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When You Are Lost (9/16/01)
I am lost. I have felt lost ever since Tuesday. Sometimes I feel like I am wandering aimlessly through the day, going through the motions of my routine. I feel vulnerable. If these things can happen, we are vulnerable; we cannot control our borders, our security, and our own lives. I am lost. We are lost.
I have tried to find myself. I have sensed others trying that too. Political leaders have worked hard to assure us that we were not really lost- that we are in control, that we are secure. Yet, we cannot even control our own emotions, our own anger. We are lost.
My attempts to find myself did not work. When you are lost you cannot find yourself, save yourself, or provide your own security. I cannot find the answers I so desperately need within myself. It is hard to admit that I am lost. And I am a guy who does stop and ask directions when I am lost driving around a strange place.
Jesus gives us the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Do the sheep and the coin find themselves? No- the shepherd goes out and finds the lost sheep.
I need to be found by God. I need to pray and wait to be found. I need to be open to being found by God to experience God’s presence- to experience God’s forgiveness for some of my thoughts, especially since Tuesday.
Being lost makes me angry. We need to get them! They need to know they can’t get away with this! We need to deal with our anger. We have asked Dr. Mark Thompson, Director of the Counseling and Psychological services at Colgate University to help us by leading a special session tomorrow night on dealing with our anger.
I need to pray for God to not only find me, to forgive, me but also to truly lead me. I am angry at “them”. There is a temptation to paint “them” with a broad brush. “Them” is all Arabic speaking peoples, all Palestinians, all followers of Islam, all Muslims, people who are not us or just like us, all who do not worship “our God.”
Actually, this kind of senseless, cold-blooded murder is clearly against the major middle- eastern religions. There may be some radical fundamentalists who believe God calls them to perform such terrorist acts – but that is not part of their core religious beliefs. In fact it goes directly against Islamic or Muslim beliefs. Such acts are specifically prohibited with, according to their faith; eternal punishment guaranteed those who commit such terrorist acts. The thinking that plotted these attacks, if perpetrated by Muslims, is a seriously twisted misunderstanding of what their faith actually teaches.
It is the same kind of twisted thinking that in recent weeks caused Protestants in Belfast, Ireland to hurl stones at Catholic schoolgirls who were being escorted through a Protestant neighborhood to get to their school. A week ago Tuesday, a 16 year-old Protestant boy was run down and killed by a Catholic driver. These scenes are reminiscent of the worst clashes of America’s civil rights movement when the same kind of twisted thinking led so-called God Fearing Ku Klux Klansmen to terrorize and murder Afro-Americans, and white civil rights workers. It is the same kind of twisted thinking with which Christians have justified bombing abortion clinics or torturing and killing a young homosexual. This kind of thinking spilled much blood in the crusades and led to the rise of Adolph Hitler.
So-called religious people who claim to be following God’s orders when they are really trying to play God themselves have spread too much evil and violence. In 1 Timothy 1, the apostle Paul admits that he was once, “a blasphemer, persecutor and a violent man” when he persecuted followers of Jesus before his conversion. He was lost. Paul says he was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance and unbelief.
When we are lost we cannot find ourselves. We are not God. We need to be found by God. We need to pray that we and others are really found and led by God.
In Exodus 32 the people of God confused themselves with God. They made a golden calf and worshipped it. We need to worship God – not some golden calf, not some twisted national image of God that shapes God so much in our own image that we think we are God. If we did that we would be no different than those we condemn. We are not God.
We are not God but we can and need to represent God to others. How can we best do that? When God saw the golden calf, God said to Moses, “ I have seen these stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them." Is that how we can represent God- burn in anger against people and destroy them? But wait, Moses pled the case for his people – and God relented and did not bring on the people the disaster he had threatened.
How can we best follow God? Is anger and destruction the answer? Or should we relent and spare our enemies? What would God want us to do? It is hard to know isn’t it? At least I think it should be hard to know because we are not God. We need to be very careful what we claim God wants us to do. I may know full well what I want. But how do I know what God wants?
What would Jesus do? In Luke 15, we read that tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, “this man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” - because they are lost.
We are not God. We are lost. Jesus invites us to eat and drink at his table, to receive in his body and blood his love, his grace, his forgiveness.
How shall we respond to Tuesday’s attacks? I know my gut reaction. But I need to admit that I am lost. I need to realize that I cannot assume that what I want is what God wants. I am not God. We are not God. I think God wants justice. A just war may be the best way to get that. If so we need to support our troops and leaders. But we need to be careful. This is serious stuff. It is not like cheering on your football or hockey team. This is life and death. We need to be patient. It is not going to be swift and easy.
A few months ago I shared with you how powerful the Lutheran Youth Gathering at Niagara Falls was for me as we reflected on what God told the apostle Paul after his conversion – “Get up, go into the city and I’ll tell you what to do.” I told you I felt God calling to me as well. I wondered what I would be told to do. That same week I attended a workshop on religious pluralism in 21st century America in which we learned about how prevalent other world religions are in the USA and how little we know about them.
We have heard a lot this past week about how the terrorists really do not understand us- how strong we are, how great we are, how determined we are. That is true. We have certainly experienced great strength, heroism, and unity and resolve this week. It is also true we know very little about the culture of the suspected terrorists. We also know very little about the culture and faith of innocent people we may be all too ready to condemn with a broad brush and a just war.
If you want to be understood, than you first have to really want to understand others. Maybe God is calling you and me to better understand others. Our Adult Ministries class is planning a unit on understanding our neighbor’s faith. Ironically, I gave a resource book on that to Bob Loomis last Monday night.
I am lost. I cannot find myself. I am not God. I need to be found, forgiven and led by God. I need to be really careful in prayerfully discerning what I think God is leading me to think and do. I know that I am not alone. I know that God is with me.
Let us pray.
Lord, we are lost- we pray that you find us, protect us, forgive us and lead us – and that all who are lost, who suffer loss, who search for the lost, who aid the lost, who prepare to go to war, and all who are tempted to play God be found.
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Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1