Do you remember the Wizard of Oz? Dorothy and her three companions followed the yellow brick road in search of the Great Wizard, who could give each one of them what they really wanted most in life. The tin man got a heart, the scarecrow a brain and the lion, courage. But, there was really nothing the wizard could do for Dorothy. All she wanted was to go home. That was the real drama in the story. She had found herself in a fantasy world and was unable to be where she really wanted to be.
You couldn’t help but cry at the end when Dorothy woke up in her own bed in Kansas. She was reunited with Auntie Em, promising never again to stray so far away from home. She had been lost but now she was found. Her long journey, of searching and seeking and adventure culminated in her return to her roots. It was a happy ending, a joyful reunion.
Have you ever been lost? Unable to find your way or feel as though you are totally helpless or abandoned? Most of us don’t know what its like to slip through the cracks of society like a coin that falls beneath the floor boards, or a sheep that has disappeared from the flock. We are fairly secure because we have maintained ties and implemented safeguards to keep us from being vulnerable or helpless. Unless we have been marooned on a island or lived in an orphanage we have no idea what it means to be lost. And if we have never been lost we can’t know the joy of being found.
Perhaps you have been forgotten or passed over. My wife and I were waiting on a table last Sunday at Bob Evans. After about a half an hour it became obvious that they had skipped our name. Our name was at the bottom of the page and when they started a new page they didn’t go back and check the list. If we hadn’t inquired we might have been sitting there all afternoon.
When you get skipped or forgotten about it feels like no one cares. You wonder why people could be so irresponsible or careless. That can easily lead to anger or hopelessness. Fortunately, for us, this was a simple mistake. But, think what can happen if a person experiences a constant series of events in their life of being passed over and forgotten. They become lost.
Jesus gives us a series of parables about the "lost." First with the parable of the lost sheep, secondly in the parable of the lost coin. What follows is the parable of the prodigal son. All are about the lost who are found. Unlike the parable of the prodigal who comes to his senses and returns home, these two parables are about those who are recovered because someone went searching for them.
Consider how much effort has been made in searching for the cockpit audio recorder of Swiss Air Flight 111. There has been a massive search involving both the Canadian and US Navy, the Coast Guard and others. Thousands of hours and energy are being spent to retrieve this valuable data which may help in determining what caused this terrible tragedy. Although the information may provide helpful data to prevent future disasters nothing will bring about the return of the people who perished.
Through these parables Jesus is saying that effort should be made to recover those who are lost. With the parable of the lost sheep he is demonstrating that even strays are valuable to God. And with the coin he is saying that everyone has value and is worth going after. There are no write-offs in the Kingdom of God. Everyone is worthy of God’s grace. Anyone who is lost deserves to be found. We worship a God who cares about the lost. We are created by a God who believes that people are God’s most precious resource.
I have a friend who restored an old home. He and his wife spent hours scraping, sanding, painting, and remodeling an old house that had been basically abandoned. When they were finished they had a home that was both beautiful and now useful. Is not that the business of the church, to be restoring lives who have been abandoned and left to die?
We have found through our experience in the church that a member who has become inactive can be written off the books with a simple stroke of the pen. Actually it is now a matter of punching a few keys in the computer. We have also learned that people are extremely sensitive about their church membership. Although there maybe periods of absence or inactivity they still feel connected. Our various efforts to make them stay connected can yield great results at some time in the future. Many are delighted when they receive the newsletter at their new address or are included in church mailings. People don’t want to be forgotten about. And there is no reason to make them feel any more guilty than they already feel about their estrangement.
When someone is "lost" and an effort is made to find them, they experience an elevated sense of self-esteem. They feel better about themselves. They have new life and having been found or restored they are more likely to help others.
Currently there is a man hunt going on in the mountains of North Carolina. A fugitive is being searched for who is a suspect in a bombing incident in Atlanta. Here too, tremendous amounts of energy and resources are being used to bring the man to trial. He may or may not be involved. Just as we want reasons for why the Swiss Air plane crashed we want justice for those who have wronged us. But, will it bring us joy?
It may help bring closure to an unsolved mystery. It may bring us security to know a potential criminal is behind bars. But, will it bring us joy? Jesus has taught on several occasions that our efforts can be better spent searching for the lost than rushing to judgment. In fact, there is joy when someone who is lost is found. Recovery of lost souls is more significant than judgment of sinners. Restoration of those who are lost brings us great joy.
In l988 I was searching for a new pastoral position. My contract, which was temporary, would soon come to an end. I sent hundreds of profiles and made many telephone calls. The deadline got closer and closer and I was still without a call. At the time I lived in an apartment but was rarely home. I invested in a answering machine that cost $l9.95. It turned out to be the greatest investment I had ever made. One weekend I was gone from my apartment. When I returned there was a message from a church secretary in Dayton who asked me to return her call. I responded and the church called me a month later.
There is no price small enough when it comes to finding the lost. There is no greater feeling than being found when it feels like the world has passed you by. God is about finding the lost. And we are invited to join in the search and share in the joy.
Dr. Keith A. Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio