7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.8We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--10always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
If we have discovered our treasure in Christ, the riches of the kingdom of heaven that have been given to us through the transformation of our heart through the presence of the Lord, then we can be determined to withstand any amount of adversity for the sake of our relationship with Christ. God does not promise us a carefree, easy life all the time, trouble will come, but as we grow in our love for Him, He promises us that we will enjoy a fulfilling life, of deep satisfaction, as we are willing to give all for what is important - to know Him and to experience what He has in store for us.
In Matthew chapter 13, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a great treasure that was highly valued and resulted in intense action to protect and claim it. Here are the words of Jesus:
44"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,46who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
There has been a rediscovery as of late of a group of individuals during World War II that made it their business to preserve cultural treasures, as well as to reclaim art that had been stolen by the Nazis. The name of this dedicated group is the Monuments Men. There is an exhibit currently on display at the National Archives in Washington and the National Geographic Channel will be featuring a special tonight. Robert Edsel wrote a book on their exploits, which provides the basis for a movie to be released this weekend. Christian author Cara Putman, on the Wednesday edition of The Meeting House, has set a novel against the backdrop of the work of the Monuments Men.
The National Archives website, in announcing its display and accompanying panel discussions, said that, "Trading hushed galleries and libraries for besieged European cities, the men and women of the Monuments, Fine Art, and Archives Program risked their lives to protect museums, churches, and monuments from combat. They also tracked down and recovered thousands of priceless artworks stolen by the Nazis—much of it from Jewish families—and hidden in places including salt mines and abandoned castles."
The website points out that,
The Third Reich’s Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, or ERR, was the main agency involved in the systematic looting of cultural treasures in Nazi-occupied countries. Hitler ordered that all looted art be brought to Germany and placed at his personal disposal.
After the war, the U.S. Army discovered 39 of these albums hidden at the Neuschwanstein Castle and turned them over to the Monuments Men for use in identifying art work to be restituted. These volumes, in the holdings of the National Archives, served as evidence in the Nuremburg trials to document the massive Nazi art looting operations. Until recently, it was believed that the missing ERR albums had been destroyed during the latter days of World War II. However, thanks to Robert Edsel’s efforts, additional albums have been recovered and donated to the National Archives.In a piece highlighting the National Geographic special, Bill Blankenship, writing for the Topeka Capital-Journal, points out that the Nazis looted more than 5 million of Europe’s greatest culture treasures. Just one repository for the artwork — the salt mine at Altaussee, Austria — contained 6.577 paintings, 230 drawings or watercolors, 137 sculptures, 122 tapestries and 1,200 to 1,700 cases of rare books.
When Hitler began losing the war, the fate of European culture became further imperiled when the Nazi leader issued his infamous “Demolitions on Reich Territory Decree,” nicknamed the “Nero Decree.” Its order of the destruction of German infrastructure to prevent its use by the Allied forces was interpreted by Nazi fanatics to extend to the captured art.
Aware of the potential disaster, prominent members of the American art community took their case to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who authorized the creation of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in Europe. From that commission sprang the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of museum curators, architects, scholars, educators and artists.
Blankenship references the movie's production notes, which quotes the movie's director, co-producer and writer, and actor George Clooney, as saying, "“But they took on this adventure, because they had this belief that culture can be destroyed. If they’d failed, it could have meant the loss of 6 million pieces of art. They weren’t going to let that happen — and the truth of the matter is, they pulled it off.”
As I thought about the concept of the film, which I have not seen and therefore do not recommend or endorse, the question popped into my mind, "What do I treasure?" What do you treasure? And, how do you act in order to protect and preserve the things that you treasure? Think about what Jesus said in Matthew 13, that the kingdom of God was like a treasure, and used the illustration of man who sold all he had in order to buy the field containing the treasure. The kingdom of God is likened to a pearl of great price, for which a man sold all he had in order to buy it. If we treasure the Lord and our relationship with Christ, then we are called to lay down our entire lives in order to devote ourselves to pursuing Him. And, once we have decided to pursue that treasure, then our priorities and the earthly people, activities, and even possessions will follow from that first priority.
The Monuments Men signed up for the front lines in order to preserve treasures - they risked their lives, they sacrificed in order to preserve something incredible important. As Clooney said, "they had this belief that culture can be destroyed." We live in a day where time-honored, deeply-held elements of our culture are eroding and in danger of being destroyed. So, we take seriously Christ's call to be salt and light so that we can preserve and even reclaim what has been stolen from us. The presence of and respect for Biblical values in our society are on a downward spiral, and it is so important that we are taking seriously our call as visible representations of the presence of the Lord. Perhaps each of us can play some small role in integrating our principles into a culture that is running headlong away from the ways of God.
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