“TILL she find it” — no rest, no cessation, for the object of her search is precious. Because her lost treasure was dear to her heart the woman lighted the candle and swept the house, and searched diligently. The coin described as the piece of silver was probably one of the ten which made the wreath, as we may term the ornament for the head commonly worn by women in Palestine. One piece lost, the whole would forfeit its perfect character and charm. And in accord with the custom of the East the woman would presently make known her loss to her neighbors and friends. There was no secret about it. Her loss was a real loss to her, so she searched with care and persistency till she found the piece she had lost.
By this simple incident of daily life the Lord holds our wondering hearts to meditate upon the love of God to lost sinners. Like the piece of silver, the sinner is precious — precious in the eye of God; and because of worth and value to Him is sought for. The intrinsic value of the piece of silver mentioned in the parable amounts to but a few pence, for the Lord illustrated His gracious meaning by selecting a humble incident from daily life; yet even in its small actual worth may we not read how God chooses “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,” but “the things which are despised.”
The love of the triune God to sinners is expressed in the three parables — the love of the Son in that of the shepherd, the love of the Holy Spirit in that of the woman, and, lastly, the love of the Father. The gracious love of the Holy Spirit of God is then before us in the story of the search after the lost piece of silver, The Holy Spirit works through human hearts. He has not committed the toil of the seeking and the finding of sinners to angels. He sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God. Hence Divine love to sinners expresses itself in the earnest search after the lost, by which so many are found. Not that this alone is the subject of the parable, for, in addition to the earnest search which is recorded in the parable of the shepherd, in this before us, a candle is lighted I She lights a candle. The light of God’s truth, the light of His word, shines in the house. Perhaps, as our illustration seems to show, the light does not illumine a very large space at one time; it is made to shine for one object — to discover the specific piece of silver which was lost. And so it is in the search for souls. The light of God’s truth is, by the Spirit, brought to bear upon them, to show where they are. The light of His word is so vast that it reaches from eternity to eternity, manifests heaven and hell and the course of this world, and displays God Himself. But when the Holy Spirit brings the light of Divine truth to bear upon one soul, that light shows the sinner where he is. And it seems to the sinner as if God, exposed him and nothing else. For at such a moment nothing save God’s work in revealing the soul to itself, is the subject of contemplation.
The search for souls is a toilsome under taking! But love never grows weary. Sinners have to be sought if they are to be found. They know not their own value. Like the piece of silver, they are utterly insensible to the energy of love which labors after them. God the Spirit fills the hearts of God’s people with His desires after lost sinners; He stirs up their souls to labor after the lost. The spirit of true searching for souls is a gift of the Holy Ghost. But who shall describe the heavenly joy of finding the lost one! Perhaps in some miserable hovel — but a piece of silver none the less because of its surroundings; perhaps in the palace, but a piece of silver all the same, though lost in the glory of this world. Oh! the joy of the finding, the divine joy of finding the once lost sinner!
So great is the joy that friends and neighbors are called to rejoice together with the woman who found the piece she had lost. “Rejoice with me,” she says. “Rejoice with Me” is a heavenly word, which those hear who are in God’s sympathies in His gospel, and who by the energy of the Spirit in them toil after souls, and delight with God in the lost being found for Him.
The woman no doubt placed the piece of silver she found together with the others; and if we might ask ourselves, “Where is the lost sinner when found put?” we should say, “He or she goes along with others to be an ornament for Christ — to be one of the ornaments for His crown!”