This week's gospel lectionary text includes two of Luke's three "lost-and-found" parables. While a version of the "lost sheep" story is also recorded in Matthew 18:12-14, both the "lost coin" and the "lost son" are unique to Luke's gospel. Luke locates these three parables together, skillfully building in intensity and power the force of the remarkable message they convey.

Part of the power these stories generate depends on the three different degrees of narrative style Luke employs. On the first level, there is the narrative of the author to the reader one who is removed from the situation in both place and time. The second level of narration recalls that Jesus is also speaking to a specific gathered audience of scribes and Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners. Finally, on the third leve…