Seeking the Lost

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:10-20


Seeking the Lost

In the darkness of the longest night
in the crowding of the busiest city
in the wilds of the shadowed mountains
love is looking for the lost.

We might think we are strong and able
Might be convinced of our own capacity
might truly believe we need no one
God calls to us on the night breeze.

Weak and vulnerable and afraid
tired lonely and missing home
we are lost sheep and little children
and God is calling us home.

The shepherd seeks the lost sheep
the parent diligently search for a child
we seek forgiveness from our siblings
and pray that we can be one family again.

God is seeking the broken and the weary
Lurking inside the haughty and the proud
God is calling to the wayward and the lost
to us right here acting safe and sound.

Let us listen for the call of our Creator
Let us run and cry out in our need
May we who are blessed by love's abundance
dance with joy as we have been found.