Why all this fuss over
finding a single lost sheep?
Sheep go wandering off
every day.
Why call your friends together
just to say,
"look! I found my lost silver coin!"
Unless it is a rare silver coin
you might not think
much about it.
Surely there are better things
to rejoice over than
a single silver coin
and a sheep with wanderlust.
[PAUSE]
Well here's the issue:
A lost sheep might seem
trivial to one person
but it isn't trivial
to this shepherd
who values the sheep highly.
A lost coin,
even a ha'penny piece,
might have more value to this woman
than the billions in the bank
of a tycoon.
We each have a different idea
of what is valuable.
A thing is valuable to us
if it motivates us to do
or to feel something
to possess it
or keep it safe.
This is why Our Lord tells us
that where our treasure is
our heart will be also.
It's almost so simple
that we pass over it
without giving it a moment's thought.
We will only work
for the things we value.
This is why the Lord tells this parable.
It's a parable about
the value we place on things.
What is insignificant to one person
is vital to another.
We only search
for something lost
if it's something we value highly.
The harder we look,
the more valuable it must be.
If Christ is prepared
to leave the Royal Court
of ninety-nine angels in Heaven
to save one poor human being,
then what does it say
about how much value we have?
This is why the beggar
is called Lazarus,
and the rich man is not named.
It is the person who is valued,
not earthly riches
and we forget this at our peril.
Why are we so valued?
[PAUSE]
We have been created
to share in God's joy.
We are meant to be people
who rejoice in the Lord alway,
but we don't because
we start caring about things that get lost,
and spend our lives looking for them.
Sometimes,
the things that we are looking for
don't exist in the first place!
It's something that we are to unlearn.
We need to unlearn
our value of the world,
in order to value God most.
We worship only what we love the most
and we need to learn to worship God.
Only then can we rejoice
in what we have
because we rejoice in it
for God's sake
and not for our own.
[PAUSE]
If someone asks us to rejoice
when they find something
that they have been looking for
then it is up to us Christians
to bring our joy with us
so that whatever was lost
and is now found
becomes a reason
to thank God.
It is our Christian calling
to work at
turning happiness into joy.
That way we can consecrate
what was lost
and is now found
and make it a vehicle
for people to go one further
and find the God
Whom they lost
and is always there to be found
if people will just seek Him out.
[PAUSE]
We Christians can find joy
but it is hard work.
When we find it,
it is our duty to share it
so that others can rejoice
in the Living God,
the source of all joy and gladness.
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