Lost and Found

"Black Sheep" by Julie Rogers

In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, as elsewhere in the New Testament, orthodox Pharisees murmured about Jesus Christ's interactions with sinners. They disapproved of his willingness to receive and share a dinner table with those they considered unclean and lost souls.

Christ responded to the Pharisees' criticism in this instance with three parables. In the first, a shepherd leaves his flock of 99 sheep to find one that had wandered off. The second parable is about a woman who lit a candle and cleaned her house to find a coin that she had lost. Finally, the Parable of the Prodigal Son tells of a son who wastes his inheritance with riotous living but is received with joy when he returns to his father's house.

Each of these parables is really about lost souls. It is instructive to note that the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son were each lost in a different way. The sheep wandered from its flock, perhaps not even noticing it was drifting from the others until it couldn't easily find the way back. The coin was lost because of the neglect or insufficient caution of someone else, not unlike the effect a wayward parent may have on their children. The Prodigal Son rejected his father's counsel and became lost through his own rebellion.

The parables illustrate how the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son were also found in different ways. The sheep that wandered into the wilderness was in the stewardship of a shepherd. "Wilderness" in the scriptures is often symbolic for "the world". The Joseph Smith translation of these verses clarifies that the shepherd left his flock of sheep in a safe place (not in the wilderness) and then went into the wilderness to search for the lost sheep. In a similar way, we may have opportunities to minister to those in our stewardship who have drifted away from gospel activity. Our efforts will be to bring those who are lost in worldly living back into the relative safety of the church. With this story, Christ is directly admonishing the Pharisees, who had a direct ecclesiastical responsibility for the lost souls they so disdained.

In the second story, the woman who lost a coin put nine other coins in a safe place before searching for her missing piece of silver. In this case, the woman was directly responsible for losing one of the coins and finding it required more light and a cleansing process. If we lead others away from Christ, we must repent and do all we can to restore their faith and standing before him. As we seek the Savior's influence in our lives he can provide direction and inspiration that will help us find those we have lost. This story was also an invitation to the Pharisees to search within themselves and fill their lives with light so they could find truth.

Finally, the Prodigal Son had to search within himself until he "came to himself" and desired to return to his father. He had known what was right and chose to waste his inheritance living contrary to that knowledge. It also had to be his choice to humbly return to the home of his father.

In every case, there is rejoicing when what was lost is found. "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," the Lord taught as a lesson of the lost sheep's return to the flock. When the woman finds the lost coin, she rejoices with her neighbors and the Savior says that the angels of heaven rejoice as well. Those angels exult because of their devotion to the Savior, but also because they are our friends and family, our parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters. Of course they rejoice, just as the Father rejoices at the return of the prodigal son and hosts a celebration in his honor.

In the end, the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son are all restored to the place where they had been before they were lost. Unlike the sheep and the coin however, the father of the prodigal son explains to a more faithful posterity that the prodigal's inheritance cannot be restored. This cautionary note seems to say that though we may repent in the spirit world after death, our inheritance cannot be restored at that point. We may live with God again, a fact worth great rejoicing, but we cannot inherit eternal life nor inhabit the highest degree of His Celestial Kingdom. In the parable, the son who had been faithful and kept his inheritance is told that he will inherit "all that [the Father]" has.

The Lord taught Abraham, "And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever" (Abraham 3:26). In the context of this verse, our mortal lives are our second estate. We can waste them with a Vegas lifestyle or addicted to various things, like the prodigal; but life can also slip away into distraction and passivity, indecision and apathy. It isn't enough to not be bad-- we must be good, like the faithful son who worked for his father all of his life.

The three parables about the lost speak to each of us as both sinners and rescuers. At times, all of us begin to wander from what we know is right. Perhaps we do not pray or study our scriptures for a time. We rely too heavily on ourselves and what we want to do. We are offended by someone at church or choose to do things we know are wrong because they seem fun or pleasurable or impressive to others. We are all charged of God with seeking for those who are lost.

