Pentecost 16 (C) 2010

Commitment

Introduction

Over at the day care at the YMCA there is a ‘fall’ lost and found. It is huge.... there are four large tables set up with hats and mittens, shorts and shoes....

Lost and Found bins always fascinate me. I almost always search through every one I encounter. I think part of it is that I like people and I like stories....

It is fun. You dig down and you come across one red snow boot. Ok; how did the person get home with only one boot? There is a story there, right? I have come across some odd stuff – stuff you are SURE the person would not have forgotten.

Curiously, though, a couple of days ago I found my daughters sun hat. I did not even know it was missing. You see, lost and found is strange like that...

There are two sides of losing things and finding things. Sometimes when we lose something it is no big deal... and other times, when you lose your keys, it destroys everything from plans to your day... on the other hand, finding something is an incredible feeling. It can be relief when you find those keys, or joy when you reach in a pair of pants from the dryer and find a twenty dollar bill.

We are starting a new year. Loss because the summer is over and joy because we are back together; sadness because it will not be the same as last year, and expectation about the future...
So this morning I want to begin by asking you have you ever been lost? Have you ever felt lost? It may sound like a gloomy way to begin the new year; but I prefer to think of it as constructive realism...

Finding Our Way

I think it is easy in today’s world to feel lost.

• Perhaps we feel lost because we are retired, or widowed, or our family has moved across the country...

• On the other hand, those who are working and have a family, running every day; week in and week out – perhaps they feel lost as well. .

• Living with an illness, out living your children, dealing with grief, living with mental illness, bullied, all of this can lead to a person feeling lost.

• For some we can even wake up one morning and ask ourselves, who am I? We have lost ourselves in the fray of life.

You can look both near and far to find them. Some are in your own household, it may be you.

I know I have felt lost, that deep empty feeling of not knowing where to turn or what else to do. That nothing matters, there is no way out.

I want you to conjure up those feelings for a second... For Jesus knew that this is a feeling that plagues us all...

Still – if you have ever felt truly lost, if you are like me... just hearing stories about how God loves us can seem like cold comfort... I wonder how often the line, “"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” actually brings us comfort?

I mean, really.... I have to tell you. I might just accept that lamb as an acceptable loss.

So I have sat with these readings this week, from the perspective of feeling lost and empty words and what I have learned is that these parables are not just kind words to offer encouragement rather these are stories that can help us to find what we have lost.

See, these parables do not exist in isolation; they are connected to a larger story, a more complete story of good news and how to live.

The one whom we follow, Jesus, taught his followers so much about how to live, about how to be in this world. When we are feeling lost, alone, frightened, isolated, abandoned – we can turn to scripture, stories about Jesus, these parables and discover a way of life, a way to live today that alleviates our loneliness, our isolation, our abandonment, our sense of being lost, and even when we forget who we are.

There is a shepherd – a woman – a God of love and creation- and knowing that starts to change everything....

I can’t tell you how... not in one sermon – not even in a year of sermons... because frankly, we all forget far more than we hear... and something is going to happen to you; maybe this afternoon, maybe in six months... and you will feel lost again...

But this is a starting point for our year. You are the lost lamb... you are the lost coin... and just because God might find you does not mean your life is going to be fine... the work of living is still up to you...

Conclusion

The tricky thing about Jesus was that he talked all about love – but he expected hard work.

God loves you... it helps; it really does... but the world is not the way it is supposed to be; and living faithfully is not easy. In fact, it can be really hard, it takes effort, commitment.

We are blessed to have Jesus as an example, and scripture that shares stories of how to live, how be in this world, how to find new life, and break free of isolation and how to be found. This is our journey every day – to seek and be found. Amen