Leaving a legacy


After coming back from a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of an organization and evaluating its legacy, I have begun wondering
about how I will be remembered after I am gone. I don't know if this
is a mid life eccentricity or most people reflect and evaluate about
the legacy they will be leaving behind from time to time. I read
somewhere that Khushwant Singh; the writer has composed his own
epitaph. Many others perhaps also do so. May be one day, I should plan
to do so for myself.

The Bible suggests that our best hope for an eternal epitaph comes not
from what others will say, or from what we say, but through what God
says about us on that final day. It matters little whether we're laid
to rest in a crypt in the ground, buried in a flower garden or
scattered to the four winds. These decisions in death honor the living.
More significant in the end is how we honored God with our life. We
long to see the face of God, meeting us on the other side of eternity,
greeting us with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We
do well to wonder what others will remember about us when we leave this
place. Perhaps our lives will be better served if we ask ourselves what
God may say to us when we arrive on the other side.

In the story of the persistent widow, a judge becomes worn out by the
constant haranguing of a widow seeking justice for herself. We aren't
privy to the nature of her complaint. We don't know whether or not she
deserved what she sought. We only know that the judge whose door was
closed permanently had little time for matters so trifling as her own.
He failed to answer his voice mail and e-mail, and there wasn't a sound
when she banged on his chamber door after hours.

The widow never gave up. Perhaps she had no job and the one person who
owed her money wouldn't pay her. She was tired of waiting for
reimbursement from her insurance company so she could make her house
payment. Perhaps her husband had died and she was facing false
accusations that threatened to destroy her reputation. The only thing
she had left of any consequence was her good name. Perhaps the money
she lent a business owner had been squandered and she was left high and
dry. He invested her retirement funds in a series of high-risk stocks.
She lost her life savings. We don't know what had happened to her, but
we do know she was in trouble. She wouldn't give up until she received
the justice she needed.

We often think of this story as the Parable of the Persistent Pray-er.
We, like the widow in the story, come to God with many needs. When read
this way, we are encouraged to bang relentlessly at God's door and
knock. Jesus encourages the disciples to trust God so much that they
never give up, regardless of their life circumstances, no matter how
deep the muddle or how difficult the struggle. Even when God seems
preoccupied, busy, or far away, God responds to our urgent human needs.


But what if this parable is also about God as the persistent widow and
we the Unjust Judge? Today's vital sign of a healthy church is
empowering leadership. The story the Lord told about the persistent
widow and the unjust judge remind us that we will be remembered for how
we empower others to live. It wasn't enough for the judge to dismiss
her case in court or to postpone the hearing. Jesus held up for us the
power of persistence, relentlessly seeking justice on the part of the
widow even after her cause seemed hopeless. Jesus held up for us a
model of empowering leadership on the part of the judge. He showed us
the power of setting aside our own personal agenda in order to respond
favorably toward the one we most wish to ignore.

Turning our lives around and opening the door to God's way of
leadership is not easy. To see God in the everyday human cries of those
around us is foreign to most of our training and experience. It may
seem to run counter to all we have learned. Empowering leadership is
not about taking power away from somebody else. Empowering leadership
is not about running the show. Empowering leadership is not about
grabbing the final say in every situation. Empowering leadership is not
about manipulating the outcome or becoming angry when things do not go
according to our plans. When we do so, we may think we win, but the
stakes are higher in this game of success than we imagine. In the end,
we lose, big time. 

to be continued....

((( s.r.c.b-s is a moderated group.  All posts are approved by a moderator. )))
(((   Read http://srcbs.org for details about this group BEFORE you post.   )))
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 1/9/05 10:45:01 AM