Have you ever seen the show LOST? I have got to admit, Kari and I are big fans. We’ve seen every episode. For those of you who haven’t seen it here’s the very short recap. Plane crashes on mysterious island. Some people survive. Strange things start to happen. Strange things continue to happen. Strange things are still happening.

The more I think about it, the more I have come to see that my life is quite a bit like LOST. Now…I know you’re thinking I’m going to make the easy “Sunday School” analogy of we-are-all-lost-and-need-to-be-found-by-Jesus. While true – that’s not what I’m talking about. There are many other reasons that LOST is like my life. One I’ve already mentioned…

Similarity 1: Strange things happen…and keep happening. In one of the early shows a polar bear appeared on this tropical island. Now – I haven’t seen a polar bear in Kirkland yet, but I have seen people do many things that I can’t explain. People meet Jesus and do strange things. Just met a man last week who has made a pact with eight men to take care of each other’s families if anything should happen to one of them. That may not sound strange, but they made this pact so that they could get rid of their life insurance policies and give all that money to the poor. Hmmm…

Similarity 2: Some people get miraculously healed by being on the island, others get worse, and others don’t change. Why is that? I don’t know. I don’t know why it happens on LOST and I don’t know why it happens in real life. One family adopts an HIV-positive baby, their church prays, and six months later the baby is tested and found to be HIV-negative. (True story.) Another family spends three years praying for their 34-year-old daughter who has a malignant tumor in her stomach only to have the doctors say “There’s nothing more we can do.” (Speaking at her funeral this Saturday.)

Similarity 3: Some “seasons” are better than others. Some are really exciting. Sometimes I can’t wait to see the next piece unfold. Sometimes I wish life would just “move on.” Some seasons are a blast. Others are a little slower – or even flat out frustrating.

Similarity 4: I’m not quite sure what’s going on. Every once in a while I think I’ve got it figured out. Then something happens and I’m confused again. I get answers to questions about some events and people. But more questions always pop up. To really enjoy LOST you have to be okay with a bit of uncertainty and confusion. In fact, I’d go so far as to say you have to embrace it! The same is true with life. If the only way you can be happy is to have all the answers and be in control…well…you’re in for a long, frustrating ride.

Similarity 5: There will come a day when we won’t be confused any more. The writers of LOST have done something that hasn’t been done before (at least not that I know of). They’ve announced the end. Next season (’09-’10) will be the last season. By the end of May 2010, they’ve promised to wrap it up. Answers will be given. We’ll know what the island was and why different things happened. The same is true for life. We don’t know when, but we do know that the Author of Life has promised to return. We won’t be confused any more. We will be able to ask any and every question, for on that day we will be in the presence of The Answer. And we will no longer be lost. Amen.

"If your church is serious about reaching the unchurched, you must be willing to put up with people who have a lot of problems…Fishing is often messy and smelly. Many churches want the fish they catch to be already scaled, gutted, cleaned, and cooked. That is why they never reach anyone."

- Rick Warren

I had a pretty cool experience last Sunday. I was speaking at a small church in Seattle that had two services - a "traditional" service, and a "contemporary" service. I've found that generally means that there is more gray hair at one than the other. My cynical hat was on nice and tight as - sure enough - I turned out to be one of the youngest people in the first service. The only people younger were the youth pastor and two boys (probably 8-12 years old) that were there with their parents.

We got a couple songs...er...I mean hymns...into the service when they took their take-a-moment-and-greet-each-other break. Being the only person in the front row, I turned around and greeted...nobody. Which was good, because it gave me time to witness something truly wonderful. As I stood there, two or three of the gray-haired worshippers made beelines to the young boys and hugged them, greeted them, and made them feel like the two most valuable people in the room. Being young boys, they tried to play it "cool," but I could see the grins (albeit cool grins) on their faces.

My cynical hat fell to the floor and my spirit lifted. The rest of the morning I sincerely and thoroughly enjoyed belting out some hymns - most of which I didn't recognize - and gazing around at people twice my age, truly enjoying each other the presence of God.