BUT why did you need to search? He (Jesus) asked, “You should have known I would be in my Father’s house” Luke 2:49. As I read about Jesus getting lost at the age of twelve then being found by a worried Mary and Joseph in the Temple talking to religious leaders, what struck me were his words to his parents, when he wondered why they’d looked for him elsewhere, when they should have come straight to the Temple where he was going about his father’s business.
What about you and me? Where would people search if you were lost? I had an uncle who passed away last year: Many years ago this uncle and my aunt took my brother and me out for lunch and some shopping to a busy area in Mumbai. Suddenly we realized that uncle was lost. “Don’t worry,” said an unperturbed aunt, “You’ll find him outside a watch store!”
And good enough, we did, standing outside a shop selling watches, peering hungrily at the watches they had on display. What would people say if you were lost during a church picnic? “Charlie’s lost!” “Lost?” “Yeah, disappeared! Any idea where he’d be?” “There’s a church nearby!”
“Not Charlie, he wouldn’t waste his time in a church, is there a super market?” “Supermarket and my Charlie?” shouts his wife, “When was the last time he bought anything for the home from a supermarket!” With that outburst from an angry, worried wife, his friends move in, “Maybe he’s gone to the loo! He did look uncomfortable!”
“Let’s check all the toilets!” say his friends and the toilets around are checked though one or two friends are seen looking at each other a little uncomfortably, then whispering, “Is there anybody from the group missing?” they whisper. “Yeah I thought of that also, there’s that young youth leader, the buxom girl, she seems the type Charles would have the glad eye for! Is she missing too?”
“No there she is with the others, but old Mrs John isn’t here!” “I don’t think she’s Charlie’s type!” Suddenly there’s a commotion and his friends look back to see a boy running to them, “There’s a fellow behind who’s slipped and fallen, is he one of yours? He seems a bit hurt!”
It’s Charlie, and luckily with a glass of water and a hot cup of tea, he’s dusted and patted all around and joins the group none the worse for wear. “Didn’t you guys look for me?” asks Charles later to his wife and friends.
“We did!” they all say looking down at the ground shamefully. Have you asked yourself where your friends, relatives and others who know you would look? Would they search in a shop selling erotic literature, or would they all rush to the nearest church to find you praying?
