Sermon: “What Gets Lost, What Gets Found” | Luke 15:1-10

 Good morning, church family! What a joy it is to be together this morning, especially as we celebrate something very special... the presentation of Bibles to our third graders! In just a few minutes, these wonderful young people will receive their very own copy of God’s word, a treasure they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

 

But before we get to that beautiful moment, I want us to listen together to what Jesus has to say about treasure, about what matters most to God, and about the incredible lengths God will go to when something precious goes missing.

 

1. When Things Go Missing

Our Gospel reading today tells us two simple stories that every person in this room can understand, whether you’re eight years old or eighty, ...though in the interest of time, I’m just going to focus on the first story.

 

Jesus tells us about a shepherd who had one hundred sheep, and one of them wandered off and got lost. Now, any sensible sheperd might say, “Well, I’ve still got ninety-nine sheep. That’s not too bad. It’s just makes good economic sense. And some point, you have to cut your losses, sadly.”

 

But not this shepherd. He leaves the ninety-nine and goes searching for the one that’s missing because Jesus counts the cost differently than we do. In Christ’s economy, every single one of us is worth saving, every single one is precious, a treasure. So, he when loses one of his precious lambs, one of his treasures, he searches until he finds it, and when he does, he’s so happy that he throws a party!

 

Now, to our third graders who are receiving Bibles today, let me ask you: Have you ever lost something really, really important to you? Maybe a favorite Pokémon card, or you most special stuffed animal, or your bike got stolen? What did you do? You probably looked everywhere, right? You didn’t give up. You kept searching because that thing really, really mattered to you.

 

That’s exactly what Jesus is telling us about God. Each one of us... every single person... matters to God like that lost sheep mattered to the good shepherd. God doesn’t give up on any of us.

 

2. What Really Gets Lost

But friends, as I’ve thought about these stories this week, I’ve been thinking about what else can get lost in our world. Sometimes it’s not sheep or coins that go missing. Sometimes it’s bigger things. More important things. (And now I’m primarily talking to the grown-ups here.)

 

In our communities, in our nation, even in our families, we can lose sight of what Jesus taught us was most important: love for one another. We can lose our way when it comes to treating each other with kindness and respect. We can lose our commitment to peace and to solving our disagreements with words instead of anger.

 

This week, our country lost a precious person, Charlie Kirk, to political violence. And back in June, we lost another precious person, Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, also cut down

by political violence. Both Charlie and Melissa were beloved children of God. Both were killed by people who thought that political disagreements justified taking lives.

 

Adults, you know the details. You’ve seen the news. You’ve felt that familiar worry in your stomach, wondering where our country is heading, wondering if we’ve lost our way as a people who are supposed to love each other.

 

3. The Search and Rescue Mission

But here’s what I want us to remember from Jesus’ parable today: God doesn’t accept loss as final. When something precious goes missing, the search begins right away. The shepherd doesn’t sit around feeling sad that sheep wander off. He goes looking, right away.

 

Church, we are called to be part of Jesus’s search and rescue mission. Quite simply, what has gone missing in our nation, is love. And when love goes go missing, we are obliged, by our baptismal vows, to go looking for it, until we find it.

 

When kindness disappears from our conversations, we’re called to bring it back. When peace seems lost in our communities, we’re called to search for it, going over hill and dale, mountain and valley, into the darkest wildernesses, not giving up until we find it.

 

To our third graders: The Bible you’re receiving today is like a treasure map. It shows us how to find the things that matter most to God... love, peace, forgiveness, hope. When you read these Bible stories, you’re learning how to be part of God’s search and rescue team too.

 

4. The Call to Love

Now, I know some of you adults are thinking, “Fr. Tom, that sounds nice, but have you seen how divided we are? Have you seen how some people seem to hate others just because they vote differently or believe differently?”

 

Yes, I have. But here’s what I know: Jesus told these stories to people who lived in a world just as divided as ours. The Pharisees and tax collectors in our reading today? They couldn’t stand each other. Sound familiar?

 

But Jesus didn’t accept that division as final. He ate with tax collectors and Pharisees. He loved both Roman soldiers and Judean rebels. He showed us that God’s love is big enough to bridge any gap, strong enough to overcome any hatred.

 

And he calls us to the same work. Not to be naive about real differences, but to insist that no political disagreement, no matter how strongly we feel about it, justifies treating another person as an enemy rather than a neighbor.

 

5. Never, Ever Violence

Let me be crystal clear about this: followers of Jesus are never, ever called to solve problems with violence. Never. The one who told us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies, this same Jesus calls us to put down our weapons, our angry words, our desire for revenge, and to pick up love instead. When we’re angry about politics, we pray and we vote and we work for change through peaceful ways.

 

To our young people: I want you to know that following Jesus means choosing love even when love is hard. It means being kind to people even when they’re not kind to you. The Bible you’re getting today is full of stories that will teach you how to do this.

 

6. The Party at the End & The Bible in your Hands

Here’s the beautiful thing about Jesus’ story today: It doesn’t end with the searching. It ends with the finding & the party

 

Church, I believe we’re going to see some finding and some parties! Not because I’m naive about how hard things are, but because I believe in the God who doesn’t give up on what matters most, love.

 

To our third graders who are about to receive your Bibles: From beginning to end, this book is about God’s love for you, and how you can love God and others, even people that are hard to love. As you read it, over the years ahead, you’ll discover that you’re being asked to join the search party for everything good and beautiful and peaceful that sometimes gets lost in our world.

 

And to all of us adults: we have the same invitation. In a time when so much seems lost... when civility seems lost, when kindness seems lost, when our ability to disagree without demonizing seems lost... we’re called to be the ones who go searching... searching for love and forgiveness.

 

Because that’s what God does. That’s who God is. The great Seeker who never stops looking for his treasures... the great Finder who never stops celebrating when love wins.

 

Thanks be to God for a love that never gives up on any of us and never stops believing that what seems lost can always be found again.

 

Amen.