Never Give Up

 

Luke 15: 1-10 

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵ When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Jesus gives us this encouraging message of persistence and joy at a time when we need such a boost, as the number of lost sheep and coins seems to increase daily.  Even in our own lives we find ourselves slipping in faith and practice in discouragement as more and more scandals appear and the number of abuse cases from the past increases. Jesus was criticized for dining with those regarded as sinners, but he felt that all was not lost and that a compassionate presence might bring them to repentance and to the joy that they had forsaken for the paltry joy they had substituted for "the real thing." Whether it be searching for the lost sheep or the lost coin, the effort was worth it.  If so for these things, how much more for a "lost soul"?  And if that "lost soul" were I, how much more would I appreciate his time and effort to search me out, find me and reward me with "a second chance"?  May I follow the example of Jesus, be slow to judge, and endless in patient persistence.

Bro. Rene