Lost Sheep, Lost Coin - Who's Who

Our English Coasts or Strayed Sheep by William Holman Hunt

Attend a production on Broadway. You receive a program naming actors and their roles. This provides an on ramp to get up to speed quickly as the story unfolds. Sometimes we need a similar advance explanation when reading Jesus' parables. Luke 15:1-10 (Lectionary 19C) provides clues to create such a list of characters so we might better understand and apply the parable in our own lives..

For churchgoers, the parable of the Lost Sheep is familiar. The shepherd is Jesus.  But what about the sheep who has wandered off, the one we see hiding in the bushes above.  Look at the parable's context.  Jesus had been inviting the unholy, sinners, lowlifes, while the holy, the religious establishment, looked on in disgust.  So, it seems that the unacceptables were the sheep that the shepherd had sought. These sheep had responded and were listening to him preach about God's reign.  What is the point of the story? The central message is that God's delight in reestablishing a relationship with these scoundrels is so great that he has a big party, inviting everyone.  But who refuses to rejoice?  The religious power-brokers.  Where does that place them with God?  What about Act II, the Lost Coin. Here the woman is God, the coin is the person detached from God, and the party literally takes place where God dwells (heaven).  Church leaders, are you listening, or are you hiding in your sanctuaries of saved and safe people, preaching against the scoundrels outside?