Lost & Pretending

Guys…I want to be really honest with you this morning… I love that we get to do some amazing things, but honestly. I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off…running from one meeting to another, making sure everything on my multiple lists get done, and I’m just plain tired…I can’t even begin to tell you how I’ve been pouring over this sermon and what I should talk to you all about this week…and the only thing, the only word that has been coming to my mind is…home…and I thought about what this weekend was, and how amazing it had all been…and it solidified it this morning when I got Asher, my youngest, up…he heard me cough in the living room, and I heard him say, mommy? And when I came into the room, he was waiting for me at the foot of his bed and he said, Mommy! You found me! Oh I’m so glad! …and it hit me like a ton of bricks…I have to talk about home and family…

Our scripture today is going to be in parable form…a story that relates to something else…the way Jesus was very fond of speaking to people…and it’s just about some stuff that gets lost…

We are always losing things, right? That’s the reason we have lost and found boxes, have you ever looked in a lost and found box? I’ve seen glasses, gloves, medications…and even shoes…how you made it home without realizing that you only have one shoe though, I’ll never know…and devices we put on our keys that make a sound when we clap, because we lose them all the time, right? How many of you have ever lost something? I lose something at least once a day…there are times that I will be talking on the phone, looking for my phone…or desperately trying to control the apple tv but the remote has once again hidden itself somewhere in my living room…those things can really hide anywhere can’t they?…it’s pathetic sometimes when we lose things…

When we lose things, it can cause our whole lives to stop…

When we lose our car keys, it strands us…when we misplace our glasses, we cannot see what we are doing…when we lose something that’s very important to us…we can’t just say, oh that’s fine, I’ll just get another one…no! we search and search until we find it again…we tear rooms apart just trying to find it again…we talk to ourselves, asking ourselves where we last saw it…we even pray, asking God to help us find it again…these little things are so important to us, that we will literally turn our lives upside down to find them again…

In our scripture today, Jesus is telling a story about two things…sheep and coins…The first story Jesus told was about a man who had a hundred sheep. One of his sheep strayed away from the flock and became lost. Every one of the man's sheep was important to him, so he left the ninety-nine and went to search for the one lost sheep. When he found it, he was so happy that he called all of his friends together and said, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep."

Next, Jesus told a story about a woman who had ten silver coins. Each of the coins was worth a day's wages. The woman counted her coins, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Oh no! I have lost one of my coins," she cried. Do you know what she did? She turned on every light in the house, swept the floor, and searched until she found the one lost coin. When she found the lost coin, she called all her friends and neighbors together and said, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin." Can you see her though? Looking under furniture, turning out pockets, making sure it wasn’t eaten by the pet…It sounds silly, doesn’t it? BUT WE DO THIS EVERY DAY…you can see her searching for it, because you have been her before~

Jesus told these two stories to demonstrate God's love for us. We are God's children, but sometimes we get lost. When that happens, God doesn't give up on us. He searches for us, and he won't stop until we are found. In fact, the Bible tells us that God sent his son, Jesus, to seek and save the lost. And just as the people in the story rejoiced when they found what was lost, Jesus said, "There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The next story that he tells us, is about a young man…who decides that he is done with the life he was living…he deserved more…and so he basically goes up to his father and says, I want my inheritance now…I’m leaving and never coming back…he is basically saying to his dad…I would be better off if you were dead already…give me what you would have given me when you do die and I’m out of here….he leaves and lives a horrible sin filled life, and ends up in ruins…but remembering how good his father is, even to the servants in his household…he comes home…to his father…who accepts him with open arms…