Lost & Found
By Judi Chow

Have you ever lost someone before? The degree of stress and anxiety depends on how much you love that person. Several years ago, my friends were playing hide and seek with their three-year old son in the garden of their housing estate in Hong Kong. The boy loves this game and hid himself so well his parents couldn't find him. After searching for a long time, the parents were getting worried since strangers could be around. They started calling: Samuel come out, Samuel come out! No answer came, no sight of little Samuel! As they continued to look high and low, behind every tree, bush, and bench, mom is tearing up while dad is getting frantic thinking someone might have kidnapped their little boy. They seem to have lost their son in the middle of playing hide and seek!

More than two thousand years ago; Joseph & Mary also lost their son on the way home from Jerusalem after the Passover feast. Jesus was twelve years old not quite an adult then; it is natural for his parents to worry when realizing their son was missing. Three days later, they found Jesus sitting in the Temple listening and asking the teachers questions. Well, mothers are mothers no matter whether they are Jewish or Chinese. When their son is found, their emotions instantly changed from worry, anxious, and fearful to relief, and possibly angry shouting, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried about you. We have been looking for you everywhere." (Luke 2:48)

Jesus did not answer with excuses like how excited he was in Jerusalem and how he got lost while wandering off to the temple. This twelve-year old replied with a question: "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke2:49) The poor parents did not expect that from their lost son, but that was Jesus' first recorded words in the Bible. He might have spoken it in a tone of innocence and merely stating his divine nature as the son of God. How easily people forget. Twelve years earlier, didn't the Virgin Mary have a visit from an angel while Joseph had a dream? (Luke 1:28-35; Matthew 1:18-25) This tells me when people get upset and emotional, usually they can't think logically, they don't remember, and they won't understand. They needed comfort and that's what Jesus did by being a good son and by following his parents home.

This divine Son came to fulfill a Mission from the Father: to die, so men can live. Missionaries are sent to assist in the same mission: to go, so that the lost can be found. The task is heavy and the needs are great. Is it possible for those of us laboring busily on the field to lose sight of Jesus? Do we forget that we were called to follow Him? How can we do that if we don't see Him? Shall we raise our heads once in awhile from our distractions and try to envision Jesus being still ahead of us? If He is no where in sight, we had better start looking and being prepared to answer when Jesus asks: Why were you looking for me?

I don't know about you, but my reply would be a question: Where else could I be? I was called to follow you, to be with you... Sorry, I got diverted and I was the one lost.

Oh, you wanted to know what happened to little Samuel? After what seemed like ages, but a lot less than three days, his parents heard a little voice from behind them saying "Ha ha, I won, you couldn't find me!" Little Samuel showed up because he knew the rules of the game. Jesus will show up also because He wants to be found by you and me! "Seek and you will find." (Matthew7:7)