EPISODE 43 / AL CAPONE'S VAULT

Hey everybody, welcome to the big celebration, the anniversary of, wait what, you don't know what this is the anniversary of? Goodness gracious, you don't know that 38 years ago tonight, April the 21st, 1986 was the big television show, the most watched television special of that year was Geraldo Rivera, The Mysteries of Al Capone's Vault. 30 million people tuned in to watch this, to see what was in Al Capone's vault. It was a two hour special and we know that they opened up the vault, it was sealed concrete room, Capone had several of these things and they opened it and there was nothing in there. I think there was just some trash, some old whiskey bottles and that was it. Al Capone was quite a famous gangster, he was born in 1899, he made a fortune in gambling, alcohol and prostitution. He carried out and planned and financed the famous St. Valentine's Day massacre, he owned a lot of property, he owned a place called the Lexington Hotel and in the basement of this thing he had these vaults built. Now Capone made a lot of money, a whole lot of money. One year he made, most of the time he made something like 85 million dollars a year. One year he made 107 million dollars. Now listen to this, hang on, he never filed a federal income tax form. So what they eventually got him on was income tax evasion and they put him in prison in 1931 for 11 years. They found him and they seized his property and he finally was diagnosed with syphilis of the brain, a sexually transmitted disease of the brain in February of 1938. He lost his mind, he was hospitalized, reduced mental capacity, I think he died at something like 47 or 50, something like that. But nobody ever really knew what happened to all the money. As a matter of fact, while he was out of jail for a while, he tried to find the money and he had put some in different banks, he had put some in lock boxes, but the most he himself said he had buried in some kind of strong box. Well he went to dig it up and couldn't find it, looked in another location, couldn't find it. And even his relatives that lived on after him have looked for the fortune. So here's the thing, there was definitely and probably today still is treasures of Al Capone somewhere. His money that he made, that 107 million dollars that he made that year, in today's money, that would be about 1.5 billion, with a B, dollars that he made in one year. That's a lot of money and nobody really knows what happened to it. So Gerald Rivera, who's a sensationalist journalist, he got this idea that we're going to build up this big special and during the special they told the story of Al Capone, who he was, where he came from, how he came to be in control of the Chicago mob, and it's all very interesting. Then it came down to the crescendo, where they're going to open this vault, the climax of the show, and there's nothing there. And you could see the egg on Geraldo Rivera's face and he just kind of calmly thanked the excavation workers that had come and worked hard, but it was a bust. And it's a running joke today, Al Capone's vault. Well, here's the thing, here's the jest of it. Number one, there really were vaults. Number two, there really was a treasure. To this day, that treasure, Capone's money, is probably somewhere. And Geraldo, number three, was just looking in the wrong place. And it was a sad, tragic thing for him, I'm sure. Here's something I want to tell you. Number one, there is a God. There is a God. You and I, to imagine that we are the result of some evolutionary theory that there was a pool of goo somewhere, and this pool of goo formed a single-cell organism, which multiplied into a multi-cell organism. And the next thing you know, we're riding around in cars with backup cameras and houses with air conditioning and flying spaceships across the cosmos. No, my friends, that takes much more faith than believing the creation account of the Bible. I once had a kind of semi-debate with an atheist, and I told him, I said, man, I wish I had the kind of faith that you have. And he said, what do you mean? I don't have any faith. I said, oh, yes, you do. I said, you believe in scientists, and you believe in science. You have so much faith. Even though that science book is revised and changed every year, you have so much faith in that. And, boy, it really riled him. But I want you to know it takes much more to swallow and to trust in evolutionary theory than the fact that there is a God. And so if there is a God, I want you to know there is a treasure. There is life. There is life more abundant. There is eternal life. There is peace. There is joy. There is a treasure to be found. But here's the thing. Just like Geraldo, most people are looking in the wrong place. They're finding the empty vault. They're trying to find peace and joy and contentment and purpose and fulfillment in things of this world. Things that decay. Things that rot. Things that can be stolen. Things that can die. And I want you to know, my friends, just like Geraldo was looking in the wrong place and came up dejected, embarrassed, and empty, it's the same thing when we go looking for fulfillment and we go looking for forgiveness and we go looking for peace in the things of this world. We're much like Geraldo. We're going to come up short. Listen to what Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 21 says. