Three and a Half Stories - The Lost Coin

Jesus continues his story telling in Luke 15:8-10 with a quick snapshot of a woman who lost a silver coin in her house, then searched and swept till she found it.  Then she was so excited that she found it that she threw a big celebration and invited all her neighbors.

I could never figure this one out.  OK, so she lost one of 10 coins.  What was the big deal?  And how many coins did she have to spend to celebrate finding the one?

Well, I learned that at that time, the silver coins were paid as part of a woman’s dowry and were strung on a cord around her neck.  Losing one of these was a BIG deal!  It would be like losing a very expensive wedding or engagement ring.  

Also, “sweeping the floor” was not easy.  Back then, there were dirt floors covered with loose rushes.  Imagine cleaning out all of that.  It reminds me of a little kid’s book I used to read to my boys about a very silly animal (I think it was a dinosaur or something) who went to clean his room and swept and swept not realizing he had a dirt floor until he had swept himself a new basement.

This precious silver coin was lost inside her house.  It was nearby her.  The coin wasn’t aware it was even lost.  It was just a coin.

Are there those in the House of God who feel lost?  Are they right next to you week after week? Do you feel lost even though you are in a community of faith?  God is tearing up the floor looking for you.  And don’t forget, the coin had an image of the king on it.  Even though the image might be worn and dim, we are made in the image of God.

The Pharisees and scribes judged worth by how well rules were kept.  Not Jesus. He knew that their righteousness was as “filthy rags.”  Think you’re keeping the rules pretty well? Hmmm?  

A well-know SDA speaker recently preached a widely distributed sermon about people having the “illusion of salvation” in the context of if you aren’t keeping all the rules, then you just think you are saved, but it’s really all an illusion.  Seems to me the reverse is what Jesus was talking about.  The Pharisees had the “illusion of salvation” because they thought they were keeping all the rules.  Yet, God pursues all of us.

Next up:  the third of the three and a half stories – the Lost Son