In 1622, a Spanish ship, “Our Lady of Atocha”, sailed from the Spanish colonies in the New World back towards Spain. The Atocha was laden down with so much gold from the mines in the Americas that it had taken two months to load all of it into the ship! But just off of what we now call the Florida Keys, a hurricane struck, and the Atocha sunk. For centuries, that vast treasure had been hidden somewhere underwater, and a American named Mel Fisher was determined to find it. He outfitted a ship; he recruited divers; he used modern technology to search under the ocean. Fisher crisscrossed the waters off the Florida Keys, beginning in 1969, but after a year of searching, he found nothing. He was determined to continue, but two years went by, and still they did not find it. Five years later, no success. Ten years; nothing. Fifteen years and countless thousands of dollars later, no Atocha. But on the 16th year of crisscrossing, searching, diving, and after much disappointment, 16 years later, they finally found a large portion of the Atocha, in 1985, with its amazing treasure worth multiplied millions of dollars. In fact, just one of the rings recovered from the Atocha was valued at $500,000!
Mel Fisher is a great example of what it means to really “seek” for something. But there is a treasure greater than silver or gold to be found. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:6-7
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way an and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Continue reading
Last Sunday we shared the story of Oscar Schindler, the German businessman who literally “redeemed” over 1200 Jewish prisoners from death in German concentration camps by bribing guards and bringing the prisoners in to work in his business. The picture you see on the screen is the grave of Oscar Schindler. As we mentioned last week, Schindler’s redemption was limited, as he could only redeem the 1200, and he literally bankrupted himself by redeeming them, and ended up being supported by the Jewish community in his old age. It was his request to be buried in Jerusalem, and Schindler’s grave is one of the most visited in the holy city. But despite all the good that Schindler did, he will never redeem anyone else, for he lies still in his grave. But today we celebrate that as Christians, we have a Redeemer who LIVES and who is able to come to our aid today!
shawnethomas 