THE KAISER'S CUP
OBJECTS: A Plush Box and a Plain Wooden Box
In one of the great New York daily newspapers some days ago I read the following announcement:
The Kaiser's Cup which belonged to the winner of a trans-Atlantic yacht race has been sold for the benefit of the Red Cross and was publicly broken into pieces in New York City. It was supposed to be made of solid gold and to be worth five thousand dollars. It was really made of pewter with a thin gold lining and was valued at about forty dollars.
"Things are not always what they seem to be," said one of the wise men of the other century, and the famous Kaiser's Cup is another illustration of the truth of that statement. When I was a child I read in my old blue primer the story of a great dance at which time two children appeared on the floor dressed in gay attire and danced to the great delight of the assembled people, who greatly wondered at the skill of two such small people when suddenly some one rolled an orange across the floor when the two little dancers stopped their fancy dancing and made a mad rush for the orange; they fought for it to such an extent that they tore off their gilded robes, and lo, they were only two little monkeys. It was the story of the Kaiser's Cup dramatized on a ballroom floor. Don't let a bright exterior dazzle your eye, remember the cup may be made of pewter, not gold.
To illustrate this truth, secure two boxes; one should be covered with plush, the other, just a common wooden box. The plush box should be empty, the plain box loaded with beautiful flowers or other valuable things. Have these two boxes on the table in full view of the audience. After you have told the story of the Kaiser's Cup, turn to the two boxes and say: "Look at these two boxes on the table before you; which of them do you think is of the greater value? I think I hear you answer and say, 'The beautiful plush box, it looks just like a box containing jewels.' You open it and find it contains nothing. It is the truth of the Kaiser's Cup in wood. Gold on the outside, pewter on the inside."
Then open the plain wooden box and show it to be full of flowers which you scatter about on the table or distribute among the people, "Things are not what they seem to be" is as true today as when the saying was first uttered. Learn to see things as God sees them; man looketh upon the outward countenance, but God at the heart.
Remember there is coming a time when the Kaiser's Cup will be broken. We call that time the Day of Judgment, the Bible gives it that name. When that day does come, then all that is hidden will be revealed; then our cup of life will be tested by God's word. Will it be pure gold or will it be like the Kaiser's Cup?
A little girl surprised her father by asking him the question, "What is God's address?" The father, wishing to teach his little child a lesson, said, "1421 Grand Avenue." It was the number of their own house he had given. He meant to say to her, "God is living here with us." Both God and the little girl had the same address. The cup of their home was gold inside also. Martin Luther had the same thought in his mind when once a stranger knocked at his door and said, "Who lives here?" Luther replied, "God and Martin Luther." If we can say this of our hearts, "Jesus and I live in the same heart together," we shall be able to stand when the great day comes when evil things will be opened up and broken up.
Remember the Kaiser's Cup.