Found

Last Friday, I listened to my whole Les Miserables soundtrack (the original London cast version :)).  I love that story.  It is chock-full of pictures of law and grace, love and loss, selfishness and sacrifice.  I can’t help but sing along with Jean Valjean in “Who Am I?” and tear up when Eponine sings “A Little Fall of Rain.”

But this time, this story – like all good stories – took me “deeper” into my own life in a way I wasn’t expecting. 

I realized that like Cosette & Eponine – I desire to be found.

And I think that being found is one of the deepest longings of any human heart.

In Les Miserables, after Marius and Cosette exchange glances on the street, they find that they can’t stop thinking about one another.  Cosette says:

“How strange, this feeling that life’s begun at last

This change, can people really fall in love so fast?

What’s the matter with you, Cosette?

Have you been too much on your own?

So many things unclear, so many things unknown.

In my life – there are so many questions and answers that somehow seem wrong

In my life – there are times when I catch in the silence the sound of a faraway song

And it sings – of a world I long to see

Out of reach – just a whisper away – waiting for me!

…In my life – I’m no longer alone

Now that love in my life is so near

Find me now, find me here!”

Marius is searching for Cosette, and with the help of his friend Eponine, he finds her.  On his way, Marius says:

“In my life, she has burst like the music of angels the light of the sun.

And my life seems to stop as if something is over and something has scarcely begun…”

And when they do finally meet…Marius says:  “I am lost…”  Cosette says:  “I am found.”

Isn’t this the essence of love?  Wanting to be found?  Wanting to be part of a beautiful story or song?  Wanting someone to risk all to be with you?

And then, God reminded me – He already did.

In this story, I am like Cosette!  When I realize God’s deep love for me, life truly can begin at last.  I have caught the sound of a faraway song…and that song echoes with the beauty of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  The same Jesus who risked all in his pursuit of me.

I also started to think that in some ways, I am also like Marius.  Because truly, it’s hard to imagine God looking me and saying that I burst like “the music of angels” and “the light of the sun”.  (which makes His pursuit of me all the more amazing!)  However, just like Marius imperfectly pursued Cosette – I imperfectly pursue Jesus.  Isaiah 65:1-2 shows us that God even lets himself be found by those who do not truly seek Him!  And in my life, Jesus has burst like music of angels…the light of the sun.  When He bursts into my life…something is over (my selfish story) and something has begun (His GREAT story). 

Isn’t it great, though – that when talking about God’s love story – that we will NEVER be like Eponine?

In one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs of the musical, Eponine speaks of her unrequited love for Marius…and what she longs for:

“On my own

Pretending he’s beside me

All alone,

I’ll walk with him till morning

Without him, I feel His arms around me

And when I lose my way I close my eyes,

And he has found me…”

That deep longing of Eponine’s heart was never fulfilled.  Marius never “found” Eponine in the way she wanted.

Jesus always finds us.

But, lest you think the longing for being found is just a romantic notion, I want to remind you of the 2007 movie August Rush.  Remember the storyline?  A young “orphan” boy named Evan (Freddie Highmore) believes his parents are still alive.  He believes that music will draw his family back together…and he ends up playing on the streets and attracting the attention of Wizard (Robin Williams), a man who knows a musical prodigy when he sees one.  Wizard asks the young boy an important question:

“What do you want to be in the world? 

I mean, the whole world?  What do you want to be? 

Close your eyes and think about that.”

Evan replies:  “Found.”

See?  We all want it.  We want someone to express to us that we are valuable and worthy enough to be pursued, chased after, searched for….we want to be found.

When we look at the three parables Jesus tells in Luke 15, we know that He knows it, too.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep:

Luke 15:3-7  “So he told them this parable: ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’”

The Parable of the Lost Coin:

Luke 15:8-10  “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’  Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son:

Luke 15:11-32

“…But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.  And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’  And they began to celebrate…”

One of the deepest longings of our hearts – to be pursued, to be searched for – is completely fulfilled for us by the God of the universe.  There is no greater love than Jesus’ pursuit of us.

I don’t think I can express my joy (and thankfulness….Thanksgiving is next week!) any more fully than through the words of one of my favorite hymns:

All my life I had a longing

For a drink from some clear spring

That I hoped would quench the burning

Of the thirst I felt within

Hallelujah, He has found me!

The One my soul so long has craved.

Jesus satisfies my longings

Through His blood I now am saved.

Like Cosette, I can joyfully say, “I am found.”