Matthew 18:10-14

Matthew 18:10-14
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It's truly incredible how the world has come to a halt to pay attention to this Thai soccer team that is trapped in a cave.  Divers from England are headed to Thailand, and Elon Musk is working on a solution as well.  15 kids the world had never heard of have grabbed our attention, and we're not worried about the cost -- we're worried about saving these kids.  They're lost, and we're trying to bring them home.  The same happened with the miners in Chile a few years ago - the world came together to try and save some miners.  It's humanity at our best -- we stop worrying about costs and borders and the things that divide us and collectively exert ourselves in efforts to save others.  We notice when some are lost, and we seek them out.  We don't worry about whether the boys can pay us back, and we don't calculate their future contributions to humanity -- they are valuable because they are human, and so we try to save them.
  The best stories of humanity bring joy to us because they have echoes of the truest story ever told.  They remind us of something that is true about us -- that we were lost, and rather than count the cost, God paid the most valuable price of all -- he sent his Son into a dark world so that we might be saved.  Even though we haven't figured out how to be grateful, even though we rebel against God, we are deemed valuable enough because of who we are, and so God pays any price to save us. 
  You are infinitely loved, and God thinks you are valuable enough to pay any price so that you might not be lost.  God rejoices over finding you, and invites you to tell the wondrous story -- that lost things shall be found, and God will seek them out and rejoice when they are found!