Lost & Found

What have you lost lately? Your keys, a shoe, some important papers, a credit card or maybe even your cellphone? Any of these items lost at the most inopportune moment can create real chaos in your life and in the life of anyone standing nearby!

In fact, when my girls were in high school, I took them back to Kindergarten – at least in one sense. I set up a cubby system to help remedy all the Lost & Found moments that were happening in our house almost every day. They weren't thrilled, and I got a couple 'crazy mom' looks while I was setting up this tall slender shelving unit smack dab in busiest thoroughfare of our house - the kitchen! It wasn't the most stylish addition to my kitchen, but it sure did get rid of a lot of stress and chaos in our household for several years.

Once each of the girls were assigned a shelf, the dream was that they would put their purses, keys, mail, or whatever in their personal cubby. That way they wouldn’t be scrambling to find things every day. I can’t say for sure, but that worked for a week…maybe. Not to be undone, I decided I would personally utilize the cubby system to maintain my sanity. We 'upgraded' by adding three milk crates to house their shoes and tucked it away in a side room off of the kitchen. Shoes out of sight. Check! Other items found on the kitchen counters, or anywhere else in the house, got put into the corresponding cubby just in time for supper or before I went to bed.

Now, before you get the idea that I’m a clean freak, OCD or Miss Susie Homemaker, you can forget that! We live in our house. No one will get sick by entering, and if you hit the right day you might not even see any dust on the furniture. However, I’m definitely not one to be tidying up incessantly, vacuuming daily or washing windows just for the fun of it. Clutter, however, does ‘get to me’ at times - even when I’m the cause of it. The cubby system really did help my disposition. The house didn’t always look trashed, and the girls could find things when they needed them!

Finding things is always a good feeling, losing them not so much! But, here's the question we're going to reflect on. When you lose things, how long will you look for them? A few minutes, an hour, a day or maybe even a week? It probably depends on how valuable or necessary the item is, right? And, if you’re like me, often things show up in a logical place – but only once they’ve been discovered. Or, have you ever lost something that you put in a 'special place' so you wouldn’t lose it only to forget where that special place was?  Argh!

Well, there is a parable in the Bible about a lady who is in just this predicament. The parable is laid out in three little verses in Luke 15:8-10 and it begins like this. “Suppose a woman has...” What did she have? Ten silver coins. Since we can’t really relate to the value of what that would have meant to those listening to Jesus' story, let’s continue on by replacing the silver coin with a $100 bill. So, that means you have $1000 - all in $100 bills. That catches your attention a bit more, right?

One day when you’re looking through your cash stash, you realize your count is short. You count the bills, recount the bills and recount them again. Still only nine. You look all around you and on the floor, but that missing bill is nowhere to be found! And then the search begins. Jesus takes us on the journey with her when he poses a rhetorical question - “Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” The answer is Yes! She would do all that she can to be able to see clearly, and she would get rid of any clutter that might be hiding her lost valuable. But, how long does Jesus pose that she would search? Five minutes? An hour? A day?

If you’re not even sure you’d continue past an hour of searching, change up the story a bit more - not a silver coin or even a $100 bill. What if the missing item was your cell phone - or any item that would be valuable enough in your mind to keep you on the hunt. The parable assumes that the woman would “search carefully until she finds it.” And, eventually she does!

So, if we'd lost our smartphone for an hour, a day or a week – and then found it - what would we do next? We would tell someone right? And, that is exactly what Jesus said would be the woman’s reaction – “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’” But, then Jesus takes his parable to the real point of our Lost & Found search. He says that in the same way that there would be excitement, relief and joy in finding lost items in our life here on earth - more importantly, “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” When the lost is found, there is always reason for celebration!

Bottom line – How long are we willing to look for and search to find those who are lost in Christ? All of mankind are loved by God no matter what they’ve done, what household they come from or what their heritage may be. Jesus seeks those that are lost, and heaven rejoices every time a person is saved. Are we still seeking, searching, praying and loving those who are lost with the same fervency that we would look for some missing cash or our smart phone?

Heavenly Father, Open the 'cubbies' of our heart to desire to search and to have eyes to see the lost in our world. Give us compassionate hearts and passionate minds to stay the course in persevering with the Gospel message. To the willful child, to the imprisoned young man, to the hateful neighbor and the begrudging parent. All are valuable in  your sight, Lord. Give us wisdom to know where to search, what to say and who to speak to. Give us hearts tender to pray for the lost and opportunities to share the Gospel message in word and deed. Thank you, Father, for loving each one of us enough to keep searching until we were found in You. In Jesus’ name and for His sake, Amen.