Reed Mueller

This past week I preached out of Jeremiah 29. If you don’t recognize that passage right away, you probably aren’t remembering the verse that so many people place somewhere in their home (Jeremiah 29:11). It’s interesting how that particular verse is pulled out of context when we frame it up by itself and put it on a placard. For in doing so it implies that the Lord has only “positive circumstances” just around the corner for us. In reality, the circumstances we will face today or tomorrow have very little to do with that verse because that verse itself is a kind of capstone to what he’s been saying in the previous ones.

In essence, here’s what the Lord said before that famous verse: “I took you into exile… you’re going to be there for longer than you wish… under a dominating power that has destroyed your life, even killing some of your loved ones… and you know what you’re called to do now? Live there in peace by building your lives for the best and by being excellent citizens insofar as you can do so while keeping true to me. Oh, and by the way, in about seventy years, I’ll be bringing the community back home.” The implication is that most of the Jewish people who had been captured and taken off to Babylon would live and die there in captivity because most wouldn’t live another seventy years. This, then, is the context for the great plans the Lord has for them.

The applications from the sermon were simple:

• when your circumstances change for the worse, live as if nothing has changed at all (for nothing has, the Lord is still in control and in the long term will make good on his promise of beneficence).
• when faced with a  government that is against you, giving you no voice, you should still strive to pray for it and be great citizens insofar as your conscience allows.

It was this last point that received a question: yes, but what are we to do if the government is unjust (not just a little unjust, as all governments are, but really unjust)?

That’s an excellent question and one I would guess was asked by those in the Jewish community during their exile. As we look at the testimony of what actually happened in their case, we see something interesting. Daniel and his companions served to their best ability. But that service only went so far for they would not be party to anything that compromised their faith. Consider, for example, Daniel in the den (Daniel 6) or the account of the three, uh, four, in the furnace (Daniel 3).

And then consider Jesus’ example when moving in an unjust world having all the power he needed to overthrow an unjust oppressor. Did he call the angels to a giant bloodbath? No. Instead he used a power greater than the sword, he used the power of  meekness; he served, he sacrificed, he loved, he forgave… and the world was changed.

What we call the meekness of Our Lord is more than an aspect of His character: it is its fundamental principle. There is nothing in it of the “inert door-mat”; it was, and is, the practice of uncompromising and unyielding love, the exposition of a new technique in dealing with evil. I believe it to be the business of Christians, especially to-day, first to realize, and then to proclaim, this revolutionary technique as the only way to peace and justice. It won’t be easy, for meekness has little “face value” compared with armaments; but, if the Cross means anything at all, it is the vindication of meekness as the most dynamic and explosive force that humanity has ever known… Donald O. Soper (1903-1998), Popular Fallacies about the Christian Faith, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1938, p. 76 (via cqod.com)

He’s our example. He’s our guide. And we should follow in his steps, steps, by the way, that only make sense if we believe his promise to bring us home one day from the exile of our sins. Not only that, but we should follow in his footsteps because he shows us the most powerful means of changing the world for good: love in his name and by his power.

I’ve lost many things in my life, most of which I can’t even remember because they held little meaning to me. I suppose I’ve lost a few socks in the wash (how does that happen anyway and where is the world’s repository of lost socks?). I’ve probably even dropped a few dollars on the ground from time-to-time. But really, I only remember those times vaguely. The occasional lost sock or lost five dollar bill isn’t a big deal. I didn’t call for an all-out search when I discovered these things were missing. I might have glanced around, but little energy was expended overall.

Now contrast that with what any parent would do if they suddenly discovered that their young daughter had wandered off. At first, they might yell out her name, but if that didn’t yield results, everything would be dropped: neighbors would be called, the police would be called, and the search would ensue.

The interesting thing about the situation which I just described is that the child may not feel as though she was lost at all. Perhaps she was just exploring, as children are prone to do. Regardless of whether the child felt lost or not, we know what she will feel when found: sought out and loved.

When she is reunited with her parents, this child will suddenly discover that heaven and earth were moved to find her. She will discover that her parents love her greatly and that she is missed when she is not around. And finally, she will discover the great joy that her parents have in being reunited with her. In the end, she will have the experience of being sought out. Don’t you think that she will smile, reflecting back her parent’s joy?

Jesus lived a life that proved, if nothing else, that every person who has ever lived and every person that will ever live is of immeasurable value to God; each person is sought out. Take, for instance, his words as recorded by Luke:

“If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found. In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:4-7 (NLT)

Jesus spoke these words to those who were known to be “notorious sinners.” What must it have felt like for those people, people who had been rejected by the religiously inclined in their community, to have been sought out by Jesus?

Did they feel lost? Not likely. Instead they probably felt that they were doing their best and that they knew where they were. And if you really think about it, it is not so much that these people were lost, as in being in an unknown location or state, to God. Nobody is in an unknown state or location as far as God is concerned; he knows our location and experiences at every moment. Instead, they were lost to a full relationship with God, through Christ. And that is something they might have realized, if only deep down somewhere in the unspoken thoughts of the heart.

Because God so very much wants to share all life with us, he seeks us out, all the time, whether we are Christians or not, “good” or not, or whether we have a sense that we are lost or not. This is why I prefer the concept of “Sought Out Ones” in the place of “Lost Ones” – it more readily applies to us all…we are all “Sought Out Ones” all the time.

So how did those listening to Jesus feel about his words? I imagine that they felt much like the child we discussed in the first paragraphs of this article: they felt a sense of joy in being looked for, searched for, loved. They might even have wondered: “Was I really lost? And why do I matter so much? Whatever the reason, I’m glad I do.”

As followers of Jesus, we are to be seekers of those who are sought out by God. Sometimes these “Sought Out Ones” will not feel as though they are wandering. That is okay, it is our joy to help them discover the One who is on an all out search for them anyway. At other times, those who are found will indeed feel as if they’ve been lost, and find incredible peace in being found. Either way, our job is to seek them out and to celebrate with God when they are found. Our job is to understand that no person matters little to God and therefore no person can matter little to us.