Found
Two weeks ago, I had a terribly unfortunate incident happen to me. Early Saturday morning, I was helping Madasyn move her belongings up to Lewiston, ID (thanks, Dan and Dana, for driving them up there). After the move, I was taking the hitch off my truck; I’m not particularly eager to hit my shin on a trailer hitch, so I took mine off immediately. Unfortunately, while taking the hitch off, I must have set my wallet on my bumper, and then I drove away…
By the time I realized what I had done, I was already at the Home Depot on Duportail, and the wallet was gone. I immediately began retracing my steps; however, seeing a brown wallet from a moving vehicle was nearly impossible. After I retraced my route twice, I admitted defeat and began calling banks to cancel the cards in my billfold and preparing to get new IDs. However, before I submitted any full cancellations, I told myself to wait 48 hours in case it happened to turn up somewhere.
Then it happened at 8:26 am on Sunday; a random stranger sent my wife a message saying they had found my wallet. Immediately after services, I rushed to his house to claim my lost belongings. If you have ever lost something like that, it is a feeling you can’t contain; it is relief mixed with joy, overflowing with gratitude.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells us three parables regarding lost items. And because we are often the wayward and lost things, we identify with the feeling of being found. Yet, the sensation of recovering something that was lost is undeniably better. Often, the lost items do not know they are lost; my wallet had no idea it was gone floating on the winds of uncertainty. While the one who lost them knows they are gone and has to deal with that sorrow and the question of “What if?” And therefore, when the sadness is gone and replaced by joy, how great is that rejoicing?
Luke 15:5-7, 9-10, 32 NASB20 – “And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’ 7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. …
9 “And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin which I had lost!’ 10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”…
32 ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'”
Is it any wonder why Jesus tells this from the perspective of God and the heavenly realm? Can you imagine the amount of rejoicing in heaven when someone is found again? God is the originator of emotions, and the Bible describes Him with the same adjectives and emotions we can experience. Leading me to believe that the joy He feels is superior to ours, as He more fully understands the ramifications between our states of being lost and found. I wish for only a moment that we could appreciate the delight God feels when someone returns to His embrace.
I was beyond excited to have my wallet returned. To know that it was back in my possession brought considerable happiness. And it was only a trivial wallet. It compares nothing to someone’s soul. Perhaps that is why all of heaven rejoices when those who are lost become found. When the shepherd finds the wayward sheep or when the son returns from their time of wild living. Let’s find lost things and fill heaven with great rejoicing. Let’s get to celebrating.