Lost
[Act Lost Credit Cards]
Oh, the last time I did that was on the morning we were to go on holiday. What a panic! I looked everywhere for hours and hours. Eventually I gave up and phoned all the companies to cancel the cards. When you have joint credit cards they cancel both of them, so even Jo's were no good. It's horrible being on holiday and having nothing spend. When we got home from holiday the cards were waiting for me on the dining table. I had dropped them in my son's car while moving it off the drive the night before!
When you loose something, especially something important a horrible panic sets in and you search wildly trying to find it. When its a person – a friend or relative the sense of anxiety is much stronger and in some cases searching will do you no good at all.
While we're talking about loosing people, do you remember being lost as a child. Try to remember the panic and fear of it for a moment. We will come back to that later.
While we're talking about loosing people, do you remember being lost as a child. Try to remember the panic and fear of it for a moment. We will come back to that later.
Nature of God
We are created in the image of God, so its no surprise that God also keenly feels the sense of having lost someone. You wouldn't expect God to panic, but you would expect him to search. We can see from the stories that Jesus told in our reading today that God does search.
God searches urgently: The shepherd leaves his sheep to search for the one that is lost.
Would you? Would you leave 99 healthy sheep out in the wilderness, where wolves and bears could easily find them? Would you leave 99 sheep out in the wilderness where any number of them could wander off? Just to find only one that was missing?
We may answer 'Yes' quickly to this question, that's because you know the passage, but it's likely that Jesus hearers would not have been quite so positive. Jesus is showing us that God exceeds human expectations.
God searches diligently: A peasants house would have had a low door and no windows, so the woman who lost her coin would have needed a lamp to have any chance of seeing a coin on the floor. Her best chance, even with the lamp lit was to sweep the earth floor carefully until she spotted something move that was not dust. The coin may have been part of her dowry and would have been very valuable.
God waits patiently: Just like the father waiting for his son to return home God waits for his lost people to return to him. When someone has left of their own accord there is not much point in searching, they probably don't want to be found and would just go further away if you did find them. It is better to wait patiently, always on the lookout for the person to return. Just like the father is our passage today.
The Ungrateful Scorpion (found on http://desperatepreacher.com/bodyii.htm)
This is the story of an old man who used to meditate each day by the River. One morning he saw a scorpion floating on the water. When the scorpion drifted near the old man, he reached to rescue it but was stung by the scorpion. A bit later he tried again and was stung again. The stings made his hand swell up and gave him much pain. Another man passing by saw what was happening and said to the Old Man, "What's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don't you know you could be killed trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?"
From desparatepreacher.com
From desparatepreacher.com
The old man calmly replied, "My friend, just because it is in the scorpion's nature to sting, does not change my nature to save."
It is God's nature to save. We are his treasures – He does not want to loose us. Despite all our best efforts to get ourselves lost God is always there ready to save us.
Urgently looking for an opportunity to rescue us. Diligently searching for a way to make us turn to him.
Patiently waiting for us to respond.
Celebration
When we do there is a celebration. Did you notice that each of the three stories ends with a celebration – a party to mark the occasion.
I heard on the TV the other day that the average wedding costs £17,000. It scared me a little as Karen is talking about getting married. It's an important day in anyone's life. What you do on that day changes you life, so it's worth making an occasion of it.
I've heard that some Jewish families preparing for a Bar Mitzvah have the whole house redecorated and then have a huge party. It must cost a fortune, but marking you son's move from childhood to adulthood is important. His life will change from that point onwards.
There's even a huge party after a christening – when we thank God for the arrival of a new life and commit to bringing the child up in the Christian faith.
What do we do when someone who we've been praying for for absolutely ages becomes a Christian? How do we mark the day when their life changes, indeed when their life really begins?
Our Response
That's all very well, you say, but I've been a Christian for ages, and I didn't get a party! Well if you are thinking like that, let me remind you of the lost son's brother. He is usually condemned for his churlish attitude.
The real question you should be asking is what these stories mean for us as Christians. How should we respond to Gods searching for the lost people in our world?
We are supposed to be God's agents on the earth, so we should join in with his efforts. I'm really assuming that you know that and already have relationships with non-Christians and are praying for them.
Take a moment to remind yourself who they are.
[pause]
The first thing to do is to make sure that no-one else gets lost. I was in a meeting with Warner the other day when someone said they hadn't seen one of our parishioners for a couple of months. Other said the same. He wrote the name in his diary and said he would give them a call to see how they were.
Is there someone who you haven't seen in a while? - Give them a call when you get home and tell them they're missed.
So the first response we can have is to keep in touch.
Remember that feeling of being lost as a child. People are lost in the big wide world. They may never have known anything else. So often people are looking for something more in their lives and don't even realise that it is available. Until they meet someone who has that something. Perhaps someone like my daughter Liz, who some of you may know. When she was at University the people she was living with refused to play games of chance with her. She kept winning and they believed that God was on her side, so they didn't stand a chance. They could only make this assumption because Liz was very open about her faith and didn't compartmentalize it. She talked quite naturally about her relationship with Jesus.
So the second thing we can do is be natural. Peter calls it being prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15).
Think carefully about those you are in touch with. What would make them more interested in God. What can you DO to show them who God is and how much He loves them. Be sure it's something that will help them, and not just you.
So the third thing we can do is work diligently at showing people who God is.
A guy’s car was stalled at a green-light. Cars behind him would honk and honk. Out of frustration, the guy got out of his car, tapped on the window of the person behind him and said,"My car will not start, would not mind trying to start it, while I will sit back here and honk your horn for you"
I've been told that the average time taken from first interest to full conversion is three years. That is certainly true for me. I also know that a number of people were praying for me long before I showed any interest.
So the fourth thing we can do is be patient. Don't try to hurry people, trust that God is more concerned about their salvation than you are.
Finally, when they have accepted Christ, make a thing of it, hold some sort of celebration. Make the occasion important for them and for you. Something to remember to mark the start of a new life. You'll just be mirroring what's happening in the heavenly realms.
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