When things get lost . . . where do you look? Well, if you are a typical human being, you
look in all the familiar places. That is
just our habit. As a kid I never liked
it when my father requested me to look for something that he could not find. I hated the experience because I could never
find the lost object, or I could not find it fast enough. Of course, I probably did not help the
situation and added fuel to the fire by asking the usual questions:
Where did you have it last? Father’s
response: “If I knew I wouldn’t be asking you to look for it?” To which I would usually respond, “It is
probably in the last place you left it.”
Nothing like a quick, witty response to one’s father to raise the
ire.
So, I would do what any kid—any human being—would do, I started looking
in all the familiar places. The longer
the clock ran, the grumpier my father would get. Sometimes I would get lucky and find the
missing object, other times I would not.
On those times when I could not find the missing object, I would hear
the phrase: “You couldn’t find your rear end with two hands.” Let’s just say that that is not one of my
favorite phrases in the English language.
Typically the lost object would be found in a place that no one
suspected it to be . . . a place where it was not expected to be . . . a place
that was not the usual and normal place . . . the last place where anyone would
ever venture to even look. But, isn’t
that where we usually find lost stuff, in the last place we look?
Jesus tells two parables this morning about looking for lost stuff—a
sheep and a silver coin. In both stories
he tells how the individuals who lost the stuff go to the extreme in searching
for that which is lost . . . they know no boundaries . . . they go to the
extreme and leave no stone unturned until they find the missing. Then, upon finding that which was lost, they
celebrate and invite anyone and everyone they know to come and rejoice with
them for the lost has been found.
It is not difficult to get wrapped up in the joy expressed by the
shepherd or woman for having restored that which was lost. It does feel good. Even Jesus states that heaven, too, rejoices
when the lost is found and things are restored as God wants them. Jesus is not talking about the status quo
here, he is not talking about restoring things to the way that we know them and
expect them to be . . . no, he is talking about restoring them to the way that
God wants them to be. He is talking about
bringing in that which is a part but is rarely included. He is talking about finding the sinner and
welcoming the sinner back into the fold.
Jesus said: “I tell you that in the same way there is more rejoicing in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need
to repent . . . In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus hits the nail on the head here.
In this story he tells of the extraordinary lengths that the two
individuals go to find that which is lost . . . tells of how they even go to
the point of looking in places they never imagined the lost could be . . . of
going beyond the familiar, expected, and known to find the lost. And, he hints at those last places where we
are to look are those places where the sinners are. There we will find the lost in the last place
where we look.
Whether we like it or not, research—many, many, many years or
research—show that congregations are pretty much homogenous groups of
people. By homogenous they mean similar
. . . similar in upbringing, education, economics, likes/dislikes, race, age,
and background. That the group is pretty
much cookie cutter in design and function . . . that they are all alike. If you were to consider our congregation . .
. or the congregations in our community, what do you think? Don’t see a whole bunch of diversity there do
you?
So, maybe the researchers are on to something. Which brings us to this idea of searching for
the lost . . . we look for the lost in those places that we are comfortable
with . . . those places we are familiar with . . . and, those places that fill
the places in our puzzle to complete the picture. Isn’t that the way we go about
evangelism? We start with the familiar .
. . we look in the usual places? And,
maybe that is why it is so difficult to grow the congregation . . . we are not
looking where the sinners are.
Actually, that is probably not a fair statement or a correct
statement. What we are not doing is
looking beyond the confines of the familiar in our lives . . . we are not
looking beyond that which is right in front of us . . . we are not looking out
to the edges of our vision—what some call the borders—to see those who are not
being included. We are not getting to
those who are the outsiders, the outcasts, the forgotten, the border people . .
. the lost . . . the people on the edge.
Who knows whether or not they are sinners, all I know for certain is
that they are not in the picture. Until
they are included in the picture, they are lost.
One of the big roadblocks in the journey of faith is getting beyond what
we perceive the kingdom of God as being . . . usually created in our own image,
for understanding what God’s vision of the kingdom is. God’s vision of the kingdom is not some
homogenous, cookie-cutter picture in which everyone is exactly the same. No, God’s vision of the kingdom includes
everyone . . . and, God means everyone.
That includes those who do not look like us, act like us . . . but are
much more diverse. Much more diverse
because God didn’t use only two or three crayons when drawing the picture of
the family . . . God used all the colors available . . . and, God expects to
see them all together. Until we can
accept that vision over the vision we carry, the lost will continue to be lost.
Jesus calls us to seek out that which is lost . . . to go, find, and
invite that which is missing from the family picture. It is an effort that will not be accomplished
if we cannot see beyond where we stand at this moment . . . that we begin to
look outward to the peripheral of our sight to see those who are in the shadows
of our lives . . . to see those that we encounter daily, but rarely invite into
the fullness of our lives. Those people
are all around us . . . waiting. Waiting
to be asked to join the party. That
includes the sinners. After all, heaven
and the angels rejoice whenever one of the lost has been brought back into the
family of God. Amen.
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