Father Wants a Family
I’ve been studying the parables, looking for the heart of each story Jesus told. Luke 15 and the parable of the lost things, ended up surprising me with what I uncovered. I know the prodigal son’s heart and the older brother’s heart. But what stood out the most to me was the Father’s heart. This lesson really touched me deeply and is one that as a teacher, principal, and parent I would want my children to know above all else.
The first verse of Luke 15 (AMP) says that tax collectors and wicked sinners were all coming near to Jesus to listen to Him. I have to stop right there. What was making them come? The legalism of the church in those days had a smothering message of perfection or rejection. Jesus had a message that was full of love and acceptance, yes, but at the same time, principled. He called people to impossible standards of forgiveness and selflessness and yet the worst of the worst became His scholars. Romans 5:8 says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This was the mindset of Jesus. He had come to close the gap between sinners and God, therefore He related to people as if sin and separation were no longer an issue. He, Jesus was the solution! Hanging with the sinners, He saw potential and believed in them. His call to a better life lifted them up instead of the religious rules that were currently weighing them down. The Pharisees hated it. They were muttering and indignantly complaining about it so much that Jesus told this parable in order to address them.
When Jesus speaks of one sheep straying from a flock of a hundred. He asks them, “Who wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine to go after the one?” I have always read this as if it is an obvious question. Of course I would, wouldn’t I? In thinking about it, I realized that these Pharisees were not shepherds and most likely, in their opinion, one sheep missing from a hundred was a tiny, one percent, manageable loss. That’s how they felt about sinners too. They were like stinky, stupid sheep and not worth the time or effort in going after them. Consider whether you would be motivated to leave ninety-nine sheep to go after one? I mean it’s risky. A bear or a lion could come and scatter the whole flock. Isn’t the logical answer to stay with the good and obedient sheep, cutting your losses with one bad, lost sheep? To really rub it in, Jesus says He would throw a big party when He found the lost sheep. Really Jesus, a party? I mean, it’s one sheep that you were ridiculous to go after in the first place. You found it, that’s great, but it’s definitely not worth the expense of inviting all your friends and neighbors over to rejoice with you about it, is it?
Really, It’s not logical or practical to go after one lost sheep but here’s what it is… it’s love. Have you ever cared about something and lost it? When I was a little girl, I had a small stuffed clown. He had no real monetary value at all, but I slept with him every night and he would go everywhere with me during the day. I loved him. I’m sure you can guess where this is going. One day, he was lost. I looked everywhere for him for days but never found him. Finally my sister revealed the truth to me. Our new puppy had found Clowny and used him as a chew toy. All that was left of him was some blue and white polka dotted fabric and chunks of filling on the basement floor. I was devastated; heartbroken over one deeply loved and forever lost clown. Jesus said, unless you become like a little child, you will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. The adult way to look at my story is to say that a stuffed clown has no value and is not worth the tears. In the same way, Jesus is God and by all logical intents and purposes, we are like stuffed clowns in His presence! Even the shepherd David had a similar revelation when he said, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” Really God, it’s not logical at all. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous love you have for us.
In this parable, Jesus was acknowledging the ridiculous to the Pharisees. He knew how they saw sinners and He knew what they thought of the way Jesus cared for them. He also knew that there was a devil dog waiting to devour those who were lost. Imagine His grief when He sees people chewed up and torn apart by the devil and by sin; heartbroken and devastated no doubt. No wonder He goes after them. No wonder He throws a party when He finds them! There is NO acceptable percentage of loss to Jesus. In fact, He said “there will be more joy in heaven over one person who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance.”
In the second part of the parable, one silver coin is lost from the ten, somewhere in the house. This is now a larger percent of loss of something of much more value. A silver coin would be significant to the Pharisees and the loss more relatable than one of a sheep. Besides, it’s not lost really. It’s in the house somewhere, right? A good cleaning will surely find it and there’s no risk in looking, just time and effort. The way Jesus tells His parables is astounding to me. He is clearly sending the Pharisees a message, trying to sneak past their minds and hoping to get into their hearts with a lesson. Remember, He is telling this story for them, so He is using their perspective. The lost sheep is a lost sinner that would have no value to them. The coin on the other hand represents the Pharisees themselves, the church people who had traded in the heart of God for rules. Like the coin, they are silver and shiny and self-important, not “out there” somewhere but in the house where they belong. While the sheep are made valuable by Jesus’s love, the coin thinks it’s valuable all by itself. It doesn’t even know it’s lost.
What a loving God we have. What a gracious, welcoming God we have. He ate with sinners and tax collectors but never turned away the Pharisees. Although they were proud and their attitudes nasty, His response to them is always the truth. Jesus loves the lost and reveals in this part of the story that lost really isn’t a location, but a heart condition. He goes on to tell the next part of the parable and this time the perspective is the way His Father God sees it. You see a scrummy sheep and a shiny coin? The Father sees His sons: A father has two sons who divide their inheritance and although one leaves and one stays, we discover that they are both lost. The first son wastes himself and eventually becomes enslaved to a pig farmer. In a moment of self-reflection, the Bible says he comes to himself and remembers his father’s house and all that is good there. He humbly returns home to find his father watching for him, running to him, kissing him. A party is thrown in his honor. What was lost is found! The second son has been home all this time, doing what he is supposed to be doing. He doesn’t even know that he is lost until the father goes out to find him. It’s here where we discover that all along the older son has been serving out of obligation and is angry for lack of recognition. He doesn’t want to be a part of any party and has no love for a lost brother returning home.
I can only imagine the joy this father would have if the older son would have come into the house to celebrate too. If all of his family were together in his house and full of love, what a party he would throw! Isn’t this the real message of this parable? I know that when all my children are in my home, together, I have no greater joy. I love to be with them and, as their parent, I love to watch them as they enjoy each other. When there is strife between any of us, I am heart-sick. I am always so grateful for a quick resolution when issues arise. I long for a united family. This is the Father’s heart. And this is the message that we need to teach our children: Teach them that people matter! That all people have value! Remind them that lost is not a location or an outward behavior but an inner, heart condition. Remind them that the heart of God is to seek and to save the lost and that should be our heart too. Then- live it it front of them. Love people. Go after the lost! Let’s raise our children to know that their Father God wants a family, unified and full of joy, and that the only family rule is love.
