Jump Start # 1007

Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.”

  The busyness of the holidays and getting things lined out for the new year nearly made me forget. It hit me last night. Today is the anniversary of my mom’s death. It’s been a long time now—nineteen years. She died from cancer. I remember the day. A few days after that, I preached her funeral. She and I worked on what she wanted me to say.

Grief affects people differently. Some seem to move on well. Others seem to stop. Time is a great healer. My kids were all small nineteen years ago. Work, kids and keeping yourself engaged in the lives of others is essential. I remember within a few days of my mom’s funeral, I had to preach another funeral. That brought back tons of tears and it was a struggle to get through. You hear people sometimes saying, “Not a day goes by that I do not think about my dad or my mom.” I can’t say that. There are many days that I haven’t thought about her but I haven’t forgotten her either. I taught a class about parenting recently. That brought up many memories. I saw someone recently that looked a bit like my mom. That made me think. My memory of her is sweet. I do miss her.

In our passage today, the writer refers to the memory of the righteous. He remembered. He thought of the righteous. The memory of the righteous, the text tells us, is blessed. Good thoughts. Happy times. Great example recalled and reflected upon. This thought leads to a few observations:

1. Righteous people are thankful for other righteous people. The memory is blessed. We tend to try to forget the bad things and ugly comments in life. We don’t treasure the time we got chewed out by a boss or we made our parents mad. Not good moments and they generally came after we made some poor choices. We learn, move on and stuff those terrible moments in unmarked graves never to be visited again. Righteous people are different. We cherish thinking about them. Their kindness and generosity made a difference when we were first starting out. They took time to show us and teach us. They gave a listening ear when we got all worked up about something. Righteous people make the world a nicer place. The more we have in our lives the more blessed we are. Are they perfect? No. They would be the first to say that they weren’t. But they are trying and that is awesome. Righteous people recognize the value of other righteous people. The more righteous people in your life the better you will be.

2. The deeds of righteous people outlive them. The Hebrew writer said of Abel, “he speaks though he is dead.” In Revelation we find, the deeds of the righteous follow them. Many of us are a part of congregations that were built and held together by the work of righteous men and women years ago. They taught, financed and prayed about God’s people and kept the lights burning and today we stand upon their shoulders. There are hymns that we sing that are hundreds of years old. Those songs have been sung to Jehovah over and over and today, we are still singing them. The work we are engaged in out lives us. There are things that we are doing that may be used to help someone fifty years from now. We can’t see that far, but works have a way of hanging around and helping for a long, long time.

3. Some will remember us for what we are doing. We hope the memory is pleasant and good. We hope that they remember someone who was patient and kind. We hope that they see a person who loved the Lord and walked in righteousness. You don’t want to be remembered as the person who always complained. You don’t want to be known as the one who always raised a stink and argued and fussed about everything. Some are like that. My memory of some is like that. It’s not a good memory. How we interact, conduct our selves and behave around others sets the tone for how we will be remembered.

4. Finally, God alone has the true picture of what a person is like. We may only see the warts of a person’s character or we may ignore the warts and see only flawless character. God knows. God is merciful, kind, just and fair. God knows. He knows the secrets as well as the obvious things. He knows the motives and the attitudes. He knows us, inside and out.

So often, as we are busy with life, we don’t realize that we are forming memories for others. They see us. Someday when we are gone, there will be footprints that we have left. Give thought to that. Don’t be too busy for others. Each of us has a special person in our past that we think fondly of. It may have been a school teacher, a parent, someone from church. You remember that person with great joy and fondness. It’s a pleasant memory that you cherish. Live so you can help someone else like that.

The memory of the righteous…what a great thought. What a great place to go to in your mind. Sunny days, pleasant times. Those moments remind you of what is important. They teach you that you too, are leaving an example for others.

The memory of the righteous…

Roger