In this video, Clint Loveall and Michael Gewecke discuss the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin from the Gospel of Luke. They explore the themes of rejoicing over the lost being found and the selflessness of the shepherd and the woman in searching for what was lost. Clint and Michael highlight the contrast between the Pharisees’ grumbling and Jesus’ call for joy and celebration. They emphasize the importance of showing compassion and rejoicing when sinners repent and return to the fold. Join them next week as they dive into the parable of the prodigal son and further unpack the concept of being lost and found.
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Transcript
00:00:00:48 – 00:00:27:54
Clint Loveall
Hey, thanks for joining us. As we continue through the Gospel of Luke into a wonderful section today as we continue in the 15th chapter. This entire chapter is really dedicated to three parables. One of them is over half, but the first one is one of the most beloved images. I guess. I don’t think we necessarily get the image from the parable, but it certainly ties into that.
00:00:27:55 – 00:00:47:48
Clint Loveall
Let me read a few verses here and then we’ll come back and discuss it. Starting here in verse three of chapter 15. So Jesus told them a parable. Which one of you having 100 sheep and losing one of them does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it.
00:00:47:52 – 00:01:14:08
Clint Loveall
When he’s found it, he lays it on his shoulder and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors and says to them, Rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
00:01:14:13 – 00:01:47:24
Clint Loveall
So this image of the kind of the good shepherd we’ve often called that lay behind this text and it is such a it is such a deep, meaningful picture in Scripture of Jesus. And we get a sense here how out of step that is. We’re comfortable with that language. We’re comfortable with that picture. Many of us grew up with that picture of Jesus in the lamb, on his shoulders, in church, on the hallway somewhere, or maybe even in our homes.
00:01:47:29 – 00:02:11:58
Clint Loveall
But when you read this parable, it stands out that when Jesus says, Which of you wouldn’t do this, the answer is most right. No Shepherd is going to leave 99 sheep in the wilderness, and that’s the word here, wilderness to go chase after one. You’re not going to leave 99 vulnerable to go find the one who is wayward.
00:02:12:03 – 00:02:49:19
Clint Loveall
And yet the Good Shepherd does. Not only that, but rather than complain about the lost sheep, he brings it home, rejoicing, calling friends and saying, Hey, I found a sheep that was lost. Rejoice with me. And I think the first thing we have to to let happen, Michael, if we’re going to understand this short parable, is let the oddness of it land on us and and really understand how different the picture Jesus paints is from the reality that we most often know.
00:02:49:24 – 00:03:19:06
Michael Gewecke
So the context helps us there where you want to look at a verse like one and two, which we covered yesterday as we sort of set up this larger theme of Lost in the Gospel of Luke. And remember, the Pharisees and scribes are grumbling. They’re literally grumbling about Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors. And and when Jesus gives this parable, it is abundantly clear that Jesus this point in this context, is to say that you all are focused on the source of power.
00:03:19:06 – 00:04:04:31
Michael Gewecke
The 99, the the main stream, right? But what Jesus cares about, what his heart breaks for, what he seeks out is the one who is lost. And this is a description, understanding, telling of the Kingdom of God. This is what the shepherd has come to do. And you’re exactly right. The idea here that if we have the eyes and ears to hear, hear it, we will see in a text like this how different Jesus is from the other religious religious leaders of his own day, that this is the distinguishing characteristic of who God is, that He’s willing to pursue the one lost for the sake of that lost, and then rejoice upon its retrieval instead
00:04:04:31 – 00:04:10:46
Michael Gewecke
of in many ways just leaving that one out to go for the power of the whole.
00:04:10:51 – 00:04:20:54
Clint Loveall
Yeah, and I can’t help but think that at some level that the Pharisees and scribes are thinking, None of us know that nobody would do this.
00:04:20:54 – 00:04:21:37
Michael Gewecke
Nobody does that.
