Road to the Cross: Meditations for EasterIhe Atụ

Lost and Found

Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. (Luke 15:6)

I have this vague, gossamer memory of getting lost when I was a small child. The memory is fragile and wispy, but I’m pretty sure I’m not imagining it. It really happened. I was in a store, and there were high counters that you couldn’t see over, and I couldn’t find my mother. I was lost. And I had that sick, frightened feeling that only the lost can understand. But then a voice said, “There you are!” And my mother swept me up in her arms, and I was found. I felt so deeply relieved, and my heart fairly ached with happiness. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been drawn to Luke 15, which is a succession of lost and found stories—a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.

On the road to Jerusalem, the tax collectors and sinners crowded around Jesus and hung on his words. No preacher ever had a more attentive audience. These were lost people—at least in the eyes of the religious establishment. They were the lost sheep, the lost coins, the lost sons and daughters. No wonder they hung on Jesus’ words. When you are lost, and someone talks about how you can be found, you listen very carefully.

Predictably, the Pharisees grumble about Jesus slumming with sinners. But if even one lost sinner is found, there is happiness in heaven, and I imagine an angelic voice saying, “There you are!” 

Prayer: Use me, Lord, to help find those who are lost.