We have two cats. Although they came from the same litter, they have very different personalities. Millie is a quick learner and struts around the house like she owns the place. Milo, on the other hand, has a head full of fluff and hides under the sink whenever he hears a strange voice in the house. Of course, we love them both very much!
There have been times when one of our cats has disappeared for a while, sometimes for a couple of nights at a stretch. You can imagine how anxious this made us, how we searched the local streets and gardens, hoping they would come home. And I’m sure you can understand our relief when at last they reappeared.
In the set gospel reading for this Sunday, Luke 15:1-10, the Pharisees and scribes are grumbling because Jesus is welcoming the pariahs of their society, “tax collectors and sinners,” to eat at his table. Jesus explains his actions by telling two parables about people searching for something precious to them. He tells a tale about a shepherd who searches for a lost sheep until he finds it, then calls together his friends to celebrate the recovery with him. Then he tells a tale about a woman who loses a coin and calls together her friends to celebrate with her when she finds it.
Reading these parables, we can sympathise with the anxiety of the shepherd and the woman as they search for the things they have lost. But the basic point of each parable – the punchlines of the parables, as it were – is the joy that the shepherd feels when he finds his sheep, and the joy that the woman experiences when she recovers her coin. The shepherd and the woman each call their friends together to celebrate. Their joy is an occasion for a party!
What is Jesus saying? He is comparing himself with the shepherd and the woman in the parables. Unlike the religious teachers to whom he is speaking, Jesus sees seeds of repentance in the desire of the tax collectors and sinners to hear his teaching. He knows that, given the opportunity to get to know him better, these seeds of repentance will sprout and bear the fruit of reformed lives. By his teaching and unexpected hospitality, Jesus explains, he is seeking out sinners, eagerly anticipating the celebrations in heaven when they bear fruit and turn their lives around (verses 7 and 10).
What an encouragement it is to know that we have a Saviour who sees our sins and yet seeks us out, calling us back to himself. We are so much more precious to him than a sheep or a coin. Or even a pair of cats!
Jesus came among us to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and he is surely delighted when we join him in this work. Let’s continue to do so. Who knows? Perhaps we will hear the sound of angels rejoicing in heaven.
Matthew Briggs, Ministry Team