00:04:21:37 – 00:04:55:28
Clint Loveall
No, this is not how anyone acts. And that’s part of the power, not of the story itself, but of the one who is telling the story. And so the gospel and particularly the gospel of Luke, we’ve said this many times, just has this bent toward those at the bottom, those on the side, those outside of the norm and outside of the tradition, just those who are hurting, those who are poor and we see it here.
00:04:55:33 – 00:05:26:06
Clint Loveall
And so I think, you know, the point we’re trying to make here, Michael, is is the same that the first thing that should hit us in this parable is to stop and be amazed by the shepherd. Now, then, having seen that we get to the commentary, Jesus leaves on the passage just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 who need no repentance.
00:05:26:11 – 00:05:57:43
Clint Loveall
And again, keep in mind, Jesus isn’t teaching theology here. Jesus isn’t saying there are some people who don’t need to repent. You can’t do those things with the text. That’s not the point. The point is that the Pharisees and the scribes, they’re so concerned about keeping people inside the fences that they’ve lost compassion for those who live on the outside of the fence, that they’re not chasing them down, they’re not hunting them down.
00:05:57:54 – 00:06:22:48
Clint Loveall
Not only that, they’re not rejoicing when they can’t come back. And Jesus is living proof of that, that the sinners and tax collectors are flocking, literally flocking to Jesus and all the Pharisees see is is the reality that they’re sinners. They’re there’s no joy in them for the person who repents and, you know, this is this has been a struggle.
00:06:22:57 – 00:06:49:21
Clint Loveall
I think, Michael, and the Christian church, because we emphasize regularly within the faith that we try to live a certain way, that we try to have a righteous approach to life, that we try to do the right thing. And sometimes we get fixated on that and it leaves us struggling with those who don’t. And we don’t always we don’t always show a graciousness for those who have been lost.
00:06:49:21 – 00:07:10:13
Clint Loveall
I’ve been in churches where people have come back after years away and, you know, they’re greeted with words like, oh, what are you doing here? And it’s not that we mean to be offensive. It’s just sometimes those of us who are trying to do it right don’t always know what to do with those who don’t seem to be trying very hard.
00:07:10:13 – 00:07:17:26
Clint Loveall
And I think Jesus gives us a real challenge here to try and live up to this idea of the Good Shepherd.
00:07:17:31 – 00:07:34:44
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. And I actually think that we aren’t going to be able to flesh this out fully in this conversation. Join us when we get to the parable of the Lost Son or the parable, the older brother of the parable, the waiting father, wherever you’re going to want to call it, it is one of the seminal parables of Jesus.
00:07:34:44 – 00:08:01:30
Michael Gewecke
It’s coming around the bend. The reason I mention that is to say, pay close attention here to this movement in verse seven, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99. And imagine how that lands on the scribes and Pharisees. I imagine how that’s received by the people who firmly count themselves as the ones in the 99.
00:08:01:35 – 00:08:38:24
Michael Gewecke
This is obviously affronting, this is unfair. This is not reflective of all of their time and effort and work. And already in this first parable, short and simple as it is, Jesus makes it clear that in the Kingdom of God, the one who didn’t deserve to get rescued is not only rescued, but then a source of joy. And that if you put yourself in the shoes of the 99 sheep, however you want to say that if you put yourself from the perspective of those 99, that’s unfair.
00:08:38:38 – 00:09:00:52
Michael Gewecke
And it’s rather a source of grumbling and complaining because you had to go out, the shepherds had to leave them to go out and to find this wayward one. The reality is this upsets that entire framework and that’s going to be seen. My point is that that’s going to be seen night and day clear as day. Once we get to these further parables.
00:09:00:52 – 00:09:05:44
Michael Gewecke
Jesus is laying a framework that’s going to get built upon as we go.
00:09:05:49 – 00:09:29:35
Clint Loveall
Yet there’s no question that Luke is organizing this chapter for a reason. But having said that, when we get to the end of the last parable, it would be worth revisiting this parable because it does inform the idea when when Jesus essentially says to the Pharisees, Look at God is more pleased that the tax collector came here than He is that you are.
