‘Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
Luke 15:8-10 NIVUK
For ten years, we lived in a draughty flat, two stories about a bar room. We were far enough away that their sound system didn’t cause our furniture to vibrate, but close enough away to hear shouting outside the bar at the weekend and dreadful drunken karaoke every Thursday and Sunday.
When I was growing up, poor children used to run around pubs, clubs and bars at closing time. The reason was simple: drunk people are not careful with money. They're not careful with themselves – why would they be careful with anything else? So they would often either hand cash to complete strangers or drop coins on the ground, which would be picked up by quick-witted children.
Still nowadays, if you pass a British pub, club or bar, you can sometimes see coins left discarded on the ground.
But these days people seem less keen to pick them up.
Maybe we think we don’t need them.
Maybe they have little value to us.
Maybe they just seem too dirty and not worth cleaning up.
There are very many people in our world who feel precisely like that. The reason why they are gleefully involved in risky behaviours is simply because they view themselves as having little value, so they give themselves away to everyone and anyone.
It is truly heart-breaking to see.
This parable is about a lost coin. However, the first thing we need to know about this coin is something we need to know about ourselves.
We are valued.
This coin was a Greek coin called a drachma, equivalent to a day’s work. So, already, not low value.
However, many commentators believe that it had even greater value.
You see, when a woman got engaged, she would be given a string of ten drachme, which she would wear as a headband or a necklace. Each day, the custom was that she would take off the necklace or headband and polish the drachme – the silver coins. This would symbolise her thoughts towards her intended husband. If they became dirty or were not shiny, this would symbolise that she was not thinking of her husband and could potentially cause the marriage to be called off.
How much more if she lost one of them!
So the coin was itself valuable, but what it symbolised was even more valuable: it was a token of a precious relationship. So precious, in fact, that marrying the right person could lift a woman out of poverty and set them up for life.
We can understand her keenness to find the silver coin!
Jesus is using this parable to teach an essential truth. You are that valuable to Him. He notices when you are missing. He notices when you are lost. You are very important to Him, not just as a person who could bring gifts or talents into His church, but because He is seeking a loving relationship with you.
And in case you doubt that, this verse is about you:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NIVUK
When we feel lost, we feel like we are the victim of an accident from which we cannot recover. We feel like the beaten man in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37): bruised and bloodied by the side of the road while the great and the good pass by on the other side.
And that makes us feel worthless.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus died for you. He didn’t have to. He chose to.
So never doubt your worth to God. If you ever want to look at your own price tag, look to Jesus. Look to the cross.
That is how much God was willing to pay for you.
Prayer
Oh, Lord Jesus, there is so much in my culture and community that robs me of my self-worth and makes me think that I am worthless. My heart is thrilled when I hear the truth that I am so valued by you that you sent your Son Jesus Christ to die for me. Why would I ever want to follow anyone else? I will follow you, from now on. Amen.
Questions
1. Have you ever felt like you were not valued? What made you feel that way?
2. How do these verses teach us about God’s opinion of us – how He values us?
3. How does this make you feel? What does it make you want to do?
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