A toy animal can be very important to a child. Sometimes we only realise how much something or someone meant to us when we no longer have their presence in our lives. I remember as young child I had a little stuffed rabbit, only three or four inches tall, not very well made, but I played with it every day, using it to “drive” a toy truck or tractor, or being the salesman in the play shop.

My siblings had their favourite plush animals as well. They all had names and were dear to us. Mine was called Peter Karottenfresser (Peter Carrot Eater).

Unfortunately, Peter Carrot Eater was not of very high quality, more one you would win at a fair, with glued-on eyes and tail and cheap fabric materials. So with time it got broken, and when I got a new little animal, a monkey this time, I decided to discard Peter Carrot Eater. That night I cried my heart out. I cried so much that my father took a torch and went through the garbage can outside on the road to look for my little rabbit. He found it (in even worse condition).

My mother cleaned it up and when I finally had it in my arms I fell asleep within minutes. I later lost Peter Carrot Eater for good, and I guess that was OK. When my children were small I would tell them goodnight stories about “Peter Carrot Eater” as the main character, thus in a way he lived on.

We miss what is lost

I had to think of Peter Carrot Eater last Sunday when I was preaching about The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin in Luke 15. Jesus told these parables when the Pharisees complained about him eating with tax collectors and other sinners.

What Christ tried to tell them was that God loves all people. God created each and every one of us because he wanted us to be in this world and to fulfil a purpose.

Psalm 139 says God knew all about us before we were even born, before he created us in the dark and put together all our organs in the womb. He knew all our days which are written in his book before they even happened.

I guess, when God took so much effort to create each and every one of us, give us our unique shape, our spiritual gifts, experiences, and talents, God would miss us when we walk away or get lost. God wants a relationship with you and me and all others.

Jesus talks about the joy when the lost is found. He says in Luke 15,7 (NIV): “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

God’s love makes us special

It is God’s love that makes us special. We are not just some star dust, some fluke or accident in the universe. God created the whole universe with you and me in mind. He created us to love us. That love gives us in turn the ability to love others. When the relationship is broken, it hurts God.

It also hurts us, even if we don’t realise it. When we remove the source of all love from our lives it is only a matter of time that love diminishes as well. Our hearts get harder and harder, we can become selfish and self-righteous, possibly blaming others for our own misery and possibly begin to hurt the people round us.

God is looking for us

The Good News is: God seeks us, he wants us to return to him. That is why God even decided to come into the flesh, to become human and rekindle the relationship. We can learn from Christ that God does not give up on his relationship with us.

Even when we walk away, when we might seem not to care, God wants to find us. For the righteous Pharisees, the tax collectors and other sinners were almost untouchable. They wondered why Jesus would “waste his time on them”.

For them, God’s love was conditional to their behaviour. They truly thought they would do God a favour by fulfilling his laws to the dot. They also thought God owed them for being so wonderful, and at the same time they were so harsh and unloving to those who did not fit their expectations. They looked down on them. They lacked love.

God’s love is greater than our sin

The paradox is that even though God hates the sin, God still loves the sinner. God is able to differentiate between the issue and the person. God does not attack our character when we make a mistake. He does not give up on us when we give up on Him. He is willing to forgive. He calls us to come back to him.

To re-establish the relationship. To rebuild our lives. To dare to have a new beginning. What an offer! We can approach him and come to him just as we are, and ask to feel his forgiveness in our lives. What an experience. That is transforming, freeing, uplifting, and hopeful.

God sets the example for our relationships

We could learn so much from God for our own relationships. How often do we get into conflict because we cannot keep the issue apart from the person? How often do we just blame the other side instead of listening to understand?

We let our other frustrations and experiences of the past taint the present and make the future so dull that we cannot see it.

It is so easy to only see our point of view, our frustration, our hurt. We are human and easily forget that we are related, never meant to be islands and live in relationship with others.

There are always at least two sides, two people with needs and wishes. There could be so much joy when relationships get re-established, when forgiveness takes place and reconciliation becomes possible.

Even when we don’t reconcile, forgiveness can free us from the hurt and enable us to live without the shadows of the past. Shadows always indicate light. Look to the light to grow and find the courage to change and be more fulfilled — in love.

In Matthew 11:29 (NIV), Jesus says: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

A yoke is a wooden beam that joins two work animals, like oxen, at the neck or head to help them pull a heavy load together. That makes it much easier. We can learn from Jesus how to forgive and be humble instead of waiting for others to give in. We can make a fresh start.

Humility comes from within, it is free and freeing. Be free in the Lord of the entire universe. Learn love, touch lives with empathy and great acceptance of all that is God given.

Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who helped many Jewish people escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust, emphasised that God’s love is the most powerful force, capable of overcoming hatred and despair, and can be found even in the darkest “pit”.

She talked about the infinite nature of this divine love which is deeper than any struggle or confinement. She embodied the spirit of “make love, not war” as love is always stronger than its negative, hate.

• Karsten Decker is a German theologian with a double degree equivalent to an MTheol and MDiv. He studied in Marburg (Germany), Knoxville (USA), and Toronto (Canada) and comes from a united church of Lutheran and Reformed Churches. He was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s