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and vermin destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. In verse 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. My dear friends, if we, if the things of this world, the things that we can see, feel, taste, and touch, if that's our treasure, if that's where we pin all of our hopes, all of our dreams, I want you to know that we're going to be disappointed because moth can, thief can steal, moth can eat. It's going to leave us short. Matthew chapter 13, verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again and then in his joy went and sold all that he had and bought the field. My dear friends, salvation, a relationship with our creator through the blood of Jesus is the most valuable thing that we will ever encounter. That verse, that little story tells of a man who gave up all earthly things to have this heavenly thing. And lastly, John 15, 11. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. God wants us to have peace in this life. God wants us to have purpose in this life. God wants us to have treasures in this life. That will carry over to the next life. In this life, I hope to invest in things that once I'm gone and I leave this world, I have invested in some things here on earth that are going to live on after me. That will be a treasure for somebody somewhere. But my greatest treasure are the things that I have put up in heaven. My service, my faith, my relationship with Christ, and the fact that I sit here at peace today knowing that I'm taking my wife with me. My two children have trusted in Christ and given their lives to him. And I have laid up some treasures that are going to live on long after I'm gone. Back in 1980, there was a movie. You know, John Travolta, he started a lot of crazies. You know, Saturday Night Fever, that movie helped birth the disco craze. There was a movie called Urban Cowboy, which, man, busted on the scene in 1980 and started the whole country line dancing craze. In that movie, there's a recording artist, a performer named Johnny Lee, and he had a song called Looking for Love. Big hit, a big hit. Listen to what the verse says. Well, I spent a lifetime looking for you. Single bars and good time lovers were never true. Playing a fool's game, hoping to win and telling those sweet lies and losing again. Then the chorus. I was looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces. Searching their eyes, looking for traces of what I'm dreaming of, hoping to find a friend and a lover. I'll bless the day I discover another heart looking for love. Huge hit. But if you read the lyrics, very, very sad and depressing. So many people are looking for love in all the wrong places. They're looking for peace in all the wrong things. They're looking for purpose in Al Capone's vault. And they're going to be disappointed and they're going to be dejected. Oh, that you and I, if you're a follower of Christ, if you're a born again believer, that you and I can offer the hope of not a dusty, dirty, empty vault with some whiskey bottles. But we can offer fulfillment and peace, treasures that can be laid up in heaven. All my friends, lay up treasures where you can enjoy them and you can be with God and be with your family forever. Don't put all your apples in the basket of this world. Friends, I hope you have a good week. I hope your eyes are open through scripture of the things that we spend our time on, things that we spend our money on. Are they things that are kingdom worthy? Are we investing our time and our treasure in kingdom things and kingdom ministry? I pray that we are. I hope you have a great week. I hope God blesses you. I hope you get the opportunity to to share with someone who you know that is trying to open Al Capone's vault, that he was investing everything in nothing. And you can share Christ with them. Let me pray for you. And I hope you have a great week. Share this with somebody if you enjoy it. Father God, we thank you, Lord, for this day. God, we thank you for your word that, Lord, you point us in the right direction. But, Lord, we still seem to just want to do things our way. And, Lord, we put all of our attention and all of our energy and all of our finances in foolish things. God, open our eyes to the kingdom things you're doing all around us every day. I pray for my friends, Lord, that you would keep them safe as they come and go this week. God, I pray you will bless them. God, I pray for my friends that you would prosper them, Lord, that they could use their treasures for kingdom purpose. Lord, give us opportunity to share you with somebody. When we see people who are living in emptiness, God, help us to give them the message of hope. As your word says, to be ready for an explanation, for an account of the hope that dwells in us. Lord, we love you. Thank you so much for loving us first. In Jesus' name, amen.