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…
The son was pretending a lot, let’s not kid ourselves…he had no idea how great he had it at home…
My daughter is the queen of pretending…she has a vivid imagination and I hope it never leaves her…but she will come up to me and ask me to be a part of this crazy story that she has concocted in her head…and it’s amazing…I could never come up with this stuff…
When you are little, you do a lot of pretending. You pretend you are a superhero, or a princess…and you do a very good job being that person, you may even have a cape or a tierra. But when you grow up…people can tell if you are not a superhero or princess. You cannot fool people into believing you have magical powers to fly or that you live in a castle. People can tell if you are faking it.
I spent most of my life pretending. Not that I was a princess, but that I was a Christian. I did an amazing job at pretending. I had everyone fooled! But as I grew up, it got a lot harder to keep pretending that I was living the life I should have been living. I had known who Jesus was since I was a little girl, and I was at church every time the doors were opened. But I had no real relationship with Him. I knew people expected me to be this good Christian person, but I wasn’t. so, for a long time, I pretended I was…
I am a 6 generation Salvationist. I have like a bazillion officers and soldiers in my family. And I received the call to be a Salvation Army officer when I was very young…Family members and friends continued to tell me that God was calling me to officer ship, and it seemed every time I turned around, someone was trying to get me to sign up to be an officer…it was what everyone had expected me to do! and I don’t really like to do what everyone expects me to do! plus, there had been some things that had happened in my family that didn’t make sense to me…things that made me very angry at them, and at God…I knew that if I accepted my calling, that it would make my family very happy. It would prove all those people right, who had told me time and time again that I was supposed to be an officer. And I know this sounds horrible, but I did not want to make anyone happy.
This was supposed to be my choice, my decision, my life! there was no way I was going to let them win…so I went in my own direction…and I chose my own way. I completely pulled off the cover on my pretending scam! I wanted everyone to know that I was not this good little Christian girl, and that I would make a horrible officer. I dabbled in things that at the time, I thought they would make me seem bad, or more mature, everyone else was doing it right? But now, looking back on it, those things were never what they promised to be…they were not worth the real cost, they only left me pain, depression, brokenness, and shame…I ran so far away from God, I thought that I had left Him and His plan for my life behind in the dust….
But He was never far away, in fact He had never left me…I was tired of being angry and tired of being depressed, and decided to see if God still wanted to have anything to do with me…and you know what? I found Him waiting for me with open arms! Little by little He was slowly changing my heart…little by little I was beginning to develop a true and deep relationship with Him…and He brought people into my life that showed me who God really is, and how my pride was really the issue, not my family or the things I had done. And I know that there was rejoicing in heaven when I gave my life back to Him…
…You see, when you say yes to God, and you are in the center of His will…amazing things happen.
I'm glad that God loves us so much that he doesn't give up on us when we get lost, aren't you?
Our Father in heaven loves us so much, that He would have sent His son to die, even if it were just you here on earth…even if it were just you…He would seek you out, to find you…you are that important to Him…even if you don’t feel important to anyone else…you are important to God…so much so that He sent His son, to die for you…
We all know the Bible verse John 3:16… (say it) …what an awesome promise! God is so good, amen? He loves us so much, amen? You are important to Him, amen? Amen!
When we are lost, God comes and finds us…when we can’t find our way, God shines a light…when we go far away from home, God continues to search for us…and when we return to him, he is waiting there with open arms!
Our God is so good…and He loves us, so so much! Let’s Pray
