我和妻子卡莉在海灘散步時，與一位正使用金屬探測器掃描沙灘的老先生閒聊。老先生說：「他們都叫我『戒指大師』。單在今年，我就找到了167枚人們丟失的戒指。」他還說：「有時戒指上刻有名字，我喜歡看到物歸原主時，人們失而復得的欣喜表情。我會在網路上發布，希望有人會聯繫失物招領處。我曾找到很多被人丟失多年的戒指。」我告訴他，我也喜歡用金屬探測器尋找失物，但只是偶爾為之。老先生的臨別贈言是：「你若不去尋找，就不會有收穫！」

在路加福音15章，我們看到另一種形式的「尋找和拯救」。耶穌因關心眾稅吏和罪人而遭受非議（1-2節），因此祂用三個失而復得的比喻加以回應，分別是失羊、失錢和浪子的比喻。在5-6節，當那人成功尋得那隻走失的羊之後，「就歡歡喜喜地扛在肩上，回到家裡，就請朋友鄰舍來，對他們說：『⋯⋯你們和我一同歡喜吧！』」這三個比喻講述帶領失喪的人歸向基督，以及將人尋回而得著的喜樂。

耶穌來，是為了「尋找、拯救失喪的人」（19章10節），祂還要我們效法祂去愛他人，領人歸向上帝（參閱馬太福音28章19節）。領人歸向上帝的這份喜樂正等著我們，而我們若不去尋找，就不會有收穫！

“They call me ‘the ringmaster.’ So far this year I’ve found 167 lost rings.”

During a walk on the beach with my wife, Cari, we struck up a conversation with an older man who was using a metal detector to scan an area just below the surf line. “Sometimes rings have names on them,” he explained, “and I love seeing their owners’ faces when I return them. I post online and check to see if anyone contacted lost and found. I’ve found rings missing for years.” When we mentioned that I enjoy metal detecting as well but didn’t do it frequently, his parting words were, “You never know unless you go!”           

We find another kind of “search and rescue” in Luke 15. Jesus was criticized for caring about people who were far from God (vv. 1–2). In reply, He told three stories about things that were lost and then found—a sheep, a coin, and a son. The man who finds the lost sheep “joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me’ ” (vv. 5–6). All the stories are ultimately about finding lost people for Christ, and the joy that comes as they’re found in Him.

Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost” (19:10), and He calls us to follow Him in loving people back to God (see Matthew 28:19). The joy of seeing others turn to Him awaits. We’ll never know unless we go.