Saving the Madonna with Child.
There was a special taskforce during World War II whose mission was to
recover precious works of Art that had been stolen by the Nazis.
Recruiting these soldiers to the taskforce was difficult, for the
attitude of most was this: "We are at war. There is no time for such
trivia." Nonetheless, a handful of soldiers saw this as important, and
this group, who became known as "the Monuments Men", risked their lives
to save this piece of our heritage.
On May 16, 1945, Captain
Posey and Private 1st class Kirstein, Monuments Men to the heart, walked
into a mineshaft just outside the town of Altaussee in Austria. They had
found information that works of art had been hidden in that shaft. They
were surprised and frustrated that the mine had already been dynamited.
Would that mean that all the pieces of art hidden in that mine had
already been destroyed?
What they didn't know is that the eight
bombs that the Nazis intended to use to destroy the mine had been
secretly removed by local Austrians, and in order to prevent any further
destruction of this precious art work, the Austrians had blown up the
entrance to the mineshaft. The Nazis were far from happy, and they
ordered that all Austrians in that village be shot. Fortunately for
them, the Americans were too close, and the orders were never carried
out.
Amongst the pieces retrieved from this mine was the Madonna
with child, which is purported to be the only statue from Michelangelo
that has ever been exported from Italy. It had been seized from the
Bruges Cathedral of Notre Dame in May 16, 1945, under the sad eyes of
the church worker who was helpless when the Nazis tucked it between two
mattresses, loaded it into a Red Cross vehicle, and drove away.
Many men have risked their lives to preserve our past heritage. Wouldn't
it make sense that we, as believers, should also risk everything we have
for our future heritage? Shouldn't we love one another like never
before? "Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you
see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of
God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements
melt down that day." (2Pet 3:11-12a, MSG)
Still, why are some of
us admonished with such words: "I know your deeds, that you are neither
cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you
are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my
mouth." (Rev 3:15-16, NIV2)? That's quite rash wouldn't you say?
Have you ever drunk water that is lukewarm? Believe me, it's quite
unpleasant. The tendency of most of us who drink such water is to spit
it out.
This is the warning addressed to the believers of
Laodicea. Interestingly enough, Laodicea truly had a water problem.
Being down in a valley, there were problems getting water to the city.
They soon found a "solution," building an aqueduct with their own funds
to bring the refreshing cold water from the mountains nearby. After all,
wasn't Colosse, a nearby town, famous for its cold, refreshing water?
Didn't this water flow freely from the snow-covered peak of Mount
Cadmus? Couldn't Laodicea benefit from such water as well?
Sadly,
their money did not resolve the problem. Yes, they now had an aqueduct
that would bring water, but by the time that cold, refreshing water
reached Laodica, it had turned lukewarm!
Can you imagine how
frustrated they were!
They didn't give up though. Down in the
valley, where the River Lycus connects with the Maeander River, there
were hot springs. This reminded the Laodiceans about Hierapolis who had
hot springs, and drinking such warm, delicious water would sure feel
good! Some Laodiceans decided to take that water from the hot springs
and bring it to Laodicea. Unfortunately they found that . . . You
guessed it right . . . The water had become lukewarm when it reached the
city!
So many of us enjoy drinking hot water, especially if we
have some herbal tea to add to it. My favorite! My wife drinks ordinary
hot water in the winter. It feeds her with the necessary heat to face
the cold weather. And I don't know of anyone who hates cold, refreshing
water during a hot summer day.
The same is true with believers.
Some are like hot water. They are the encouragers who help us face the
day. Others are like cold, refreshing water. We always feel welcomed by
them. But then there are also lukewarm believers. They don't refresh us
in any way. They are indifferent and complacent, and these make us want
to "spit" them out of our mouths. I am certain you have met some of
these. The sad part is that there are churches out there that
specializes in being lukewarm!
The question remains, how did they
end up being that way? The answer will be found next month, as we will
pursue our search to this extremely strange ailment that afflicts some
churches and believers.
I urge all of us to either refresh others
or feed them with the warmth that comes naturally from our hearts, as
Jesus resides there. Everyone is welcome! We have room to make more
friends-at least I hope you feel that way as well! If not . . . Join us
for next month's message.
God bless you!
Rob Chaffart
