I never got hooked on the TV series "Lost," but a whole lot of my friends sure did. I've often seen them the day after, shaking their heads, rolling their eyes, and tongue-tied when it came to trying to explain what happened the night before. Sunday night, their long journey ended with a 2 1/2 hour finale, creatively titled, "The End."
The journey started six years ago with a plane crash on a remote island. It ended last night in an ethereal chapel, somewhere on the other side of death. In between was a convoluted roller coaster of mysterious twists, unexplained dark forces, and revealing flashbacks of the checkered pasts of the crash survivors. Fans were left with a pile of questions and web-exchanged theories to try to answer them.
But the journey's finally over. "Lost" fans seem to have a wide variety of feelings about the destination. Some loved it...some didn't. Many seem to feel that the questions raised in "Lost" were better than the answers given.
I, of course, don't have an opinion. I didn't spend time on "the island."
But I know about lost. From the time that series roared into center stage in our pop culture, the title has haunted me. Sure, one-word TV titles aren't new: "Seinfeld"..."Survivor"..."M.A.S.H." But this one got to me a little, probably because "lost" is a God-word.
Over and over in the Bible, God describes our spiritual condition using that word. In a way, "Lost" could be the title for the long-running series of every life on this planet. Jesus called us "lost sheep." He told a story about us being like a "lost son." He said His whole reason for coming into our world was "...to seek and save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). I was one of those "lost" He came to save.
Lost means you don't know for sure where you are. You don't know the way to get home. You're alone...afraid. A pretty vivid description of how we feel deep in our soul so many times. It isn't that we all haven't tried some roads to get home, to get off the island...none of which have taken us there so far.
That's why Jesus came looking for us. Because "home" is a relationship with the One who made us. In the Bible's words, "...we have all wandered away like sheep" (Isaiah 53:6). We're away from God - lost. Jesus went all the way to a cross to find us; to die for us. I will thank Him forever for the day He found me; the day I grabbed with both hands the One who paid so much to bring me Home.
"Lost" ends in Jesus' arms.