Ramblings from Retirement – Lost!

Ramblings from Retirement – Lost!

By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen

May 10, 2021

Have ever been lost or have you had a child get lost? I’ve had both happen to me. When I was little, about 3 years old, my family was visiting the downtown area of the small town we lived near. They met another family that they knew and began talking to them and as they did my father reached over and placed me on the hood of a nearby car. No one thought anything about this in that era because cars were made a lot sturdier and out of sheet metal. It was a sunny spring day, the car hood was warm and I fell asleep. Waking up a short time later I realized that my family was nowhere to be seen. About this time a policeman came walking by and asked me if I was lost and where my family was. We were taught to trust any policeman. Shortly my family came running around the corner; my father first, then my brother, sister and mom. Of course they asked me where I had wandered off to but then realized that they were the ones who had wandered away after placing me on the warm hood of a nearby car to fall asleep. That was the most worried I had ever seen my folks.

Jesus got lost as a young boy in Jerusalem. You remember the story I am sure where his family had gone to visit there for the Feast of the Passover. They had gone every year. After the feast was over his family started back home but Jesus had stayed behind in the city but his parents were unaware he had. Now least you should think they were neglectful Jesus at the age of 12, which he was at this time, would have been seen as a responsible young man and not a mere child. At the age of 12 Jesus would have been shortly bar mitzvahed when he reached his 13th birthday and attained the age of religious duty and responsibility. Plus they had done this every year. However this year thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a whole day. Then realizing he was missing they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. We read that they finally find him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Interestingly when “his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ (Luke 2:39-48 NIV)”

I am not going to focus on Jesus being in the temple but rather on the very fact that his parents had lost their child, were worried about him, and had looked everywhere for him. Now some commentators love to speculate on how wisely Jesus responds, “Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?” Now certainly we could suggest that they should have known so but they were normal parents just like we are and when your child is lost you do not always think logically. And personally I think this affected Mary enough that she related the tale to Luke years later and he wrote about it in his gospel account. I think like any loving mother she remembered how frightened she had been, how frantic they had looked, and how concerned they had been about their boy maybe being murdered, perhaps enslaved, or even harmed by the Romans. And looking back on the incident Mary was still affected by what had occurred and only after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection could she place it within the context of who he was.

As parents there are things our children do that at the time frighten us to death but only after they become adults can we laugh about them or see them in the context of who they are as a person. Was I “lost” when my father placed me on the hood of that car? Nope. Was Jesus “lost” when he had stayed behind at the temple? Nope. Yet for my parents and for Jesus’ parents their fears were very real at the time of our being lost. Dear child of the Lord today you may wonder about your child, a grandchild, or loved one but rest assured the Lord knows right where they are. Take comfort in the fact that he does and commit them to his care. They may not be as lost as you think they are.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.