Like the lost sheep, I have been
lost. I have taken wrong turns and went
the wrong way in a new place, but none of them were quite like the first time
my mom and I traveled east for my first year of seminary. Our goal for our first day of driving was to
make it from Watertown to just outside of Chicago. It was later in the evening when we arrived
in the Chicago area. This was the first
big city driving I had ever done, and now we were doing it in the dark. The car was loaded down and we were sick of
driving. This was before I owned a GPS,
actually before they were very popular.
We had printed maps off of the computer to follow on our trip. Somehow we took the wrong turn and instead of
traveling around the city on a bypass road we went right through the heart of
the city. We were lost. We were tired. We were getting crabby. We were hungry. We just wanted to be at our hotel, but here
we were lost in Chicago. Unfortunately
printed out maps are not very helpful in situations like this. There is no “you are here” spot on the
map. Unlike a GPS they never
recalculate. I don’t really remember how
or what got us out of this predicament, but I know there was much rejoicing
when we arrived at the hotel for the night.
Like the woman who lost a coin, I
have on many occasions lost important items.
Last fall I had purchased a new headlamp. I remembered taking my headlamp to Outlaw
Ranch, where I had let Allen use it one evening. I thought he had given it back, but months
later I still couldn’t find it. I asked
him if he remembered giving it back to me or if it might still be at camp. I was so frustrated with myself for losing my
headlamp. After months of searching I
had finally decided it was lost forever.
Then, while I was at camp this summer I reached deep into a rarely used
pocket of my suitcase and there was my headlamp. The lost was found and there was much
rejoicing.
It is likely that you have been lost
at one point or another in your life.
You have taken a wrong turn or traveled to a new place. You have pulled out the map or asked for
directions and found your way home. And
upon finding your way out of being lost you have rejoiced. Or you have likely lost an important
possession. Misplaced your money or your
keys. You have searched high and low to
find said possession. And upon finding
the item that was lost you have rejoiced.
We see and hear announcements of
lost things all the time. There are
announcements of lost children and parents at the grocery store. There are signs for lost dogs stapled to
light poles and street signs. There are
lost purses and lost keys. Living in a
tourist area there are often lost people.
In all of these situations of lost-ness there is often much rejoicing
that happens when the lost is found.
In these situations of lost-ness
there is almost always someone doing the seeking. If we look back at our parable in Luke we
have a shepherd actively seeking the one lost sheep, from the herd of one
hundred. We also have a woman who is
actively seeking the coin that she has lost, from the collection of ten. Jesus is using metaphor here in the form of
the shepherd and the woman. Using these
two common, everyday situations with normal, everyday people he intends to tell
us about God. God is like a shepherd who
when he loses one sheep from the flock of one hundred, leaves behind the others
to search for the one. God is like a
woman who when she loses one coin from the collection of ten, lights a lamp and
sweeps the house until she finds the one.
Then upon finding the lost sheep or the lost coin God rejoices over what
was once lost, but now has been found.
The metaphor goes even further
though. It is not just about God being
like a shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman searching for a lost
coin. The metaphor also includes
us. We are the lost sheep. We are the lost coin. We are that important to God. God would leave behind the other ninety-nine
to find us. God would light a lamp and
sweep the house in search of us. God
believes that each one of us that important.
So important that we are worth finding.
And so important that once God finds us we are worth rejoicing over.
God’s way of rejoicing isn’t small
and insignificant, either. God is
throwing a big party when the lost are found.
God is throwing a big celebration of rejoicing because we have been
found. If God is like the shepherd then
upon finding one lost sheep he brings the whole herd of 100 back to the farm
and invites over all the friends and relatives for a party. If God is like the woman then upon finding
one lost coin, a tenth of her wealth, she invites the neighbors over for a
celebration, likely spending part of her money to have such a party. I don’t think shepherds or women of low class
usually acted like that. It would be
atypical for them to throw such a celebration to rejoice over what had been
found. That is how God is though. God’s way of rejoicing is out of the ordinary
and unusual.
So when we take the wrong turn in
life and wander away from the flock, God will come searching. When we are lost like a coin and need to be
swept up, God will be there. When we are
lost and in need of being found, God will be actively looking for us. And upon finding us God will invite the
neighbors over and throw a celebration of rejoicing that is ridiculous and
atypical, because the lost has been found.
Because, we, we are worth that much to God. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment