A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

Treasure That’s Not for Sale

2 Timothy1:1-14, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, October 7, 2007

One of the world's most famous sea captains died, having long been admired by his crew and fellow officers. They remained puzzled, however, over a strange ritual he performed daily. While at sea he would lock himself in his cabin and open a small safe, take out an envelope with a note inside and read it. After locking the paper back in the safe, he would return to his duties. For years this went on, and his crew became very curious. Was it a treasure map? Was it a letter from a long lost love? Everyone speculated about the contents of the strange envelope. After laying the captain's body to rest, the first mate led the entire crew back to the ship and into the captain's quarters. He opened the safe, got the envelope and read the words aloud to an astonished crew: 'Port: Left, Starboard: Right.' Everyone has their own form of treasure.

Our text this morning is about knowing the preciousness of the gift, your gift from God. Now of course God has given us more than just “the” gift, more than one treasure. There is the gift of life, which is the first one, and we can add on so many others. If you have four children, right there you have four gifts. There is the gift of music that each member of our choir shares with us and God. Now in our passage, Paul reminds his young minister in training, Timothy, “to rekindle the gift of God that it within you….” We never hear exactly what this gift is, though we do know that his faith came through his mother and her mother, still there is something more in Timothy. Timothy seems to have in him the capacity to lead and minister. He is able to take what he learns and believes and help others come to knowledge of the word of God and of God’s grace in Christ. But to make good on this gift and capacity, Paul says he can’t have “a spirit of cowardice;” he has to use his gift with “a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” that God has given him. You see, we can have the greatest of talents but if we bury them, they’re no good to us, God or others. A light, Jesus said, has to be put on a lamp stand to work in the way it is meant to, to enlighten. So don’t hide your gifts. Follow them. Go where they take you. Build your life around what you have within you. As Scripture says, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you…” 1 Timothy 4:14 for “(E)very good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” James 1:17

What we want to see this morning is that the real treasure in life can never be bought or sold; it can only be followed and shared, and so the only proper attitude toward the gift of God given to you is that of thankfulness.

Whenever we are given something freely, gratitude is the appropriate response. So often however we forget how little control we have and how dear each day is, each gift, each life. When I was in seminary, one summer I worked as a chaplain in a CPE program, the kind of program that Rev. Johnson supervises. It’s training for ministry students in a hospital setting. One afternoon, I got a call to go to the E.R. A 15 year old was being brought in from Chicago. He was in critical condition; soon after coming in, he died.

Do you want to know what took the life of this young man from his family and himself? He was riding his bike home from summer school, stopped at a red light. As he waited there, he put his hand on the front of a truck that was also there. He leaned up against it and when the light turned green he was going to push off and cross the street. The driver never saw him and when this driver pulled out the clutch, the truck lurched forward, as trucks will sometimes do. That quick jerk knocked this boy to the ground and the truck rolled over him. A precious life, a treasure to his family, gone, like that. Some treasures are just not for sale. They are simply who we are or who we want to be. Don’t neglect the gift and don’t take for granted your loved ones. Always love those who God gives you. We are mortal and human, frail and fragile, so forgive and rebuild. Say your sorry and seek reconciliation. Not a day, nor even a moment, is guaranteed.  

Our passage from Second Timothy uses a very vivid Greek word in a most suggestive double way. “(F)or I know the one in whom I have put my trust and I am sure he is able to guard (it) ….” Paul talks of that which he has entrusted to God and he is speaking not just of his life, but of the meaning, purpose, and hope which make up the point of his existence. He is speaking of his Christian essence, that is, his calling by God to be Christ’s apostle, his rejection of his past and his former status, his willingness to throw his lot in with Christ, and after his death, his hope for eternal life. He then urges Timothy to safeguard the trust God has placed on him: “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you.” But in this case, it is more literal. Timothy has to keep Paul’s gospel safe, alive and active. He must keep the sound teaching of God’s grace through Jesus Christ as a treasure for those to whom he ministers. In both cases the Greek word is paratheke, which means a deposit committed to someone’s trust. In those days, a man might deposit something with a friend to be kept for his children or his loved ones; he might deposit valuables in a temple for safe keeping, since the temples were the banks of the ancient world. In both situations, the thing deposited was a paratheke. There was no more sacred duty than the safe-guarding of such a deposit and the returning of it when it was claimed. Both Paul’s treasure given to God and God’s treasure deposited in Timothy are treasures not for sale. They are too precious, and much more precious than what we normally think of as treasure.  

A few years ago, the founder of Domino's Pizza, Thomas Monaghan, experienced a "spiritual re-awakening" when he realized that all his wealth was not making him happy. Monaghan began selling off his "stuff": three houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Detroit Tigers baseball team, and thirty vintage automobiles, one of which was a $13 million Bugatti.  "None of the things I've bought, and I mean none of them,” he said, “has ever really made me happy." Dorothy P. Levin Truth wealth isn’t money. True riches are the treasures God entrusts to us. Figure out what your wealth is. Come to see clearly the riches God has bestowed upon you. Pray about your true wealth, so that you can discern who you really are in God’s eyes and what you should do.

A husband and wife were getting ready to go to a memorial service for the son of friends of theirs. The young man had been killed in the service. His family was dedicating a window in their church to this young man who had lost his life. The window cost $50,000. "What a beautiful thing to do in honor of their son," the wife said to her husband. Suddenly, she turned around with an ashen look on her face and said, "What are we going to give?" "What are you talking about?" he said. "We don't need to give anything. Our son came back alive and safe." "That's exactly what I mean," she pressed. "Our friends lost their son, and they are giving $50,000. We got our son back, and we are not giving anything?" Don’t calculate your wealth in terms that the world renders wealth, but look with a truer vision. Cling to what is good, really good, in your life and let the other stuff go.   

Ken Smith, former President of Chicago Theological Seminary, keynoted the Black Family Ministries Conference held in Chicago back when I was in seminary. In his speech he told of his college-age son asking for a car. Smith says that he told his son, no, he couldn't simply have a car; he would have to work for a car. After all, Smith reasoned, that's what his own father had told him and his five brothers. It is not just "things" that parents should pass down to their children, Smith insisted. Because parents have gone overboard in providing "things" for our children, "even middle-class black children are in peril."

When it comes to our children, the best treasure we can give them is the values they need. These values are a reality check against the fantasy life that society tends to build up in our children. It’s tough being the one who has to bring children back down to planet earth, but someone has to do it, and if it’s not mom and dad, then who will? Kids are supposed to work hard at school and do chores around the house. Now we know they need to have fun, but that like Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for fun and a time for doing the dishes, making your bed, turning off the computer and TV, and reading. How can children face the challenges of life, if we don’t challenge them to face life? And more importantly, how can God challenge them with a calling to be committed to him, if they don’t even know what it feels like to be challenged? God needs us to train our children to meet challenges and obstacles, to face them and succeed, and not just to wilt. I know this isn’t real popular with our kids, but we aren’t supposed to be popular as much as parental. Remember, we are to guard the good treasure entrusted to us.

 You have been given God’s own paratheke, a sacred trust, a precious treasure, a gift or gifts that is yours. We don’t own it, but God has blessed us with this special characteristic or a wonderful capacity you have. Don’t deny or neglect God’s personal touch. Always be thankful for what you have received. Some things are precious beyond all price. Some things are the Lord’s things: Gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

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