The Lost Coin

In Luke 15 and 16 we have five stories: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Lost Son, The Unjust Steward, and Lazarus and The Rich Man.

In each story there is a theme of valuable resources that are either valued or devalued. In the first two stories, the shepherd and the woman value their respective sheep and coin, in contrast to the son and steward, who devalue their inheritance and their master’s money. Interestingly, the first two stories connect the value of that which is found (sheep and coin) to a sinner who repents— a sinner who recognizes how much he is valued by God, resulting in great heavenly joy—“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (Lk. 15:7). 

This idea of recognized value is at the heart of these stories.

The prodigal son realizes how much he had when he was with his father. After recognizing how much he was valued, he repents and returns home. There is a celebration waiting for him, much like the angels rejoicing in heaven over one person who repents. Likewise, the unjust steward also recognized, albeit, almost too late, the value of what he had been given—honor, responsibility, and position. Before he is fired, he will use his master’s valuables wisely by helping the poor (recognized as poor by their need for oil and wheat) who had owed his master, bringing an increase in value to his master and earning new friends who will care for him when he is put out. 

In each story we see a realization of value and a reciprocal action that results in joy, redemption, and restoration. BUT, in the final story about Lazarus and the Rich Man, the door is closed, the joy and redemption lost—forever. It is the story of what happens when it is too late. The rich man had been given so much, yet he used God’s gifts to lavish upon himself rather than to help others. In the first four stories the characters recognize the value given to them and they act promptly to give both God and man his due. But in this last story, there is a brutal finality that should send shivers up our spines. “Can anything be done?” says the rich man? The answer is no. Lazarus laid at your doorsteps and you did nothing to help relieve his suffering.

God had given the rich man so much. Yet he used it all upon himself. 

What should we do in light of this teaching? “I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Lk.16:9). That’s right! Use your valuable entrusted resources to help those who are God-fearing and suffering. Use your resources to advance the Kingdom of God through strategic giving. For, as Jesus said, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Lk. 16:10). 

May we use the valuables that God has given us, our money, our time, our skills, our personality, our homes, our lands, and our giftedness to bring healing to the brokenhearted, sight to the blind, and freedom to those who are held captive to the gods of this world. 

If God be with us, who can be against us?!

Sincerely,
Mark Hamby

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