God Cares About Lost Sinners
Scripture Reading — Luke 15:8-10
When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’
Why would the woman in Jesus’ parable turn her house upside down for one coin when she had nine others? It was just one coin, right?
Well, this parable is about more than coins. By making a poor woman the main character, Jesus was pushing cultural and religious buttons. Women were often looked down upon, and yet here Jesus gave a woman character credibility. In addition, though she was poor, she had been able to save some money—worth about 10 days’ wages. It wasn’t a huge amount, but to her, even one-tenth of it was valuable. So she lit a lamp in her humble, windowless home to find her lost coin.
Most of the religious leaders in Jesus’ audience were quite well off, and many were wealthy. They wouldn’t bother to look for something as insignificant as one coin. Sadly, many of them thought it wasn’t worth their time to bother with “sinners” either (see Luke 15:2).
When the woman found her coin, she called her neighbors and friends to celebrate with her. Jesus then drove home the point that lost people are so precious to God that all heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. They are worth turning the world upside down, just to find them.
And Jesus did just that; he came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), including you and me. Do you believe it?
Lord, thanks for being the searching One who believed I was worth finding. Help me to value others as you do. Amen.
About the author — Reginald Smith
Dr. Reginald Smith is senior pastor at Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he has served for seventeen years. He has also served as a pastor in Paterson, New Jersey. He and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters, Janelle, Katrina, and Mariah.
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