Like a GPS-dependent driver with no satellite reception. Like a surfer without a search engine. A story without a plot. A team with no coach.
Sheep with no shepherd. Pick your simile. You’re lost.
I know people who would be lost without Lost, their favorite TV drama and weekly emotional outlet. With its zooming from here to there — from present to flashback to present to flashforward — Lost has its viewers on the edges of their seats, piecing together the complex lives of 13 island-dwelling plane-crash survivors.
Not everyone escapes to the island of the Lost, but everyone has the need to occasionally “lose themselves” in something. To get away from it all, take a breather, get some perspective.
Even Jesus did.
Jesus’ followers had been out traveling in twos, visiting homes, bringing Jesus’ healing presence, sharing the hope that was inside them. And they came back all full of themselves and their adventures. Let’s get outta here, said their wise teacher. And they went for a sail to get lost for a while.
Hopefully the cruise was long enough and the breeze sweet enough that their time out on the water provided some retreat, some refueling. Because when the boat landed, the deserted place they hoped to find was far from deserted. Take a look:
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=113575309
This picture of Jesus looking out on the lost people all around him is one that I treasure. Because that’s the compassionate, take-me-as-I-am look I so often crave.
And Jesus’ next move? He taught them all kinds of things, the story from Mark says. Were those teachings just another entertaining diversion from their harassed and helpless lives? Just an hour of escape? Or did the people really ingest those teachings, letting the challenges sink in, letting the joyful news overcome them. Did they find God there on the beach, in a way that would forever change their lives?
I’m guessing there were at least some who found in Jesus enduring sustenance, not just temporary pain-relief. And that’s where I want to place myself in the story. I want to see myself continuing on with Jesus on his journeys, learning from him how to balance caring for others with stepping away for that alone time with God. I want to walk with him all the way to the cross, where I see him not only teaching me how to live but teaching me how to die.
For it is in dying to myself that I truly find relief from my lostness. The temporary getaways may be good for mental health. But the long-lasting shepherding means I’m accompanied for good, in every lost moment, from now until the day this body dies, and then well beyond that. “Losing myself” can mean finding myself in God, in God’s compassionate care for the world… and for me.
Let’s talk about how we get lost, in all senses of that phrase, when we gather on Thursday 7pm at the Crowne Plaza.
Peace,
Kari
Sheep with no shepherd. Pick your simile. You’re lost.
I know people who would be lost without Lost, their favorite TV drama and weekly emotional outlet. With its zooming from here to there — from present to flashback to present to flashforward — Lost has its viewers on the edges of their seats, piecing together the complex lives of 13 island-dwelling plane-crash survivors.
Not everyone escapes to the island of the Lost, but everyone has the need to occasionally “lose themselves” in something. To get away from it all, take a breather, get some perspective.
Even Jesus did.
Jesus’ followers had been out traveling in twos, visiting homes, bringing Jesus’ healing presence, sharing the hope that was inside them. And they came back all full of themselves and their adventures. Let’s get outta here, said their wise teacher. And they went for a sail to get lost for a while.
Hopefully the cruise was long enough and the breeze sweet enough that their time out on the water provided some retreat, some refueling. Because when the boat landed, the deserted place they hoped to find was far from deserted. Take a look:
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=113575309
This picture of Jesus looking out on the lost people all around him is one that I treasure. Because that’s the compassionate, take-me-as-I-am look I so often crave.
And Jesus’ next move? He taught them all kinds of things, the story from Mark says. Were those teachings just another entertaining diversion from their harassed and helpless lives? Just an hour of escape? Or did the people really ingest those teachings, letting the challenges sink in, letting the joyful news overcome them. Did they find God there on the beach, in a way that would forever change their lives?
I’m guessing there were at least some who found in Jesus enduring sustenance, not just temporary pain-relief. And that’s where I want to place myself in the story. I want to see myself continuing on with Jesus on his journeys, learning from him how to balance caring for others with stepping away for that alone time with God. I want to walk with him all the way to the cross, where I see him not only teaching me how to live but teaching me how to die.
For it is in dying to myself that I truly find relief from my lostness. The temporary getaways may be good for mental health. But the long-lasting shepherding means I’m accompanied for good, in every lost moment, from now until the day this body dies, and then well beyond that. “Losing myself” can mean finding myself in God, in God’s compassionate care for the world… and for me.
Let’s talk about how we get lost, in all senses of that phrase, when we gather on Thursday 7pm at the Crowne Plaza.
Peace,
Kari
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