Spiritual Treasures

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Luke 12:34

I held this thing of beauty and could not believe my eyes. A Nokona infielder's glove for one half of the original price---but still close to a C note. "Stephen is a catcher, he doesn't need it," I thought, "but at this price...a Nokona...man!"

You baseball purists will understand the attraction to this name. Wonderful products, and they like them too, as they are wonderfully expensive. I talked myself into it, as Stephen does play third base at times and his most recent fielding glove was pretty well shot. I paid my friend, the Sporting Goods store owner, and smiled, "You got me again, dude."

"Come back and see us," he laughed.

The Nokona has stayed safely tucked away in Steveo’s catcher's bag, never seeing the red dirt of an infield, as his responsibilities behind the dish have only grown over time. But finally the Nokona got dirtied up this year. Steveo's best friend Z, had made the baseball team at a rival high school and wanted to borrow the slick little glove. I immediately told him that it would be fine with me; this young man's family has treated my son like one of their own three boys over the years. Frequent beach excursions, college football Saturdays, hunting trips, these are but a few of the acts of generosity the Jones' have blessed him with.

I was awakened the other morning by that voice that I attribute to God’s urging. It said, "Tell Stephen it is OK with you to give the glove to Z...and see what he says". I knew what the answer would be, but I went ahead with the little experiment. My son is not perfect by any means, but I have always admired his gift of generosity, (usually with my money, but that is ok) and I try to put him in situations to make decisions on his own about matters of the heart.

"Dad, I really wanted to give it to him, you know all the things his family has done for me...."

That was the answer I knew I was going to get. And I know now why I bought the thing in the first place. I am looking forward to Steveo hitting a screamer to Z and getting thrown out! We have done this with baseball equipment over the years, usually it is catcher's gear and bats that he has outgrown, but there is one thing that we have held on to, we call it "the rag". More on that later.

I share this story because it reminds me of something I read in Max Lucado's "In the Grip of Grace" recently. It has to do with generosity, and the lesson he learned from a parishioner about receiving and giving it away.

There are times, at the end of a sermon, he will offer a dollar bill to anyone who will come up and take it. The response, he says, is predictable. Some pause, shuffle their feet, a teen may start forward and then remember the peer pressure, a mother will grab a five year old, and then someone finally lightens it up and says, "I’ll take it!’ It is then that he shares an invitation to join the family of God through Christ, and applies the dollar example. What is the reluctance to the gospel? Embarrassment? Reputation? Peer pressure? As he relates: The point makes itself, Though grace is available to all, it’s accepted by few. Many choose to sit and wait while only a few choose to stand and trust.

The story doesn’t end there: Max saw a lady who had hollered, "I’ll take it!" a few weeks later:
"Do you still have the dollar?" he asked.
"No,"
"Did you spend it?"
"No, I gave it away, she answered. "When I returned to my seat a youngster asked me if he could have it, and I said, "Sure, it was a gift to me; it’s a gift to you.’"

My, isn’t that something? As simply as she received, she gave. As simply as it came, it went. The boy didn’t beg, and she didn’t struggle. How could she, who had been given a gift, not give a gift in return? She was caught in the grip of grace.

It is what I desire for my life, it is what I desire for my family, to be unattached to the things of this world, and to be caught in the grip of grace. Family and friends constantly remind me of my lead scripture in Luke regarding your treasure and your heart. Spiritual treasure is what I desire!

Oh, the rag. One of the few things that my son has held on to over the years. A baseball glove so old and worn out, it became known as the rag. His head coach in the 9-10 year old league was shagging balls with it one day. After taking it off, he shoved his hand under my nose. "Dang, David, that smells like a sour dish rag! What is that?" I demanded.

"That’s the inside of Stephen’s glove!" Coach David laughed.

The rag has long since been retired, and after baking the smell out of it in the hot Alabama sun, it now hangs on his hat rack in his room. There are some things in life that are better left with the owner, as they don’t possess much monetary value. But a quick look at this glove, and the memories of all those humid nights at the ball park, the red Alabama clay mixed with sweat (Allie-cat calls it "little boy funk") and yes, the smell of that glove, make me realize that it holds much more value than a new Nokona does anyday.

Give your Nokona away. It will create future memories for someone. But it’s also ok to hold on to the rag, as it is your bridge to all things good in the past.
Spiritual treasures indeed.
Mark
Prov. 17:22