Preaching and the Land - Luke 15:1-10

One of my favorite paintings of Jesus is that of the Good Shepherd.  In our text for Sunday, Jesus defends his association with tax collectors and sinners with two stories of "the lost."  Dr. Ellsworth Kalas entitles Luke 15 as "God's Lost and Found Department."  

The first story tells of one lost sheep out of a flock of 100 who is rescued and restored by a shepherd.  The second is that of a lost coin sought desperately by a woman until it is found.

Thus Jesus described his behavior in the midst of a "lost society" as understandable.  The frantic activity is to be no more unexpected than that of a shepherd and a woman who have lost things valuable to them.  In Jesus' ministry to the lost and the outsider, one can see God's activity unless you are a "lost Pharisee."

Here are insights from the Fifth Gospel into Luke 15:

• there is actually a third story of "the lost," two sons, which is characteristic of Jewish storytelling (three of everything as in the story of the Good Samaritan)
• in Jesus' day, sinners were to be destroyed not welcomed and entertained
• Jesus' invitation ("what man of you") to a pious male to compare himself to a shepherd or a woman would have been preposterous
• shepherding was a despised vocation in the 1st century
• sheep who wander off quickly stop in their tracks and call out until someone hears and rescues it
• the shepherd would have to carry the sheep to safety
• the value of both the sheep and the coin is underscored by the note of celebration
• the coin might be one from the woman's dowry
• in both instances, the lost have value despite their "lostness;" they are simply restored to "circulation" or community
• tax collectors and sinners are valued by God even in their lostness and are sought by God