It is not surprising given that I am someone who is often dashing off to the next thing, that sometimes things get lost along the way. Sometimes the things that are lost are worse than others.
I’ve previously confessed to the lost video camera on the night of the assessed Drama performance: https://sarahhadfi.wixsite.com/website/post/on-drama-and-underwear My poor homegroup have received multiple WhatsApp messages pleading for prayers for the safe return of missing rodents, after the boys went through a stage of playing with the mice in the morning before school, then neglecting to put them away properly. If you’ve spoken to me or read my Facebook posts this week you’ll know I was making a big drama about the diamond which was lost from my engagement ring. I once lost my youngest son on a beach for what felt like an eternity.
It’s perhaps no coincidence that my fav poem is this:
Of course, the best bit (in fact the only good bit?) about losing valued things, is when you find the things again. Yesterday, when I discovered the half carat diamond at the bottom of my laptop case, I ran shouting up the stairs and went into each of the bedrooms to tell my four menfolk I’d found it! Very biblical, people have told me, as I made further announcements on Facebook.
Aha, yes. Plenty of stories about losing and finding in the Bible. Indeed, look at this whole lovely chunk of lost and found stories, in Luke’s account of the life of Jesus:
“Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
(I think we know this one – younger son goes off and squanders his wealth and eventually he becomes so desperate he returns home)
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
What I love about these parables, is that they’re not just about losing and finding – they’re about celebrating. Each story ends with a party. Last night, I was too busy for a full-on party to celebrate the found diamond (had to dash off to the shops for some emergency last-minute purchases; I did at least return with pink lemonade which is the height of celebratory drinking in this household). But I think half the point of these parables, is the pleasure and the joy of reunion.
Back in the day, I took part in an event called 'Message 2000'. (I am still in denial that I can have colleagues born this side of the millennium, by the way!) This was a Manchester youth mission, where 10,000 young Christians spent a week of our summer holidays volunteering on social, environmental and crime reduction projects, along with attending events and concerts in the MEN Arena. It was sufficiently big that lots of my friends heard about it, and it was on the local and national TV.
I watched a documentary about it afterwards, and there was an interview with one of the leaders, a lovely man called Mike Pilavachi, where a more than slightly hostile interviewer pressed him that weren’t we going to all that trouble working in communities and telling people about Jesus just because we thought that people who don’t know Jesus would go to hell. A smiling Mike replied something like, “That’s a backwards way of looking at it, that we are giving a message so that something bad might not happen. I’m thinking about how fantastic it is when someone does get to know Jesus!”
I like that. I’m sure there is a balance to be had when it comes to our motivation to share the message of salvation. But focusing on the end result, on the party, that’s something I can really get on board with!
Last night, I went round Tesco positively beaming. I was waiting for someone to ask me what had happened. I remembered the day I passed my driving test: I then got straight on a train to work, and the man sitting opposite me was like, “Excuse me, I’m so sorry but I just have to ask – has something happened because you are smiling so much?” You see, sharing good news comes naturally, it is an overflow, an instinct to run around shouting, “Rejoice with me!” And of course, I have good news to share, news better even that the found diamond, and I did pray, “Lord, let someone ask me what has happened so I can say – I found my diamond! But I have even greater news to share!” Alas, no one did, although perhaps they might have thought me deranged if they had. Plus I then slightly ironically lost my car keys and had to empty all my shopping out of the bags hunting, still smiling to myself because it was kind of funny to find a diamond and then immediately get stranded at Tesco because of lost keys. I digress…
Because the conclusion to all this is, of course, that in my excitement over the finding, I’m reminded that I am what is found! I am the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the valuable and treasured possession of someone who looks for me and rejoices over my return. However great my delight at finding the ring, however much I publish the news in shouty capital letters across multiple platforms (goodness, half the people at my school knew about it), that is nothing, NOTHING compared to the gladness in heaven when I turn to God.
I enjoyed finding my diamond. It’s reunited with the ring and will no doubt sit in a drawer not fixed for another decade as I’ll be too busy doing other things to get round to it. But I enjoy the pleasure of God’s smile over me much MUCH more.
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