Bible Text: Luke 15
Lesson Focus: God always makes the extra effort to find the lost and welcome them home.
Big Question: Does God really look for everyone who is lost?
Key Words: LOST, FOUND, GRACE, FORGIVENESS, CELEBRATE
• The context in which these stories are told is important and demands that we look at the hard question these parables pose for the (supposedly) “non-lost.” They just might be the real intended recipients of the message in these stories.
• The parable of the prodigal son offers a beautiful picture of grace—the father running out to meet the son and putting his arms around him and kissing him before the lost son even has the chance to ask for forgiveness.
• We don’t often enough put ourselves in the place of the elder son. He is our prideful self, the side of us that not only thinks we can make it into the “father’s arms” on our own but privately thinks we already have.
• These stories are a call to celebrate God’s radical grace. God loves each of us because that’s who God is.
The “lost and found” parables of Luke 15 have a common theme—joy in finding the lost. They also have a common effect on careful hearers and readers who don’t think of themselves as being “lost”—in short, they offend. When we read these parables, we usually think their primary message is that God loves to find the lost. So true, but the context in which these stories are told is important. It demands that we look at the hard question the parables pose for the (supposedly) “non-lost.” These “non-lost” individuals just might be the real intended recipients of the message in these stories. Your students may not even have the concept of being lost in their experience. Thus, teaching the parables is a vital opportunity to proclaim this beginning point of our doctrine.
In Luke 14 Jesus is invited to eat with a leader of the Pharisees. He accepts, and on his way there he delivers a number of sometimes cryptic teachings leading up to the lost and found parables. Jesus continues teaching in Luke 15, bemused or angry at the muttering of the Pharisees and scribes over his welcoming and eating with sinners, and in that context the parables are given. Jesus begins with the story of the lost sheep, starting with “Which one of you . . .” (Luke 15:4). He continues with the story of the lost coin, leading with “What woman . . .” (Luke 15:8). The implication is clear: who wouldn’t go search for the lost sheep or the lost coin? Well, a shepherd or a woman who didn’t think the lost sheep or lost coin was worth much, the muttering Pharisees and scribes might have been thinking.
Not so with God, Jesus tells them. God loves the lost and sinful! This is good news! God is like the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep who aren’t lost to get the one that is lost. God is like the woman who has a party when she finds her lost coin. At least one of the meanings of these two seemingly simple parables is that God prizes what is lost even if it would seem to be of lesser value than what is still possessed (the 99 sheep or the nine coins).
The ante is upped in the parable of the prodigal son. This parable’s message of grace is beautiful—the father running out to meet the son and putting his arms around him and kissing him before the lost son even has the chance to ask for forgiveness. That’s grace in a nutshell. We don’t often enough put ourselves in the place of the elder son. He is our prideful self, the side of us that not only thinks we can make it into the “father’s arms” on our own but also privately thinks we have. We’ve done the right things, albeit grudgingly in some instances. We’ve stayed home and worked hard. We’ve sat in the pews and confirmation class, even when we would have rather squandered that time doing something else. We’re the righteous ones. We’re the elder son in this story.
The point of these parables is to call the elder sons into the party. We fully experience God’s grace when we can celebrate it with others and not keep insisting we’ve earned it and others have not. Those who insist on living by merit can’t ever know the true joy of grace. These parables expose our rather grudging spirits. We often think God is too good to everyone else and not good enough to us. We want mercy for ourselves but justice for others. These stories are a call to celebrate God’s radical grace. God loves everyone, not because of what they have or haven’t done, or who they are or aren’t. God loves each of us because that’s who God is.
The question posed to the non-lost and the righteous, all of us, in these parables is simply this: Will you join the party and thereby share in God’s mercy, or will you clutch your self-bestowed merit badges and stay outside the party grumbling? At the end of the parable of the prodigal son, the question remains as to whether the older son goes into the party or not. That is the question directed at us, the reader and hearer of the parable.
Does God really look for everyone who is lost?
