Oct 17, 2022
Sometimes you are lost, but you don't realize it. A few weeks
ago while I was hiking Mount Elbert in Colorado, I heard a story
about a hiker who became lost while climbing Elbert, but didn't
realize he was lost.
Here's what happened. This hiker started his journey by himself,
right on schedule. However, he failed to return at the time he told
his friends and family he would return. Naturally, his friends and
family began to worry and contacted the Leadville Search & Rescue
team to find him.
One of the first things the S&R team did was call this hiker's
cell phone. Unfortunately, every time they tried to call him, the
hiker rejected their phone call! After numerous attempts, the
S&R team sent out search parties hoping to locate the lost
hiker.
This search and rescue process went throughout the night, turning
up no evidence of the lost hiker. Surprisingly, the next day, this
lost hiker shows up at his camp...almost 24 hours late! When asked
by the S&R team why he didn't answer their calls, the man
replied,
"I didn't recognize the phone numbers, so I declined
them."
The next day, the Search & Rescue team released this
statement: If you ever find yourself lost, and an
unknown number is calling you, please answer it.
Some people don't even know they are lost. They are so oblivious
to the reality of their location, they literally reject God's call.
Why would they respond? In their minds, they don't need help
because...they aren't lost.
In Luke 15, Jesus must help a group of well meaning religious
people understand that they are lost. The problem is, that even
though Jesus tells them they are lost, they don't believe him. He
even goes into great detail describing how much God wants to help
lost people come home. Unfortunately, they decline his "phone
call".
What about you? Are you lost? Is God calling you, trying to get
your attention? To learn more give a listen to this sermon podcast,
we know that you will find it to be helpful.