Troubling Implications

Scripture – Luke 15:8-10: 8“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Reflection: Here again we have someone who loses something. In this case, a woman loses a coin in her house. How does that happen? Most often I’ll drop a coin and it roles under something. It’s not actually that the coin is lost. It’s just out of my reach – out of my sight. In fact, I know it’s still in the house. The question is, will I make the effort to find it?

Do I do that with people? Do I unconsciously decide some people are not worth the effort? That’s a troubling thought. I’ll keep an eye on myself today as I meet various people. Am I making such a choice?

One other thing I see here is the way the woman calls her friends and neighbors together to celebrate the finding of her coin. When people come to Christ, or come back to Him after being away, we don’t really celebrate. We might smile and even say, “Amen.” But to have a celebration – to rejoice together – we don’t do anything like that. I’ll look at that, as well.

Sometimes these simple stories have troubling implications.