Something Worth Finding

About once a week I forget my cell phone in the car when I get home from work. I don’t like riding with it in my pocket, so I take it out. Then, once I am safely inside and usually in my pajamas and I want to play some music or look something up or call someone (I mean that is the primary use of a phone, right?) I remember I left my cell all the way out in the car. So, I proceed out to the car, grab the phone, and unless it’s raining I don’t even complain about my forgetfulness. Sometimes though it is not in the car.

I don’t know the last time you lost your phone for longer than just a few seconds, but it certainly is worrisome. So much of my life and my ministry is done using a telephone: Morning Prayer, reminders, to-do lists, parishioner phone calls, mapping my way to someone’s home for a visit, meditation timer, texting with friends, and so much more. Perhaps, your job is the same way. And, when my phone is not in my car when I go out to look for it, I typically freak out! Approximately four minutes later (at the most) I realize the phone is still in my jacket pocket and all sanity is restored. However, those four minutes are frantic!

There are certainly priests who lived out their call to serve with God and God’s people without cell phones (there is even at least one I know who still does), but as so much happens on it when I lose my phone I feel so compelled to drop everything and look for it. Maybe it is not a phone, perhaps it is your keys, your pet, or heaven forbid your child, but when have you been so desperate to find something you are missing that you dropped everything else? (Think about it for a second, when did you last lose something of great value?) What about your connection with God, your spouse, your best friend, your child, your fellow neighbor, and the universe at large? How do you find those hugely important things when you feel as though they have been lost or at least disconnected?

In this coming Sunday's Gospel lesson, Andrew is so convinced that he has found the one for whom he, his brother, and perhaps the entire world has been looking. Upon meeting Jesus, Andrew was asked, “What are you looking for?” to which he replied, “Teacher, where are you staying?” While it is a bit of an odd response to Jesus’ question, the way that Jesus continues the conversation gives Andrew a sense that he has stumbled upon the one he has waited to see his entire life. Jesus says to Andrew and to us, “Come and see.”

When Andrew heard these words he went to tell his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” Immediately Andrew knew something, he felt completely different, enough to make a gigantic proclamation to his brother. He had found the One anointed by God to restore the world, the One who would show the world the way back home, the One who came to lead us through disconnection and into ultimate connection. After a lifetime of wandering and wondering Andrew would never be the same for he had not only found the Messiah, but also he had been found fully by God.

Perhaps you have your phone (you may be reading this on that very phone right now… WHOA TRIPPY!), and your keys, and that child who sometimes is lost (not a loser, that child is not a loser). Maybe you have not lost anything lately, but the more important questions are have you found the Messiah and have you been found by the Messiah? If not or even if you think you have, Jesus invites you to come and see! Come and see what God is still doing in this world. Come and see the wondrous ministries happening in the Episcopal Church. Come and see what God is doing at St. John’s Church. Dig deeper within yourself and come and see what God is doing within your very soul! Come and see!