PROTESTANT HOUR
SERMON #3 - SUMMARY
LOST AND FOUND

JOHN M. BUCHANAN, PASTOR
FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHICAGO

Scripture
Luke 15:1-10

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?"
Psalm 139:7a (RSV)

This sermon is based on two stories Jesus told about being
lost and being found.

The good shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to find the one who is
lost; the woman who turns her house inside-out to find one lost
coin, were striking descriptions of God in Jesus’ time. They
still are. They suggest that God searches for us, even while we
are trying to hide: even while we are looking for God, it is God
“7 =i Ng,

pherd and the woman searching for

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COURTYARD

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PROTESTANT HOUR, #3
LOST AND FOUND
JoHN M. BUCHANAN, PASTOR
FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHICAGO
SCRIPTURE

Luke 15:1-10
"WHITHER SHALL I GO FROM THY SPIRIT?”
-Psaim 139:7a (RSV)

THERE IS SOME PRETTY GOOD THEOLOGY
In RoBERT FULGHUM'’S DELIGHTFUL BEST-

SELLER, ALL I NeEep to KNow I LEARNED IN

KINDERGARTEN.

FULGHUM REMINISCES ABOUT PLAYING
HIDE-AND-SEEK WITH HIS NEIGHBORHOOD
CHUMS ON AN OCTOBER SATURDAY EVENING
LONG AGO.

HE REMEMBERS THAT THERE WAS ALWAYS
ONE YOUNGSTER WHO HID HIMSELF SO EFFEC-
TIVELY THAT NO ONE FOUND HIM AND THE

OTHERS - THE SEEKERS - BECAME IRRITATED

WITH HIM AND GAVE UP, FULGHUM THINKS
THAT LITTLE BOY MAY STILL BE HIDING
SOMEWHERE.

He REFLECTS: “As I WRITE THIS, THE
NEIGHBORHOOD GAME GOES ON, AND THERE IS
A KID UNDER A PILE OF LEAVES IN THE YARD
JUST UNDER MY WINDOW. HE HAS BEEN THERE
A LONG TIME NOW, AND EVERYBODY ELSE IS
FOUND AND THEY ARE ABOUT TO GIVE UP ON
HIM OVER AT THE BASE. I CONSIDERED
GOING OUT TO THE BASE AND TELLING THEM
WHERE HE IS HIDING. AND I THOUGHT ABOUT
SETTING THE LEAVES ON FIRE TO DRIVE HIM
ouT. FINALLY, I Just YELLED, ‘GET
FOUND, KID!’ our THE WINDOW. AND SCARED
HIM SO BAD HE STARTED CRYING AND RAN
HOME TO TELL HIS MOTHER." [p. 56-57]

THIS IS A SERMON ABOUT GETTING
LOST AND GETTING FOUND. IT HAS ALWAYS
OCCURRED TO ME THAT THERE IS SOMETHING

ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING LOST THAT

IS MORE POWERFUL THAN IT SHOULD BE.
THERE ARE SURELY FEW THINGS MORE FRUS-
TRATING OR DISCONCERTING.

SOMETIMES BEING LOST CAN BE HUMIL-
IATING, PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAVE FAMILY
MEMBERS OR FRIENDS IN THE CAR RELYING ON
YOUR SURE SENSE OF prrectzon. | THE
STANDARD WAY TO HANDLE IT, OF COURSE, IS
TO KEEP DRIVING WITH CONFIDENCE, UNDER
NO CONDITION ADMIT THAT YOU'RE LOST,
NEVER STOP TO ASK DIRECTIONS; |KEEP_DRIV
ING FASTER...SOMETHING IS SURE TO TURN
UP.

I SUPPOSE THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT
BEING LOST THAT FORCES THE ISSUE OF
ONE'S VULNERABILITY, FALLIBILITY, MOR-
TALITY EVEN. | You KNOW @& THAT THERE IS
NO THREAT TO LIFE, THAT IT'S SIMPLY A

MATTER OF COLLECTING YOUR THOUGHTS,

GETTING DIRECTIONS, AND ALL, SOONER OR

LATER, WILL BE WELL.

SOMEONE TOLD ME RECENTLY THAT DEEP
IN ALL OF US, RELATED TO THE FEAR OF
SEPARATION AND REJECTION THAT SIGMUND
FREUD IDENTIFIED AS THE SOURCE OF OUR
ANXIETY, IS A FEAR OF Lostness. \ OFTEN
IT IS RELATED TO, OR AMPLIFIED BY AN
EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE. I REMEMBER
THE DAY WE MOVED TO A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD
AND I WAS TAKEN TO SCHOOL WITH CAREFUL
INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT HOW TO FIND MY WAY
HOME. I GOT Lost. I REMEMBER WALKING
IN STRANGE TERRITORY FOR WHAT SEEMED
LIKE A VERY LONG TIME, KNOWING THAT I WAS
BECOMING MORE LOST. I ALSO RECALL
HEARING THE FAMILIAR WHISTLE AND THE
RELIEF AND JOY WHEN I LOOKED DOWN A
HILLY STREET AND SAW MY FATHER, LOOKING
FOR ME.

