Lost and Found

 When I was in seminary, Greek language fascinated me. All I wanted to do (and strive for) was to immerse myself in the language. I thought that if I could "master" the language I would have some deeper connection to the New Testament than I previously had attained. And so I entered into beginning Greek with enthusiasm, energy, and most importantly optimism. 

    As the semester rolled along, I found out very quickly how hard it is to learn a new language! The grammar, syntax, vocabulary - all inundated my mind into a scrambled mess. I quickly started to sink from the optimistic boat and drown in the ocean of language. But I kept telling myself that it would get better, more and more of it would sink into my subconscious.  So I studied long hours, read, memorized vocab and pushed through the uncertainties until something stuck. And over the course of the year I began to remember things I never knew. Grammar rules started to make sense and it all started (and I mean started) to click.

    My optimism was back, my energy, my excitement. It grew into this thought of "I am going to be a Greek Scholar now" mentality. 

    

    Greek was fascinating and I felt like I was in the pages of the New Testament, with each writer as the penned the manuscripts. It felt personal and real. I felt like I was with Peter when he stepped out of the boat, in the crowd as Jesus hurled the demons into the pigs. The Scriptures came alive for me through the Greek. I told myself that this was going to be something that helped me in my ministry after seminary. That my devotional time would be spent immersed in the language of Greek... So I thought.

    Fast forward to life after seminary.  Ministry kicked in full gear with no slowing down. Ideas, dreams, and visions started flooding in like the dam had been let loose. Caring for others, preaching, teaching, and setting up life in a new space became front and center and the Greek language ended up being left behind somewhere in the frenzy. In the chaos of life the optimism of maintaining Greek slipped through the cracks and ended up on the shelf to not only dust but die. It was all but lost. Over the course of that first year of ministry, Greek was all but a distant dream of optimism and fascination. Could it ever be found again with that same vigor and excitement? Time would slowly tell. But for now the first year of ministry took over and the greek was lost.

    Then year two of ministry came roaring in like a lion and something special happened. It was like a heartbeat started beating on the dusty book shelf in the background of the noise and busyness of life. That feeling of excitement was resurfacing. The connection that I had between the writers and pen were starting to bubble up inside of me. The heartbeat kept beating louder and louder until I had no other choice than to go to the lost and found shelf, dust off the books and open the covers. It was like I had found what had been lost for years, or even decades! The Greek was found! But that is only the start. It was like I had forgotten so much that I must start over.

    And that is where I am at today. Regaining what was once lost and is now found. Moment by moment, sentence by sentence, paradigm by paradigm, vocab by vocab, I am slowly but abundantly regaining the lost and going beyond the found into the new. I am learning, growing and enjoying the Greek again. This time it is different, I know what I lost and do not want to lose that again. So I hold it near and dear to me. Immersing myself in the words penned by God himself through His vessels. Through a language that is fascinating and invigorating. It is like I am back in time again, sitting with Paul in prison as he pens the letter to the church in Colossae. Or with John as he eagerly and excitedly writes about the life of Jesus and who Jesus is. All this was lost but now is found again.

    Martin Luther once said: 

And let us be sure of this we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored; and, as the gospel itself points out, they are the baskets in which are kept these loaves and fishes and fragments. …1

 I never would have imagined that something so simple as a lost and found language, could have such an important and special impact. Maybe it is the same for you today. Through the busyness and chaos of life, you have lost the vigor and excitement to the Bible that is sitting on your shelf. 

    Maybe today is the day that the heartbeat of Scripture beats out its rhythm to you. Maybe today is the day that you head over to the lost and found shelf and dust off His holy Word. It may be in English and not in Greek but the impact is still the same. It is still God's Word and it is still the basket in which the loaves and fishes and fragments are kept. Where the treasure of God's love and heart is stored up waiting to be revealed to you. Head to the lost and found today and immerse yourself in the richness of God. Sit with Paul, John, and the others and experience the Holy Spirit as He speaks to you through each letter, paragraph, word. It is kind of like us - once we were lost, but now we are found through Jesus. Lost and found... how precious it is to be found.

[1] Martin Luther, “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools,” in The Christian in Society II, ed. Walther I. Brandt, trans. Albert T. W. Steinhaeuser and rev. Walther I. Brandt; Luther’s Works 45; Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1962), 360.