As I have mentioned on other occasions, classifying oneself as a Senior Adult is not an exact science. While some people wear the label as a badge of honor, others still reserve the right to wait to claim that distinction. A Senior Adult is quoted as saying, "I don't want candles on my birthday cake, because I refuse to make light of my age."

I am certainly not going to tag anyone as a Senior Adult, but I will offer this checklist to allow self-classification. "You know you are old: when you know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions; when your favorite part of the newspaper is "25 years ago"; when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and ask yourself, `What else can I do while I''m down here?'' You know you are old when everybody goes to your birthday party and stands around the cake just to keep warm; when you are 17 around the neck, 44 around the waist and you shoot 105 on the golf course; when your back goes out more than you do; when your knees buckle, but your belt doesn't. You know you are definitely old when it's about time to hang it all up, and you can't even remember where you left most of it; when dialing long distance wears you out; (And my favorite) when you turn off the lights for economic reasons rather than romantic ones."

Having a sermon title of "Lost and Found" on Senior Adult Sunday may seem a bit strange to some. What have senior adults lost? Old bankers never die; they just lose their balance. Old mailmen never die; they just lose their zip. Old superintendents never die; they just lose their principals. Old photographers never die; they just stop developing. Old accountants never die; they just lose their balance. Old lawyers never die; they just lose their appeal. Old speakers never die, they just go on and on and on and on . . . "

Some senior adults may be losing their memory. Three women are talking. The first says: "I go to the refrigerator and forget what I needed."

Second woman: "When I go upstairs, I can't remember whether I'm going up for something or if I'm going back downstairs."

Third woman: "I'm lucky, I guess (knocking on wood), I don't have that problem. Oh, there's someone at the door."

And then someone might use the term "lost" in another context. A traveling evangelist drove by and stopped a farmer who was working in his field. "Are you lost?" shouted the evangelist.

"No," said the farmer. "I’ve lived around here all my life."

"But are you a member of the Christian family?"

"No," said the farmer. "They live two more farms down the road."

Desperate, the evangelist shouted, "Are you ready for the Judgment Day?!"

"When is it?" asked the farmer.

"It may be today or tomorrow!" responded the evangelist.

"Well," said the farmer, "When you find out for sure when it is, let me know. My wife will probably want to go both days."
The word "lost" has many meanings. In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables about being lost and found, namely the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. This morning I’d like us to focus on the first two parables.

As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, knowing that he was going to die there, he seized many opportunities to teach valuable lessons. The students present for this teachable moment in Luke 15 are of two groups: people who are not acceptable to the rank-and-file religious establishment and then those who represent the religious establishment. The two groups symbolize those who are considered the outsiders and those of the "in crowd."

Jesus described a scene which perhaps those with him on the road had witnessed. Jesus asked the listeners, "Suppose one of you had 100 sheep and one of them got lost. Wouldn’t you leave the 99 in search of the lost one until you found it? Aren’t individual sheep important enough to search for them? Don’t individual sheep have worth? And when you found it, wouldn’t you be so glad that you had to tell someone; so you called your friends and said, Good news, I found my lost sheep," and then you celebrated. That parable is a lost and found story. Not only was the sheep lost, but more importantly the shepherd thought it was so important that he went looking until he found it.

What a great image of God! That is exactly the message of the Incarnation. God loved us so much that God came in the form of a person to come and get dirty by looking for lost sheep. In the parable, the shepherd put the sheep on his shoulders and carried him back to the fold. How many times has the Good Shepherd gone looking for us, searching through the briars and thistles of life, finding us scarred and scared and still picks us up, places us on his shoulders to bring us back to the fold.

The second parable reinforces the first one. Even though the lady had nine coins, the tenth one was still important to her. To find it, she would do all she could to retrieve it. Lighting a lamp indicated that she would even look when it was dark, not waiting until the next day when sunlight could fill her home for the search. Searching every nook and cranny of her house, she continued to seek the lost coin until she finally found it. Again, this is a lost and found story. And when the coin was found, she had to tell someone. Her joy came not in her ability to search, but her joy came in finding the coin.

In neither parable, the emphasis was not why the sheep nor coin were lost. In the first parable, no mention was made of broken fences, greener pastures, or the intelligence of sheep. In the second parable, no mention was made of an irresponsible money manager, a hole in the lady’s change purse, nor forgetfulness of a busy mom.

Both parables simply say that the owner of the sheep and the owner of the coin had lost something important, and they searched, and they searched, and they searched until they found it. They did not search so they could brag about their investigative skill, their problem-solving prowess, or their keen eyesight.

