Have you ever lost something of extreme value? How did that make you feel? What steps did you take to find it? It is safe to assume that the greater the value of the lost item, the more diligent the search.
When I worked for our denomination, I directed a youth convention we called CDYC. We would bring together about 1500 students and adult leaders for a week of fun and biblical teaching. For this one-week event, I managed a cash flow of about $250,000. This was income from registrations as well as budgeted monies from our district.
Although I’m not a bookkeeper, I kept a tight reign on the recording of the incomes and expenditures. Not only did I feel a responsibility to the ministry, but I also understood that in a real sense, this was God’s money.
As we were wrapping up the accounts of one of my first years as leader, I discovered there was $100.00 missing. I spent days trying to discover where this had been lost. I was assured by those to whom I was responsible that in the overall scope of our income and expenditures, this was not a big deal, we could write it off and move on. But in honesty, this loss still bugs me today, although the event was in 1993.
As we close out our discussion of the Kingdom of Heaven as described by Jesus, we will look at a final group of parables. In them, Jesus is dealing with loss, but of far greater value than a hundred bucks.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories, all with the same message. The first deals with a shepherd who has lost a sheep. He leaves the 99 he has and diligently searches for the one. The second concerns a woman who has lost a coin. Although she still has nine coins, she cleans every inch of her home to find the one. The final account is of a rebellious son who claims his inheritance early and leaves home where he wastes the money on evil endeavors. Penniless and literally lying in a pig stye, he decides to return home and beg his father to allow him to be a servant. But when he arrives, he finds his father has been watching for him and welcomes him as a son with celebration and joy.
As I said, all of these have one application, God cares about those who are spiritually lost. The picture of the shepherd and the woman is of the diligent searching that it takes to find those who are not yet in God’s Kingdom. We see the responsibility God has placed on his Church. Leaving the 99 sheep or not being concerned about the 9 remaining coins does not mean that God doesn’t care about we who are already a part of the Kingdom. But this is a challenge to us to never be satisfied that the job is done simply because we have a full church. Nor can we get so busy with those who are spiritually safe, we forget to go out and find the lost.
The message of the prodigal son is not a different one, but a completion of the thought. When that lost person seeks the Father, He is waiting with open arms to accept him into the Kingdom. This is true regardless of how far away from the Father the seeker has gotten. We have a partnership with God in making an eternal difference. As men of God, we are left on this earth for a purpose, to live out the truth of the Kingdom of God until we reach eternity. A major part of this purpose is to be the hands and feet of God in seeking the lost. They are valuable to God and should be valuable to us. If they are, we will spare no effort in bringing them to the Father. He then will welcome them into his kingdom with celebration and joy.