D. L. Moody tells the story somewhere of going to a jail to preach and when he began to preach he saw a sign in the back of the hall that read in large bold letters:

DO NOT PREACH ON THE PRODIGAL SON.

Apparently, the prisoners had had enough sermons on that particular parable, even though it is one of Jesus’ most powerful parables about God’s redeeming grace.

Fortunately, our lectionary text Luke 15:1-10 does not include the parable of the prodigal son. We do have two similar parables: the lost sheep and the lost coin that also speak of “The Joy Of Being Found.”

Luke’s image of the shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine sheep and goes seeking the one lost sheep is based upon several Old Testament passages:

“As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among the scattered sheep, s…