Lost and Found

If you go into the office at the Foot of Ten Elementary School you will notice to your right, a table. On top of the table and underneath the table are boxes of all kinds of items: there are jackets and hoodies, jump ropes and basketballs, and hats, hats, hats, and gloves and scarves, and there’s a skateboard or two, and well you get the picture. It looks like an orphanage is having a yard sale. It is, of course, the school’s Lost and Found.

When I go in the school I always at least casually glance at the Lost and Found in the hopes I will see something one of my sons has lost. . . and I will found it.. Because they have lost things. I can’t be too hard on them because I did a lot of that when I was their age. I once buried my basketball in a snow bank somewhere in the West End of Williamsport thinking I would come back later and get it when the snow melted. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And so I temper my frustration with the boys when I ask them, “Where is the basketball?” and I get, “I don’t know, somewhere.”

Somewhere doesn’t really do me any good. Because somewhere is a lot like lost. And when something is lost, I don’t have it. It is lost to me. It no longer belongs to me. Jesus talks about Lost Things. He tells stories about lost things and emphasizes what a great difference there is between being lost and being found. It’s like the difference between being dead and being alive.

In fact, in the parable of the Prodigal Son that younger son returns home to his father and the father calls for a great celebration because, “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”

Being lost is like being dead. Being found is like coming alive again.

I mention this because our tendency is to not view ourselves and our lives in so strict of terms. We judge things on a sliding scale. We talk about perspectives and being on a journey. True that. But sometimes we have to make choices. Sometimes doubt must give way to commitments, one way or another.

There was a disciple of Jesus named Thomas. His nickname was Didymus which is Greek for The Twin. We have another nickname for him – the Doubter. Thomas was a bit of a skeptic. You might say he was a robust doubter. He had a pessimistic bent. This doesn’t mean he didn’t believe in Jesus, it just means he wasn’t happy about it. For example, when Jesus announces his intention to go on up to Jerusalem, Thomas gloomily says to the other disciples, “Well, let’s us go up too and die with him.”

Thomas was the Eeyore of the disciples. There was always a cloud over him. But he was a disciple. Thomas took his commitment seriously. In John’s Gospel when Jesus says to the group, “I go to prepare a place for you. . .And you know the way where I am going (John 14.2-4) Thomas speaks up, alone among the disciples, and says wait a minute Lord, I don’t know what you are talking about. You imagine the other disciples are nodding their heads pretending like they understand, but Thomas won’t pretend.

“Lord, we don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?”

Thomas did the other disciples a great favor. In this case, Thomas’ doubt served his commitment and faith. He believed in Jesus enough to ask the obvious question. Sometimes our doubts can have the effect of strengthening our faith. We have made going by the name Christian too easy, too unthinking, and too undeciding. Being a Christian is more than reciting the words and giving a nod and a wink at the proper time.

Most of us would be much better off if we, like Thomas, demanded I won’t believe until I see the nail prints and scars. If we dared to cry out to meet Jesus, then we would be moved in one direction or another out of safe comfort zones.

Thomas used doubt to lead him to greater commitment. For commit he did. Jesus showed up, maybe in response to Thomas’ demand, and said, “Here. Here are holes, here are wounds. Reach out and touch them. Stop doubting and believe.”

It’s unclear whether Thomas actually did touch the wounds of Jesus. What is clear is that He cried out his belief that he was standing in the presence of the risen Lord – “My Lord and my God!” Thomas cried. The Doubter became the Convinced.

Sometimes doubt can be a good thing. But doubt will only take us so far. The grey fog of doubt must give way to the clear sun of commitment. The philosopher William James said that doubt is the wrong alternative when three conditions are met: when we have live options, when the stakes are momentous, and when we must make a choice. Surely Thomas faced such a situation. And so do I. I have to live. John Ortberg writes:

“ I have to make choices. I have to spend my life praying or not praying, worshiping or withholding worship. I have to be guided by some values and desires. And then I have to die. I must give my life in total, in full, without the luxury of holding something back for the second hundred years. My life is the ballot I cast – for God or against him.”

There are a lot of people in our world that don’t know what they are living for. They are living in polite half-doubt, half-belief. They have committed to nothing and no one but themselves. I just read about a 22 year-old woman from San Diego named Natalie. Natalie decided to fund her post-graduate education by selling her virginity to the highest bidder. The idea came from her sister, who was able to pay for her education after working as a prostitute for just three weeks.

“I know a lot of people will condemn me for this,” Natalie says, “but I don’t have a problem with that.”


Natalie has received offers from over 10,000 men. The highest bid came in at over $3.7 million. Even Nathalie was surprised. “It’s shocking that men will pay so much for something which isn’t even prized so highly anymore.” Ironically, Natalie is planning to use the income to earn a degree in Marriage and Family Counseling.

Our culture teaches a twisted value that anything has a price and therefore anything can be devalued and debased. The Scriptures teach us that things are inherently valuable because God has ascribed their worth. We may go our whole lives looking for something worth our while. My question is this: if you found that thing or that person, would you really give your life?

Show video The Pearl

Have you ever felt lost? Have you ever been so confused or tired that you felt purpose and value slipping away from you unbidden? Friend, you are not alone. To be lost is not to be condemned. Jesus died and rose for the Lost. But Lost is not where he wants us to stay. Jesus wants us to be found.

Will you choose this day for Jesus? Are you willing to give your very Life to follow him?