00:09:29:40 – 00:10:00:52
Clint Loveall
It’s that’s not a judgment. That’s not what it sounds. It is an indictment on those who cannot rejoice in the salvation of others, who cannot rejoice in the being found for those who are who were lost. And so if we remember, there will be a lot in that parable to do on its own. But if we remember, we will circle back because I think that helps the next short parable is a continuation of the same theme.
00:10:00:52 – 00:10:33:27
Clint Loveall
Just a couple verses here, verse eight or what? Woman having ten silver coins if she loses one doesn’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it. When she’s found it, she calls together her friends and her neighbors and says, Rejoice with me, for I found the coin that I had lost. Just so I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents in in other places.
00:10:33:27 – 00:10:57:47
Clint Loveall
Jesus said, you know, it’s the sick who need a doctor. And here we have that idea. It’s the lost who need to be found. And the idea that heaven rejoices when a sinner comes back to the fold, when a lost sheep returns to the flock, there is rejoicing that that pleases the heart of God, that it causes celebration in heaven.
00:10:57:52 – 00:11:24:14
Clint Loveall
Now, what about those who don’t leave? We’re going to cover that in the next parable. But this is about can we rejoice for those who were lost when they become found? Can we look past their lost ness? Can we look past their status as sinners? Can we look past whatever it was that took them away? And can we simply feel the joy of heaven when they come back to us?
00:11:24:14 – 00:11:33:06
Clint Loveall
And that is not easy to do, but it is important to do. And certainly Luke holds it up as a triumph of the faith.
00:11:33:10 – 00:11:51:36
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, and that’s explicit in the text. I just want to point out verse six, Rejoice with me for I found the sheep that was lost. And then we come over here to verse nine, Rejoice with me, for I found the coin that I’ve lost. And this is fundamentally the things set against what the scribes and Pharisees were doing.
00:11:51:41 – 00:12:21:04
Michael Gewecke
They were grumbling and complaining. Jesus is calling them to a life of rejoicing. And anyone who has been in the faith for some time knows that the only proper response to God’s work in the world is gratitude. And gratitude is the only sure foundation for joy and rejoicing. And so the gratefulness that we find in that one sheep being rescued out of the hundred, and then you’ve got the the coin, the one in ten that has been found.
00:12:21:14 – 00:12:42:37
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, you did have 90%. But now that last one has been found and reunited that up in stills with us, inspires with us, moves from within us to give us a spirit of joy and rejoicing. Again, this is a beautiful gift that we’ve received. It’s not just the thing unto itself. And that’s what’s so clear, is this is not Jesus saying messy.
00:12:42:37 – 00:13:06:59
Michael Gewecke
People find the stuff that is lost, this is it. Just like, well, now 90% becomes 100%. No, this is about when the lost is found. It creates joy and that is what God’s responses. And so therefore, that’s a teaching of how we’re supposed to live. We are supposed to live as those who rejoice. We’re supposed to be those whose lives are marked by joy at every stage.
00:13:06:59 – 00:13:30:43
Michael Gewecke
And that’s the call that we’re given. And it’s sobering because that’s a call that the scribes, Pharisees were unable to meet. Jesus is critiquing them through these parables. And so we have to be careful of that. Part of your previous point, as we read this in the church, the religious tradition of today, we have to be careful that it instills within us a spirit of joy and not grumbling and complaining.
00:13:30:55 – 00:13:52:17
Clint Loveall
It would be curious to know if Luke ever thought about switching the places of the second and third parable. I think the parable of the lost coin is the easiest one here because the coin gets lost. It doesn’t. It doesn’t go off on its own. We all have that experience of losing something. But but the sheep introduces that idea of agency.
00:13:52:17 – 00:14:36:25
Clint Loveall
The sheep leaves the flock, the sheep goes off in and gets lost, walks away, kind of deserves it in some sense. And that really introduces the idea of separation and what Luke is going to do with that when we get back together next Monday. What Luke is going to do with that is to weave that theme into a very, in some ways a far fetched story, but a very relatable story about relationships and what it looks like to be lost, what it looks like to be found and what it looks like to choose whether to rejoice or not.
00:14:36:30 – 00:14:48:45
Clint Loveall
And I think if you can join us next week, I think that it provides most of the power of this chapter, certainly a wonderful foundation for the two parables we’ve already looked at.
00:14:48:50 – 00:15:21:39
Michael Gewecke
You know, one of the really interesting things that comes and I think this is really clearly seen in that first parable, is that there’s no motivation given to why the shepherd goes and looks for that sheep. It’s not that that sheep was his favorite or that sheep was most desirable for its coat or anything like that. Now the shepherd goes and finds it because it needs to be found, and that is the kind of selflessness that is portrayed by these parables.
00:15:21:39 – 00:15:45:43
Michael Gewecke
It’s not that there’s something of merit, there’s nothing deserved. It’s simply that the owner of the coin and the shepherd of the sheep decides that that thing is worth pursuing and will go and do it. Their payoff is the joy and rejoicing that, by the way, abundantly flows over when they invite other people to rejoice with them, that it’s contagious.
00:15:45:43 – 00:16:00:25
Michael Gewecke
And I think that’s the amazing aspect of this story, is because it’s not about what the shepherd or the woman gets out of it. It’s rather what they receive through it. And it’s more than just what they found. And that’s the astonishing and amazing thing.
00:16:00:27 – 00:16:27:43
Clint Loveall
If you’ve ever had that experience just to try and make this practical, if you’ve ever lost a wallet, a car, keys, a purse, if you’ve ever lost something that you had to find and then found it, you know, something of that sense of relief, that sense of joy. You call the restaurant and yes, somebody turned it in or yes, somebody found it in the parking lot or whatever that is for you.
00:16:27:55 – 00:16:54:52
Clint Loveall
We’ve all had that kind of experience and and to think of that as a spiritual story, to think of what it means that the shepherds count and sees a missing sheep and searches for it, and when it is back where it needs to be, when it is back where it belongs, when the coin is restored or the flock is restored, or the sinner is restored, That sense of joy, that sense of relief.
00:16:54:57 – 00:17:16:17
Clint Loveall
Again, hold on to that if you can, because in the next story, I think while while Luke introduces the concept here that’s palpable in the way that he tells the parable of the prodigal son. So some of this is set up, I hope you can be with us as we unpack that parable, because it may be it may be Luke’s best parable.
00:17:16:31 – 00:17:36:33
Michael Gewecke
On the day that we’re recording this, we’re just right on the cusp of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States. And I think, Clint, that it’s striking to just note that rejoicing and joy is not rooted to the stuff that we make up or that we find in our life that we can say we’re grateful for it.
00:17:36:33 – 00:18:02:58
Michael Gewecke
It’s striking. We are all the one. I mean, that will clearly be the point coming down the road theologically, that we’re all the ones who have been pursued by God, and that is the source of rejoicing. And it’s so good. It’s contagious and spills out from outside of God’s joy that the joy of God at the loss being found just ripples through the universe.
00:18:02:58 – 00:18:23:42
Michael Gewecke
And that is the kind of Thanksgiving that’s the source of Thanksgiving for any person of faith. And I think there’s a beautiful way to talk about it. It’s a beautiful way to understand it. A child can understand these lessons and it moves us to remember that our calling is to be like God, rejoicing over the loss being restored.
00:18:23:47 – 00:18:35:06
Clint Loveall
Yeah, I don’t want to give away anything that I want to say next week. I will just preface that by saying there’s more than one way to be lost.
00:18:35:11 – 00:18:41:22
Michael Gewecke
Well, then you better come back next week. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will see you next week.
00:18:41:22 – 00:18:42:12
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.