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May 25, 2026

What a Lost Cell Phone Taught Me About God

By Jason Neill

Scripture reading: Luke 15:1-32

Have you ever lost something? Some years ago, well, more than a few years ago, my wife and I were walking in the woods. It was during the fall, and a thick blanket of leaves covered the ground. I reached into my pocket and suddenly discovered that my cell phone was missing. I had just looked at it five minutes earlier, so I knew it had to be somewhere in those woods. What am I going to do? was my first thought. I told Kara what had happened, and as we retraced our steps, we prayed.

The reason for my frantic search was that the phone held so much value to me. My text messages, photos, and contact list were all stored on that device. After praying fervently and continuing to look, we finally found it. I felt an incredible sense of relief.

Just as I temporarily lost my phone, Jesus shared three parables in Luke 15 about lost things, all to illustrate the same point. The last parable, commonly referred to as the "prodigal son," is one of the most well-known of Jesus' parables. The other two are known as the "lost sheep" and the "lost coin." As always, when reading the Bible, context is key. The first two verses of chapter 15 set the stage:

“Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1-2, NIV). 

The Pharisees and experts in the law were complaining because Jesus welcomed tax collectors and “sinners.” In response to their complaint, Jesus tells them three parables.

The first is about a shepherd who has one of his sheep wander off, so he leaves the ninety-nine others to find it. When he finds it, he rejoices. The second is about a woman who loses a coin in her home. She sweeps, cleans, and does a thorough inspection of her house until she finally finds it and, in turn, rejoices.

The last is about a son who wishes to leave his father’s estate with his inheritance and strike out on his own. In a far country, the son squanders his inheritance, his “friends” abandon him when his money runs out, and things become so bad that he takes a job feeding pigs, a terrible job for a Jewish boy. He even finds himself drooling over the food the pigs are eating because there is severe famine in the land.

Coming to his senses, the son thinks he will return home and ask his father if he can just be hired as a servant. He even devises a speech to make his case to his father as to why he should be taken back. But before the son even reaches the house, his father sees him in the distance, runs to him, and throws his arms around him with a kiss. It is a true act of grace, especially considering what the son must have smelled like after feeding pigs. He does not even get the chance to deliver his rehearsed speech. Instead, the father has a new robe placed on his shoulders, a ring put on his finger, and throws a massive party to celebrate his return.

Meanwhile, the older son is not happy. Instead of rejoicing along with his father, he complains. He does not think it's fair that his brother is being treated this way, especially since he has always been "obedient" to the father.

Circling back to the first two verses of the chapter, that oldest son is a perfect picture of the complaining Pharisees and teachers of the law. The whole point of these three parables is to show them God’s true heart toward sinners. Instead of being repulsed by them, God actively seeks them out, just like the shepherd sought the sheep, like the woman swept for the coin, like the father watched the horizon for his son to come home, and just like Jesus is doing by hanging out with tax collectors and “sinners.”

So, do these parables refer to someone who doesn't know Christ, or to a Christian who has wandered away? They apply to both. Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (NIV).

God loves humanity and deeply desires to have a relationship with us. That is the very reason God the Father sent the Son. Christ came to reveal to us what God is like because Jesus is God. He took on our sins by dying in our place and rising from the dead three days later, offering eternal life to all who trust in him for it (see John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:8-9). At the same time, God loves his children. When they wander far from him, like the lost son in the far country, he deeply desires for them to just come home. 

Thinking back to that afternoon in the woods, if I could get that concerned over a small device, imagine how much more God values you, and those who are not yet a part of His family. Whether you have wandered far from God in your Christian life, or you are thinking about this “Jesus stuff” for the very first time, just know that God the Father is eagerly waiting to welcome you home! 

Discussion Questions

  • Jesus tells three different stories: a shepherd hunting for one sheep, a woman sweeping for a coin, and a father waiting for a son. What do these different images teach us about how actively God pursues us?

 

  • The religious leaders were furious that Jesus welcomed and ate with "sinners." Why did Jesus' kindness to outsiders threaten the Pharisees so much?

 

  • Look at the older brother’s reaction at the end of the story. In what ways do modern Christians sometimes act like the older brother instead of celebrating when someone comes to faith or returns to church?