Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost September 13-14, 2025
“Lost and Found” Luke 15:1-10
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
If you are going to know anything about the Christian faith you need to know these three words:
- Lost
- Found
- Joy
Bill and Sharon Milliken have recently joined this church. Bill has a great “God-story” about how he came to faith. Bill is in his early 80’s and has had a blessed life. He was a fine athlete for many years and has enjoyed being a coach for many years with many youth. But for the first 30 years of his life he had little connection with God and Jesus and church. Going to church just wasn’t part of how he was brought up.
But some Lutheran Christians from Christ Lutheran and University Hills Lutheran asked Bill a question some 50 years ago which, in an instant, changed his life. They asked, “If you die tonight where you be tomorrow and why?” That question made him uncomfortable. He didn’t have an answer, at least a good one. God’s uncomfortable question changed that man. God’s uncomfortable words still change the lives of folks – like us.
Jesus, in our account from Luke 15, speaks about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. It is terrible being lost. If you have been in a store when you were young and you just sort of wandered in the store and when you looked around you couldn’t find your mom or dad or brothers or sisters, I bet a panic gripped your young heart, and you get very scared. You were lost and you feared some horrible things.
Getting lost is terrible. But sometimes being lost is much more than being separated from family, it is knowing your life and soul have taken the wrong turn in life. You have lost your faith in God. You no longer have a conscience that hurts when you do something evil. You have no idea if you will go to heaven or to hell when you die. You really are lost.
Jesus spends time speaking about a sheep that wandered, a coin that was lost and a son who ran from his father finding himself in a bad place. “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.” (Luke 15:4) “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.” (Luke 15:8) “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.” (Luke 15:11-13)
Lost Sheep. Lost Coin. Lost Son. Lost is compared to darkness throughout the Bible. Jesus in John 3 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (Verses 19-20) Like Adam and Eve we run from God when He seeks us.
Lost is a lonely word. It is a hopeless word. But it can’t be the last word. God never wants “lost” as your final word or the last word for anyone. God speaks, “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:30-32)
Do you know why Jesus told those three stories in Luke 15? It was all because of who Jesus hung around with. He was hanging with folks who were known sinners. Those who were the religious leaders said of Jesus, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2) And they said those words with a frown and a scowl. “Can you believe that this man welcomes sinners and eats with them??”
Jesus wanted to look for and find sinners. Like you. And me. And this Bill Milliken guy. And how does he find us? He says that we need to repent of our sins. He says that we need to turn to God with a broken heart. We need to say, “Lord, I messed up. I need you.” God longs for all to seek Him. “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) The son, who ran away from home, had a change of heart. In that account this wayward boy says, “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” (Luke 15:18-19)
If you haven’t read the Gospel of Luke recently you should. Over and over again it is the story of our life. Lost. Found. Followed by joy. Matthew, a tax collector, was called by Jesus to be one of the Twelve, one of the Apostle’s. This choice was questioned by the opponents of Jesus. Their boilerplate question was spoken numerous times, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (See Luke 5:30-31) When short Zacchaeus, another tax collector, was welcomed by Jesus we read Jesus’ words, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.” (Luke 19:9-10)
What a good day it is when we say to God, “Enough!! I am done with running away from you. I am done with living a life of sin that is destroying me and destroying everyone who loves me. I’m turning to you.” And what does Jesus do? What does the Father in heaven do? “Does he not go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.” (Luke 15:4-5) The son, with his messed up life, followed by his broken heart, sees the heart of his father: “While he (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20) Later, the father, explains why he was so exuberant on that day, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:24)
Dead. Alive. Lost. Found. Do you know what the greatest day in the Christian church is? When we undertake a building project? When we celebrate some big anniversary? When we burn our mortgage? No. It was when someone who was dead in their soul becomes alive. It is when someone who has no faith comes to faith. When someone confesses that Jesus is their Savior and Lord we share their joy!! The joy of God is at every baptism, every confirmation, every Easter, every Lord’s Table. It is when someone who didn’t know how to answer the question, “If you die tonight where will you be tomorrow and why?”, has an answer. Their answer is Jesus. He loves me. He died for me. He rose in triumph. I trust in Him. I’m His. He is mine.
Lost. Found. Joy. God is good. When the little lamb has been rescued by the shepherd we read, “Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:6-7)
There is joy for anyone who finds themselves in the arms of God. The sinner. The broken. The lost. They have joy. We share in their joy. And God is smiling from ear to ear. “I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see.” Amen!!
