Articles
Your Legacy of Faith
Last weekend three people within the sphere of our acquaintance died suddenly. The first was a 23 year-old father who hydroplaned on a wet road and collided with an oncoming car. The second was a 73 year-old man who was on a ski trip in Montana. He suffered a heart attack, and after two days succumbed to the damage. The third was a mother who was camping with her husband and three young children. A tree fell on their tent and crushed her and her husband (he remains in critical condition).
We only know of this last situation through friends, but the tragedy is disturbing nonetheless. First, the pure randomness of the event is unsettling. Of all the trees that fall, of all the times and places a person might be, that tree had to fall in that moment in that direction to take her life. Mary leaves behind three children, ages 6, 4 and 2½. We can only imagine the challenges they face as they adjust to their mother’s absence. Their father is not out of the woods and still has surgeries and rehab ahead.
John, who suffered the heart attack, was a dear friend of ours. He was a spiritually strong and steady brother, a thorough and careful Bible student with a dry wit. He was not unacquainted with hardship and heartache. His wife divorced him years before we met him. He remained unmarried and immersed himself in dentistry, horses, hunting, fishing, skiing and bluegrass music, and he was a faithful servant of his local congregation. He also developed early onset dementia several years ago.
The third death is perhaps most tragic of all. Joshua’s parents endured years of marital strife and finally divorced. Each remarried, creating a broader web of “blended families,” undoubtedly further confusing the children involved. To my knowledge Joshua never obeyed the gospel, but if he did he certainly was not living a life of faith when he left the world to meet his Maker. Joshua left behind a six day-old daughter. What will his widow be feeling as she celebrates her daughter’s birthday in years to come?
I have written a few articles like this previously, for I can’t seem to let such a teaching moment pass without sharing and commenting. There are many things to take from such episodes whether you know those involved or not. We are all human and share essential feelings. What impacts you in these stories? Here are a couple of things I take away:
1. “There is but a step between me and death” – 1 Sam 20:3. We are periodically reminded that our hold on life is tenuous; it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. Two of these people went to sleep and woke up in eternity. There is often no rhyme or reason to where death strikes. It might be expected of a drug dealer or gang member, but none of these people lived so as to court death. The thought of losing our loved ones is so unpleasant that we tend to repress the possibility. But we need to strike a balance between morbid fixation and realistic consideration. Allow yourself to think of the possibility of losing your mate or your child. It will temper your temper; it will help prioritize what is truly important; it will cause you to cherish every day that you have with them. Don’t be paranoid, but be aware that life in this world is temporary and unworthy of our greatest focus and best efforts. Those are reserved for the kingdom.
2. “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” – Jsh 24:15. And Joshua’s legacy of faith is documented: “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel” (24:31). When you die, what will you leave your family? I don’t mean a monetary inheritance. Rather, what kind of grief will your loved ones experience at your passing?
My reactions to the deaths of John and Joshua are entirely different. I am genuinely happy for John. To be honest, John’s death via a heart attack in the Montana mountains which he loved was a far gentler fate than his mental decline promised. While no one knows the eternal state of another, I have every reason to believe John loved the Lord and tried to serve Him faithfully. That gives me hope.
I don’t have that hope for Joshua. Again, the fate of all is in God’s hands, but there was no observable evidence of faith in Joshua’s life. As a young father perhaps he was beginning to consider the spiritual well-being of his young daughter. Or perhaps not; I don’t know. But I know this, he didn’t leave his wife or daughter a legacy of faith that would ease the pain of his horrible death. Mary did, and we pray that in years to come her children will emulate their mother’s legacy of faith for their own children.