They searched and searched and searched because they wanted to find what was lost; the one sheep and the one coin were important enough to stop everything else. For the shepherd and the woman, the earth might as well have stopped spinning, because they were going to seek the lost until it was found.

That is the kind of love that God has for us, not just as a group, although God loves Hampton Baptist as much as every other church. This is the kind of love that God has for you and for me. The sheep and obviously the coin did nothing to be worthy of the search. The emphasis is on the searching shepherd and the seeking woman, and then the focus turns to the rejoicing when the lost are found.

Common to both parables is the ensuing party. "Celebrate with me; I’ve found my lost sheep." "Celebrate with me; I’ve found my lost coin."

Those listening to Jesus’ parables that day perhaps did not fully realize that no matter if they were insiders or outsiders, that they were all God’s children. The outsiders, those who were known sinners of the day, the people whose outward action made them offensive to the self-proclaimed acceptable wanted to be included, because everyone wants to be accepted. The outsiders reveled in the fact that God would come looking for them, that they were that important, because most of the time, the message sent to them by religious people was that they were not important. But with the parable, Jesus taught that they were important too.

The insiders who heard the parables were also God’s children; the point of the parables was that God loves everyone the same, and God is willing to go great lengths to find those who are lost. That should come as good news, because everyone can get lost, yet the religious elite did not think they were lost nor did they believe that they were capable of being lost. They were not interested in celebrating when the lost were found; instead they were more prone to blame the directionally-challenged sheep or the coin which happened to fall out of an apron pocket.

Here’s a news flash: even today, we are all God’s children. Whether we have strayed from the fold or fallen through the cracks, we are all God’s children. Whether we are insiders or outsiders, been-heres or come-heres, rich or poor, male or female, old or young, we are all God’s children. As such, a variety of circumstances can lead to all of us feeling lost sometime. Painful childhood memories haunt some people until they leave the fold in search of ways to ease their pain. Present circumstances cloud some people’s perceptions, and they lose their way. Others feel lost because they simply aren’t as extraverted or gregarious as the others in the room. When relationships fail, when family members disappoint us, or when friends desert us (emotionally or physically), we can feel lost. Yet even at our lowest of lost times, the Good Shepherd comes looking for us. Why we feel lost isn’t why the shepherd begins the search. Instead, because we are all God’s children, our Good Shepherd will come looking for us because of love; and the shepherd loves us all the same.

So what do the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin have to do with Senior Adults? Some senior adults perhaps wonder if they are of use to the church anymore. At one time, they were considered leaders, attending every event when the doors were open, bringing the whole family to church. Now that the children are grown and perhaps a spouse has died, some seniors wonder if the church needs them. Some come to this same room where they have worshiped for decades, yet the pastor is new, and the people on the pew in front or behind them are not familiar anymore. Some Senior Adults physically worked in this building and maybe on this building, but their health now limits this kind of activity, and they feel lost.

While these changes can and perhaps do bring feelings of lostness to some Senior Adults, there are many avenues where Senior Adults can be found. A variety of Sunday School Classes are offered each week, some which are taught by Senior Adults. Our Victory Singers practice weekly and sing a couple of times each month in worship. Under the leadership of Tom Matthews, our Senior Moments ministry gathers for day-trips providing fellowship and camaraderie. Our Homebound Deacon Ministry Team ministers to some Senior Adults in unique ways. Videos and DVDs of our worship services are available and taken to those who request them. And today, we are having a catered luncheon to honor our Senior Adults. Senior Adult ministry is alive and well at Hampton Baptist.

A woman of extremely advanced years was being interviewed for a television show. At one point, her young interviewer asked, "What was life like in your day?"

With a coolly polite smile, the old woman answered, "This is my day." And that describes so many of our Senior Adults. Where are our Senior Adults found? Some serve as Deacons and provide service on almost every committee in the church. Some sing in the Sanctuary Choir and Steeple Singers; some work in our weekly Soup Kitchen; some participate in A Night’s Welcome; some are involved in WMU, Media library, volunteer in the church office, and some were on our mission trip to Appalachia last summer.

Not only does the church need these seniors, but God needs these seniors.

Actress Marie Dressier once said, "It''s not how old you are that matters; it's how you are old."

While some Senior Adults may feel lost at church, I hope that as a group you continue to be found serving Christ through Hampton Baptist.

Let’s be grateful that our God continues to look for us, even when we feel lost. Let’s be thankful that God loves us all the same and that we are all God’s children. And finally, let’s recommit ourselves to do our part in showing that love by searching for those who are lost. That is a reason to celebrate.