Wednesday, April 22, 2026

“Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she’ll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!’ Count on it—that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.” (Luke 15: 8 – 10, The Message Bible)

              Yesterday, I had one fleeting moment of panic and distress.  I thought I had lost the last piece of my 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. I had all the other 999, but the last piece was missing. The picture would be forever incomplete if I couldn’t find that one, missing piece. I had spent hours and hours in putting together this very difficult and challenging puzzle. But it would feel almost meaningless if I couldn’t find that last piece. I was willing to scour every corner in the apartment to find it, looking in every nook and cranny. But fortunately, I looked behind my chair and there it was on the floor. The lost had been found. Now, I didn’t have a party and invite everyone in our building, but it was cause to have a small, personal celebration. At the very least, it saved Susan from listening to my complaints and unhappiness. The angels may have been amused… or not.

                The woman in Jesus’ parable lost one of her ten coins.  We can speculate why that one coin was so precious, even though it is not really germane to the story. It may imply that woman was poor and needed every dime she had to eke out a living for herself and maybe a family. Every penny counts when it comes to buying groceries, paying the rent, paying bills, keeping  the children clothed, etc.  Or perhaps, ten coins were the exact price she needed to pay for something essential. What if she needed a doctor or medicine or a new loom for her  rug weaving business?  Nine coins wasn’t going to be enough. It simply had to be ten. Nothing less would do.

                The woman’s reasons could be anything, but the real point of the parable is in the woman’s determination, perseverance and thoroughness in looking for that lost coin. Nothing was going to deter her from finding it. She turned her house inside-out and upside-down in her quest to find that one coin. When she finally found it, underneath the stove or tucked under a carpet or hiding under the sleeping dog, she was overjoyed. I am not sure what she may have spent on the subsequent party, but presumably it didn’t take much of those ten coins. Maybe, she didn’t really need all ten coins at all but she was so unhappy with her loss that she was fiercely determined to find the coin in order to have a full purse.

                God is like that woman!

                Yes, God has all he needs in and through his Creation. We could argue that God lacks for nothing. So what if members of humankind get lost? Is God supposed to account for every man, woman and child in the world? Life happens. People make mistakes, sin, fall by the wayside, act irresponsibly, give up, are broken, make bad decisions, live lies, are selfish, have abandoned God, spent all their time, talents and treasures on self-centred choices.  There are lost and lots of good people in the world; maybe far more than the bad ones. So what are  a few losses here and there for God?

                Yet, God is like that woman!

                God wants his world to be complete, to be whole, to be thriving, to be rich in love and abundant living. So, God will not be satisfied until he reconciles the lost portion of humankind back with the rest of his Creation. “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, New Revised Standard Version) God perseveres in finding us, no matter where we are hiding or where we have wandered off to or whenever we're feeling lost and forsaken. God practices the kind of Love which Paul wrote about: “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13: 7, New Living Translation)

God never gives up on any of us, no matter what! He will look through whatever scrap heap, mess and chaos to find any and all of his beloved sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.  Maybe that’s you or was you or is someone you know and love.  Just believe this, the angels are baking a cake topped with sparklers, have set out the party platters of food, turned up the music, cleared the floor for dancing and invited all of heaven to celebrate when God’s finally finds one of us nd brings us back into his care. Now isn’t that a wang-dang-doodle!

 Prayer:

Our Loving God, thank you for never giving up on us, especially if and when we give up on ourselves. Forgive us when we make it so difficult for you to find us. Keep looking because we really need to be found so as to be made whole. May we rejoice with the angels when your Love finds us, heals our wounds, makes us included and welcome and set your banquet table out for us. In praise and thanksgiving, Amen.