I preached this homily on Luke 15.8-10 on Sunday, 14th September as part of our church annual ‚Blessing for the New Academic Year‘.

Rooting for the Underdog

Who doesn’t like the thought of rooting for the underdog, right?

I used to work at a restaurant in Austria where we as staff run our own little betting shop for the 2004 men’s European football championship. Each of us put a 10 euro note in a jar and wrote their predicted winner on a notice board in the kitchen.

Of course, my Austrian colleagues’ own national team had not even qualified for the tournament (No surprise there!), so they put their money on favourites like Spain, Italy and even (begrudgingly) Germany. 

This was long before my son started to educate me on all things football. So, I went out on a limb and voted for… Sweden!

Well, it didn’t take long for all, yes, all, of my colleagues’ bets to be knocked out. Sweden was the last one standing; as the only team on our list. Woohoo!!! €150 euros for me! Thank you very much!!

The actual tournament went on to produce even more underdog surprises: Greece was crowned champion – the only title the team would ever win.

Just a Triviality?

Especially the football-phobics among you are probably wondering where I’m going with all this, right?

This morning I invite you to join me rooting for the underdog;
to explore a small little parable, often overlooked:

Jesus said, “Or what woman having ten silver coins,
if she loses one of them,
does not light a lamp, sweep the house,
and search carefully until she finds it?
When she has found it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’
Just so, I tell you, there is joy
in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”

This 3-verse story is sandwiched between the longer, perhaps more interesting  ‘Good Shepherd’ and ‘Prodigal Son’ narratives.

Compared to the man with his 100 sheep and the man with a large household and two sons this woman seems trivial.

Luke placing these three parables together is no accident:
He is known for his male/female parallels (i.e. searching shepherd and a searching woman).
He plays with numbers to increase the idea of lostness (1 out of 100 sheep, 1 out of 10 coins, 1 out of 2 sons that go missing).
He contrasts the backdrop of the parables (i.e. outdoorsy shepherd vs. homely housewife).

Even though this busy woman’s parable is meant to be interpreted as equal among the other two, she remains the underdog.

So, let’s stop treating her like a supporting act,
and give our underdog the championship treatment she deserves! 

First things first:
Just as I went out on a limb to pick Sweden as my football favourite, I shall pick a name for our industrious woman from the parable.

How about us calling her, say, Lucia?

(The name means light and goes well with her lighting a lamp to search for the coin.)

The Protagonists

Nay-Sayers & Oddballs

Now that the name is taken care of, we need to backtrack a bit.

Luke states an interesting observation before getting to the trio of parables. He writes,

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes (which were the religious teachers of the day) were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
So Jesus told them this parable (…)

Imagine the scene:

All these oddballs and socially despised people gather around Jesus.

They want to learn, hear, listen, and belong.

Even some of Jesus’ closest companions used to be tax collectors and notorious sinners.

So far, so good.

But then there is the heckling from the sidelines.

There are the religious gatekeepers metaphorically holding up protest signs and handing out flyers.

They’re questioning Jesus’ purity,
his moral fitness,
his ethics,
his religious sanity.

“Watch who you associate with!”, they shout.

“He claims to be a prophet, but gets up to all sorts of questionable stuff!”

Jesus can’t stand their self-importance and their degrading behaviour.

I like how the Hispanic theologian Justo Gonzalez puts it, and how he challenges me. He writes,

‘The reason why the “holier than thou” attitude of the scribes and Pharisees (and of so many of us today) is unacceptable is not just that it is in bad taste, or that religious people ought to be more forgiving, or that such attitudes scare people away. All those may be true; but the real reason for seeking and loving the lost is that ours is a seeking and loving God.’

Justo Gonzalez

What if Jesus didn’t just show off some performative kindness towards the weirdos by throwing a pity party?

What if he actually liked them, liked spending time with them?

Isn’t this what divine love would look and feel like?

Being around someone for the sheer joy of it.

Intuitively knowing the great worth of the other, just like the woman Lucia knew the worth of her lost coin.

Sure, some of the people that gathered around Jesus were, on paper, lawbreakers due to their lifestyles.

For Jesus, however, they were beloved women and men on the road to discipleship.

Religiously, they were the underdogs.

Yet, Jesus coached them, if you will, towards life change, repentance, and lived-out love.

The Lady of the House

Jesus’ genuine affection and care reaches out to all who find themselves metaphorically ‘swept under the rug’;
people like Lucia and her coin; those who seem trivial between more impressive life stories.

