Sandwiched between two of Jesus’s most famous parables is a small teaching about a lost coin. And it cracks the whole thing wide open.

---

Two of the most recognizable parables sandwich a poor, misunderstood parable in Luke’s gospel.  A parable of revolutionary proportions, often mistaken for an afterthought.  A small, instructive parable that speaks today in the volume of a whisper with the effect of a hand grenade.

Before we get to that parable, it is useful to talk about what is around it.

The Lost Sheep  –  Luke 15:1-7

Jesus has us moving in a pretty remarkable direction.  Notice the gentle push of “Which one of you…does not leave the ninety-nine”?   Which of you doesn’t ignore all of this valuable livestock?  Come on…  Then he points out “…in the wilderness”.  The word, evokes the wild, dangerous places.  This isn’t just some field, but in a scary, horrible place.  Jesus makes the intuitive leap that we would naturally leave our 99 sheep in harm’s way to go after the 1 that is lost.  When this gospel is preached on Sunday, we all go, “right on, Jesus!” until we realize what he is saying, and our pragmatism gets in the way.  We start moving quickly to “hell no, Jesus!”

We often read this parable as an allegory: that Jesus is really speaking about God and it is God that goes after all of the lost sheep.  The danger in which the 99 are left is almost glossed over because of how incredible the action the shepherd (God) takes in going after what is lost.  Good news for the lost, less good for the herd…

The Lost Son(s)  –  Luke 15:11-32

I have written before about this parable, and particularly about the contrasting nature of the two sons in the parable.  It is not the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but of the Lost Sons.

This, of course is a story of one son who leaves the family, insults his father, and wastes his inheritance.  Then he comes home, destitute and desperate.  In a first stunning play, he is truly remorseful and doesn’t expect to be taken back: he merely hopes to work in the stables for his generous father.  But in a dramatic turn, his father is so grateful to see his son, that he showers him with love and money—money that is rightfully the older brother’s.  Suddenly, the action shifts and it is the brother who leaves, breaking faith with his father and demanding something of him.  It is a powerful parable and clearly one of the few most recognizable stories in the Bible.

We take for granted, of course, that, like the Parable of the Lost Sheep, this parable is an allegory for God.  That God is generous and always going out to find whomever is lost.  It is wonderfully heartwarming…at least for those that are lost.  Just like in the first parable, the third one seems like a raw deal for those that are left behind: the “good” majority that doesn’t squander what is given to them.

So it is easy to think that the parable that sits between these two is the same.  That it is about a man (God) going after somebody (a living thing) that has been lost (of their own arrogance or stupidity) and then is treated generously by the man.  At the same time, the well-intentioned majority are left in the wilderness or have their riches reduced.  But the middle parable doesn’t match so easily.

The Lost Coin  –   Luke 15: 8-10

The differences are subtle, but obvious.  The character is a woman, going after an inanimate object.  Because the coins aren’t living, there is no “danger” to those that are left in the purse.  The same issues aren’t as easy to manipulate into the easy allegorical reading we had before.  We are left simply saying “Wow!  Isn’t God awesome!  Going after any person or thing that is lost!”

For me, the differences are the key.

God as a woman

That God would naturally be compared so easily to a woman is an important distinction from other parables.

1. Therefore this parable should stand out, rather than get glossed over, for it is distinct.
2. And we should remove our patriarchal blinders to the androgyny of God.

The inanimate coin

That what is lost is a thing gets us to think about value.

1. The value of the coin is one day’s wage, so this isn’t some penny or dime, and it isn’t even a Twoney.  This is worth some serious money.
2. We stop engendering the object with critical judgment.  The coin isn’t stupid or lazy or arrogant or foolish.  It’s just a coin!

The response

Like in the other two parables, the woman does go looking for the lost, but it is also distinct.

1. The woman’s search actually costs her money, since she lights a lamp.  This isn’t endangering the 99 or taking from the older brother—this is spending money to find money.
2. She cleans the house, overturning everything looking for the lost coin.

This leads me in a different direction from our usual take of the other two.  The sensible choice for the woman would have been to wait until morning, when the sun arose.  There is nothing gained by finding the coin in the middle of the night, only lost in the spending of fuel oil.  The prudent use of resources would discourage such behavior.  Except this parable seems to be all about urgency.  That urgency that makes the woman turn everything upside down and clean it.

I can’t help but see this as a parable that helps us see the church as it is and where it could be.  It is a parable about overturning and cleaning up the place, not for the nine in the purse, but for the one that isn’t.  It is about making a better home for the one that isn’t here at the expense of those that are.  This brings in the other two parables, and has us thinking about the sacrifice of the 99 sheep or the older “better” brother.

Lastly, it has us thinking about what we can do, rather than what God does for us.  Who among us, having such joy in our liturgical community, would not overturn and improve the community for the one that isn’t there?