Luke 15:1-10
Jacob
Wetterling was taken away from his family in Central Minnesota 27 years
ago. He was out riding his bike with his
brother and a friend when a man took him at gunpoint. The story made national news because this was
small town America and this kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen.
The story was shocking.
The three boys were doing everything right that night. They stuck together when they rode to the
convenience store to rent a movie. They
had flashlights and reflective vests. But a man with what we now know was an
unloaded gun still approached them, asked their ages and sent the other two
boys home.
And he took Jacob.
Jacob was eleven years old.
Maybe this story is important to me because I am from
Minnesota and Jacob has been a part of our history for over 27 years, but when
his remains were located this week, the story made international news. It was
in the newspaper and on the television news, so I suspect you may have heard
about it. Heartbreak and closure. The search now ends.
Back in 1989 when it happened many people left their porch
lights on to invite Jacob “home.” And so
many of us kept the porch lights on this week in solidarity and reverence for
Jacob’s family, knowing that though their son was finally found, during these
27 years we were all looking and hoping that he would be found and we, too, with
the awful news, were grief-ridden.
I want to share with you what my cousin, Josh, wrote on his
Facebook page.
“The first thing you see is the
infectious smile on one of the most recognizable faces in as far back as I’m
aware. Quite possibly in the history of the world.
To
say that Jacob affected my life would be an understatement. I think he touched
all of our lives to some degree.
I remember
the night when the news broke about his abduction. I remember standing in the
living room at my parents’ house, looking at that face. He was a couple of
years younger than me. My folks had a talk with me. Everything was a little different after that
when we boys were out at night.
Jacob was taken while doing something we did all the time in my town. He asked his captor “What’d I do wrong”. Well, the answer is nothing. He was traveling in a group. Which is more than I could say half the time I rode my bike to the store or the arcade. He seemed to do everything right. You can’t look at the situation and say he should have done x or y. Why did this happen? I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m angry about what was taken from him. I’m sad for what was taken from his family and I’m disgusted that someone could do that to an innocent child.
What strikes me is how personal it feels. I recently had a cousin say that it was personal for Minnesotans. She nailed it. I feel like I knew him. I’m sure you do too. Maybe it’s because I have 2 boys that aren’t all that far from his age when he was taken. Maybe it’s because he was close to my age as a boy and his abduction was a defining moment for my entire generation.
The world changed that day.
I am happy that he finally came home. Now his family can mourn. Now we all can mourn.
I pray the Wetterling family finds peace.
I think I’ll leave my porch light on for a while longer.”
Jacob was taken while doing something we did all the time in my town. He asked his captor “What’d I do wrong”. Well, the answer is nothing. He was traveling in a group. Which is more than I could say half the time I rode my bike to the store or the arcade. He seemed to do everything right. You can’t look at the situation and say he should have done x or y. Why did this happen? I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m angry about what was taken from him. I’m sad for what was taken from his family and I’m disgusted that someone could do that to an innocent child.
What strikes me is how personal it feels. I recently had a cousin say that it was personal for Minnesotans. She nailed it. I feel like I knew him. I’m sure you do too. Maybe it’s because I have 2 boys that aren’t all that far from his age when he was taken. Maybe it’s because he was close to my age as a boy and his abduction was a defining moment for my entire generation.
The world changed that day.
I am happy that he finally came home. Now his family can mourn. Now we all can mourn.
I pray the Wetterling family finds peace.
I think I’ll leave my porch light on for a while longer.”
Patty Wetterling never gave up her search for Jacob in all
these years. She has been
relentless. She has been entrepreneurial,
she has been political, she has been creative, she has made the world
aware. Billboards lined highways. The Wetterling Foundation was set up to help
other families find their lost loved ones.
Jacob’s face was the face of the lost.
He was not going to be forgotten.
For 27 years we have seen Jacob’s face, heard his name, or
have been aware of the work his family was doing for him and for other lost
children. Patty Wetterling was the face
of the crusade. Her name became
synonymous with lost children. With her
husband, Jerry, Patty “formed the Jacob
Wetterling Foundation, an advocacy group for children's safety. In 1994, the
federal Jacob Wetterling Act was passed and named for Jacob. It was the first law to institute a state
sex-offender registry. The law has been amended several
times, most famously by Megan's Law in 1996 and the Adam Walsh
Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006."[1]
According
to their website, “The Jacob Wetterling Resource
Center was founded to educate and assist families and communities to address
and prevent the exploitation of children. They continue to work to end all
forms of child maltreatment through education, training and prevention while
advocating for and serving children, adult survivors and communities."[2]
Patty and Jerry Wetterling were relentless in their search
for their son. Because they were never willing to give up, they knew that they
had to help others. The loss of their
son was a high price to pay, but because of Jacob, systems and laws have been
put into place and many other children have been found or protected. A mixed blessing, for sure, but in the loss
of one, many have been impacted. We had
hope that Jacob would be found, would be safe, would be.
Patty and Jerry never gave up their search.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells two parables; one about the
lost sheep and the other about the lost coin.
