Today we’ve got a collection of three stories that Jesus told. You really needed to be here today to appreciate the delightful craziness we saw as they were presented. The first story had a shepherd dressed up for a Christmas pageant, out looking for his missing sheep, Lambchop.
Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
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.
Luke 15:1-7
The second story featured a housewife who needed to go to the grocery store and had lost her shopping money.
“A woman had ten silver coins and lost one. She lit a lamp, swept the house and searched carefully until she found it. When she found, it, she called her friends and neighbors together and said, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:8-10
Okaaay. . .the lost sheep, and the lost money. We’ve got a theme going on here. Next up, I’m going to tell the story of something else that was lost.
Once upon a time, Jesus said, there was a guy with two sons. The guy ran a successful business, and it was always his dream to pass it on one day to his two boys.
He could just picture it, up there on the sign: “W.J. Smith and Sons.” It made him so happy to imagine the future.
Except, things didn’t work out that way. Both of the sons grew up, working in the business. But the younger son didn’t like it. He thought he was cut out for bigger things. He wanted to get out there, and start living.
So one day, the younger son went to his dad in the office, and dropped the bombshell on him.
“Dad,” he said, “I’m tired of hanging around in this hick town. I want out. You always say that one day, the business will be ours. Give me my half now.”
It broke the father’s heart. It wasn’t anything he ever wanted. But he’d always said, his kids were free to do what they wanted. They had free will. So he called up the bank, and gave his boy a big check.
You all know how the story went. The kid sold his tools and his truck, bought a fancy car on credit, and headed off to the bright lights of Charlotte.
And within six months, the boy burned right through it all. Lost his car and his new clothes. Used up all the old man’s money. All his new friends didn’t want to see him any more, now that he wasn’t picking up the tab for them at the restaurants and bars.
He drank way too much. Got involved with some bad people. He lost his apartment when he couldn’t pay the rent. He was homeless, on the street. Couldn’t even buy food. Tried digging around in the bottom of dumpsters.
Then one day, he woke up in an alley over in the bad side of town. He shook himself, and said, “What am I doing here? Back home, the newest high school kid in my father’s business is getting paid every week. And here I am, down and out.”
“I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to hitchhike home, and go to my dad, and eat crow. I’m going to say, ‘Dad, I know I did wrong. Please treat me like one of the high school kids you hire to sweep floors. I’ll sleep out in the warehouse.'”
Well, you know what happened next in the story, don’t you?
The old man had never forgotten that terrible day. He kept on, because he had to, but it took the heart out of him. He’d spent so many hours, worrying and anxious about his son.
He thought that one night, the sheriff would knocking on his door, saying he was real sorry.
All that time, he never got a call from his boy. Not a text. Not a card. Nothing at all.
Then, one day, he saw a familiar figure, come walking down the road again. He didn’t wait. He jumped up, and ran down the road. Couldn’t believe his eyes!
The son started in on the speech he’d been practicing, all the way back from Charlotte.
Said, “Dad, I know I did wrong. Please treat me like one of the high school kids you hire to sweep floors. I’ll sleep out in the warehouse.”
But the father wouldn’t hear of it. He grabbed his son and hugged him. Tears were rolling out of his eyes.
He called out, “Quick! Light up the barbecue! Send somebody for ice and drinks! Call everybody! JOHNNY’S BACK!”
There’s a little side story, Jesus said. The older brother, the one who stayed home and never acted out, pulled in from making a service call. Saw the party going on and heard all the noise. Asked, “What’s happening?”
Somebody told him, “Your dad’s throwing a party, because your brother came home.”
The older brother was doing a slow burn. He was a reasonable guy, but this got on his very last nerve. Called his dad outside and said, “What are you doing, Dad? Have you clean lost your mind? Johnny practically ruined us! Took half the money, put us underwater, we’re trying to rebuild, and now this worthless piece of trash comes back and you throw him a party? What was in your thinking, Dad?”
His dad knew, of course. His dad could always see both sides. He said, “Son, you know that everything I have is yours. But you’ve got to understand. This is your brother we’re talking about. We have to celebrate. He was dead, and he’s come back to life. He was lost, but now he’s found.”
OK. Do you see anything in common with these stories?
They all come from the same place, chapter 15 in the gospel of Luke. The story of the lost sheep, the story of the missing money, the story of the lost son.
What’s the same about them? Each story is about something lost, and then found. And each story is about someone who rejoiced when they found it.
The three stories are different. One’s about a lost animal, one’s about lost money – important, but they could always be replaced. The third story is about a human being, someone who threw their whole life away, who came to their senses, who turned their life around, and came back home again.
These stories are about us. We could all be the character in these stories. But they’re also about God, and Jesus.
Jesus is the good shepherd, the one who goes out and looks everywhere for his lost sheep. Doesn’t matter to Jesus if they’re the black sheep, or the stupid sheep. To Jesus, every single sheep matters. All Jesus knows is that they’re lost. They’re missing.
There were 99 sheep in the story, which were safe at home. Never wandered off. But Jesus doesn’t work on percentages. Every sheep matters.
In another place, in the gospel of John, Jesus said, “My sheep all know my voice. Others are robbers and thieves. They don’t care about the sheep. I do. I would lay down my life for them.” And he did.
At the end of today’s first story, Jesus said, “You know, there is more rejoicing in heaven, over one broken person who turns back, than over 99 others who never needed to repent.”
The second story isn’t really about money. Though we’d all like to find a hundred dollar bill today! Again, Jesus said, “When she found it, she called all her friends together and said, ‘Rejoice with me! I found the money that was lost!'”
“There’s more joy in the presence of the angels,” Jesus said, “over one person who turns their life around.”
In a way, these three stories are kind of about heaven. We think of heaven as a place where there’s a long line of people who climb the golden stairs, and reach the pearly gates, and St. Peter is standing there with a big book, and he checks to see what we did in life. If we’ve been good all the time, Jesus greets us at the gate and says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come on in!”
Well, that’s one version of heaven. But today’s three stories say something else. In today’s three stories, heaven is really the Lost and Found Department. People get lost, all the time. But Jesus doesn’t want anybody to be left out. Jesus goes and searches for them. Jesus doesn’t want one soul to be lost or forgotten.
If you want to know what heaven’s like, these stories are saying, it’s a place where the lost aren’t scolded and blamed. The lost are rejoiced over and welcomed home.
And the rest of us – the ones who never wandered away, the older brother who never acted up? We’re OK. But we need to get with the program. The program is all about getting everyone home. That’s what Jesus wants, and that’s what we need to want, too.
The reason the last story is so powerful, is that the father was always watching for his boy to come home. Always hoping. Always praying. Never giving up. That’s God.
I always tell people, God never gives up on us. God isn’t in the punishment business. God’s in the reconciliation and forgiveness business. If we turn around and take one step back, God notices. God sees us. If we take two steps back, God comes running to meet us. God meets us more than half-way. We just need to turn back.
The story doesn’t say what the younger son did with the rest of his life. Kind of wish it did. I think Jesus leaves that part up to us.
Maybe we’re the lost sheep in the story. Or maybe Jesus asks us to be the shepherd, like him.
Maybe we’re what the home-maker lost in the story, or maybe we’re the one looking.
Maybe we’re the younger brother or the older brother. If we’re truly followers of Jesus, we could be either one. But we all need to remember the attitude and the acceptance of the father.
As it says in the song we all know, “I once was lost, but now I’m found.”