September 9, 2016
The Gospel reading for Sunday is from Luke, the 15th chapter. It is the parable Jesus tells about the shepherd who leaves 99 of his sheep huddled together to go and search until he finds the one that has been lost. Or the woman who loses a coin and sweeps the house until it is found. Check out verses 1-10 for the full story.
So I’m thinking a lot about things that have been lost and then found. Items that get misplaced easily - keys, notes, a tool box in the move. Sometimes they are found, sometimes they are simply replaced with another. Even if it isn’t quite the same, at least something can become functional again, like with a car due to a replaced key.
However, the parable is much less about the item being found and more about the one who does the searching. In the parable, the one searching never gives up - for the searching is done UNTIL the item is found. This is very different from searching for a while or until the searcher gets tired. There is a relentlessness to the one searching. Their devotion is unending - and amazing. Yes, amazing grace/love. For the one doing the searching in the parable is an image of God, who never gives up in “searching” for one who wanders off. Because God loves us beyond measure and is relentless in seeking relationship with us.
If that isn’t amazing grace, what could be?!?!
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