Dec 7th -lost

I've lost my keys.
How does that happen?  I came in from the car.  I locked the car.  I had my hands full of shopping.  I came into the kitchen and put the shopping away.  Took some Christmassy things upstairs and changed clothes.  Went back downstairs and gave the boys their tea.  Then Keith and I went out to housegroup in his car.  When I came back home I remembered I needed something from my car.  Went to get my keys from the kitchen table where I always leave them...............

So I've spent the best part of an hour checking pockets and bags and nooks and crannies and re-checking pockets and bags.  And I haven't found them.  Which is ridiculous isn't it?  Our house isn't that big,  they are here somewhere.  They will turn up.   But it is just incredibly annoying.

Thinking about lost keys reminds me of two Bible stories - one about lost money and the other about lost sheep.   The money one goes like this...
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:8-10).

It sounds to me as though she was going through the same process I've been going through trying to find they keys.  I wonder if she started searching sometime in the afternoon and was still turning the house upside down at nightfall when she had to light a lamp, using precious oil ,and go through each room carefully sweeping until she found the coin.   I wonder if she needed that coin because she was about to pay for something important.  Maybe she had been saving up and had finally reached her goal of ten silver coins.  Perhaps the rent collector was on his way.   Or maybe there was a dowry to pay or stock to purchase for the family business.  Perhaps she had to have ten pieces exactly - which is why she was determined to search until she found it.  She knew it had to be there somewhere.

A coin is smaller than a set of car keys.  A coin can slip behind a skirting board or between floorboards or into the lining of a coat.  Even harder to find when lost.  Persistence required

The lost sheep is a story so familiar to us.  But it was really brought to life to me when I met a real life shepherd a while ago.  Ive maybe told this story before in another blog page but it's worth repeating.   I probably haven't remembered the details very well but the gist of it is that my friend was off to an evening wedding reception.  He was all dressed up in a nice suit and fancy shoes.   Just as he was half way down the road his farm hand phoned him to say that some of his sheep had got out of their field.  My friend immediately turned back and went straight to the field where his sheep had been.  Despite it being dark and raining quite heavily he was able to ascertain that a mother and her lamb were missing.  He could see that the sheep had pushed through a gap in the fence and had ended

up very close to the river bank.   He didn't have a torch,  he was wearing thoroughly unsuitable

footwear, it was pouring down.  But he didn't give it a second thought.  He climbed over the fence and set off to find the ewe and her lamb.   He was calling for them all the time - worrying that they might lose footing in the wet mud and end up in the river.   After about an hour of searching he found them and managed to lead them back to the field.   He then set about fixing the hole in the fence so the sheep couldn't get out again.    Hours later , frozen to the bone and soaking wet he was able to get back home to change and go to bed.  Wedding reception aborted.   But sheep safe and sound.

When I asked him why he hadn't left it to the farm hand to sort out, my friend said that the farm hand wouldn't have bothered to go out in the bad weather in the middle of the night.  They weren't his sheep.  He was just doing a job and the job description did not include going above and beyond.  But the shepherd loved his sheep, knew each one, knew what they would do and when they were in danger.   The sheep knew him and trusted his voice.  If ever there was a picture of Jesus, that was it.

Mostly lost things don't get found unless someone is looking for them.   We read the parables and understand them to be about God looking for His lost people ( us) and see that he is intentional, careful, thorough, persistent and ultimately successful in His searching.  We breathe a sigh of relief when we understand that He is on a mission to keep us safe, stop us from wandering, search for us if we stray and bring us home rejoicing.

But today I'm wondering if the parables aren't also there to encourage us to be equally diligent over the lost.  When was the last time I fretted over my unsaved friends and family in the same way that I've been fretting over my keys this evening?   When was the last time I felt any sense of urgency about ' the lost' ?    Hmmmmmm.    Christmas is a time when we tidy up and rearrange the furniture and decorate the house and organise things.  Perhaps as we get our physical houses in order over the coming days we should also pause to ask the Holy Spirit if our spiritual lives need any work.  And to ask Him to give us His heart for all that is lost in this world.  We have the chance to partner with Him in finding , rescuing, redeeming that which is lost.  There can surely be no greater calling.