A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

END OF LIFE ISSUES

1 Chronicles 28:1-10, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, September 23, 2007

Don, age 85, and Ruth, age 83, living in Florida, are all excited about their decision to get married. They go for a stroll to discuss the wedding, and on the way pass a drugstore. They go in. Jacob sees the pharmacist behind the counter: "We're about to get married and we want to know if you sell heart medication?" "Of course we do..." "How about medicine for circulation?" "All kinds." “Medicine for rheumatism?" "Definitely.” "Medicine for memory problems, arthritis, jaundice?" "Yes, a large variety. The works." "What about vitamins, sleeping pills, Geritol, antidotes for Parkinson's disease?" "Absolutely." "Wheelchairs and walkers?" "All speeds and sizes." "Well, then,” says Jacob, “we'd like to use this store as our Bridal Registry."

Our text this morning is about living your life well enough that when it’s over you have enough to share with others. Now I do not mean just money or an estate in our will that we give away at passing, though of course that is an example. Live right and there should be an abundance of you, your work  and teachings, your love and influence that you have give throughout your life and that you will pass on to others after your life. If you have lived well then your goodness will spill over onto the lives of others, even beyond and past our physical limits. Our daily lives will inevitably create the legacy by which we will be known. Look at David. He had been a hero; had overcome tremendous difficulties; had great faith and a wonderful prayer life, so great in fact that his prayers and spiritual songs lie at the very heart of both Jewish and Christian faiths. True, he had committed sins and seriously wronged others; still, he had been tenderhearted enough to come to God out of repentance and seek forgiveness. And at the end, David had enough spiritual capital and material capital to pass on the work of building the first Temple to his son Solomon and his. Now of course not everyone does this as well as he did, which reminds me of the story about the three-year-old boy who had been learning golf by watching his grandfather play. The following week the entire family had a cookout and the little boy who had been picking up golf by watching Grandpa announced, "Watch me play golf!" He then said a no-no word and threw his golf club into the pear tree! Now that is not the kind of legacy we’re talking about here. Our lives should so shine before others that they will be able to see the way even when our light is gone. So do good works. Let your life be an example for others to follow. Pass on to others the good things that you have learned in this life.

What we want to see this morning is that living life as God plans it means you’re going to leave behind a good legacy.

Now we all know you can’t take it with you, but we don’t want to have lived so that people wish we had taken it with us. It doesn’t really matter what kind of legacy that bears your name, as long as it is a good one. It could be a money one. It could be a service and a helpful one. It could be that you were kind to everyone you met, even little animals and bugs. It might be that you were full of wisdom and patience or you did your family’s genealogy. It could be that you devoted yourself to your children and, I hope, they reflect all those years of goodness and effort. We know that presidents think about how history will look at their administration and years in office, and this concern has been known to make presidents do and/or stop doing certain things. Perhaps then we should keep the end in mind. I read the obituaries yesterday, and read some really nice things about people. Perhaps it’s not too crazy to visualize ourselves at our own funeral and listen in our imagination to what people will say about us. Let people give thanks for your life, for your love and commitment, for you gifts and your sharing. Let us make God’s world a better place not because we lived in it.

We have reached the end of David’s life. Our best guess is he lived to about the age of seventy. In his last official act, he called together his most trusted followers, several hundred of the most important people in Israel, spoke to them of his last legacy, the Temple, spoke to his successor, his son Solomon, and then gave up the throne and crown. Do you want to know what the New Testament in one place said about David? It says, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay.” Acts 13:36. When everything is boiled down to it, no matter the size of the life, large or small on the world stage or in history eyes, what matters is whether or not the person served the purpose of God in his or her own generation. When you serve God’s purpose, you will leave behind you greater good than when you began life. When we live for our own appetites and desires alone, we leave a wake of brokenness that someone else has to clean up.  

