Are you lost? This is the fundamental question posed by the LOST series finale Sunday night. What does being lost look like to the creators of this smash ABC series, now ended after a stellar 6 year run? Lost means not giving due attention to relationships. Lost is being alone. Lost is ultimately about the value we give to the relationships we have in life.
We discover that the entire cast is dead and now waiting for Jack to arrive for their final gathering in a church setting. There are hugs and smiles and an odd confluence of emotions as Jack meets his father with the question … “How are you here dad?” The response … “Jack, how are YOU here?”
Jack’s father encourages us not to think too darkly about death; instead, we are to adopt a more cavalier approach acknowledging that death comes to us all and that it is “moving on” to a state of timeless reunion.
For me, the ending scenes were a bit dull, albeit emotionally deepening. The highlight for me was when the dog joined Jack in the Bamboo forest and licked his face and laid down next to him, as if to say “in death you will not be alone.”
Another high point was when, after performing back surgery Jack discovers the nick on his neck bleeding, an apparent “leak” between LOST’s alternate Universes where time means nothing.
HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE FOR ME: Lost seems to be saying “relationships matter most.” It’s the fabric of who we meet, touch, know, and draw near that gives meaning to life. Jesus put it this way:
1 John 1:5-10 5 This is the message we heard from Christ and are reporting to you: God is light, and there isn’t any darkness in him.
6 If we say, “We have a relationship with God” and yet live in the dark, we’re lying. We aren’t being truthful.
7 But if we live in the light in the same way that God is in the light, we have a relationship with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from every sin.
8 If we say, “We aren’t sinful” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong.
10 If we say, “We have never sinned,” we turn God into a liar and his Word is not in us.
The Ultimate relationship is with God through Christ. As we tend to that key relationship our “earthly” relationships become deeper, clearer, cleaner, and more spectacular!
I want to be careful to distinguish between the popular theology of LOST and the eternal truths of God’s Word. It’s pretty cool to watch a T.V. event and find yourself considering the deeper things of God.
A final thought from Matthew 18:11, “For the Son of man came to save that which was lost.”