Jackson Snyder February 2, 1995; August 18, 2002
Snyder
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PREVIEW What
the Bible Says about Stewardship A.Q. Van Benschoten
Job 22:1,21-30
Matthew 13:44 (KJV) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field;
the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
The Golden
Flood
There was a little quiz on TV last
night. There was a video clip of a man
chest deep in raging floodwater. You
could tell it was a flood because you could see he was trying to wade down the
middle of a city street: there were flooded houses seen in the background. The commentator told us that this man was in
Missouri and asked us to guess which August 17th was pictured –
1973, 1983 or 1993. Would you know
which to pick? I knew immediately
because I remembered an apocryphal story about what had happened to a farmer
named Miller during that great flood of 1993.
Miller was a Christian farmer. His home was swept away during the
flood. Through alligator tears, he
rationalized that his old house wasn't worth much anyway and he praised G-d
that nobody in the family was hurt. Though
Miller was broken-hearted, discouraged and financially ruined, he still held on
to a vague hope that his faith was not in vain.
When the water subsided and Miller was able
to begin cleaning up the mess, he spied a number of large, glittering objects
in the muddy hole of his flooded-out basement.
He discovered them to be large chunks of ore heavily laden with
gold! Where they came from was a
mystery; nevertheless, through what the insurance industry calls an "act
of G-d," Farmer Miller recovered a fortune in new gold, but at the
expense of all the old things he once had owned.
The insurance money, coupled with the
proceeds of the sale of his gold, afforded Miller the resources to relocate
away from the riverbank and build a much nicer house and thus become a
testimony in his community to the power of the Almighty. Although he never got over the pain of his
initial loss, especially the loss of his cherished personal items, he gave G-d
the glory for his restoration!
Get a Job
Miller's story reminds us of Job's
catastrophe and incredible gain. Job
lost everything he loved, including his health. But rather than be left alone to curse God and die, his
"friends" are on hand to torment him with homespun self-improvement
courses. One of Job's friends, Eliphaz,
did seem to have the elusive answer Job was seeking:
"Brother Job, if you treat gold as
mere dust, and gold nuggets as mere stones in the river, and if you make the
Almighty your gold and silver instead, then you will delight only in the
Almighty, and lift up your face to God" (Job 22:24-27 paraphrase).
This is what
eventually happened, as Job reconnoitered the value of the Almighty in
relation to the loss of his goods and even his family. Although Job, being human, may have never
gotten over losing his wife and children, his face was eventually lifted
up. He made the Almighty his delight,
and he was fully and miraculously restored.
The Parable
of the Hidden Treasure
Now about the parable of Hidden Treasure:
We normally think of the Father's healing and restoration as resulting from our
faith working through loss, like Miller's loss of his home through
the flood, or Job's loss of family through the devil's trick. But this parable is not an account of
unintentional loss, but of intentional loss. There is no cataclysm to take away what the treasure-hunter
already has, but he intentionally and even joyfully sells everything to gain
the Almighty (for the treasure in the field is Yahweh). He has made the Kingdom of the Almighty His
Gold by ridding himself of his gold! And as a professional treasure-hunter, it’s his business to find
the best treasure!
Although Jesus promised his presence in the
midst of unintentional sacrifice, he always demanded the joyful, intentional
sacrifice of his followers. The
treasure-hunter joyfully and intentionally gives all he has, and gets something
greater, all mindfully done without catastrophe forcing the issue.
Jesus' radical teaching of loss and gain is
so often lost on saints today (saints with a small “s”), being relegated
to the realm of Saints (with a capital "S") instead. Yet the promise has proven true over and
over again for saints (with a small “s”) and Saints (with a capital “S”) alike:
"if you will first strive for the Kingdom of G-d and his righteousness,
then all the things you need will be yours" (Matthew 6:33
paraphrase). We are bid by our Master
to master the treasure hunt!
Imagine the power and prosperity that might
materialize through intentionally seeking to possess the Treasure with all
one's soul, mind, strength, might and wealth.
Imagine gaining every worthwhile blessing of the Almighty Father without
the unexpected loss of a home to a flood or a family to disaster. Imagine gaining a priceless pearl through
blissful surrender instead. Imagine
what we could do with such a treasure for the world and its people.
But will we be gladly able to turn our
hearts and eyes treasure-ward, and "sell out" for it? Or shall we wait instead for coming
disaster, when treasure shall be revealed through suffering? No, let us hunt treasure now!
THE TREASURE
One day as I was sinking in a sea of dark despair, I tripped upon
a treasure chest, buried deep down there.
Suddenly my heart leapt with joy...as it skipped a beat, the
chest's dirt and loam all scattered, swirling round my feet.
Grasping onto it with a vengeance, I surfaced for some air. Fate had brought us together and time would
let us share.
The chest was worn and tarnished, its hinges rusted shut and I was
lost and lonely, in need, not knowing what.
Day in day out we stayed there on the beach, side by side,
listening and soothing each other, tide after tide.
Caressing and polishing daily, loosening the years of decay and in
return it gave me some contentment back in my day.
Every now and then it would open up, just a wee bit more but how long
it would take to see inside, I really wasn’t sure.
As time went on I noticed a sparkle and a shine that was spilling
out all over, filling this heart of mine.
Inside there was a music box that played me songs untold. A key
that opened a locket, it was a heart of gold.
Rubies and gems made into a face, it was that of a clown. A brooch
of a cherub angel that must have been passed down.
A dried bottle of ink, a quill waiting to write tales of the past
and poetry of the night.
Sparkles and shimmers dancing over cut glass, showing elegance and
charm that nothing could surpass.
Its value unknown but I knew deep in my heart that it was a
treasure from which I never would part.
A jewel found so deep in that sea of despair has brightened my
life with a breath of fresh air.
One never knows when that treasure will appear in their life;
hopefully, in times of struggling with torment and strife.
Cherish it, love it, its value is beyond that of gold. It must be
locked in your heart forever to hold.
--- Cammi’s Cabin
http://members.tripod.com/~cammicabin/treasure.htm