Lost Coin

Posted by David Whitten on January 9, 2012 under Featured Articles |

Lost coin

Last week we started a 3 part sermon series called Lost. We are looking in to Luke 15 where Jesus tells three parables about lost things. Jesus is responding to the muttering of the teachers of the law. We see them muttering because Jesus welcomes and eats with the “sinners.

Through these parables Jesus is painting a picture of God for us and how he responds to these sinners. We are discovering that God searches for the lost and he rejoices over the one who returns after he has gone astray.

Last week we looked in to the first parable of the lost sheep. Today we are looking at he next parable.

Luke 15:8-10

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

We notice some things in this parable that are important to point out

Jesus tells a Parable about a Woman

Where the focus of the first parable was a shepherd and his lost sheep this next story was about a woman. Jesus teaching methods were very different then the teachers of the law. Rarely, if ever would the include a woman in their story telling. According to Julia Staton’s “What the Bible says about Women” Jesus total approach to women was completely counter culture. This what she writes

“Women were a vital part of Jesus’ ministry, and as a rabbi, he treated them with an unprecedented love and respect, raising them to a new level of dignity. Jesus consistently broke with religious law and custom to look to the spiritual needs of women. In his day, Jews would not eat with a Samaritan or even touch one. Jewish men were not supposed to speak to a woman in public. Yet, at John chp. 4, at a well Jesus asks for water from the cup of a Samaritan woman. She is one of first persons that he reveals himself to as the Messiah, for he has compassion over her sinful state of marriage. He shows her that the place of worship is not so important as the motive and attitude of the worshiper, and that God loves even a Samaritan.” pp 87-91

I believe Jesus using a woman in this parable was intentionally irritating to these self-righteous religious leaders. He was not Just trying to stir them up but make a point that women were part of Gods kingdom too. Paul points this out in Galatians 3:28 then he writes

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Telling a story about a woman was a bit sensational and it would get the attention of his audience and would smack the bees nest of these pious religious leaders that was already buzzing

The Woman had 10 silver coins and lost one.

When we read this story we often think with our perspective. So, when we hear a story about coins we think the purpose for the coins was for spending or saving. We think of a stack of ten coins when Jesus tells us this story but what he was referring was most likely some sort of a head dress. Like you see in these pictures.( Click here to view pictures. Great Bible Discovery’ series. © OM Publishing)

Fred H. Wright in his book Manners and Customs of the bible2 and Peloubet’s Select Notes on the International Bible Lessons3 points out that a woman was given, as part of her dowry at least 10 silver coins to be used only if things were very despite. Like if her husband became very ill or even die. These coins were part of the package the husband got when he married this woman. These were the husband’s coins. The law did not allow a creditor to seize the coins on his wife’s head, so if a man wanted to hide money he would give it to his wife and she would sew it in to her headdress. (http://bibleillustration.blogspot.com/2009/09/eastern-coin-head-dresses.html)

These coins were also sign of marriage, like an engagement ring. No decent married or pledged woman was seen without this ornamentation. It showed status and wealth.  Some headdresses were adorned with gold and silver coins and jewels. The more coins the higher value of the metal and jewels the more wealth was reflected of her husband and the family she came from.

So if this woman lost a coin it would be a serious dishonor to her husband and her family, It was very important she find it.

Silver coin  (drachma / denarius = one days wage = 25%  of a shekel  .)

It’s likely that silver coin that was in this headdress was a drachma equal to a day’s wage. So this collection of coins was only 2 and 1/2 shekels. This was not a lot of money. This woman was likely a common woman and her husband was not very wealthy nor did she come from a wealthy family. This was not uncommon to the people Jesus was speaking to. Like some engagement rings are big and gaudy and some rings there is little more than a chip of a diamond. But if you lost the ring or the little diamond you’d search for it.

Much effort was taken in order to recover the lost coin.

Jesus tells us that in order to find this lost coin she did two things

• A lamp was lit
• The house was swept

I have read a number of commentaries, sermons, lessons and blogs on this lady’s search. Most make some observations to the actions this lady does. Lets look at her actions carefully

She lights a Lamp

The first thing you want if you loose something is plenty of light. We might get a flashlight so when we look under the bed or refrigerator we can see, this why this woman lights a lamp. I would think that she might have lit more than one lamp; a lager lamp to put on its stand like the one Jesus refers to in Matthew 5, and maybe even a smaller hand held lamp that Jesus talks about in his parable about the 10 virgins.

The woman wants to see clearly to find this coin because she is desperate.

Light drives away darkness. The Matthew Henry Commentary draws a beautiful picture here of Jesus being this light. John 1 describes Jesus as The Light of the world and The Word, in him there is no darkness at all.

