Lost and Found ...

At nearly every place of business there is a mechanism for lost and found items.  You go to a restaurant and misplace your phone, and you desperately hope someone else turns it in to the lost and found.  Though depending on how new and how wonderful your phone was, actually finding it in the bin is unlikely.  For this mechanism to work, you depend on the honesty of those who find your lost items, to turn them in to be found again.  Further you depend on the honesty of those working in the business to not simply rake through the lost and found and take what they want.  For a phone there is a shot.  For cash, you might as well write off the loss, cause the chances of reclaiming lost cash is nearly zero.  For that to even work, it would depend as well on the honesty of the customers, who far too often have proven themselves less than spotless (see shoplifting, dine and dash, etc.).  But have you ever lost Jesus?

For us losing Jesus consists more of us walking away from Him, turning our eyes off of Him, and persisting in ignoring His love.  It seems improbable to a Christian.  The very essence of being a believer is claiming to “follow” Jesus.  But Jesus is not a physical presence in most of our lives.  We don’t pick Him up from school, or go out to eat with Him at a restaurant.  He lives “in heaven”.  So we know where He is.  But that leaves us away from His personal touch for most of our lives.  So to ask, have you ever lost Jesus, has more to do with “if” you even look for Him at all.  When faith waivers, we begin to question the existence of things unseen, and doubt is allowed to creep in.  After all it is plausible, that if Jesus is unseen, then the probability of His existence is as likely as the spaghetti monster who lives on the far side of the moon (at least this is what every atheist I have ever met has asserted).  But if on the other hand, our God is truly love, then perhaps we look for Jesus in the wrong places.

The Bible is the first place my Christian friends cite as where to go to find Jesus.  And truly the pages of His word are filled with His story, as well as our own.  But Bible study, that does not result in change of hearts that melt with love to others, is Bible study empty of Jesus.  Doctrines are supposed to be a set of beliefs that lead us closer to Jesus, that increase our understanding of Jesus, and help us understand His love even better than before we learned them.  But how many doctrines do you know that accomplish that goal?  Oh sure they all claim to.  But the claims are secondary at best.  Deciding that smoking is a “sin” because it pollutes my body, therefore polluting the temple of God, and corrupting my ability to come to know Jesus, is at best a secondary claim.  That kind of “doctrine” focuses more on me, and my health, and less on Jesus, and His love.  And that kind of silly example is just one of hundreds of doctrines that teach us, but do not educate us, about the love of Jesus.

The simple truth is that when I take my eyes off of something I own, I tend to misplace it.  I use routines to help prevent this.  I keep my car keys and my house keys in the front right pocket of the cargo shorts I wear.  When I feel the lumps in that pocket, I know I still have them.  My wallet is always in the right rear pocket, if I shift my weight when I am sitting down, I know right where my wallet is.  However, on occasion I have to change shorts (my wife tends to mandate this), so during the change out, I place both sets of keys on my dresser, next to my wallet.  Always in the same place, and only in this place.  Another routine to keep from losing them.  Routines help, but to make them effective, I have to follow them without fail, and when new circumstances emerge that I have never encountered before (say staying in a hotel that has neither my cargo shorts, or my dresser) I have to adapt and develop a new set of routines in the foreign environment.  But do I use the same routines to keep track of Jesus?

We go to church.  We assume Jesus is there.  We pray over our meals.  We assume Jesus is listening.  But is Jesus really in our comfortable churches for 3 hours once a week, at the exclusion of love in our hearts for those who have not?  Or do we wrongly associate Jesus with a particular building we call church, while Jesus waits to be seen in the demonstration of our love for someone else?  And as we give thanks for our meals; do you think Jesus gets tired of being thanked for the excess we plan to consume while right outside someone else lacks the means to even eat a meal at McDonalds?  That kind of thanks sounds more like the prayers of the Pharisees (thank God that I am not like that guy, full of sin, and poverty).  So I ask again, do our routines really help us keep our eyes on Jesus, or do they mask a lack of deep change in our hearts, that would upset the routines of our lives, because of our love for others?

Mary and Joseph once lost Jesus.  They did, what we do.  They took their eyes off of Jesus, and assumed they knew where He was.  Every parent does this.  They “know” their child is at school, or with a relative, or at home with the sitter.  We all know what it is like to make assumptions, and 99 times out of a 100 we are completely right about them.  Jesus was 12 years old after all, the age of becoming a man in ancient Israel (generally the age when puberty would be done).  Jesus was not a toddler incapable of caring for Himself, or dependent on His parents for every need.  He was a young man.  He was capable of making His own decisions.  And therein is our worst nightmare, that Jesus might be somewhere else, somewhere other than where we assume, because that is where He wants to be, rather than where we think He should be.  Mary and Joseph lost Jesus once.  Do we lose Him quite a bit more often than that?

Luke tells us this story of the end of childhood of Jesus in his letter of the gospel in chapter two, picking up in verse 41 saying … “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. [verse 42] And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. [verse 43] And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.”  We begin with routine.  Going to Jerusalem once a year was tradition, was habit, was routine.  This was not the first trip.  And on every other prior trip, there had never been a problem like this one encountered before.  But one variable was different.  Technically on every other prior trip Jesus was still considered a child, on this one, He had become a man.  The routines established in our childhood with God may not be the same ones we can rely upon as our childhood gives way to maturity.  Our God expects more of us than to remain babies in the faith.  He looks to heal us, to remove our evil, and to change our hearts to be more in line with His own.

This story begins with assumption, the assumption’s of parents.  Jesus was a good boy.  If He was not right here where we could keep an eye on Him, He “must” be with our kinfolk elsewhere in the long procession that was leaving Jerusalem and heading back to Galilee, to Nazareth.  This trip to Jerusalem was not done like the one at His birth, where Joseph and Mary traveled alone.  It was done with nearly the entire town, anyone able to travel would.  So the dangers from thieves and criminals was less, because too many folks traveled together to make that viable.  Jesus would be safe, even if He was not right there where Mary and Joseph could reach out and touch Him.  But then, Jesus is always safe.  He is kept in the love the of the Father, His Father, and for that matter our Father.  No matter what we face, no matter what evil Satan conspires to throw on us, we are still kept in the love of the Father, your Father, my Father.  His love does not fail, no matter what the level of evil we may wind up facing.  But to assume we need to protect Jesus, is error on our part.

Luke continues in verse 44 saying … “But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. [verse 45] And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.”  So much certainty in our routines and our assumptions that we travel a full day’s journey away from Jerusalem, and Jesus nowhere in sight.  Do we share the same certainty in our current routines, of going to church, and sometimes reading the Bible, or saying a prayer?  We call this our “spiritual life”, and give it a modicum of space, but against the totality of our lives, it is small at best.  But our certainty in these routines is absolute.  And does that certainty lead us to believe that love in action is not required from those who claim to “follow” Jesus?  Instead we love our families, maybe our friends, and call it a day.  That is “plenty” of love to show.  Any more than that is left for “saints” and “holy men”, not for the average Christian, not for me.  And so we journey a full day away from Jesus, certain in our assumptions and routines, and never discern that we have indeed walked away from where Jesus has chosen to be.

But alas, Mary and Joseph realize their horrible mistake.  And the panic of a parent who has indeed misplaced their child sets in.  The million questions pop up.  What if He is hurt?  What if He has been killed or attacked?  What if He is sick and unable to move?  So many bad things can happen to any child, even in our day.  But in theirs was an additional threat, what if the Romans had enslaved Him, or crucified Him (early), or did some other horrific torture or mutilation upon Him for no reason at all.  They did that kind of thing.  And Jesus was last seen in the city where the Romans were garrisoned.   So they turned back from the company of travelers to go back to where they last left Him.  Do we?  Do we turn aside from our certainty and go back to where we last had sight of Jesus?  Are we prepared to put aside our routines, and instead embrace passion and meaning in what we do?  Passion that stems from a love of others (all other) more than a love of self.  That is change.  That kind of change happens only in submission, not in arrogance, or certainty.  It happens in dependence and humility.

Luke continues in verse 46 saying … “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. [verse 47] And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”  Not sure of the timing here, was it three days in Jerusalem looking, or was it one day traveling back and two days looking.  But regardless, it was at least three days separated before Jesus was found.  Do we believe it will be easy for us as well?  Do we just assume we can “declare” we are abandoning our certainty, and our routines, and our traditions and will embrace an active love of others.  And then presto, it happens just like that.  No.  It usually doesn’t.  Not because God does not want it.  But because we have not learned how to depend on Him just that fast.  To leave our arrogance of declarations of our intentions, and ask in humility what Jesus would have us do, to who, when, and where?  We are too comfortable controlling our spiritual life, and nowhere near comfortable enough letting Jesus truly lead us, where He wants us to be, and when, and to share with who He puts in front of us.

But when He is found.  ALL are amazed at His doctrines.  Jesus is teaching the preachers, the priests, the scribes, the lawyers, the students of scriptures – what the scriptures truly mean.  Imagine that.  The doctrines we decide are valid, undone by a 12-year-old man, who knows with authority what they truly were meant to be, and why.  And only then is perfect Truth revealed.  Because we study the Bible without the lens of Jesus, and thus invent things never intended to be there.  When we study through the lens of the life of Christ, and in humility and submission to what Jesus will lead us to, our view of the same Bible changes radically.  His love emerges, and the doctrines that do not lead us here, are the doctrines we can leave behind as not needed anymore.  This is not an invitation to embrace sin, but a method of leaving sin behind.  This is not an invitation to avoid the judgement, but rather a recognition that you have already been found guilty just like your neighbor has and Jesus paid the price for both of you.

Luke continues in verse 48 saying … “And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”  And here is our humanity revealed, Mary and Joseph are upset with Jesus that “He” caused them all this grief.  Are we different?  When we lose sight of Jesus and bad things happen to us from the choices we make while looking away from Jesus, we then turn around and blame Jesus for all those bad outcomes.  We blame Jesus for not “forcing” our will to something better.  We get mad at Him because we leave Him and do stupid things.  We blame Him for our grief, when there is no one else to blame but the person staring back at us in our mirrors.

Luke continues in verse 49 saying … “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? [verse 50] And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. [verse 51] And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. [verse 52] And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”  Jesus must be about His Father’s business.  If His Father’s business is not being conducted in your church, then Jesus may not actually be there.  If His Father’s business is not being conducted in your heart, then perhaps you have not invited in Him there either.  It is easy to say the words.  It is more difficult to let go, and give control of your heart over to Him.  Mary and Joseph did not understand these words of Jesus.  Do you?  Jesus returned with His parents, because honoring them was always His plan.  But honoring them could never supersede honoring God.  Jesus served.  In doing so He increased in stature, and wisdom, and favor with God and man.

That is a road map for our success.  To serve.  To find the humility to serve.  To let go the arrogance of certainty in our routines and traditions and seek to be found of God.  This requires nothing more than the honesty of God to fulfill His promise, and He has never failed.  Be warned.  It is not Jesus that will move from where He needs to be.  It is you, He will move to join Him there.  Be warned.  What you believe may be radically altered by the embrace of a passionate love for others.  But you will be found of God.  And Jesus will be someone you may never lose again.  No lost and found bin required.  And the feeling of belonging will be one you would not trade for the world …