Lost Coin

On March 12, 2009, Bernie Madoff pleaded guilty to operating the largest private Ponzi scheme in history. He defrauded over $65 billion from clients that trusted him for the security of their financial future. Workers at places like Enron experienced an extreme loss of their retirements, and although some of that money has been recovered, many people will end their time on the earth with much less than they planned on.

What happens when our plans change due to someone else’s neglect or irresponsibility? Culturally speaking, it makes our blood boil to hear of those kinds of stories, especially when it involves those we love. However, what would it be like to have been one of his employees that didn’t know anything about the scam? Their next steps might make all the difference to those that knew them well. Did they help fight to get their money back? Or were they helping out in other ways to help people cope with their loss? Those people trusted Bernie to help them have a secure future, but they put their trust in the wrong guy!

Spiritually speaking, the Jews were supposed to be the mouthpiece for God’s kingdom; however, their track record proved that they did a lousy job of that. Paul said in Romans 2:17-24, “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: 'God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.'”

In other words, they misrepresented the Messiah and God’s kingdom to their own people. Jesus repeatedly reprimanded the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. Consider the story of the Lost Coin (Luke 15) as an example of someone who lost something in his own house. That “someone” was the Jewish leaders who had been negligent of what was in their care – the Kingdom's message. The house represents the nation they possessed – Israel. The object didn’t know it was lost; it just stayed where the careless owner had left it. Jesus is revealing the humility required to admit something is lost and then the effort to find it.

God, and all heaven with Him, rejoices when people turn to God for the help that only He can provide. How about you? Do you need God’s help?