Lost & Found

It is six months today since the Malaysian airliner travelling to China disappeared. And still no one knows for sure where it might have gone. The searching continues, with decreasing hope, and the grieving families are left with nothing.

At the end of the First World War, there were many families who had been told that their relatives were lost, but with no trace - missing presumed dead. Many hoped against hope that they might be discovered somewhere, and yet when the fighting was over, the fact of their loss had to be accepted. 

In these situations, loss seems to be the last word.

Many others face different forms of loss, and again, it is difficult to see any signs of hope emerging - whether that is for Syrian refugees, or for children taken into care and separated from their brothers or sisters, or for the countless victims of abuse and exploitation.

The Bible is full of stories of people whose lives were shot through with bleakness and hopelessness. And yet, it is into this world that the Good News of Jesus comes. He spoke of the Good Shepherd who went about seeking those that were lost, and He laid down his life for them. 

St. Peter, reflecting on many Old Testament passages, sets out the astonishing change which has come to those who trust in Jesus.'You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 

“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” 

(1 Peter 2.9-10)

The difference between being Lost (and being in the dark) and being Found (and being in the light) is staggering. Peter makes the point so clearly that 'As a result, you can show others the goodness of God'. 

That changes the way I live today.

Or as we learned in Church yesterday, 'God is with me and he loves me!'

Best wishes,

Richard