Sought! Not Yet Found…

There is something about Jesus’ “LOST” parables.  They use the word lost!  I don’t like the word, because Christians tend to label people represented by the “lost” item in the parable as “LOST.”  It’s an unkind label.  The Lost.  Ughh… Do you care about the lost?  Why yes I do, I just hope they don’t find out we call them that….but they won’t, because they are not here…

The moral of the story is the fact that the lost thing, the coin, the sheep, the prodigal son, is Sought!  It is longed for, hoped for, waited for, looked for, searched for, the house is turned upside down for it, the 99 are left behind for the 1, the LOST THING is not forgotten. 

We Christians try to be kind and say things like, “they are far from God.”  The truth is….they are not far from God…if Jesus’ parables mean anything, they mean God is out searching for them, turning over heaven and earth trying to find them, trying to get their attention, leaving the 99 (the found) alone while he searches out the not yet found!  He is probably close to them, on the porch, waiting, watching them walk down the road, so he can run out to meet them, throw a robe around their shoulders, and a ring on their finger, and roast up a fattened lamb! 

The choice seems to be, are we going to join the God who is out looking?  Because, he’s probably wishing we were helping.

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