It’s interesting that the stories are identified by what was lost when
the stories themselves are about the relentless search to find the lost items.
In other words, the stories are really about the seekers.
The shepherd lost a single sheep and the woman lost a single
coin. Neither missing item may seem like
much to us, but if you were the shepherd in charge of the sheep and you could
not account for all of what you were responsible for, your job, your
credibility and your livelihood could be at risk. If you were the woman and you lost one of ten
coins, you may have become even more marginalized because you lost one tenth of
your wealth. Who knows if those were her
last coins? In either story, the seeker
did not stop seeking until the item was located.
When our kids were little I took them to K-Mart to pick up a
few things. Like chicks following their
mother hen, the kids followed me from aisle to aisle. When I turned back after making an abrupt
turn, our daughter was missing from our little line. My heart sank. My face turned red. I frantically looked around me and then began
walking around the area, calling her name.
I’d lost our daughter.
Somehow we found each other.
I have no memory of the details.
She was mad at me because she had zigged when I zagged and we got
separated. I was just thankful that I
found her. My emotions were a
jumble: my fear became joy, my anger at
myself became elation. She was safe and
she was back with me.
I bet many of us parents have experienced moments like this,
moments when our child was just out of our sight, for just a moment, and fear
began to rush in. For most of us, our
kids were never all that far away and we were reunited after some frantic cries
and panicked searching. And I suspect
that some of us were torn between wanting to paddle their behind and hugging
them so tightly they wouldn’t be able to breathe.
Jesus is telling us a bit about our relationship with God in
these two parables. He is letting us
know that we are each, individually, important to God. That our relationship matters. That when we are lost, in whatever way we
choose to define “lost,” God is searching for us, relentlessly, fervently,
hopefully and most of all, lovingly.
When the shepherd found the sheep and the woman found the
coin they rejoiced! They gathered their
friends and loved ones around them to tell the story of their fear and concern
about their lost item. They told them
about their panicked search—how they looked here and there—how they turned over
this and that—how they had to remain hopeful, even in their hopelessness. They told them about the moment the item was
found and how relieved they were, how they had to forgive themselves for losing
the item, how they held the now found item close and wept with joy.
And then? Then they
celebrated the experience! Just as God
celebrates when one of us who has been lost in our own way is found.
I can only imagine what the Wetterling family is feeling this
week. Their lost one has been found
after 27 years of searching for him. 27
years of looking here and there, turning over this and that, and then finding
him, dead, murdered by the “person of interest” in the case since it began.
The grace of the Wetterling family which basically allowed
the man who killed their son go free for the murder in exchange for a 20-year
sentence for federal child pornography astounds me. Perhaps part of the way they can be at peace
with the outcome, to rejoice in the return of their son, is to be forgiving
toward this man.
Or perhaps, the way they have decided to deal with Jacob’s
death is to focus on all that he meant to them in life.
Jacob wore the number 11 when he played sports. The Wetterling family is encouraging others
to proudly wear an 11 somewhere on their person “at their next game, concert
or big event to show their commitment to making the world a better place for
kids, … It’s one of the many ways to honor Jacob’s
spirit and his sense of fairness.”[3]
The Wetterling family has also put together a list of things
to do, called “Jacob’s 11.” These eleven
things are, to me, ways of rejoicing for what was lost. They are ways that recognize the relentless
search for anyone who is lost. They are
ways to celebrate, to hope, and mostly, to love.
St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Joe Souchery wrote this in his article For
what the Wetterlings mean to us, here’s what we owe them:
“Now
the Wetterlings soldier on, after hearing words in a courtroom that brought
more heartbreak than a human might be expected to bear. So what do they do?
They show us dignity and grace. They authored the 11 Jacobs … Because we wanted to know what
we could do, what we should do.”[4]
The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center “posted 11 things that people can do to nurture a culture of kindness and compassion. ‘If you put on Jacob’s jersey number, make a commitment to living with these 11 traits,’" they are:
Be fair
Be kind
Be understanding
Be honest
Be thankful
Be a good sport
Be a good friend
Be joyful
Be generous
Be gentle with others
Be positive[5]
Be kind
Be understanding
Be honest
Be thankful
Be a good sport
Be a good friend
Be joyful
Be generous
Be gentle with others
Be positive[5]
I would add a twelfth: be loving.
Let us pray. Almighty
God, you forever seek those of us who have become lost. You are relentless in your search for those
who are lost. You never, ever give up. And when one of us returns to you, comes to
you, is in relationship with you, you, like the shepherd, you, like the woman,
you, like the Wetterlings, rejoice…thankful that the one who was lost is now
found. We may be dirty, we may be dusty,
we may have lost our mortal lives, but we will always be your beloved. Thank you, God, for never, ever giving up. Amen.
[2] http://www.gundersenhealth.org/ncptc/jacob-wetterling-resource-center
[3] http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/07/wetterlings-request-wear-no-11-for-jacob/
[4] http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/08/soucheray-for-what-the-wetterlings-mean-to-us-heres-what-we-owe-them/
[5] http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/07/wetterlings-request-wear-no-11-for-jacob/