When we think of lost treasure, it might bring to mind legends of daring pirates who plundered the ships of conquistadors for the gold that they were carrying back to Spain. There is, however, the story of a great treasure trove of gold that was once lost — but has been found in modern times. It is the story of the SS Central America. It is also the story of sacrifice and toil, of dreams realized and lost, and of man’s insatiable greed for gold.
Before we begin this story, consider a most penetrating question that Jesus asked of those around Him: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:3636For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36)).
The story begins in the mid 1800s, when hundreds of thousands of men rushed to California to make their fortune in gold after it was discovered there. Many of them gave up everything they had, leaving their families behind for this once-in-a-lifetime chance to become rich.
Eventually, the gold dried up and the economic boom came to an end. A few banks in New York got together and decided to order a large shipment of gold from the San Francisco Mint to back up their reserves. The SS Central America was chosen to make the delivery after the gold was shipped from California to Panama.
Onboard were 477 passengers and 101 crew members. The ship was literally laden with gold, 30,000 pounds of it, which didn’t include the considerable amount of gold that the passengers were carrying. The SS Central America departed Panama on September 3, 1857, with a stopover in Havana, Cuba, before making its way up the eastern coast of the U.S.
On September 9, the ship was caught up in a Category 2 hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas. Two days later, the ship, battered by the 105 mph winds, was taking on water. The steamer’s boiler was threatening to go out. Then, she sprung a leak in one of the seals between the paddle wheel shaft and the ship’s sides. The steamer’s boiler could no longer maintain fire, which shut down both bilge pumps. By noon, September 11, Captain Herndon ordered the Stars and Stripes flag to be flown upside down as a sign of distress. But help didn’t come.
All the long night, the passengers and crew formed a bucket brigade, desperately fighting against the rising tide of water. During the calm in the eye of the storm, attempts were made to fire the boiler, but they failed. Then the storm hit in full force again, and the ship was blown along with the fierce winds. At this point, all hope was lost.
On the morning of September 12, two ships could be seen through the wind and storm. Lifeboats were lowered, and about 100 passengers, mostly women and children, made their way through the wild seas to safety. An additional 50 were plucked from the raging waters by the Norwegian boat Ellen. But by 8 o’clock that evening, the SS Central America sank beneath the waves with 425 people on board.
Again, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Gold, silver, all was left behind while they slipped into eternity!
Suddenly, their dreams for the future and all of their gold didn’t matter anymore! One of the surviving witnesses described the scene:
“A great many of the passengers were miners, having considerable sums of gold about them, the product of years of toil. But the love of gold was forgotten in the anxiety and terror of the moment and many a man unbuckled his gold-stuffed belt and flung his hard-earned treasure upon the deck, some hoping to lighten their weight, and thus more easily keep themselves afloat, while others threw it away in despair, thinking there was no use for it in the watery grave they were going to.”
Four hundred and twenty-five people had died. As soon as our soul and spirit leave our body, our destiny in eternity is settled. We can either “die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:1313And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. (Revelation 14:13)) or “die in your sins” (John 8:2424I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)). These are fixed positions after we die and do not ever change! To “die in the Lord” is to have put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus who died on the cross and shed His blood as a ransom for our sins. “Verily [truly], verily [truly], I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him [God] that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)). To “die in your sins” is to have rejected God’s free gift of salvation. Jesus said of these people, “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)).
A Sunken Treasure
As you can imagine, many people hunted for this sunken treasure, including the U.S. Navy, but without success. It would take 133 years before the SS Central America was photographed and tons of gold were salvaged from the ocean floor. But many people were to be just as disappointed as those miners and bankers were in 1857, as they saw their hopes of attaining gold and riches slip from their grasp. There is a verse in the Bible that tells us, “Riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:55Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Proverbs 23:5)). God is warning us not to trust in riches and that we cannot take them into eternity with us! God reminds us of the obvious: “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:7).
Tommy Thompson, a marine scientist, had become obsessed with finding the SS Central America. He designed an underwater robot with a claw for picking up items from the ocean floor, and with his considerable persuasive powers, he convinced no less than 161 individuals and companies to put up $12.7 million toward the venture.
Then, he formed his own company, bought ships, and hired a crew, including experienced divers. The ship was believed to have sunk with 10 tons of gold worth $292 million in today’s money. In 1988, he discovered the wreck, and within the next year he was able to pull up three tons of gold. Things seemed to be looking up for Thompson and his investors!
But ... when he arrived back home with the gold, he was immediately hit with a lawsuit from 39 insurance companies who were suing because they had paid out on an insurance policy on the SS Central America and wanted a piece of the loot. It took ten years of fancy legal wrangling before a judge ruled that 92.2% of the gold went to Thompson and his investors.
Then, in 2000, Thompson sold the gold for $52 million — without informing his investors! His claim was that he had to pay off expenses and his considerable lawyer’s fees. By 2005, his investors, by now perfectly furious as they had seen zero returns from their investment, sued Thompson. In 2012, Thompson’s company filed for bankruptcy, claiming there was no more money left for investors. But this was not quite the truth — there were still 500 coins unaccounted for.
In 2012, Thompson was ordered to appear in court to give an accounting of where the gold was. By now, thoroughly dodgy, Thompson fled to Florida and hid out for three years before U.S. marshals finally caught up with him. Six years later, he still remains in jail for refusing to cooperate with investigators. Thompson claims to be suffering from a rare syndrome causing short-term memory loss.
But federal judge Marbley does not believe this is true. “As long as you are content to be a master of misdirection and deceit to the court, I am content to let you sit,” he said.
It is clear from this story that the pursuit of gold and riches did not bring happiness and satisfaction to the many people who toiled for so long and struggled so hard to attain it. One day, every man, woman and child alive today will slip into eternity. The only thing that will matter then is our heart’s response to God’s great love towards us in giving His beloved Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. The only thing that will matter then is if we had “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:2121Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)). For those who have repented of their sins and are trusting in the finished work on Calvary’s cross, Jesus promises, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3)). For those who refuse, ignore, or even just neglect and put off God’s way of salvation, they will be cast into “outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:3030And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:30)).
Once we yield our hearts and lives to the Lord, we are told what our priorities should be. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20-2120But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:20‑21)). This is where true happiness and eternal joy is. The things of this world can never bring lasting satisfaction. They will never satisfy the deepest longing of our soul. Only Jesus can do that. When we put our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus, we can say that we were “not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Find out more about lasting consequences in The Choices We Make.