JESUS WAS A MASTER STORY TELLER.
ONE TIME HE DREW ON THE POWER OF THE

HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF LOSTNESS AND TOLD A

SEQUENCE OF UNFORGETTABLE VIGNETTES.
THEY ARE FAMILIAR FAVORITES. THE FIRST
IS ABOUT A LOST SHEEP AND A SHEPHERD WHO
FINDS IT. THE SECOND IS ABOUT A LOST
COIN AND A WOMAN WHO LOOKS UNTIL SHE
FINDS IT. THE THIRD IS ABOUT A FATHER

WHO HAS TWO SONS, ONE OF WHOM LEAVES

HOME AND IS LOST IN A FAR COUNTRY UNTIL
HE DECIDES TO RETURN TO HIS FATHER’S
House; | Np THE ELDER SON WHO STAYS HOME
BUT IS EQUALLY, MORE SERIOUSLY LOST
ACTUALLY, BY REASON OF HIS OWN RESENT-
MENT.

TOGETHER THOSE VIGNETTES REPRESENT
A VERY NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT GOD AND
ABOUT RELIGION... THEY WERE PROMPTED BY
A TENSION WHICH IS PRESENT AND MOUNTING
THROUGHOUT THE CAREER OF JESUS.

“PROPER PEOPLE" WERE NOTICING AND
COMPLAINING ABOUT THE KIND OF COMPANY

THIS PRESUMPTUOUS YOUNG RABBI FROM

NAZARETH INSISTED ON KEEPING.

THE PROPER PEOPLE WEREN'T BAD.
THEY WERE PROPER: POLITICALLY, SOCIAL-
LY, MORALLY, RELIGIOUSLY. THEY WERE THE
PILLARS OF SOCIETY. THEY ARE IDENTIFIED
AS THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES: THE
RELIGIOUS LEADERS. AND THEY DIDN'T LIKE
IT AT ALL WHEN THIS YOUNG RABBI FROM
NAZARETH PRESUMED TO COMMENT ON THEIR
VALUES, WHILE SEEMING ALMOST TO GO OUT
OF HIS WAY TO VIOLATE AND CONTRADICT
THEM. ..NOWHERE AS BLATANTLY AS IN THE
COMPANY HE KEPT. HOW IN THE WORLD CAN
YOU BE A TEACHER OF RELIGION AND ASSOCI-~
ATE WITH "THOSE PEOPLE?"

"THOSE PEOPLE” WERE KNOWN TO THE
PROPER PEOPLE AS SINNERS. THEY WERE
ESSENTIALLY COMMON FOLK WHO HAD NEITHER
THE TIME NOR THE RESOURCES TO PARTICI-

PATE IN THE NICETIES OF FORMAL RELIGION.

JESUS SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH
THESE PEOPLE: THE OUTCASTS, THE UNDER-
DOGS, THE POOR.

So THE PICTURE IS JESUS IN THE
SHABBY HOME OF ONE OF THESE PEOPLE, AT
TABLE, EATING. AND A SMALL CLUSTER OF
PEOPLE OUTSIDE, PHARISEES WHO WOULDN'T
BE CAUGHT DEAD IN A HOUSE LIKE THAT,
PEERING IN, SEEING HIM AND CLUCKING,
"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! WHO IN THE
WORLD DOES HE THINK HE IS, ASSOCIATING
WITH THEM AND THEN PRESUMING TO LECTURE
us?"

THAT'S THE KIND OF COMMENT JESUS
MUST HAVE HEARD... AND I SENSE THAT IT
WAS TO HIS TABLE COMPANIONS, WHO WERE
LOST ACCORDING TO THE ACCEPTED STANDARDS
OF RELIGION, BUT ALSO TO THE PEOPLE
PEERING IN THROUGH THE DOOR WHO WERE
JUST AS SURELY LOST, THAT HE TOLD THESE

LITTLE STORIES.

