1 Kings 18:41-19:21; Mark 14:3-9
October 10, 2021
- Legacy
This week one member of our church family entered the light of our Lord in the gift of eternal life. Harry McKissick ran the race and lived his 95 years to the best of his ability. I had met Harry and had gotten to know him somewhat. His family and I go a good way back. Around thirty years ago, I even babysat his grandkids once. He was well liked and cherished. Louise has nothing but adoration and appreciation for his life. His family is one that seems to value one another and carries on his commitments to peace, agreeableness, and goodwill.
Certainly, we have lost other precious and beloved members of our church family since I have been here. I do not mean to single out Harry, except for that this is exactly the time when we are thinking about how we will commit to the support of our church and its worship and mission in the coming year. With Harry in my mind and heart right now, I cannot help but think about one of the most profound ways that we will ever be able to bless this world and play a part in God’s kingdom – the gift of legacy. Harry leaves a legacy. His hands have created evidences of his life in this world. His heart has created ripples that will continue to move in the waters of our community into the generations to come. Louise told me just the other day that their newest greatgrandchild had come to visit her with her parents at Hickory Hill. Her little toddler feet seemed to fly along the outdoor visiting area to her delight. It amazed her how the little girl was able to run around so well. That life would not exist in this world without Harry.
Legacy reaches far past our descendants, children and grandchildren, however. It is so much more than our progeny or the children we might have. In fact, anyone and everyone had the potential to be a legacy builder, thankfully. Harry would have left a legacy for our community whether or not he had ever had kids. He was that kind of person.
It is striking how quickly Elijah’s life seems to be flying through the chapters of 1 Kings. Just last week, Elijah was erupting onto the scene in Israel and squaring off with Ahab and Jezebel and the prophets and priests of Baal. Today, we pick up directly following his big showdown on Mt. Carmel. That story has mythic qualities, and I have been to that mountaintop myself and looked out across the same plain toward the sea. There is a monument and a church there on Mt. Carmel to Elijah and this victory of God, but as soon as the victory is accomplished in Scripture, Elijah does not get to retire or even rest. He is off and running, literally racing Ahab’s chariot and then running for his life. He finds himself in such despair that he wants to have his life ended. He seems to believe that there is nothing else for him in this world. Of course, God is not done with Elijah, but the Lord does begin planning Elijah’s legacy.
Every person who has ever lived and who has also had awareness that one day their life would come to an end has entertained the thought of this: what their life means. If you are thinking and aware enough to realize that you will die one day, you have thought about what you will leave behind to those who come after your life is ended on earth. It is literally impossible to NOT give a thought to what impact your life will make on those who follow. We have all considered how we might be remembered at some point. Some of us have already taken steps to direct how we will be remembered. It is important to us what traces, what evidences, what proof, what legacy we will leave that shows were here. How did we matter? We have all wondered some version of that question.
Simply wondering the question, however, is not going to make a legacy for us. Similarly, having funeral plans will not make our life matter in this world. In order to become confident that our lives will matter and that we will mean something to this world, there is a bigger question we must ask.
I love the direction that God gives to Elijah about going up to the cave where he can look for God’s presence. It is truly a brilliant turn in the story. All of the ways that we might typically expect God’s presence to show – wind, earthquake, and fire all are without God. Instead, it is in the silence that Elijah hears that small divine voice, but did you catch what God actually said? This is the most brilliant part and the question we all need to ask if we want to matter to this world and leave a legacy: what are you doing here? What are you doing here, Elijah? Why are you in this place at this time?
This question is the most important question any of us can ask of ourselves. What are we doing here? What are we really doing here? Elijah is there because of his zeal for God, his desire to serve God with his whole heart, to follow wherever and do whatever he needs to do. His service is his life. God is his true God. Elijah knows that for a fact, so God can outline the rest of his work, but notice what God provided – someone to come after Elijah and pick up where he will finish. Yes, Elijah’s days are numbered, but God is providing a legacy for Elijah, someone to train and prepare and teach to be the prophet in his place. He receives Elisha.
I am really not making this up. Coming face to face with why we are really here will pave the way for our lives, our work, our service, our ministry to really matter in greater and greater ways. Our lives will matter to this world and the generations that follow the more and more we understand what we are doing – why we are doing.
This is borne out beautifully in the story of the woman in Mark’s Gospel. We don’t even know her name. So many women went through their lives without being known or valued, but that unnamed woman knows one thing with perfect clarity. She comes to the feet of our Messiah, and she gives everything that she has to his honor. It is a strange and uncomfortable story. It might seem quaint to us today, but if were to actually happen today in any of our homes to one of our guests, we would probably be mortified and miss the message, too. We would miss what really mattered: why are you here?
This voiceless, nameless follower of Jesus does such an act of intentional love that Jesus remarks that that gift will be known forever, wherever the gospel is shared. Her sacrifice and gift have echoed through the generations to every corner of the world. That is legacy.
We are not play-acting here as a church. We are not going through motions or devoting ourselves to the worship of our Lord out of habit or convenience. We cannot if we want to matter. We must be committing and recommitting and recommitting and recommitting ourselves every week, every month, every year, every decade, every generation to the glory of God in service to Christ. It is up to us to love and love and love some more until this world has been reworked into the Kingdom that Jesus brought and continues to bring every day. The world will only be a better place when we commit ourselves to making it a better place in the presence of God’s Spirit. It will only be better when we dare to reach out beyond ourselves in expressions of community. It will only be better when we admit our failures and work for reconciliation as better people. It will only be better when we own our place in God’s story of redemption and salvation. Jesus came and died for us. That is what the unnamed woman was doing – anointing him for burial. She may not have known the full scope of what she was doing, but there was no wavering in her single-minded devotion to Jesus and her desire to honor his life with her most lavish gift. She knew why she was doing it. She humbled herself and loved him.
I have wondered whether I would do anything different if I knew that I would not have eternal life. Since there is nothing that we can do to make God love us differently or win salvation, our reason for ministry and service in this life cannot be because we believe we are going to be alive forever. We minister and serve in this world and in this life because this life and this world matter to God, and we want to please God here and now. It does not matter what happens to me after I die. That changes nothing about my commitments today. I need my life to matter no matter my life in eternity.
I hope this makes sense because this is a huge point. We all want our lives to matter in this world, in THIS world. That means we have to know what we are doing in this world and why. Once we are no longer walking the dust of this earth, it is already over – too late. Our service to Christ Jesus is today. It is time to love our Lord in how we work, play, love, and give. Time to love our Lord in how we eat, sleep, learn, grow, and share. Time to love our Lord in how we care, provide, receive, rejoice, and weep. Jesus is Lord of all, and he gets all of us, from the head to toe and everything in-between. How we value our lives and give meaning to this world will reflect Jesus’ love for us and our love for him. How we matter will be the gift of knowing why we are here, now and for the rest of our days.
Please take seriously in the coming weeks how you will be a part of our ministry, how you will help us make the work of this church family matter, and how we will give to bless those around us for generations to come with your help. Jesus has already given us his legacy to share. This gift is given to us because we matter to him. Now, it is about how we can matter more to one another, here and now in the Kingdom of God. To God be the glory. Amen.