The Prince of Thieves
Value: Selfishness
This is the story of how the greatest pirate of all time, Captain Black met his
end. He was the most feared pirate of all the seas. He was so famous that
everyone called him the Prince of Thieves. Well, you know back in the old days,
before we had our nice churches and such, Christianity was protected by monks.
Monks are people who live together all alone in a far away place and pray and
serve God. You usually see pictures of them in long brown robes.
Brother Andrew was a little different from his fellow monks because he loved the
out of doors so much and the sea. He often camped on the beach not far from the
monetary where all the monks lived. But he did good things, keeping the beach
clean and fishing and farming which provided food for the other monks so it was
God’s calling for him to be on the beach. Especially the day the Prince of
Thieves landed on those shores.
Captain Black spotted the island of the monks just ahead. He was pleased as he
had his entire fortune on board. It was an ingenious plan to hide his booty on
the monk’s island, as nobody would look for it there. He was the wealthiest
pirate of them all and his men were fiercely loyal to him. He gave the command
to his men to prepare to land on the island. He would let all of his men go to
the beach in small boats, leaving his big pirate ship in deep water. They would
unload it tomorrow after they were rested.
Brother Andrew stood and looked into the setting sun. He saw the small boats
making their way toward his beach. But he did not panic. He added more
vegetables to his stew and more wood on his fire for the night.
“Ahoy Brother Andrew!” Captain Black called to his old friend.
“Blessings Brother Black!” The monk responded. Captain Black liked Brother
Andrew because he wasn’t afraid of him and always greeted him with blessings.
Some of the newer pirates were wary of the young monk but soon all accepted him
because their captain clearly trusted him. Moreover, what was amazing about it
was that the monk trusted the notorious pirate.
“Arrr, I thought Christian folk despised low lives like us pirates.” Scalawag
Sam said to Brother Andrew as the brother served him more stew. “I figured the
good people of the world thought we were better off not being in heaven.”
“Well Sam,” Brother Andrew answered smiling. “You have your prince of thieves
but the church has someone like Captain Blood but we call him the Prince of
Peace. And he came to earth to do all he can to make sure you and your friends
all DO go to heaven. He came to earth just for you and all your crimes and sins
have already been forgiven by him so you can meet him and start your journey to
heaven anytime you want. See God loves you just as much as he does me or the
monks or any Christian in this world.”
“I never heard anyone say they loved me much less that God did.” The confused
pirate said moving off to sit on the beach and eat and think about what he heard
that day. The men all found places to bunk down for the night. But Brother
Andrew and Captain Black talked by the fire.
“You should come with us Brother Andrew.” The captain invited. The men all like
you and you would be the richest monk in the world.”
“I do not need riches. They would take too much time to watch and worry about.
Serving God is best done without riches.” He responded.
“I have all I need. I have the love and friendship of my heavenly father which
will last an eternity. I have the community of brothers, the love of the
townspeople and even the friendship of notorious pirates. I have the secret I
know about the pirates that the world does not know. I know that even ‘low
lives’ as they call you are good men at heart, with loyalty and friendship to
give and hungry hearts to know more about God and His Kingdom.”
“Ah you do have a secret and I’ll wager its one no one would believe from you. I
must make do with fabulous wealth that is more than a king could ask for and the
devotion and loyalty of my men.” Said the Captain toasting the monk who he
considered one of his closest friends.
Suddenly, on board the deserted ship, a lantern left burning in the weapons room
feel when its cord broke. The fire lit a small blaze that moved directly into
the gunpowder room.
The explosion on the horizon lit up the entire sea like daytime. Captain Black
leapt to his feet and all of his men were suddenly wide awake and yelling in
panic as they watched their ship go up in flames. There was another explosion
and then another and with each, the captain cried out like he was being struck
with bullets Brother Andrew ran to his aid and helped him to the ground as he
and the pirates watched the ship and all of his wealth sink to the bottom of the
deep blue sea.
“My booty! My wealth! My gold! It’s all gone.” Captain Black moaned. He looked
at Brother Andrew who stayed close to his friend’s side knowing he must be going
through so much anguish. “Well, at least I have my loyal men. Together we can
build again and….” But when the captain looked up, the men were all gone. They
had taken the boats and were already on their way to find the next rich pirate
captain to serve.
“It looks like your men were only loyal to your wealth. That is not true
faithfulness.” Brother Andrew observed.
“I need a treasure that cannot be sent to the bottom of the ocean Brother
Andrew.” The captain said to his friend. “And I need a crew that is faithful to
me, not to my gold. But is that possible?”
“Yes, there is a friend that is closer than any brother and will never leave you
or forsake you. His name is Jesus Christ and he is the Prince of Peace, the
perfect savior for the prince of thieves. I will take you to him and he will
show you a wealth that is greater than a thousand ships can carry. And it is a
treasure that is kept for you in heaven, where no fire, explosion or thieves can
ever touch it because it is protected by God himself.”
The monk’s words put life inside of the old tired pirate and the thing nobody
could expect happened. Captain Black became Brother Black, the newest monk in
the monetary. From that day forward, there were two monks on the beach offering
food, friendship and the gospel to the dark pirates and many “low lives” came to
know Christ because of Brother Black and Brother Andrew. But never again did the
notorious pirate Captain Black sail the seas for that was the end of the Prince
of Thieves.