The Teachings of Jesus - Parable of Lost and Found
Text: Luke 15:1-10
In Search of…
The Occasion Jesus was spending time with tax collectors and sinners
The Pharisees and Scribes were critical
The Motivation of Mankind
Compelling Comparative Competitiveness (Survival of the Fittest) vs. The Significance of the ‘One’
A Lesson of the Lost Sheep
The IMPORTANCE of every individual
The superior joy in heaven for one who understands their need for grace and mercy, than for ninety-nine who believe that they do not need grace or mercy.
Footnotes:
Here we see the pursuit of the sheep that has strayed by the shepherd who cares. It portrays a God who is seeking the one which has wandered and gotten themselves lost.
The sheep is important because it is a living being, with a beating heart.
Recent law changes favoring life recognize that a beating heart is a sign of life. All life is valuable to God.
Just because there are 7.6 billion people on earth, doesn’t mean that you don’t matter.
Every life is important to God.
A Lesson of the Lost Coin
The VALUE of every individual
We must understand that the least soul
in the eyes of men is still of inestimable value to God
Footnotes:
A family’s wealth was kept at the home or on one’s person. There were not banks, credit cards, or digital currency. The woman had the equivalent of $2.50 to her name and had lost a quarter. She goes to great effort to recover the quarter, because it represents 10% of her total resources. Furthermore, the value of the coin is not based on the mineral content of the metal from which it was forged. In fact, many women of that day would use these coins as jewelry, piercing the metal and stringing the cheap coins together as a necklace or headpiece. The only thing that gave the piece of metal value was the image engraved upon it. It would be no different than making a necklace of pennies, or even quarters today. But the value is determined by the image imprinted upon it, and we are all made in the image of God, with His likeness imprinted upon us. That makes us supremely valuable. Every one, no matter their sin, their deformity, their character, or their past,– is a life of value. A preborn baby is still a life that God values, a decrepit and crippled senior who is ravaged by alzheimers is still a life God values, the autistic, the mentally challenged, the disabled, -- Jesus loves all His children of the world. Just because people may treat you poorly makes you no less valuable. (20$ bill illustration – it may be soiled & showing signs of wear but it is still worth $20). We (each one of us) are valued because of the image of God placed upon us.
Every ‘One’
We are ALL important and valuable
because we were created
in the image of God.
Yet every ‘one’ is a sinner
in need of repentance
All of heaven
rejoices
when any ‘one’
repents of their sin