Jesus makes a simple woman in her little dingy house the protagonist of his story.

This didn’t just make for a nice little children’s bible story, but is a statement of inclusion in the context of 1st century patriarchal society.

It gives hope and inspiration for underdogs, for those overlooked, those given little agency, those taken for granted.

The bible portrays the woman of the parable as meticulous, resourceful, and generous.

She ‘lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds’ the lost coin, and she invites others into her rejoicing.

She shows diligence, makes use of the tools available to her, and shares with others. 

Unfortunately, we live in a world where such diligent searching often goes unrewarded; where people sweep and search and light every lamp they can find, yet still face inequality and poverty every day.

Even my own small taste of ‘finding’, those €150 won from the football belt, ended up short-lived. 

Ironically, when the head chef wanted to present me with the money, it turned out that the jar was empty. 

In a quiet moment, one of my colleagues had helped themself to it.

What a little thief!

Bother!

Implications

For our faith

Ironically, looking at our reading today, it is just such little thieves and other villains with whom Jesus hung out with.

Jesus uses Lucia’s story to illustrate, even justify, him being around outcasts and oddballs.

She models God’s attitude towards those on the margins: the discriminated and the wrongdoers.

Just like Lucia turns her house upside down, God turns people’s inner self upside down.

It’s how He brings to light the beauty and potential that lies deep within us.

It’s how He brings about spiritual growth.

And yes, at times there are crooks and crannies we would have rather not looked into.

There’s the Holy Spirit sweeping and stirring up dust, seemingly rubbing us up the wrong way.

Yet, when the dust in the air makes our eyes sting we remember Lucia’s determination and care in searching.

And we find her not blaming or shaming the poor coin.

Just sweeping, and cleaning, and looking, and finally celebrating.

And we realise how God, too, doesn’t blame or shame,
but sweeps, cleans, loves, and celebrates over our innermost selves.

For education, our work & our calling

Today, as we head into this new academic year, our underdog parable does also bring to mind global education inequity.

Around the world, education for young people varies greatly,
with the poorest being the ones most negatively affected.

Education is a basic human right. 

More than that, it is an enabling right.

Education allows for the fulfillment of other human rights.

Education has proven to affect general well-being, productivity, social capital, responsible citizenship and sustainable behaviour. 

It allows for the creation of just societies.

In terms of education, there are many ‘dark and dingy corners’ in the house that is global humanity.

There is much searching and sweeping to be done,
much diligence and resourcefulness to be displayed,
many valuable coins to be discovered.

For all of us here today, the education we are receiving and passing on is a treasure of invaluable worth.

May we be diligent and resourceful.

May we cherish this treasure of learning, researching, and teaching.

May it fill us with humility and a sense of responsibility.

And may we go all out to celebrate it!

Celebration

The parable of the lost coin, as well as the Good Shepherd and the Prodigal Son, concludes with an unreasonable amount of celebration.

It reminds us that valuables, be they material, emotional, social, or intellectual, are not to be hoarded, but shared generously.

The searching and finding is not complete until it is shared with others.

Lucia and her giggling and chatting girlfriends and neighbours invite us into their midst:
to share our joys, discoveries, and stories.

And as they hug us and pat our backs, they remind us that, when the going gets tough and all seems dark and lost, there is a God, and a community, who comes and looks for us.

A Litany of Searching, Finding & Celebration

Today we saw Jesus
praising those who came to listen and learn.

Let’s be attentive listeners and inquisitive minds.

We saw Jesus teaching those who are
on the margins of society.

Let’s stand with, pray for, and support all who are pushed to the sidelines.

We saw Jesus being mocked for hanging out and eating with weirdos.

Let’s make room for outsiders in our lives
and gather a bunch of oddballs
around the communion table
and the shared lunch buffet.

We saw Jesus using a concrete everyday moment to illustrate greater truths.

Let’s expect God to reveal Himself
in our ordinary day-to-day life.

We saw an ordinary woman showing diligence, and resourcefulness.

Let’s be meticulous in our learning and working,
and care for those entrusted to us.

We saw a small, but valuable coin
lifted from the dusty floor of a dingy house.

Let’s expect, seek and uncover treasures
in the most unlikely places.

We saw women getting together to celebrate and rejoice.

Let’s come together,
share our own small and big successes,
and celebrate what God is doing in our lives.

In the name of Christ, Amen.

Christine Ghinn

14th September 2025