This chapter of the gospel is amazing. And it has been the foundation of artistic masterpieces for centuries. It brings the best out of everyone.

But the thing I love the most about this chapter isn’t just the parable of the Prodigal Son. Though, that is probably the crown jewel of Jesus’s parables.

Nor is it the parable of a shepherd going after the lost sheep. Though, that’s both a profound image and a total dis to the Pharisees.

I love that everybody who reads these three parables knows that Jesus is telling them about God. That God is relentless and gracious and generous and ridiculous. That God would do anything.

And right there in the middle is a story about a woman. And a coin.

As much as we want this to be a feel-good lesson about how God comes to save me, it isn’t only that. It never is only that.

Jesus shows an image of God as a woman. An image that puts the image of God into a day in our lives. When we lose something of value and do ridiculous junk to try and get it back.

How relentless we can be when it comes to money.

How much more beautiful it would be if we turned that relentlessness toward celebration. Toward generosity and forgiveness. And finding who is lost.

How much more valuable that party at the end is than the coin that was lost in the first place.