When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Luke 15:9
The parable goes like this: A woman has ten silver coins. She loses one. She sweeps every corner of the home until she finds it.
“Aha!” she declares once she spies it in the least suspecting place.
For most of us, the story would end there. Yes, the coin has been found and is now with the other nine, but then to call our friends and neighbors together to rejoice…over a silver coin? That’s going a little overboard, don’t you think?
And yet, this is what Jesus says of each person lost from God who is found. The heavens with God rejoice at one, solitary being that is found and back in the safe-keeping of the Creator.
Step back and let yourself be in awe at God’s persistence of grace and love, seeking each of us, each person out, UNTIL every last one is found.
God doesn’t look at the world and count us as losses to expect along the way. God won’t give up UNTIL all are found, UNTIL all is well, UNTIL all is restored and redeemed in God’s kingdom.
Now that is something to rejoice about!
How is this good news for you? Do you feel lost in life—alone, afraid or doubtful? Who is someone who comes to mind who may need to know she or he has neither been forgotten nor alone?
+++ This next Sunday (God’s Work. Our Hands. Sunday) September 11, join us after worship to create cards with a loving message for residents at Forest Creek Village (senior care center) in Indianapolis. May God use our hands and these cards to find those feeling lonely and remind them they are loved. +++