Most youth have done foolish things at some point in their lives; most adults have as well. Helping youth identify with one of the brothers will help them connect with the prodigal son story. A good question to ask is “When have you been the younger brother?” Then ask, “How did it feel?” You are incorporating two important factors of the learning brain: first, you help youth to personalize the story, connecting it to something they already know; and second, you engage their emotions. We know that learning is filtered through emotions. The more youth become emotionally involved in the story, the greater the learning and impact of the teaching will be. This particular story may touch off emotional reactions to the relationship the youth have with their fathers or mothers. Be prepared for some disclosures that may be revealing and may need to be debriefed further. This is a very personal story, because all of us at some point have played each of the parts in the story.
Welcome and Review
Help kids dive into the Key Words by asking for definitions and/or providing these definitions:
LOST: the result of having gone astray. We may be lost in the sense of being missed by those from whom we have departed and in the sense of not being able to return to the proper place or path.
FOUND: the result of searching to locate, attain, or obtain that which was lost.
GRACE: the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God; “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.”
FORGIVENESS: the pardoning of an offense or an offender; the act of holding a person blameless, as God freely does for us.
CELEBRATE: to make known publicly or to proclaim or praise widely when something special has happened, such as the lost being found and forgiven.
Finding the Lost
Prior to class, hide a $5 or $10 bill somewhere in your meeting space. Hide it well, so that students will have to truly search in order to find it.
Inform the students that the bill is hidden somewhere in your meeting space. They have five minutes to locate it. The first one to find it gets to keep it. After five minutes, gather everyone back together whether or not the money has been found. If it hasn’t been, go and retrieve it prior to debriefing the activity.
Debrief the activity with these questions:
• How did you feel when you were looking for the money?
• How desperately did you want to find it?
• How did finding it, or seeing someone else find it, make you feel?
• Would you have felt any different if the money had belonged to you in the first place and was lost?
• If you were searching intently for something that wasn’t even yours in the first place, think how much more God intently searches for God’s children who are lost.
Prior to class, copy the following prayer onto note cards—one sentence per card. Choose volunteers to help you with the Opening Prayer. Call the students forward, have them stand in a line, and give one card to each student. When the first student finishes her sentence, she should turn to face the second, who reads his sentence and turns to face the third, and so on. When the last student turns toward you, all of them say “Amen” together.
Student 1: Gracious God, at times it’s difficult to understand the depth of your grace and forgiveness.
Student 2: Forgive us for those times when we have wandered away from you to do our own thing or follow our own desires.
Student 3: Thank you for your unconditional love and forgiveness and for welcoming us back with open arms.
Student 4: Help us, Lord, to understand that you love everybody, not because of what we have or haven’t done, but because we are your creation, created in your image.
Student 5: Help us, also, to join in the search for your lost children, as we pray in your name.
My Faith Story
Ask kids to respond to the Big Question: Does God really look for everyone who is lost?
Then share a part of your own faith story using the suggestion below or another way to share about how you are like a character in the parable of the prodigal son.
Most people have done some foolish things in their lives. Have you ever identified with the younger brother? How did that affect your relationship with family and friends? How did that make you feel about yourself? Have you ever identified with the older brother? How did that affect the way you perceived others? Were you angry, bitter, or jealous? How did you overcome those feelings?
Open the Bible
Have students open their Bibles to Luke 15. Ask for a volunteer to read verses 1–7, the parable of the lost sheep. Ask the students to identify the “grace moment” in this parable (verses 5–6) and read those verses again. Next, ask for a volunteer to read verses 8–10, the parable of the lost coin. Ask the students to identify the grace moment in this parable (verses 9–10) and read those verses again. Finally, ask for a couple of volunteers to share in the reading of verses 11–32, the parable of the lost son. Ask the students to identify the grace moments in this parable (verses 20 and 28) and read the verses again. What do we learn about grace through these parables? Grace is a gift that offers hope to all who are lost. Grace is unconditional love. We don’t have to do anything to receive God’s grace!
