Lost and found

Today’s parables tap into an emotion that we’re all familiar with: that moment of sheer joy when we find that one thing we’ve lost and have been desperately searching for.

Let’s start small. well, I say small, but it doesn’t feel such a trivial thing when we’re about to leave the house and we can’t find the car keys. Or our credit card or purse or phone. Tell me you can relate to how it feels to lose your phone. Or you’re packing to go on holiday and can’t remember where you last saw your passport. You start to search calmly at first, retracing your steps, trying to recall that newly designated safe place that felt such a good idea at the time.

As the minutes tick by, the search intensifies. The frustration mounts. You move frantically from one room to the next and back again, panic blinding you as you check your coat pockets for the third time…You enlist the help of others. You start to bargain with God to enlist His help too. Drawers are tipped out on the floor. You search under every bed and down the side of all the sofas….

And then you find what you are looking for: your keys or credit card, purse or phone or passport. The relief and joy are overwhelming.

Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin’. Luke 15:8-9

Let’s take it up again. How does it feel to lose a pet – has anyone experienced that? I have. We had a cat who disappeared soon after our first dog arrived and never returned. We were devastated. We took to the streets calling her name. We checked with each of the neighbours and made posters to put up around the streets. Lexi was nowhere to be found. I’ve had those heart-stopping moments too where our adventurous dog Elsa disappears off into the distance and won’t come back however much I call for her. The minutes tick by – it’s been up to ten minutes on occasions and by then, my imagination has run away with me and that’s it, she’s gone forever and I’m never going to see her again…and then she bounds back and all is well with the world.

The next story Jesus tells is about a lost sheep: not a pet exactly, as a sheep is more tied up with livelihood and provision for the family, but loved and known individually nevertheless.

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  Luke 15:4-6

Finally, taking it to a whole new level, let’s consider how it feels to lose someone close to you. How it feels to lose a child. I’ve experienced the awful anxiety and fears for the future as one of my children has made choices that endanger their health and safety. I’ve watched him slip away from me. I’ve felt that sense of loss when one who was once so close now feels so distant. And I’ve experienced a complete breakdown of relationship with my daughter. When she threatened that I would never see her or get to speak to her again, I believed that to be true. I’m one of the fortunate ones though. I’ve also experienced the wonder and joy of a reconciliation that I never believed was possible. She is back in my life. We’re finding ways to make it work. All that we lost is now being rediscovered.

Jesus tells the story of a lost son: a son who decides that he knows best and that he wants to do it his own way, without his dad on his back (but with the financial support of his inheritance in advance). It’s not until he hits rock bottom (as is so often the way) that he realises that he was better off at home.

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.  Luke 15:20-24

This father’s initial reaction is one of compassion rather than anger. In his love for his son, he wants to celebrate his return, rather than teach him a lesson. Some would say this father is too soft on the son – that’s what his other son, the good one, feels. He can’t understand why his dad would accept this troublemaker back after all that he’s done (my kids feel the same about me!).

And this is the father’s response –

My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.  Luke 15:31-32

It’s not about loving one son more than the other. He loves them both the same. Always has, always will. He loves them with an overwhelming love, an unconditional love that forgives mistakes and celebrates reconciliation.

These three stories all share a common theme: the joy of finding that which was lost.

That’s what Jesus is describing here.

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10

He’s describing the joy experienced and expressed in the kingdom of heaven every single time a person turns away from doing life their own way and recognises that God’s way is best (that’s essentially what repentance is).

Pure joy and excitement. Every single time. For every single person. That’s how important each individual is to the God who created us and loves us with an everlasting, overwhelming, unconditional love.

Of course, there’ll always be those like the brother in the story who want to suck the joy out of the situation, who want to make it all about behaviour and not about love.

But Jesus makes it clear it’s all about love. There’s a warm welcome waiting for each one of us. Arms that are open wide ready to embrace.

This is good news. Really good news.

This is amazing grace.