Sermon – Luke 15:1–10

Grace, peace and mercy are yours from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

---

This morning we have heard and celebrated the story of the lost sheep — we’ve danced and rejoiced with the shepherd who found what was lost. And in our Gospel reading, Jesus gives us not just one but two pictures: the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, and the woman who searches high and low for her missing coin.

Both parables are about something precious that goes missing — and about the joy that explodes when it is found.

---

What Happens When You Lose Something?

Think about the last time you lost something important. Not just a sock in the wash — but something that mattered: your wallet, your phone, maybe your wedding ring. (Personal anecdote)

Do you remember that sinking feeling, the panic of your own loss? How the world narrows in a frantic search until you find it again? And when you do find it — that rush of relief, joy, gratitude

That’s the kind of emotion Jesus is pointing us toward: This is what God is like. That’s how deeply God treasures each one of us.

---

The Pharisees’ Complaint

It’s worth remembering why Jesus tells these stories in the first place. The passage tells us that the tax collectors and sinners are gathering around Jesus to listen to what he has to say. They were travelling with him as he preached around the country. They would have been considered by the devout to be outcasts and undesirables. Definitely not in the in-group. The Pharisees and scribes are muttering, possibly within the Jesus’ and the crowd’s hearing, suggesting that a good man of God should have nothing to do with this crowd

My question for you is where do you see yourself in this audience?

• Do you identify with the lost ones — wandering from God, chasing after things that might bring happiness but never do, Sometimes it’s through the weight of life pressing down on us — fear, grief, shame, or doubt that leaves us feeling far from God.?
• Or do you feel affinity with the mutterers — secure in our own goodness, quick to draw the line, to decide who is worthy, to point the finger at others while forgetting our own need for grace?
• Can we be both at the same time?

Truth is, it is so easy for us to get lost in so many different ways.

But here Jesus speaks to the people then even as he speaks to us now. This is the good news: God does not leave us lost. God does not wait for us to find our own way back. God is the one doing the searching. God is the shepherd climbing over rocks and brambles, God is the woman turning the house upside down.

---

God’s Joy in Finding

And when God finds the lost — there is joy. Not finger-wagging, not “Where have you been, you naughty boy?” but joy, celebration, a party.

That’s the heart of the gospel. God is not far off, keeping a ledger or right and wrong. God is close, seeking, searching, calling our names — and rejoicing when we are gathered in.

---

Joy and the Table

That’s the heart of God’s kingdom. And it’s what we in the church experience every time we gather at this table.

When the shepherd finds his sheep, he calls his neighbours: “Rejoice with me!”
When the woman finds her coin, she gathers her friends: “Celebrate with me!”

That’s what Holy Communion is — God’s own celebration. A table where the lost are welcomed, the weary are fed, the broken are restored. Here God says to us: “You belong. You are mine. I have found you — rejoice with me.”

---

For the Children Today

And this is where today is so special. This morning our Prep students will receive their very own Storybook Bible.

Inside those pages are story after story of the God who searches for His people.

• Adam and Eve hiding in the garden — and God comes looking.
• The God’s people wandering in the wilderness — and God guides them.
• The disciples in the storm — and Jesus walks right into their fear.

Every story is whispering the same truth: God never gives up on His people. God never gives up on you.

---

A Word to the Parents and Adults

Parents & grandparents, guardians and families; when you hand a Bible to your young people, you are giving them more than a book. You are giving them an invitation to know the Shepherd who will never stop loving them, the Saviour who will never stop searching for them, the Lord who rejoices over them. Share these stories and talk about them. Find out what your young people think and feel. And always listen for that good news:  that God’s heart beats for the lost. That he will do whatever it takes so that there is joy in heaven whenever one is found.

---

Closing

Today heaven rejoices — because God’s Word is being placed into the hands of children. Today heaven rejoices — because each of us is precious to God, and no one is forgotten.

And in just a few moments, as we gather at His table, we will taste that joy again — the joy of the lost who are found, the hungry who are fed, the broken who are healed.

So hear the good news: You are known. You are loved. You are sought. You are rejoiced over.
God never gives up on you.

Amen.