August 13, 2012
"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? And when
she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice
with me; I have found my lost coin.' -- Luke 15: 8-9 (NIV)
The Parable of the Lost Coin. Used as a descriptive
representation of what the
Let us not lose sight of that fact -- God has given us the people in our lives. We do not believe in coincidence in Christianity; only the sovereignty of God. Your family, friends and co-workers are divinely appointed by God. But do we appreciate them? I know in our hearts we think we do but out of the heart the mouth is supposed to speak! Someone might know you love them but they probably still wouldn't mind hearing it! You may be surprised that maybe they didn't even know. We assume things all the time that are simply inaccurate.
Life is busy, I get it. Between work responsibilities, family responsibilities, church responsibilities, and ministries we can lose the people sometimes in the grind. We need to realize today however that people make up our work life. People make up our families and homes. Church is only supposed to exist for the sake of people and who exactly are you ministering to"if not people. It is almost like we have all of these human based activities that we then use as our excuse to be further separated from humans. Remember it is the enemy that seeks to make us unappreciative.
Really? Yes. Our inherently selfish nature does not help but ultimately it is the enemy that wants us alone. The devil is described as a roaring lion for a reason. When a lion kills it attacks the weakest animal in the pack it is hunting. It attacks those that may be injured or appear to be alone. Why? Because those are the easiest prey. God teaches us the power in numbers:
Two
people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one
person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is
in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each
other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be
attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are
even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. -- Ecclesiastes 4:
9-12 (NLT)
Standing alone we are easily attacked and defeated. God gives us other people for a reason. We need to appreciate and value them more than we routinely do. Let us look at the key verses. For years I always thought this was the weaker analogy of the three "lost" parables told by Jesus. That of course was because I did not understand the context. The ten silver coins were quite possibly the entire life savings for this woman and in fact it may have been her dowry -- given in exchange for marriage. Thus when one of the coins turns up lost there is value that is now missing. Value not only in terms of her present day wealth but her future viability as a wife.
Now hold that thought and transfer it to what we value today. Transfer it to how we should look upon the ones we love. Our friends, family and pastors. The true measure of our present day wealth must take into consideration the very people who make up our lives! Our lives are not careers, buildings, and schools. It is the people that we meet in our careers, buildings and schools. The church is not just a building it is the people inside of the building that give it value. More importantly however, these people are an indication of future value as well. You career can get outsourced in a minute. Your building can be condemned and your school can close. Even something as sacred as church can turn on a dime, literally. But who makes up our lives is where our true wealth lies because they will transcend all of the shortcomings of the world we must face. There should be nothing more valuable than a friend you can trust. A friend who will open the Word of God with you or just have a shoulder for you to cry on. A friend who will pray with you or just stay with you. Your spouse, your neighbor, your co-worker, or your best friend. We all know who they are in our lives because they are the people who give our lives value.
Look at the reaction of the woman in the parable. Does she not light a lamp? Meaning does she not use any and all resources at her disposal to retain the value in her life? Does she not sweep the house? Meaning does she not get personally involved in ensuring the return of what she values? Does she not search carefully until she finds it? Meaning will she never give up until what makes up her current wealth and her future value is restored unto her? Oh that we would value each other like this woman valued her lost coin. That we would sweep our lives of the junk that gets in the way of our relationships with people. That we would carefully consider in love those whom God has given us.
Time is the one resource we can never recover. Never get it back. I have buried people I have loved over the years as I am sure you have as well. At that moment we all swear that we will make a more concerted effort to appreciate and value each other better. It is human nature. Unfortunately, it is also human nature to have those feelings shift into the background as life starts to wear on us as it always does. I understand, I really do. I just pray that we can take some time to remind those that give our lives value that we value them. That we give our flowers to people while they are with us. The coin has even more value if we never lose it to begin with.
Rev. Anthony
