An ode to ‘The Leftovers’… and a sermon on Matthew 16:21–28 — In HBO’s new drama ‘The Leftovers,’ adapted from Tom Perotta’s novel of the same title, two percent of the world’s population vanishes. That’s about 140,000,000 people. Poof. Gone. Departed. Lost. There is no explanation, no note left behind. There is no voice from above declaring those left behind as damned. All the leftovers on earth are left with is each other, and the agony of constantly asking themselves, “Why?”