Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Not Worth the Effort
Just today, as I was reaching for my purse, I heard a clink and noticed that the zipper was slightly open, allowing for a coin or two to escape. With a to-do list already too long for that day, I thought to myself, “It’s just a coin,” and let it go among the myriad of other forgotten items in my car.
A lost coin is easy to ignore. I have a habit of losing things, so that I don’t worry too much about it (unless it is the car keys!). Sunglasses, television remote, and other items. “Everything is somewhere” is often my mantra. One could compliment my appreciation of impermanence and detachment from tangible items, but I often wonder why I don’t search more for things. And I worry that if I’m able to ignore a lost coin or pen—what else am I able to ignore? What seems “not worth it” to search for? What happens when we are so schedule driven that we don’t stop to search for the lost? What happens when the interruption to our plans can’t be taken seriously?
Whom have I chosen to ignore because they interrupt my schedule, or because they aren’t known to me? Have I lost contact with someone or failed to care because the person or situation just seemed so hard to keep up with? If I extend the “lost coin” to the ones we take for granted, or the ones the world forgets or overlooks, I realize the danger in failing to seek out the lost.
I’m sure when the woman who lost her coin in Luke’s Gospel woke up that morning, her to-do list didn’t include the careful searching and sweeping of her house to find her lost coin. But she searched high and low, and this beautiful metaphor reminds us of the great joy in the seeing, the searching, and the finding of all that is lost, unseen, or deemed “not worth the effort.”
Janel Rice, pastor, Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania