Lost Things

Jesus proclaimed that He came into our world to find and restore what was lost. No, not misplaced keys or runaway puppies or an earring that slid down the drain. People. He came to rescue men and women, boys and girls, who couldn't find their way.

He used three parables, illustrations from the real lives of His listeners. He told one story about a lost sheep. When the shepherd called his flock together, he found that one sheep was missing. He had ninety-nine other sheep, but he would not rest until he had gone out into the wilderness to find the wandering lamb. (The Scripture doesn't say it was a lamb; it might have been a stubborn old ram or an absent-minded ewe, but the picture of the Good Shepherd that hung on the wall of my childhood home makes me know it was a lamb!)

Supposing that it was a lamb, how did she get lost? Was she so busy nibbling at the tender blades of grass that she did not hear the shepherd call? Did she find the grass a little greener just beyond the patch where the rest of the flock grazed? I think she did not mean to get lost; sheep are usually followers. Perhaps she wasn't playing close enough attention, or she got side-tracked, or she was forgetful. She did not decide, early that morning, "I think I'll get lost today." All of a sudden, she looked around—and she was lost.

Jesus told a second story about a lost coin. A woman had ten silver coins. She must have dropped one, and it rolled—somewhere, but she didn't know where. Lighting a lamp, she looked for it. She got the broom and jabbed it under the bed and into the corners, searching for the missing coin. Perhaps she said regretfully, "If I had just been more careful—" The coin had no will of its own. It was not careless or forgetful. It was actually someone else's fault that it got lost. But it was lost nonetheless.

A third story was about a lost son. A young man demanded the inheritance that was intended for him when his father died. With his portion of his father's possessions, he went into a far country, and there he wasted everything with his reckless living. The lostness in this parable is different from the others. This young man got lost on purpose. He ran out of money, but he just kept on staying lost. Not until he was really desperate did he consider letting himself be found.

People are pretty much like these lost things. There are those who don't intend to get lost, but they just wander about on their own until they are a very long way from safety and hope. Others are lost because someone failed them; sadly, no one guarded and guided them. They are somewhere in the dark, hiding perhaps, waiting for someone to care. And then there are those who deliberately avoid the very One who came to rescue them.

When Jesus declared His mission to find lost people, He did not define the search by how they came to be in their lost state. Nor should we. Careless, unaware, or just stubborn—if they're lost, Jesus is looking for them.

MaryMartha
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Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com