June 22, 2007

Part One: 

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Jack who lived with his mother in a poor and hungry land.  The home of Jack and his mother was a thatched hut made of rough clay walls with interwoven sticks and mud for a roof.  Their clothes were poor and ragged, and their food was sparse and unfulfilling.  Their one prized possession was a cow which gave them milk that we might have thought both sour and watery, yet seemed of highest praise in their limited experience.  Thus, they treated it like family as did everyone who proudly owned a cow in that land.

On one hot and humid afternoon, when Jack and his mother had done all that they could think to do to scratch a meager sustenance from the parched ground surrounding their hut (which was as likely to prove as vain in that rainless day as it generally did), a man who did not seem so poor, but instead seemed strong and confident, strode by their house.  He paused when he came by their gate and Jack’s mother straightened a bit from her usual stooping as she stared at him.

“Good afternoon,” the stranger said cheerily.  Jack greeted him in return.  The man looked Jack up and down and then eyed the cow.  “Gaunt old thing,” he said simply.  “Not much in her to feed a growing boy or keep his mother either.”

“How rude,” Jack’s mother muttered in the background.

“She’s all we’ve got, sir,” Jack replied.  “Without her, we’d truly starve.”  The stranger smiled and gave Jack a sidelong look.  “Today things change, my boy,” he said.  “I’ll make a trade with you.  Would you like that?”

“Well, sir,” Jack answered, “I can’t say that I’d be sorry for a change.  Things strike me as looking pretty hopeless, unless they DO change.”

“Good.  Here’s what I’m going to do, Jack,” the stranger said, pulling something small and light green from his trouser pocket.  “I’ll trade you this seed for your old cow. 

Jack’s face fell.  “You want to trade a seed for my cow?” he said. 

The man chuckled a bit.  “I know it seems that I’m asking a lot of you, but if you’ll trust me, I can promise you a harvest that you could never have imagined.”  The man’s smile faded.  “There’s more to this seed than meets the eye, and there’s more to you than you or anyone else can imagine.”

“Poppycock!” Jack’s mother retorted from behind Jack.  “Don’t you go filling the poor boy’s ears with daft fairy tales!”

The stranger didn’t answer the woman but looked into Jack’s eyes.  “Well?”

“I’m sorry,” Jack answered.  “That just doesn’t make sense to me.  Why trade what I know and have for something that I can’t even see?”

“You’re sure?” the stranger said, his eyes looking deeply into Jack’s.  Jack nodded and turned away.  “All right,” the man said.  “But I’m sorry to hear it.  I know a lot of folks who’ve missed out on an amazing inheritance, just because they couldn’t let go of their cows.  Your cow, Jack, even if it were made of gold, is still a poor substitute for the glories that could be yours.”  With that, the stranger turned and walked away, whistling as he went.  Jack looked around and watched him go, suddenly wondering how the man had known his name.

Time passed.  The days got hotter and the ground got dryer.  Eventually, even Jack’s cow went dry.  His thoughts kept stubbornly returning to the afternoon when the stranger had visited, and his curiosity about the things that had been said was proving to be an insufferable torment.  But it was too late.  Even if he wanted to make such a trade now, just to see what would happen, he had turned the man down and held on to what he thought was safe and sensible.  Still, he had to do something or he and his mother would starve.

One morning, Jack rose early, put the old cow on a rope and began to lead her out of the yard.  Just as he reached the gate, he found the stranger standing just on the other side, as if he had been waiting for him!  “Good morning,” the stranger said.  Jack didn’t answer but just stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded.  The cow snuffed loudly and tried to pull away, but Jack held tightly to the rope.

“Well,” the man said, after the silence became awkward.  “I imagine that you’re on your way to sell your cow.  I expect that when you go to the market, you’ll get less than what the cow is worth, but with what you get for her, plus the meager savings that you’ve managed to hold on to, you’re hoping to get another cow – one that will be good for milking for a long time.  Maybe you’ll get what you’re looking for, Jack.  Or maybe you’ll get another cow that will go dry just when you’re counting on her.”  Jack’s eyes lowered and he silently studied the dusty ground around his feet.

The stranger went on.  “I know that you don’t know me, but I’m willing to make my offer again.”  He held out his hand, a small shiny seed rested upon his palm.  “There’s more to your future than only scratching out a dismal existence.  You were meant for more,” the man said.  Jack looked at the seed and then he looked up at the man’s face.

“How did you know my name?” he asked.  “And why would you trade something you say is so wonderful for something that you say is so worthless?”  The stranger smiled, and a mysterious warmth crept into Jack’s mind.

“As far as knowing your name, Jack,” the stranger said, “I’ve always known you.  I knew you before you were born.  And as far as why I’d make such a trade…” he paused and laughed quietly.  “That’s what I do, Jack.  I trade riches for rags, glory for shame, and joy for tears.”

For a moment, Jack was caught in a terrible civil war between his common sense and the hope that had been awakened in him.  Even if he sold his cow as he had planned, he and his mother would probably still die of starvation.  But if he traded the cow for this small seed, he and his mother would likely starve a lot faster.  But what if?  What if the hope stirring in him was not in vain?  What if this small seed held a bright and new tomorrow in its tiny husk?  And what if this stranger was something more than merely a lunatic or a liar?

Jack hesitated for a moment and the man watched him closely.  Then Jack made up his mind, held out the rope to the stranger and placed it into his hand.  The stranger smiled, and with his other hand, pressed the seed into his palm.  He then opened the gate, drew the cow through it, and then walked away, taking the cow out of Jack’s life forever.

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God often must do a bit of dismantling in our lives as well, stripping away from us the things upon which we too easily depend, and for which we can easily forfeit His eternal blessings for us and our families!  But just as a sower sows his seed, God sows His Word to hearts that are hungry for more than this life alone can offer (Matthew 13:3-9).

“As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him.  ‘Good Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’…. Jesus answered… ‘You know the commandments….’  ‘Teacher,’ the man declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’  Jesus looked at him and loved him.  ‘One thing you lack,’ He said.  ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow Me’” (from Mark 10:17-21).

While it may be that God isn’t necessarily asking you to get rid of all your material possessions, He IS asking you to be willing to let go of whatever hinders your wholehearted devotion of Jesus.  As He works in your life to set you free from bondage to trust in little vanities, will you now trust Him instead?  Are you ready for more than what this life alone can offer you?

(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past twelve years.  He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church, which meets on Sunday mornings at 455 Third Avenue.  He may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).