Plan William Pilkenton was one month away from turning
eight years old. His family had traveled from Bellingham, Washington, to Tofino, British Columbia for a
vacation. He and his father were walking up from the beach when his father turned to look for him and
realized he was gone. When children go missing, fathers start looking. And so
did this one. Before long, the entire community was helping him search for this
missing child. Search and rescue crews scoured the area. Search coordinator
Garth Cameron said, “I don’t think there’s a square foot in this town that
doesn’t have footprints.” 1
When children go missing, parents go looking. And that’s
what God has done. There’s not a square
foot on earth that doesn’t have His footprints. He began
searching for them the moment Adam and Eve made a choice and lost their way. His search and rescue
plan had three stages. First He sent the nation of Israel looking. They were
His chosen people; chosen to accurately reflect Him in their world and to
reveal His plan to rescue the lost. His second stage involved His Son, Jesus
Christ. He sent his Son to “seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:10) and “to
give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
The third stage involves His church- you and me. Before
Jesus returned to heaven He laid out Hs search and rescue plan (Acts 1:8) “But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.” Jesus sent the disciples into the middle of Jerusalem and told them to
wait- to wait for the gift promised by His Father; the gift of the Holy Spirit.
While they were waiting a crowd gathered for Pentecost.
Some estimate Jerusalem swelled to over one million people during this time.
The Holy Spirit came on them, Peter preached, and the church swelled from 120
to over three thousand. It didn’t stop there. The devoted themselves to “the
apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”
(Acts 2:42). That first church in Jerusalem grounded its people in the Word, in
deep community, to sharing meals and sharing Christ, and to prayer. They had
to. The task at hand was too big for them to accomplish on their own. They
needed each other. Mostly they needed God, they needed His promised gift, His
Holy Spirit.
That hasn’t changed, has it? We still have the same
commission to be witnesses for Jesus in our world, our circle of influence. We
are still called to the Word, to love each other, to share life, and to prayer. And we are still searching for those who have lost their
way. We are called to accurately reflect Jesus and to reveal His plan for
rescuing lost people. We are still searching because the Father still has
children who are missing. So live it and share it and God will bring you power
as you do. Let’s not leave a square foot without our footprints.