THE FIRST ONE DRAWS ON AN IMAGE
EVERYBODY LOVES ~ THE SHEPHERD. THIS
SHEPHERD DOES SOMETHING A SHEPHERD WOULD
NOT DO. HE LEAVES NINETY-NINE SHEEP
ALONE TO TRACK DOWN ONE WHO WAS LOST.
AND WHEN HE FINDS IT, HE LEAVES THE
NINETY-NINE AGAIN WHILE HE CARRIES THE
LITTLE LOST SHEEP TO THE VILLAGE FOR A
HOMECOMING CELEBRATION.

THIS IS A COMPLICATED METAPHOR BUT
ITS POINT IS BOTH CLEAR AND RADICAL.
RELIGION THAT EXCLUDES AND DIVIDES IS
WRONG RELIGION. | true RELIGION UNITES,
INCLUDES, INVITES ALL TO TABLE. AND
Gop... NOT THE HEAVENLY GATEKEEPER,
CHECKING CREDENTIALS AT THE DOOR, BUT
THE STRONG SHEPHERD WHO WILL GO WHEREVER

NECESSARY TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL ARE

INCLUDED,

THE SECOND STORY eee SAME
POINT BUT WITH A MORE_PROVOCATIVE CHAR~

ACTER, A WOMAN,

RSELF AN OUTCAST IN A
SOCIETY WHICH WAS ABSOLUTELY PATRIAR-
CHAL. HE HAS LOST ONE COIN AND TURNS
HEX HOUSE INSIDE OUT UNTIL SHE FINDS IT.
NOT ONLY IS YOUR RELIGION WRONG,
JESUS IS SAYING, WITH ALL ITS RULES AND
REGULATIONS EXCLUDING PEOPLE, SO IS YOUR
BASIC NOTION OF Gop. IN FacT, IT'S
BECAUSE YOUR THEOLOGY IS SO OFF BASE,
THAT YOUR RELIGION IS SO BAD. GOD, THE
PRESUMPTUOUS RABBI FROM NAZARETH WAS
PROPOSING, IS LIKE A SHEPHERD WHO GOES
AFTER ONE LOST SHEEP AND STAYS AT IT
UNTIL HE HAS FOUND THAT SHEEP AND BROUGHT
IT SAFELY HOME. GOD IS LIKE THAT WOMAN
- A BREATHTAKING SIMILE WHO WILL NOT
STOP SEARCHING UNTIL SHE HAS FOUND THE

LOST COIN.

A HANDY DEFINITION OF RELIGION IS "THE

HUMAN SEARCH FoR Gop."

ou— ONE or foun JoLoest IDEAS IS THAT
GOD WORKS AT INCLUDING ALL: GOD THE
SEEKER, THE PURSUER... IF RELIGION IS A

SEARCH, THE ONE DOING THE SEARCHING IS

Gob.

“WHITHER SHALL I GO FROM THY
SPIRIT,

OR WHITHER SHALL I FLEE FROM THY
PRESENCE?"

ASKED THE PSALMIST IN THOSE HAUNTING
IMAGES.

"IF I TAKE THE WINGS OF THE MORN-
ING

AND DWELL IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS
OF THE SEA,

EVEN THERE THY HAND SHALL LEAD ME

AND THY RIGHT HAND SHALL HOLD ME.”

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THAT'S A VERY DIFFERENT IDEA OF
Gop: NOT AT ALL A GATEKEEPER, EXCLUDING
ALL BUT THOSE WHO HAVE OBEYED THE RULES,
PERFORMED THE DUTIES, AFFIRMED THE
CREEDS... THIS IS A GOD WHO PURSUES,
LOVINGLY FOLLOWS THE LOST SHEEP, KEEPS
AT IT, EVEN TO THE FAR REACHES OF TIME
AND SPACE UNTIL THE LOST ONE IS FOUND.
So FRANCIS THOMPSON'S MYSTIC POETRY...

"I FLED HIM, DOWN THE NIGHTS

AND DOWN THE DAYS

I FLED HIM DOWN THE ARCHES OF THE
YEARS:

I FLED HIM DOWN THE LABYRINTHINE

WAYS

OF MY OWN MIND; AND IN THE MIDST
OF TEARS

I HID FROM HIM, AND UNDER RUNNING
LAUGHTER...

FROM THOSE STRONG FEET THAT

FOLLOWED,

il

FOLLOWED AFTER. “

[THE Hounp oF HEAVEN]

THERE ARE MANY PLACES TO GET LOST
IN THE MIDDLE OF LIFE. AND IT'S NO
SECRET THAT WHEN JESUS TALKED ABOUT THE
HUMAN CONDITION HE RARELY USED CATEGO-
RIES OF SIN BUT FREQUENTLY EMPLOYED
METAPHORS OF LOSTNESS.

