Lost and Found

Readings:
Exodus 32:7-14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10

Only the lost can be found.

The Israelites, so soon after being liberated and en route to the Promised Land, are already lost, despondent, weary, panicked.

St. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, is a self-described blasphemer, persecutor, a man of violence. And, in all of this, he believes he is right. He is self-righteous in his belief.

The Israelites and Paul are as the one sheep lost in the fold of one hundred. They become lost. And Jesus comes to find them. He will stop at nothing to find them. For there is only one stoplight that never stops searching for the lost.

And we do not become lost in a moment.

It is a gradual process, often occurring outside of our complete notice. Until, our realization finally admits we are beyond familiar ground. We struggle to find hold, to get back to a safe place, but often our bearings are off kilter. But it is within us to decide to come back.

And, when we do, the Father of the Prodigal is waiting with open arms, waiting to welcome us with the fatted calf.

Lest we dare to judge others, Paul admits, we are all “foremost sinners”. Not a one of us is fit to be “holier than thou”. But we are all of us “findable”.

How? When does the saving moment come? Often, as Pastor Johnson recalls, in quiet moments of self-reflection. In the quiet moment, when we realize our sinful nature, we are found.

He points out that he learned on his sabbatical that 70% of those at Church services this past Sunday “almost didn’t come”. And of that 70%, 80% of them felt everyone else was living a life closer to God than themselves. So why did we come?

Because we need a healing that no physician or HMO can administer. We came because we have an anxiety. We came because were battered, because we’re unemployed, because we’re ill, we have special needs, we’re old. We came because we want to go to a place where “everybody knows your name”.

We came because … maybe … just maybe … we’ll find peace.

We venture home because we are welcome there, an old familiar face. And that place is not judgmental on the face of things. It is first, and foremost, welcoming, fervently waiting for and wanting our return.

We come because we need centering, grounding, direction. Pastor Johnson admitted

“Sometimes the Body of Christ is the ONLY compass I’ve got!”

And the Great News is that we will be found!

Receive the Compass of Christ … given for you.

It’s not a compass of judgment or smugness.

It is a compass of redemption, of acceptance and unconditional love.

It is the compass of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances, of as many chances as it takes … to get there.

We need that compass in the worst way. We are Paul, the foremost of sinners. We are, as Luther pronounced on his deathbed, “all beggars.”

The very Good News is that no matter who told you don’t belong, you do.

Here, you’re like everybody else.

Here, everybody knows your name.

Here you matter, you are special.

Here, you’re being looked for.

Here, the compass leads you back where the fatted calf and a party await your return.

Welcome home!