Have everyone turn to Ephesians 2, and ask a volunteer to read verses 8–10. Ask the following questions: Are we saved by doing good works? (No, salvation is an unmerited gift of God’s love provided through Jesus Christ.) If not, what role do good works play in our life of faith? (Christians have a calling to be followers of Christ. God invites us, and expects us, to respond as disciples, not because we need to earn God’s favor, but because we are God’s people. We are enabled to do good works that reflect our faith in God.)
Read Isaiah 26:10. Why do you think God shows grace to the wicked, even though they choose to ignore it? (God is always looking for the lost and wanting to save them.) Have you ever ignored God’s grace?
Read Romans 5:12–21. Verses 15–17 talk about the trespasses of the “one man.” Who was that one man? (Adam.) Just as sin entered the world through one man, grace came through one man. Who is that one man? (Jesus.) Read verses 18–21 again and find the good news of God’s grace. Note that the effect of God’s gift of grace far outweighs the effect of one man’s sin.
Read Ezekiel 34:11–16. What will the Good Shepherd do for his sheep? (Make it a priority to search for them when they are lost; bring them back home to good pasture and a safe place.) Are you lost or have you been found?
Open the Catechism
Here We Stand Student Book page 303: Have students turn to the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. Have students recite the petition together. Then ask a volunteer to read the explanation.
Ask for three volunteers to participate in a role play of what it means to be worthy and what it means to receive grace. Instruct one of the volunteers to take the role of a supervisor or boss at a workplace. The other two volunteers will take roles as employees. The first employee is a dutiful, hardworking person—always doing what he/she is told or asked to do and often going beyond those requests. The second employee is a slacker, lazy, and rarely completes the work he/she is asked to do. Perform the scenes of both workers receiving a Christmas bonus.
Debrief the role play with these questions:
• Which worker deserved the Christmas bonus? Which did not? Why?
• How would you feel if you were the hard worker?
• How would you feel if you were the lazy employee?
• What do you think about the supervisor?
• How is this an illustration of God’s grace?
Multiple Choice Questions
1. God’s grace is for . . .
a. Jewish people only.
b. only those who do good works.
c. saints, but not sinners.
d. everyone. (Correct)
2. The prodigal son . . .
a. partied with his inheritance money.
b. never returned home.
c. sought his father’s forgiveness.
d. both a and c. (Correct)
3. The older brother was angry because . . .
a. he remained faithful.
b. no one had thrown him a party.
c. both a and b. (Correct)
d. none of the above.
4. The father was watching for his son’s return because . . .
a. He was going to demand repayment plus interest.
b. He unconditionally loved his son. (Correct)
c. He wanted to punish his son.
d. He wasn’t really watching.
5. God’s love and forgiveness . . .
a. are unconditional.
b. include everyone.
c. are for Y-O-U.
d. all of the above. (Correct)
6. In the parables of the lost and found in Luke 15 . . .
a. people were searching, but nothing was ever found.
b. those who found their “lost items” celebrated.
c. we discover that God’s love is unconditional.
d. both b and c. (Correct)
True or False Questions
7. The lost and found parables have a common theme: What is lost can never be replaced. (False; what is lost is worth finding.)
8. As Christians, we don’t need to fear ever being lost. (False; anyone can become lost.)
Option 1: Art Option: The Color of Grace
Supply a large sheet of paper (freezer wrap, newsprint, or chart paper will work) and markers (or paint or crayons). Work together as a group to come up with your own definition of “grace.” Use the definition to make a colorful poster or banner to hang in the classroom. As the students are working, encourage them to be “grace-filled” in their interactions.
Debrief by discussing when it is easy to be caring and forgiving toward others and when it is hard. Remind them that God is always loving and forgiving toward them and all people.
Option 2: Movie Option: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Play a scene from the movie Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (animated; rated PG; 20th Century Fox, 2006). Please preview this content to determine its appropriateness for your setting.
Start cue: Scene 6; 00:17:41. Scrat, a fanged, squirrel-like creature, skitters across the ice, sniffing to find his lost acorn.
End cue: Scene 7; 00:19:35. Scrat falls onto an ice floe, sending his acorn flying up to land on a high shelf. Chunks of the glacier break off and fall as the mastodon and saber-toothed tiger walk away.
A prehistoric squirrel-like creature searches for his lost acorn. When he sees it floating just beneath the ice’s surface, he goes to great lengths to retrieve it. This clip provides a humorous comparison to the lost and found parables in the Bible.
Debrief the movie clip with these questions:
• Describe a time when you lost something of great value. How did you feel when you thought it was gone for good? How did you feel when you finally found it?
• Do you have a favorite lost and found parable? What do the parables of things lost and found tell you about God’s love for you? About God’s love for the world?
Best/Worst and Prayer
Pass out pencils and Student Sheets. Look at the front of the Student Sheet together. Pick a volunteer to read each bullet point aloud for the group. Talk about the points with students.
• How does it make you feel to know that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will never stop looking for his lost sheep?
• Do you think everyone is deserving of this kind of search? Why or why not?
• Even though no one is deserving of God’s grace, why do you think we can’t live without it?
Turn to this week’s activity called “Parable of Lost and Found Word Search.” Let your kids pair up to work through the activity page together. After a few minutes, discuss the answers as a group.
Use the cartoon and questions on the Student Sheet to kick off a conversation.
• Name your most prized possession. If you lost this item, how long would you look for it?
The items named could vary quite a bit—a bike, a piece of jewelry, an iPod, a computer, a pet, etc. Encourage the students to reflect carefully on what they value and why they consider these things so important to them. Help them to imagine situations that could cause those items to be lost or stolen and to imagine the search that would result.
• Remember a time when you did lose something important to you. How did you feel when you found this item?
Share with them a time when you lost something also. Perhaps you have even had a child lost in a store or late in coming home, and you can relate how you felt before and after your child was found safely.
• Consider the last time you felt lost or separated from God. How did you find your way back to God?
Share with them a time when you felt lost also. Encourage them to see how God seeks them out and also sends out the faithful as a “search party” to help them find their way back into a relationship with God.
Student Book Connection
Here We Stand Student Book pages 228–230: Have students turn to “How to Be Saved (by Grace through Faith and Not by Your Good Works).” Read the first four paragraphs as the students follow along. Ask for volunteers to read sections 1–7 and “Be Aware.” Address any questions the students ask.
On page 230, have students write the following in the box under “GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” Talk about how this is a short definition of the word grace. We receive God’s love and forgiveness because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for humankind. In the upper left corner of that same box, write “Do”—then draw a circle around it and a diagonal line through the circle (the symbol for NOT). In the upper right corner, write “Done”—then draw a circle around it. Ask the students what they think this means in connection with God’s grace. Share that God’s grace, forgiveness, and salvation are not based on anything we can do but are totally based on what Christ has done for us. If you have access to PowerPoint software, a computer, and a projector, before class create a slide of the diagram on page 230, including what students are to add to the diagram, and project it onto a screen or the wall.
Debrief with these questions:
• What is it like to realize that NOTHING you do or don’t do will cause God to love you any more or any less?
• What is it like to realize that NOTHING you do will guarantee you a spot in heaven?
• What is it like to realize that these truths apply to everyone else too?
Kids this age have lots of questions about right and wrong, stories in the Bible, and faith and life. Provide time for them to ask questions. Remember, there isn’t always a right answer, but encouraging discussion is great! Questions help kids explore their faith. Help them explore on their path to confirmation.
After their questions, ask one or more of the following questions to connect your conversations with the Lesson Focus:
• Why do you think “finding the lost” is so important to God?
• What can we do to help find the lost for Christ?
• Do you know someone who is not a Christian?
• How would you explain God’s grace to someone who has never heard about it?
• How can you celebrate God’s grace today?
Have the students kneel on the floor with their heads bowed. Quietly begin praying the Lord’s Prayer together. As all slowly move to a standing position, the prayer gets louder and louder until everyone is close to shouting by the end of the prayer.
For the closing blessing, have two washable markers available—one black and one red. Draw a heart with a cross in the center on the back of each student’s hand. Then speak the following blessing to each student.
Remember that you are a child of God, and God’s love and grace will be with you always.