Jesus taught His followers primarily using parables, stories that would have meaning to everyone who heard them but not always understood the same way by everyone. That is what made parables so effective in teaching because they could be interpreted in any number of ways dependent upon the listener and their viewpoints and experiences.  

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus is being challenged once again by the Pharisees and scribes because Jesus welcomed tax collectors and sinners and ate with them. Tax collectors and sinners had deliberately chosen to not associate with the covenantal people of Israel and therefore were pariahs in the eyes of the religious leaders and lawyers who were judging what Jesus was doing by associating with them.  

Jesus carefully laid out two instances where a shepherd lost a sheep, one out of a hundred, and a woman lost a coin, one out of ten, and when the sheep was found and the coin recovered, rejoiced and celebrated over the event, sharing with all who would listen and understand. Not everyone is a shepherd and not everyone is a woman, but everyone who heard the parable knew exactly what was meant to the two persons, which gave the parable a universal viewpoint.

​Jesus was careful to not put too much emphasis upon the value of the sheep or of the coin involved, in case that we read something else into the story instead of the true meaning. The sheep had no important heritage, no history of excellence, nothing to make it stand out among other sheep. What the sheep did have was value to the shepherd, enough so that the shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep unattended to find the lost sheep. 

In the case of the woman who lost a silver coin we don’t know the value of the coin except to say that since it was silver it had real value and a real impact on the life of the woman involved. She was willing to look until the lost coin was found since it may have been worth a full day’s pay in the family.  

In both cases we see the love of God toward us, and we can acknowledge that God was the One who left the ninety-nine to reconnect with the one who needed to repent, as well as the Woman who lost a coin that was important to her family’s welfare. Jesus summarizes His parable by stating that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Jesus also was acknowledging that the Kingdom of Heaven was available to all, even tax collectors and sinners.

We are meant to understand that each of us has value, not based upon our accomplishments or background, but solely upon the fact that God loves us, just as we are and we have value to Him despite our broken and sinful nature, no matter what we are by gender, race, background or any other means of separating us, but because of the love that He gives us.  

All that He requests is that we admit our failings and sin and call upon Jesus as our Lord and Savior and repent of our sinful ways.  He will forgive us of our sins since they have already been redeemed by Jesus, and we promise to change our sinful nature. The Jesus Prayer summarizes it as follows:  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Come to the church of your choice to worship the Lord, bring your entire family with you and invite others to come with you. May God bless you, watch over you and make His face to shine upon you this and every day in your ministry to others.

Bain White is the priest/pastor at St. Mark’s Church of Grace, Craig, Colorado.  He may be reached at office@stmarksepiscopal-lcog.org