It is only through Jesus that we can see our utter desperation.

When we find ourselves lost and distant from our loving Father we need to draw close to that Light in order to see our dire need of him. When we compare ourselves to the faithful, humble obedience of Christ we can see that we fall woefully short of his perfect example. The result is that we are drawn to repentance. We want to make a change in our lives, we correct our ways and model his walk.

His light makes this happen.

another point needs to be made here. As Christians we are called to be a clear reflection of Christ’s light to a lost and dying world.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

In this parable Jesus tells the woman lights a lamp to drive the darkness away so she can see that which is lost. We need to allow this same light to drive away our inner darkness so that we can reflect his true light and shine the way the lost without Christ.

The lost need light to find their way back where they belong.

This woman not only lit a lamp but

She sweeps her house clean.

She swept

Have you ever noticed that when you are looking for something you uncover messes you never knew you had? You drop something and it rolls under the fridge then you move it and wow!

This woman not only needs a broom to find the coin but she needs the broom to clean the messes that are uncovered.

Likewise on our own investigation of what we are missing we often discover that which is making the distance between us and God. Our sins are like dirt on a window. It creates a film that if unclean will obscure our view from the outside. If we don’t clean it,  becomes more blurrier and blurrier. When we clean the window we create clarity and the light shins more brightly.

This woman uses the broom to sift the dirt and the precious thing that which is lost. God likewise often sifts or allows sifting of his precious sons and daughters.

The words of proverbs 3:11 are echoed to us through the Hebrew writer which teach us in          Heb 12:5-6  My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline    and do not resent his rebuke,   because the LORD disciplines those he loves,    as a father^[b] the son he delights in.

The dirt must be swept away in order to find the lost coin.

This is a clear call to repentance and what is repentance then a leaving behind our sin and following the one who calls out of darkness.  Peter declares that we are Gods and he has a calls for us He says in           1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

If you are in Christ then you are a chosen people that he calls us not to be lost but to be found and walk in the light. We are called to declare his praises.

Let’s not live as the lost but as those who are alive in Christ and are sure of the hope we have in him.

When she finds it she rejoices with her friends

Like the previous parable about the lost sheep, Jesus tells of a great joy over the found.

Here Jesus again draws the same conclusion about the rejoicing in heaven over the one who repents.

Truly if we can be sure that repentance brings heaven to its feet…

What is it about repentance that brings such joy?

Well it is about a choice that has been made in a man’s heart. God has given us free will to obey our sinful desires  or obey God’s will. This is nothing new it has always been this one thing that pleases or displeases him. It is about our choice.

It was Adam’s choice that caused sin to enter his heart and this world which brought death in to our lives and it was Christ’s choice to obey the father’s will over his own that gave him the power over sin and death.

When we choose to obey the way of Christ kingdom rather than to obey the natural desire of our dark ways of the flesh then Satan has been defeated. A foothold of God’s creation is won back to the creator. And Heaven rejoices with the proud Father.

It’s like if I gave a drug attic $100 because they told me they needed food and to pay for rent. I hand them the money; what are they most likely going to do with that money? Right, they are going to go buy drugs. But what if they decided rather to fight the temptation of the addiction and bought  food and paid their rent?

I’d be happy… I’d rejoice over such a great decision.

Folks we are helplessly addicted to sin. We need to be saved from that. God has given us the means to be free from that addiction. And that is the ability to choose Christ over that addiction. When we choose Christ There is nothing else that warms the heart of God other than this, And All heaven responds.

The Parable is how God values people

I guess this parable is most about God view on our value. To God we are highly valued.

We see in these first two parables that the God figure in these stories searches long and hard for the lost and because this that is lost are important to him.

I asked a question in our small group discussions this past week. Have you ever lost one of your children? How did you react?

We have and we panic we look frantically for that child. Fear sets in and we think what if someone has taken my child, what horrible things will they do to my child? We look hard we want to rescue them from such harm.

Likewise Gods search for us is a search to rescue us from the harm that he KNOWS is out these. Peter describes our advisory the devil as a roaring lion seeking to devour us.

Listen, you are highly valued my, friend. God values you not on the standards of this world, not on your standards and not even the value your family has on you. He values you on his own terms.

Romans 5 gives one of the greatest descriptions of Gods value of us. Listen to these words

“ ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Ro 5:6-8

You see God sees our despite need of him through the horrible condition of our addiction to sin that he sent Jesus to die for us even while we were an offense to him in the stench of our sin. Christ died for us.

That is a value that we cannot even begin to understand. That is a love beyond our grasp and totally undeserved.

That my friend is what we call grace. And is what God offers to the lost he has found.

Now, don’t you want some of that?