Seek the Lord!

"Seek the Lord while He may be found." What a lovely picture. The sense of it is: "Seek the Lord while He allows Himself to be found." That's an even more lovely picture.

It brings to my mind the times when I would play "hide and seek" with my children. The point was not to be hidden but to be found. So, I would leave clues and glimpses as I moved around, and my children would keep coming, giggling with excitement, until finally they found "Dad!" It is not exactly "Hide and Seek”; it is more like "Seek and Find."

"Seek the Lord." The reality that underlies Isaiah's invitation is that the human heart has been formed, has been born, to seek. There's a lot of seeking and a lot of seekers in the world. We seek soulmates (from harmony.com if need be), security (whether it's financial, personal or even electronic), acceptance, affirmation, fulfillment, or a sense of accomplishment.

Seeking is a good way also to understand the religions of the world. That is precisely the way Paul speaks of them in his sermon at the Areopagus. St. Paul said (Acts 17:24-28):

The God who made the world and everything in it… made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "In him, we live and move and have our being…"

So, we are all part of that seeking, a seeking that continues even now to the present day.

But we need to make sure that we have our facts straight. From the Bible's point of view, God is not the One that is lost. He's not the one in the habit of hiding so that we can't find Him. I'll never forget a conversation I had with a young high school graduate heading off to college. When he was getting ready to leave, he finally said to me, "Don't worry, Pastor, I'll keep seeking God." I immediately responded, "That's great, but don't forget, God is the One coming after you."

That's the point of the Bible. God is seeking to save the lost. And, in a text like ours today, when God challenges us to "Seek Him," He's calling us to turn around to see that He has been there for us the whole time seeking to save us all like a shepherd seeking lost sheep.

The Prophet Isaiah proclaims loudly and clearly for all to hear (Isaiah 55:6):

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near [emphasis mine].

What an incredible invitation! Not only is the God of the universe a "seeking God," but He is also the "findable" God. He is near. Now that is truly unique. The Lord says (Isaiah 55:8-9):

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

No kidding!

The Lord of the Universe wants to be known, wants to have an eternal relationship with His people. He makes promises to this world—as sinful as it is—promises that He faithfully keeps and has kept for generations. And the Lord has most publicly fulfilled those promises to all people when He sent His Son Jesus so that all could be saved.

He wants you to know Him—to find Him—as the One Who makes life possible for you, now and forever. In fact, He wants us to seek Him so that we can have the joy of finding Him and seeing the possibilities of new life that comes merely from knowing and trusting in Him alone.

In other words, we don't just seek the Lord in a panic as we might for a lost set of keys or a lost child. We seek Him as those who have already been found. Jesus said of Himself, "The Son of Man came to seek and save," right?

It really is a like a parent and child. Not only does the parent allow herself to be found but also the excitement and joy of the child bubbles over, giggling and laughing. This is our life's task. This is the joy of life. Seeking the clues and the glimpses that God leaves behind. Feeling the pull of the divine magnet which drawing us to Himself.

We seek. We find. And we are found in the water, in the bread, and in the wine. And we sense something familiar: the touch of love that wipes away a tear or calms a fear. There is the touch of the Lord—even in the dark. Where it seems that many of us have been or are right now—even in the dark.

"Seek the Lord" because the One who seeks and calls us to seek Him locates himself at the cross. Our whole life is seeking & finding, seeking & finding, and loving the entire process.

But "seeking the Lord" doesn't mean that He comes in ways of our choosing either. God comes with mercy, but He also delivers on His terms alone.

Isaiah calls all people to repent (Isaiah 55:7):

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

You see, such repentance is simply turning and seeing what is already available to you by the Lord's work. Repentance is not designed to steal the joy of life but to turn away from evil, turn from the sin and guilt that is destroying your life, and receive the grace and pardon that can make your life new again!

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near." And he is near. Here He is, God in the flesh, making the invitation to us—in words that we can hear, water that we can receive, and bread and wine to eat for our salvation.

A findable God, a gracious God, invites all. Not hide and seek but seek and find. You'll be blessed when you do. Amen.