Lost at Home

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Luke 15:8-10

There are three revealing movements in this story. The first is the circumstance of the lost coin. The coin referred to here is a small silver piece worth about 16 cents. That is not very much, but more than simply money to this woman, it had great sentimental value. This was part of her dowry. When a woman married she took money that she had accumulated throughout her life and sewed it into a headdress which she wore on her wedding day. Therefore, these ten coins were of tremendous significance to her as a woman. They represented not just the value of the money, but all that she had to contribute to the marriage.

The point of the illustration is that something was lost — but lost at home where you would not expect lost things. This coin did not wander off. It was in the place of apparent safety. Nevertheless, it was lost — through carelessness or neglect, although it may have been by some accident. The woman is unaware that the coin is lost until suddenly she discovers that it is gone. When she realizes that the coin is missing she is stirred to a flurry of activity to recover it because it is of extreme value to her.

This story has meaning to us today only as we apply it to our own situation. Is someone lost in your home — a child, perhaps, who you have taken for granted is a Christian, but, as he grows up, something makes you realize that he is not? You may wake up to realize that these who you have taken for granted to be safe and sound in your home are not; they are lost.

The second movement of our story takes us immediately into the efforts of this woman to find what was lost. When she realized that this valuable coin was lost, she went into action. Her activity in this story reveals the heart concern of God for people who are lost like this. God's heart moves out to them.

The third movement of the story brings us at last to finding and rejoicing. Our Lord described the joy that was in the heart of this woman when she found this coin which was lost. She called all her neighbors and friends to share with her this overwhelming joy. Jesus said that joy is shared in heaven, as well. There is a celebration in heaven when one of these who are lost at home opens up his or her heart and finds a living Lord. They shoot off cannons, they ring bells, they swing from the chandeliers. It is a great time of unrestrained joy before God over a lost one who is returned.

What a revelation of the heart of God this is! How God longs to see those who are lost at home, where they seemed to have been in a place of safety. Yet all of us know of instances of those who have been raised in Christian homes, but who had been lost all that time.

Father, I pray that my own heart may be filled with the joy that is described in this parable when one who was lost at home is found.