Michael B. Brown, in his book entitled Be All That You Can Be, remembers when he was serving as a guest preacher at a large suburban church. After the second service he was approached by a member of that church whom he had spotted earlier. The man had been sitting on the very front pew. A large man, he left hardly any room for other persons on the short pew near the chancel. He was not poorly dressed but did present a generally disheveled look, as if appearance were at the bottom of his list of personal priorities. All smiles, the man approached Brown with a hug and a greeting: "Hey brother!" the man said, "All morning long people have been congratulating me on what a great sermon I preached at the 9:00 service. You and I must be twins." Brown says there were few things he wished to hear less. For months he had been involved in a rigorous program of exercise and had taken off 20 pounds. He tried to dress appropriately for morning worship. And now to be mistaken for this fellow . . . he was not complimented. Later in the day he mentioned the incident to his host pastor. The pastor answered: "Yes, that's Willie. We call him ‘Mr. Love’ around here. He's all smiles. He knows everyone. He loves everyone, and it is certainly reciprocal. Willie is like a ray of sunshine to our church. He always greets newcomers in the halls. He escorts older persons to their cars after dark or in bad weather. He plays ball with our church kids. He regularly inquires about your homebound parents or sick aunt. He listens to people, prays with people, laughs and even cries with people. He hugs everybody (at that point Brown recalled how Willie had greeted him that morning with a bear hug). Yes sir, that's Willie, our ‘Mr. Love.’" And suddenly Brown found himself thinking: If only my life could be that beautiful! If only I were worthy to be called his twin. We know nothing about Willie's accomplishments in the workplace or how large his bank account was, but we would have to rate Willie's life a real success. And that’s a good way of thinking about this: Who do you look like? Who do you resemble?

Now none of us have it all together. Perhaps we’ve got our dad’s patience, but our mom’s quick fuse, or the other way around, or what have you. We all struggle to let the better angels of our nature do the talking and the walking. But this battle is worth the fight, and worth the time, and worth the focus that we put into it. God is such a powerful force for good that all the Lord needs is an inch to make a mile. All God needs is half a yes to turn it into an Amen. Now perhaps I know a few more personal stories than most of you, so I can guarantee that where there is bit of a will there is God’s way. As Scripture says, “And all of us … seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” What Paul is saying is that when we turn to the Lord, when we move our hearts and will to take upon us God’s work and will, to do what’s right and good, then we are being transformed little by little. This is because our spirits are changeable, our character can grow in different directions. If you in your spirit, in your choices and what you follow, look to Christ, you will start to resemble the Lord.

But not everyone does. Many follow a different path, and get lost. But the good news is that God’s path always links up to wherever we find ourselves. So look to the Lord, to Christ’s way of living. Let your life be one of humility, patience, purity, compassion and mercy. Be known as a peacekeeper. See things not just as the crowd sees them but look deeper and further. Seek the truth because when you find the truth, God is always close by.

Two friends met at a coffee shop. One was a woman whose life was a mess and she needed guidance and counsel from her friend. Her marriage was on the rocks, she had had an emotional breakdown, her social life was in ruins and yet when she came to ask for his help, she was wearing a sweatshirt which had the slogan on it, “Jesus is the answer.” Her friend took one look at it and said to her, “I think you should scrap the idea that Jesus is the answer. Because he never said that. He said, ‘I am the way.’ I think that you need to walk with him to find the answer to your problem.” We need to walk like him, to live like the Lord, in order to love like the Lord.

It’s true. Most of us will never give away millions, or change the direction of international commerce, or invent a medical device that saves thousands of lives. Right? But God has an eye on each of us. The Lord has given us all more than enough to pass on to others. Don’t underestimate the size of your gifts, nor their importance. God really moves through the accumulation of all of us together, doing what we do best, but doing it. Years ago a saintly pastor in a tiny church in eastern Kentucky, preached his last sermon in that church. He concluded by saying, "Whether I have accomplished anything for the kingdom while among you, only God knows. But one thing I know I have done: I did fix the hinges on the front door so that they don’t squeak anymore!" Perhaps we should shoot for something bigger than that, but no matter what it is, we want to move this world forward, to move God’s work forward, to bring solutions to problems, bring justice where there is inequity, and peace where there is hatred. There is no greater joy than to have lived a life of service in love and faith and to have made a difference for God and good. May we all live so God’s love lives through us and because of us beyond us.

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