Scripture Scribbles: September 11, 2022

the Gospel

Luke 15:1-32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,

but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So to them he addressed this parable.

“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them

would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert

and go after the lost one until he finds it?

And when he does find it,

he sets it on his shoulders with great joy

and, upon his arrival home,

he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,

‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’

I tell you, in just the same way

there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

than over ninety-nine righteous people

who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one

would not light a lamp and sweep the house,

searching carefully until she finds it?

And when she does find it,

she calls together her friends and neighbors

and says to them,

‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’

In just the same way, I tell you,

there will be rejoicing among the angels of God

over one sinner who repents.”

Then he said,

“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,

‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’

So the father divided the property between them.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings

and set off to a distant country

where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

When he had freely spent everything,

a severe famine struck that country,

and he found himself in dire need.

So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens

who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.

And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,

but nobody gave him any.

Coming to his senses he thought,

‘How many of my father’s hired workers

have more than enough food to eat,

but here am I, dying from hunger.

I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

I no longer deserve to be called your son;

treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’

So he got up and went back to his father.

While he was still a long way off,

his father caught sight of him,

and was filled with compassion.

He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

His son said to him,

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;

I no longer deserve to be called your son.’

But his father ordered his servants,

‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;

put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.

Then let us celebrate with a feast,

because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;

he was lost, and has been found.’

Then the celebration began.

Now the older son had been out in the field

and, on his way back, as he neared the house,

he heard the sound of music and dancing.

He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.

The servant said to him,

‘Your brother has returned

and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf

because he has him back safe and sound.’

He became angry,

and when he refused to enter the house,

his father came out and pleaded with him.

He said to his father in reply,

‘Look, all these years I served you

and not once did I disobey your orders;

yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns,

who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,

for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’

He said to him,

‘My son, you are here with me always;

everything I have is yours.

But now we must celebrate and rejoice,

because your brother was dead and has come to life again;

he was lost and has been found.’”

the devotion

It was very early morning and the sun was rising over the ocean. Pregnant with our second child and unable to sleep, I quietly slipped out onto the balcony of our hotel room with the scripture study I was working through. In the quiet morning, I closed my eyes. The prompt invited a meditation on Jesus on the cross. I found myself there at the cross, in prayer, looking up at Jesus suffering for the world. In my mind’s eye I was surrounded by a multitude of people all looking up at him.

A familiar avalanche of thoughts filled my mind. Thoughts like these: There are so many people. I know he loves the world. But does he know and love me? I am okay, but nothing special. I see him so alive in others’ lives, so clearly loving them, but not so much in mine. Then past experiences of being rejected, overlooked and treated roughly followed and the enemy whispered that I should not trust him (or anyone), that I should protect myself, that I should not be vulnerable. And then followed the deep, familiar lie that had clung to me since childhood - the lie that I was indeed unseen, unknown and unloved, utterly lost in the crowd.

But in the peace of that morning by the ocean, for the first time ever, I cried out to Jesus instead of building walls around my heart and retreating. I remember so clearly the words that sobbed out to him in prayer as those thoughts and memories crushed me. I cried, “Jesus, I lost myself in the crowd!” And in that moment of honesty and vulnerability, of crying out to him, He responded with words so clear. He said, “Lucia, I never lost sight of you.” And all of a sudden we were alone at the cross. His gaze was on me. And I knew it was true. He had never lost sight of me. In fact, it was all for me. A lifetime of lies and suffering were taken from my heart into his on the cross.

This, friends, is the truth. He never loses sight of you. Whether you feel lost in the 99 or alone in the desert, every single one of us is the one he seeks. You are the one.

Today’s devotion was written by Lucia Parker