INTENSE SUFFERING AND PHYSICAL
PAIN FEELS LIKE ABANDONMENT, WHICH IS A
FORM OF LOSTNESS. "My Gop, my Gop, WHY
HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" JESUS CRIED OUT
IN PAIN AND IT WAS A CONFESSION OF
RADICAL LOSTNESS NOT UNFAMILIAR TO US.
THE DEATH OF SOMEONE YOU DEARLY LOVE IS
A KIND OF LOSTNESS. $0 IS THE RUPTURE OF
ANY RELATIONSHIP THAT GROUNDS YOU,
CENTERS YOU, TELLS YOU WHO AND WHERE YOU

ARE.) THE LOSS OF YOUR DREAM... THE

HOPEFUL VISION WITH WHICH YOU BEGAN YOUR

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ADULT LIFE AND WHICH AFTER MANY ALTERA-
TIONS MUST BE DISCARDED ~- FEELS A LOT
LIKE BEING CAST ADRIFT IN OPEN SEAS,
Lost. \THERE IS AN ENTIRE LITERATURE

ABOUT THE MORAL LOSTNESS OF LIVING
ENTIRELY FOR SELF, \THE AIMLESSNESS OF A
NARCISSISM MEASURED ONLY BY THE “STUFF"
WE ARE ABLE TO ACCUMULATE.

SOME LOSTNESS IS SELF~IMPOSED.

SOME OF IT IS OUR STUBBORNNESS,

OUR PRIDE, OUR SIN WHICH JESUS DOESN’T
CONDEMN SO MUCH AS IDENTIFY IT AS LOST-
NESS.

You HAVE TO WANT TO BE FOUND, I
supose. | IN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS YOU
HAVE TO BE VULNERABLE, COME OUT OF
HIDING. | vou HAVE TO OPEN AND EXPOSE SELF
TO RISK AND PAIN AND LOVE AND ECSTASY.

No ONE CAN DO IT FOR YOu. PEOPLE WHO
LOVE YOU CAN KEEP THE SEARCH GOING, KEEP

PURSUING YOU, BUT IN LOVE, YOU HAVE TO

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ALLOW YOURSELF FULLY TO GET FOUND.
AND $O IT IS WITH GoD.
How AND WHERE DOES IT HAPPEN? I
THINK OUR BEING FOUND DEPENDS ON WHERE
WE ARE LOST. I BELIEVE GOD FINDS US
SOMETIMES...
~ IN EXPERIENCES OF INTENSE PAS-
SIONATE LOVE
- IN DEEP AND PROFOUND GRIEF
~ IN EXPERIENCES OF BREATHTAKING
AND HEARTSHATTERING BEAUTY
I THINK GOD FINDS US
~ IN MOMENTS OF INSIGHT WHEN WE
KNOW OUR OWN MORTALITY
~ OUR SMALLNESS
- OUR WEAKNESSES
- OUR LOSTNESS.
EMILY DICKINSON, WHO THOUGHT A LOT
ABOUT HOW GOD COMES TO US, WROTE:
"HE FUMBLES AT YOUR SPIRIT

AS PLAYERS AT THE KEYS

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BEFORE THEY DROP FULL MUSIC ON;
HE STUNS YOU BY DEGREES..."
[THE MASTER]
And Rosert FuLGHUM’S "GET FounND,
Kip" WAS PUT MORE ELOQUENTLY BY FRANCIS
THOMPSON - WHEN, AT THE END OF THE HOUND
OF HEAVEN, THE CHASE IS OVER AND THE
VOICE SAYS -
"RISE, CLASP MY HAND
Anp Come!
AH, FONDEST, BLINDEST, WEAKEST
I am HE WHOM THOU SEEKEST."
US SAID SIMPLY -
"AND WHAT ONE OF YOU, HAVING A
HUNDRED SHEEP... DOES NOT LEAVE THE

IS LOST UNTIL HE FINDS I Gop, I BE-

NINETY-NINE AND GO AFTER ONE WHICH
LIEVE, PURSUES US WHEN WE ARE LOST...
WHEN WE HIDE. Gop, I BELIEVE, SEARCHES
FOR US ACROSS THE LABYRINTH OF YEARS WE

ARE GIVEN.

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We LIVE BY GRACE... WE WILL BE
FOUND,.. THE MATTER RESTS IN THE HANDS
OF GoD...OR...ON THE SHOULDERS OF GOD,
IF YOU WILL.

It’s toa eal TO IMPROVE ON THE
WAY THE OLD HYMN SAYS IT:

"PERVERSE AND FOOLISH OFT I
STRAYED,

But YET IN LOVE, HE SOUGHT ME,

AND ON HIS SHOULDER GENTLY LAID,

AND HOME, REJOICING BROUGHT ME.”

AMEN.

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