of a coin - lost because of the carelessness of the woman to whom it belonged!

I suspect that the vast majority of those who are reading these words would not be too concerned about the loss of one coin. However, this coin would have been a silver drachma - the equivalent, roughly, of a day's wages for a skilled worker. In the UK, in contemporary terms, that would be approximately £90.00 - not an amount to be sneezed at! 

In addition to that, it is quite likely that this coin had more than a monetary value - it may also have had a sentimental value. At that time, in Israel, what signified that a woman was married was a headdress made of ten silver coins, linked together on a silver chain (so, approximately £1,000 worth in current values!). It was, in fact, the equivalent of a modern wedding ring. However, while when my (then) fiancée and I were preparing for our wedding day, it was I who purchased the wedding ring that she would receive during that service (and it didn't cost anything like the value of this headdress!), in this case the girl, herself, provided the sign of her marriage! She may have been saving for years in order to be able to provide it and, when she had it, it was considered to be so important, that it could not even be taken from her to pay a debt!

Certainly, whether that was the case, or whether she had simply lost a coin that was going to be used to purchase necessities for the home and family, we may well imagine the joy of the woman when, at last, she spotted the glint of the missing coin as even the dim light from her oil lamp was reflected by it. 

But, as already mentioned, it was not the fault of the coin that it was lost. Had she dropped it accidentally? Had it fallen through a hole in her clothing? Had the headdress chain been broken? We don't know - but the woman realised that it was her responsibility to find it.

My former minister, spiritual mentor, and personal friend, the Rev. George B. Duncan (who married me to my wife) sometimes pointed out that before we become too proud of the number of people we may have led to full salvation in Jesus, we should think of the number who have been put off by our witness - which is not always what we would want it to be! Is my carelessness the cause of another being lost in sin? That is a serious question!

The other point that I would wish to share concerns that joy that the woman experienced when she found the coin. It was the same joy that the shepherd experienced when he found the sheep that was lost. And it is such joy that, we are assured, that is shared by even the angelic beings that inhabit the heavens, when a lost sinner is saved, through repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus, the Christ.: "... there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who [think that they] need no repentance." (v.7); "... there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (v.10).

The sheep was lost because of its own foolishness; the coin because of the carelessness of another. But each one needed to be found! I wonder if the sheep was aware of its lost state? I wonder if anyone reading these words is aware of their lost state?! And I wonder how careful we are that others are not turned away from salvation because of our careless witness!