The Lost

Some things were lost which should not have been forgotten. Deep in the caves of the Misty Mountains, far from the Shire, a little fellow called a hobbit wandered through the gloom. There in the dark fumbling around in the depths of the endless caverns, Bilbo found a ring. He came upon it - quite easily. He wasn't looking for it - it found him. But another soon was searching - with a howl of pain and scrabbling hands, desperately seeking - something precious.

Where could it have gone? Where could it be?

Bilbo put it on - and promptly disappeared. Perhaps he'll come back into the story later. But there, left behind, bereft and grieving, for its loss inconsolable, was the ring's old keeper, who mourned. It was not actually all that valuable in itself, was it? Its value was in its tie to its master - its true master, maker and owner, who sought it even more deeply with a darker craving than any other creature could conceive.

It was a bad thing that was lost - and found - there in the dark, in the tale of the Lord of the Rings that Tolkien told. There are good things lost too - by good people. Simple things, cherished things, beloved things: a ring, a photo, a coin. More importantly, a pet, a cat or a dog, a farm animal, a sheep or a goat. More important still - a beloved child.

Yesterday during my wife's company picnic I looked up one moment and noticed a mother looking around for her son. Where is he? I thought, and began to look too.

I got pretty far off and away from the rest of the gang but when I looked back, there way across the picnic ground, at the edge of the park, there he was: leaning against the fence, raptly watching a cement mixer pour its load.

He loves machines, his mother said. They walked back together to rejoin the rest of the party. I have to tell you, their absence was not much marked. Her child, like any child, I suppose, wanders off from time to time - who doesn't?

What we were doing - what they were doing - they until we rejoined the party - was playing silly games just for fun - mostly a chance to enjoy each other's company and cheer small victories and little feats.

There was a spoon race, a three-legged race, and a ball toss. Dress-up, a trivia quiz: all for the fun of it.

We didn't really miss out on much while we were away - this isn't a perfect fit to suit the gospel. Its two stories are halves of the one that Jesus told three times over.

If there were a sheep lost you'd go find it, wouldn't you? When you all were together again wouldn't you have a party for the sheer joy of it and the joy of the finding and the being together - restored to unity?

If a woman lost a day's wages, all in one throw of a coin, wouldn't she conduct a sweep-search until she found the missing piece?

And then wouldn't she be so glad she'd found it she'd call her friends to share the joy?

Much more so, much more so - what a party the angels have in heave to rejoice in the restoration of a lost child of God. For he is the shepherd who seeks the stray and carries her back into the fold, he is the housewife who turns the kitchen upside down to find what has fallen, and rolled, maybe here, maybe there.

He is the party-giver who invites us all to join in the fun.

But there is a problem here - a wet blanket who just won't dance, won't sing, won't laugh, wouldn't even cry if it came to that. No, no, no.

"This fellows," said the Pharisees to the scribes, "welcomes sinners and eats with them."

He extends the fellowship of the Table to unclean, impure, sinful people. Ecch!

At the picnic Saturday, Meredith Long pointed out a real difference between Jesus and his interlocutors. They perceived the 'sinners' as of no value, of lost value, forever stained by sin; Jesus saw them as people made in the image of God, an image that could be tarnished but never wiped out.

So it is that Jesus tells the story to them. Look at it:

- lost sheep, lost coin, sinner;
- found sheep, found coin, repentant sinner;
- rejoicing with friends, rejoicing with friends, grumbling and carping.

What gives?

When John asked you to mourn, Jesus says, you would not weep; when I asked you to dance, you stayed still.

It's as if they haven't received the news:

All are forgiven, all are restored, all are being brought back, all restored to life in the Father - by the grace of God in the love and faith found in Jesus.

What was impossible for humanity to accomplish, GOD has done.

Jeremiah speaks of a land laid waste, even the rocks in tumult. (As Meredith Long pointed out to me) All that God created is undone, the days of creation reversed, like a torn seam in a cloth all the sewing ripped away: where the city stood lie ruins, where orchards grew there is a wasteland, the mountains and the hills themselves are shaken; the land under the seas subsumes once more; as at the beginning all is without form and void - almost: for the holy Breath still sweeps over the face of the deep.

The light they cannot see for sinning still shines. It is lighting the darkest path, and the Lord will restore the fortunes of his people. They will rejoice and be glad.

They will no longer thirst by day, and by night they will fear no evil. For God will be their everlasting light, and he shall be their glory.

He shall be the mainstay of the poor, the hungry - and all who have fallen short of Glory he will bring back: to life, to light, to rejoicing in the presence of heaven.

This is the Lord's doing: no one can boast of it as his own achievement.

Paul tells Timothy that he was a sinner; he received mercy - and God's grace overflowed with love and faith: for Jesus came to save the lost - as surely as the woman went to seek the coin, as surely as any one would go find a lost one of their own keeping, as surely as a mother seeks a missing child, Christ comes for us.

Christ comes to us - and he calls us to come home; and he calls to us, as well, to come join the party: for what was lost is found.

When you are invited to dance, when there is a time of rejoicing, you are part of the welcome: the welcome-home to the lost sheep or coin or son or brother.

Come and join the company of angels: rejoice in the presence of the Lord.

You are welcome at the Table.

Blessed one, bless us, in the breaking of the Bread. Amen.

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