The audio version of this message may be
found here.
Keys, shoes, glasses, notes to myself,
important pieces of paper—just a few of the things
I manage to lose in a typical day. Generally, I can find
these things fairly soon—although I understand that
the average person spends 55 minutes a day looking for
lost items.
For my birthday this past summer, my husband
gave me a lovely pair of earrings. He presented them to
me while we were dining together, and I promptly put them
on, tucking the pair I had originally been wearing in
the box which had contained the new ones. When I got home,
I carefully put the new ones in a safe place. And just
as promptly forgot where that safe place was. I turned
the house upside down trying to find them, and couldn’t.
I really grieved over this. Can you imagine my rejoicing
when, several weeks later, I came across them?
Even more fun than finding a lost thing
and having it restored to its rightful place is the joy
of finding a lost friend or relative and rekindling that
relationship. This is why reunions can be so much fun—the
opportunity to re-engage in long-forgotten memories and
re-form special bonds brings such pleasure.
Last week, all of my family gathered for
the memorial service for my father. As it should be at
a time like this, it became a joyous reunion of a highly
scattered family. My parents’ house, really cavernous
in its emptiness with just my mother there now, suddenly
bulged with people and suitcases and baby things and food—tons
and tons of graciously prepared food which fed this hungry
hoard for several days.
The five grandchildren live on separate
coasts and sometimes even separate continents, and it
had been four years since all had been under one roof.
They traded babies and toddlers, laughed at shared memories,
watched sports, conversed for hours and hugged with love
when all had to leave. They had found each other again.
To be found, to be loved, to be cared for—these
words express some of the deepest longings of the human
heart. For almost everyone, our most primal fear stems
from the possibility of being unloved and unwanted by
others. Above all, we fear abandonment by those who are
most important to us. The thought of being sought out
by someone whose love never fails, of being found again
when we are lost, can bring such joy.
When we become those who seek out those
who feel lost and abandoned, we offer the very nature
of God to this world. For that is what God does—that
is what the kingdom of heaven is like—a place where
the lost are found, and the reunion takes place. This
is something all of us can do and it’s a lot more
important than finding lost earrings, however much they
may need to be found. This lost and found enterprise has
eternal consequences and brings a joy that has no end.
It’s also the calling of every Christian.
If all were faithful to that call, the
world would be transformed within hours. That's worth
thinking about.
See you in church.
Christy
The Rev. Dr. Christy Thomas, Pastor, Krum
UMC
Questions or comments about this article?
Please contact me at christy@krumumc.org
or phone the church office at 940-482-3482.
