Lost & Found

If you were to come to our home you would meet several very important members of our family, our pets. Our two oldest pets are Lady (7 year old Golden Retriever) and Tramp (7 year old mixed, long haired cat). Next we have Pearl & Sparky (3 year old turtles), Buddy (1 year old Black Lab), and finally visiting us from college, our daughter’s Japanese fighting fish, Garnet (less than one year old and surprisingly still alive). We had a serious problem arise Saturday afternoon when we discovered that we could not find Tramp anywhere. Tramp stays in one side of the house separate from Lady and Buddy because they play too hard with Tramp or is it that they want to eat Tramp? I’m not sure which one but we have kept them separate and it works fairly well. Tramp is an indoor cat who never, ever goes outside! This Saturday, though, Tramp caused quite a panic in our house as we could not find him anywhere! We figured that maybe someone left the door open when we were coming in and out of the house and he may have slipped outside through the garage. Therefore, after looking ALL over the house several times we ventured outside. My wife and I walked around the house and our kids canvased the neighborhood. We even had neighbors join in the hunt and drive around the neighborhood looking for poor, lost Tramp. After several hours we all gave up except my wife who proudly announced that she found Tramp hiding under our daughter’s bed, the same bed that our kids “allegedly” checked under but did not see him. Everybody was thrilled that Tramp was once lost but now was found.

An even more powerful story is that of a family that I know who one day realized that they could not find their toddler son at home. They frantically looked throughout the house and in the neighborhood but could not find him anywhere! Finally, they called the police to report their son missing. All of a sudden as they were meeting with the police one of the police officers came to the family and told them that they found their son fast asleep behind a chair in their living room. Just imagine how the family’s emotions swung from terror to unspeakable joy.

Jesus used some Lost & Found stories like these that the people of that time would quickly understand and feel. Luke recorded some of these stories in Luke 15 where a sheep, coin, and son was lost. In each story the individual concerned looked frantically for what was lost, and then when it was found a celebration erupted. We are God’s most prized possession and His heart breaks for all those who are outside of a relationship with God, hence lost. God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to find us and bring us back home.

Jesus’ greatest passion, as He sought to do His Heavenly Father’s will, was “‘to seek and save those who are lost.'” (Luke 19:10, NLT) . Jesus wanted us to understand the importance of finding the lost. When a child of God is found and brought back into the family of God Jesus also said, “‘there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.’” (Luke 15:10) God’s, and all of heaven’s greatest passion is when one of us turns to God and accepts His unconditional love and invite God to be our Savior (Forgiver) and Lord (Leader).

I love the words of one of the greatest hymns ever written, “Amazing Grace.” In this powerful song, John Newton, the former captain of the slave ship, professed his life’s story:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come.
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

By the way, Newton’s tombstone reads, “John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”

Are we aware of the magnitude of what God has done for us in sacrificing His Son, taking the initiative, to show us His love and invite us back into an eternal relationship with Him? Have we accepted God’s invitation to be found? Are we as the church, those who once were lost but now are found, bringing this message to the world and entering into God’s saving work?