This is true socially and within ourselves. In the depths of our hearts, we sometimes find that individual elements of our testimonies of the gospel may be lost for a time. If we do not fast or pray, we may lose our testimonies of the power of fasting and prayer. Sometimes elements of our testimonies may drift almost undetected. At other times, we may consciously battle with difficult questions about church history, gospel doctrine, life challenges or current events. It is in these times that we most need to light a candle in our lives, repenting and inviting Christ's presence to shine more brightly within us so we can see clearly to find what we have lost.

The Lord calls all of us to watch after those in our stewardship. Whether sharing the gospel with those wandering without a knowledge of the truth or finding those who have wandered, great joy is in store for those who do the Lord's work.

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" the Savior said. "Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:10, 14-16).

Christ invited the Pharisees to seek after the lost so that one day they could rejoice together at the Lord's table. He invites us to continue his work so that we can join Him and his angels when they kill the fatted calf for a great celebration of our return into His presence.

A Higher Point of View

There's a humorous skit about a woman who visits a fortune teller to decide whether she should change careers. "The crystal ball says it would be boring," the fortune teller reports. "But," he adds, "it could be fun though."

The woman then asks about her upcoming vacation. As the fortune teller gazes into the crystal ball with horror, he reports that it will be a total disaster that will leave her lonely and crying. "But," he concludes again, "it could be fun though."

"How could that be fun?!" the woman asks.

"Anything can be fun," comes the reply. "It's all perspective really."

"Anything could be bad, too," the woman countered.

"It could be," the fortune teller agreed, "but it could be fun though."

A similar conversation occurred in the family car on the way to church a week or two ago. My wife had commented on what a good year our family has had. My first instinct was to agree. We welcomed a child to the family in April, I got a big promotion at work, we had a lot of fun traveling to new places and things seemed to be going well. It had certainly been a good year.

As I thought a little more, I paused. Yes, a lot of good things had happened, but some bad things happened, too. Our county experienced a catastrophic wildfire, flooding on two separate occasions and snow events that knocked out power. Some extended family turmoil persisted, there were months with more demands than we could meet and days when we just seemed out of sync. There were illnesses and injuries and world events that added to a pile of evidence that could convince any jury we'd just had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.

Our perceptions can have dramatic effects on our spirituality and happiness. When I saw the world with my wife's sense of optimism, I experienced a sense of gratitude that was encouraging and uplifting. As doubts came, my hope diminished and I began to relive the stress and burdensome weight of life's difficult experiences.

Of course, we will all have hard days. We will all have questions or doubts at times, including some regarding our faith. The perspective we allow to prevail in our thoughts and attitudes will ultimately affect our actions and the happiness we choose to allow into our lives.

The Lord assures us that "my ways [are] higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:5-9). When it gets hard to see the bright side, the Lord encourages us to continue to act in faith, doing the things we already know he would want us to do; try to examine issues and situations with his eternal perspective; and then seek for truth in divinely-appointed sources including the Holy Scriptures and through prayer.

The Lord taught through the Apostle Paul:

Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God... Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 2:5, 9-11).

The Lord is able to help us see the world from a higher point of view if we are willing to sincerely seek after his truth. This allows us to reframe our questions and view our lives based on the Lord's standard of truth rather than accepting the world's premises or assumptions. In the context of the plan of salvation and the teachings of the Savior, for example, death is not the end of our existence, love does not justify sin and faith without works is dead. Through the lens of the gospel, we can find comfort at the passing of a loved one, courage to act on an impression and the gratitude and warmth of God's love as we remain true to the commandments he has given us.

This higher perspective is especially important in the way we view other people. Though we may be frustrated at the driver that cuts us off on the freeway, an arrogant colleague or an unhelpful customer service agent, the Lord sees the great worth and potential in all of us. He sees you and I and those that annoy us equally as "a little lower than the angels", "more precious than fine gold" and his royal heirs "crowned with glory and honour" (Psalms 8:5, Isaiah 13:12, D&C 18:10). One of the great things about the holiday season is that with just a little gratitude, patience and some kindness, we are all able to experience greater joy and peace on earth.

As a new year begins, there are certainly untold triumphs and discouraging setbacks ahead. Some we will be able to control, others will be immune to our influence. It could be the worst ever, but I think it could be fun though.