[i Tim. 1:12-17; Lk. 15:1-10]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Why would a shepherd leave the 99 sheep he has, which he can see and touch and count, and take the risk and go and look for the one sheep that has run off, or worse, has been stolen by cattle thieves or dragged away by a predator; and it was certainly a risk, leaving the flock, heading out on his own, perhaps in the dark: he might get lost or injured or worse, or in his absence the other sheep could have been stolen or eaten.
There’s no mention of others guarding the flock, though one would assume that more than one person is needed to keep a close-full watch on a 100 sheep, so perhaps it’s the lead-shepherd who sets off on the rescue mission.
We’re also not informed of the conditions of the search for and retrieval of the animal, we just know that the shepherd is successful in his quest.
Still, it was a big risk. Would it not have been better, safer, for the shepherd to count his losses and write off that one sheep?
Yet, the unnamed man seems unwavering in his commitment. The other 99 sheep are fine, even in the wilderness, there seems no doubt in his mind about this, and in the end, all is well that ends well.
In the end, it’s not about maths or bookkeeping or productivity, it’s about grace.
Interestingly enough, the shepherd in our reading this morning both receives and gives grace. In his loss he is found.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Our second parable this morning is set in a domestic environment, in a limited space, not the scary, dark wild outdoors, but a place that is safe, warm, light, familiar.
And yet there too, in the comfort of the home, grace is to be found.
The other nine coins were accounted for, the one lost coin is what mattered. Whether the unnamed lady needed the money or not. If she has ten silver coins, she’s not living in abject poverty. One might even assume that a woman with ten silver coins had servants or slaves to do the sweeping for her.
Yet, she sets about her task diligently and finds the tenth coin. Again, the grace works in both ways. In her loss she is found.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Both parables end with the exact same words,
…calls together their friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found what was lost.”
Grace likes company, much more even than misery. Grace is best shared. Grace is reciprocal. Grace oscillates like an electric current, energising, daring, changing for the better.
These parables aren’t about economics. They’re not about good works either, about meriting grace. They’re about lost and found. And separation and reunification, re-relation.
The lost sheep and the lost coin both represent the repentant sinner, even if we in Church never really use the image of the lost coin, and that’s a shame because the imagery of the woman sweeping by the flickering light of the lamp is just as powerful a symbol as the shepherd carrying the sheep on his shoulders. But he’s a man…
However, finding what was lost doesn’t just happen by accident, haphazardly: the shepherd goes out of his way to go and find the sheep, and the woman lights the lamp and starts sweeping.
We cannot skip repentance to go straight to the forgiveness of sins.
That’s not a popular message but it’s one that we all need to hear: repent and your sins will be forgiven. There can be no Easter without Good Friday: the cross and the tomb are two sides of the same coin. The world needs to hear a realistic and candid message that things aren’t always right and positive. Sometimes it’s dark, and in the darkness we lose our way.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
There is however another way; repentance means turning and starting down a different path, a new path.
...forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.
Proclaim it, witness to it: Repent and be forgiven; and just as much, forgive the repentant.
Confession and absolution, Law and Gospel: two sides of the same coin. Carry this coin with you so you can be reminded at all times. Did the woman not sweep her entire house to find her coin.
Pass on the baton. Good Friday and Easter, the cycle continues, rune the race with perseverance.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.