Lost and Found, It Is Good to be Home
It is nice to be home. My family had some wonderful adventures and as always happens near the end of our time away, I get excited about being back at church with you all.
Jesus often drew away to pray and contemplate as we heard in John’s Gospel last Sunday. After he fed 5,000 people in the wilderness he withdrew to the mountain. Jesus not only shows us that time to pray, rest, contemplate, prepare, etc. is important, but further, that time away often finds its completion in returning. Ultimately, we will see the completeness of this dynamic when Jesus rises to fulfill the Good News of Easter after having died on the cross.
This dynamic of leaving and returning is played out numerous times in the parables. Jesus talks about the lost coin that is found and the one sheep that is sought out even as the 99 remain. Possibly one of the most famous parables offers the tale of a prodigal son who leaves but in desperation returns home.
What is most striking in these parables is the description of the lost returning in that the lost is said to be “found.” The coin is found. The sheep is found. Even the son who returns is proclaimed by the father as having been “dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” (Luke 15:32)
Friends, it is God’s good desire to seek us out. Our hope is always in having been found and returned to life by the one who died and rose to life for us. Our hope and promise in our life of faith is that we have a God who will never let us be lost. We will always be found as God’s own.
You each have your own story of how you have found a home in the Episcopal Church. I am grateful that your individual story has brought you to Holy Spirit.
We love you and God loves you,
Josh Condon+