March 11, 2023

  

 

The parable of the lost sheep

Dear God,

Thank you that you love us so much and always will, no matter what we do or where we go. Thank you that you will always chase after us like that lost sheep. Thank you that you show us how to love others and we ask that you will help us to grow in showing and sharing that love. Amen

Have YOU ever felt lost – or been lost. Think of the child who wanders away from his/her parent – just going along, not really thinking anything but looking at all the sights, hearing the sounds. Suddenly, the child realizes there is no parent in sight. How terrifying when that realization hits. Then suddenly the rescue; the lost one is found, and the sight and sounds of an anxious, relieved and loving parent reassures and comforts the child. 

As in this scenario, the son in the reading has been having a great time, spending his inheritance, living “the good life” until it all comes crashing down.  The realization that he is alone, far from loved ones. He’s alone, hungry, poor, eating scraps and living a life so different than he’d imagined. It all comes crashing around him – and what does he want? He wants his home, family, and whatever scraps he feels he might receive.  He sets off on the long journey home. 

And what awaits him? His loving father sees him in the distance, and runs to him, after telling the servants to prepare a great feast. He takes him in his arms, and says “the lost one is found”. He doesn’t chastise his son, he welcomes him with love, acceptance, and great joy.

For an older sibling it can be very distressing, too.  The anxiety of the parent, searching for the lost child, and then the reunion can be both a blessing and a curse. Perhaps the child or older sibling is secretly joyful to not be required to share the time with the parent.  Worse still, if the lost child is rewarded and the other sibling gets nothing but a rebuke from the parent for asking for something to which they feel entitled there can be anger and bitterness. However in the parable his loving father reminds him “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we have to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

As I child I was taken by my mother, with my younger sister, to live in England for almost a year. My dad was doing his PhD in Minnesota, and they figured it would be a good opportunity for us to visit with my mother’s family, from whom she’d been absent for 8 years.  As much as I loved seeing my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I missed my father terribly. It was a great reunion when we finally came back to Canada.

I don’t remember being lost as a child, however years later, as a young wife with two children and a crumbling marriage, far away from my parents, I felt God had forgotten me. This feeling persisted for several years. I was lost, alone, afraid, with no way to turn that wasn’t going to hurt someone. It was a long and difficult journey but throughout it I knew my Heavenly Father hadn’t let go of me, He’d carried me when I felt I was alone, and knowing that gave me the courage to go on.

It took some time, but the peace I eventually felt was like that of a beloved child – once lost, now found. I was so blessed to be held in His hands, and carried so gently.

The musical selection is one I love so much. May it give you peace and joy.

- Sheila Matson

 

Handel’s Messiah – He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd