Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’
Luke 15:1-2 NIVUK
There is a concept that is meaningful in Christian circles, but outside of it is not used that often.
The concept is the idea of being lost.
When we were children, we were familiar with the idea. We could get lost in the supermarket, lost in a play park, lost in a maze.
We know how that feels.
We know the pain of being cut off and estranged from the things we know, the places and people we know, to be distant from familiarity.
It is disturbingly painful.
Yet we relegate that feeling to our childhood we tell ourselves that mature people don’t feel such things: that they are always certain of where they are and are in control.
Modern life has actually made it very difficult to be really lost physically. We have devices in our pocket that can connect to distant satellites and tell us precisely where we are.
But let me tell you, there are very many people in this world who know all too well what it means to be lost because they are feeling it right now.
They tell themselves that something better is just around the corner, or just over the next hill or that ‘the sun will come out tomorrow’.
Only it never does.
They are people who feel that they are on the margins, on the outside, on the fringes. But something – or someone – is constantly preventing them from truly being part of things.
They feel like they have hit the glass ceiling. They see themselves like penniless children looking through a candy store window knowing that the treats inside are beyond their reach.
And they feel pain because of this.
We have developed many different terms for this emotion. We call it existential angst. Dysphoria. Dislocation. Alienation. Disenfranchisement.
The Bible has one word for it:
Lost.
If that is how we feel today, these few verses ought to bring us some comfort. You see, they highlight two groups of people who were attracted to and welcomed by Jesus.
The first of these were tax collectors: men who were on the margins of their society because they sought to profiteer from it. They took advantage of a highly adverse situation and earned far more than a living collecting taxes with menaces for the Romans. They were speculators without loyalty: financial vultures making money off the backs of the poor and needy.
The second were ‘sinners’. This is quite a generic term. It encompasses those who were deliberately rebelling against the rule of law and the teaching of the rabbis (such as prostitutes – see Matthew 21:31-32) and those who tried hard, but could not measure up to the expectations of their society.
What an odd, eclectic bunch they would have been!
Jewish rabbis did not hang around with people like that. They were like religious socialites, climbing the ladder of power and influence by spending time with their peers or their betters (see Luke 12:1-14).
Even their own teachers of the law taught them to completely avoid such people. One Rabbi taught:
‘Let not a man associate with the wicked, not even to bring him the law.’
So if someone was lost, the religious leaders at the time took no action and allowed them to stay lost.
The whole reason why they found Jesus’ choice of company so difficult to stomach was because He broke their mould and did the opposite of what they thought was necessary.
His reasoning, though, was profound:
Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’
Luke 5:31-32 NIVUK
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’
Luke 19:10 NIVUK
There is a sharp contrast in the Gospels. Those who think they have their lives together – members of the rich and the ruling elite – in general do not follow Jesus. But the poor and the marginalised do.
The reason for this contrast is so very simple:
They know they are lost. And they seek Jesus because through Him they can be found.
They are humble before God.
Our culture over the last decades has sought to convince us that it's okay to be lost, that you don’t need to be found, that you can be perfectly happy where you are. They teach that you should give up looking for something better and content yourself with second best. Some actually celebrate being lost.
In some countries it is even illegal to offer people a better way – which, of course, is nonsense.
Jesus says otherwise.
Jesus came not to make you comfortable with your discomfort, but to offer you life in all its fullness (John 10:10).
If you are lost, and know you are lost, being comfortable where you are is not the best thing to do. There is a much better way.
If you feel lost today, it’s time to be found.
So let Jesus find you.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, there are times when I feel lost and don’t understand what is happening to me or the world around me. But I don’t want to stay lost. I want to be found. Come and find me today. Amen.
Questions
1. Do you feel lost today? What things in your life make you feel lost? What things would conspire to keep you lost? How can you break free from them?
2. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. How does this make you feel?
3. Are you willing to be found by Jesus? What will this mean to you?
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