Jump Start  # 1676

Psalms 112:6 “For he will never be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever.”

  His name was John, but most folks who knew him simply called him by his initials. He died forty years ago at the age of 88. He lived a full life. Among folks in the Midwest and Ohio Valley area, his name was well known. He preached. He preached and preached. For almost 70 years he preached. He never worked with one specific congregation, but rather, preached at different places each week. He preached in just about every state in the country. Although from a small village in Illinois, called “Fidelity,” his name was known in California. It is said that throughout his preaching that he baptized over 15,000 people. I first heard of his name years ago from an old timer. He wanted me to write a book about this great preacher. At the time, I couldn’t find enough material, mostly just stories that people told me about him. But today, sitting on my desk, is a ledger that contains 69 hand written sermons that belonged to him. His penmanship is very neat, much better than mine. I have been looking through this old ledger, and thinking about these sermons that he preached and what good that they might have done. I noticed above the titles of many of these sermons, he has placed a check mark or a circle. This was some code known to him, but I expect the checkmarks meant sermons that went over well and that he liked. The circles were not preached again. All of us preachers have our own sermons that would be checkmarks or circles. Some have more circles than checkmarks, but we are trying.

What is most amazing to me, is that a few older folks remember him, but other than that, he is forgotten. For all the good that he did. For all those years of preaching, there has come a generation that has never heard the name J.C. Roady.

That makes us wonder about our verse today. How can a man who has only be gone for forty years be unknown to the majority of believers today?  I think there are some things that need to be considered.

First, a person is never forgotten by God. The good that we do is known and remembered in Heaven. Jesus called it, “laying up treasure in Heaven.” He said that even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple would not be forgotten in Heaven. The Bible is full of names, but there are many, many more unknown people than known people in the Bible. People like the servant girl who told Naaman’s wife about the prophet in Israel. The little girl who Jesus raised from the dead. The four men who lowered their friend through the roof as Jesus was preaching. The woman at the well in Samaria. So many people, whose names are not given to us, but they are known by Heaven. God hasn’t forgotten them.

Second, the good that we do is to the glory of God and the kingdom. It is not so that we are to be remembered. We don’t name our church buildings after us. We don’t build statues of us, so people will remember us. It’s not about us. This is the distinction between God’s people and people who live for themselves. They want to be known. They want to be remembered. The righteous want God to be remembered. We are simple servants who are doing what we are supposed to do. The glory belongs to the Lord who has blessed us and taken care of us and given us opportunity to do what we could. Without the Lord, none of this was possible. I expect men like J.C. Roady, would not want any recognition from us. To hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” from the Lord, is all that they ever wanted.

Third, like it says of David, in Acts 13, we serve the purpose of God in our own generation. I’m reading these old sermons. They are mostly outlines. To me, they are simplistic, and first principles. I could see using these in a class, but it’s not my style of writing a sermon. They also seem long, a lot of points. But for nearly 70 years, these sermons worked. They built faith and taught many people the way of the Lord. We, each, serve the Lord in our generation. Someday, mountains of my sermons may be passed to some preacher. He’ll look at those and try to make sense of them and wonder if they did any good. We each must work with our talents and find the best way that we can serve the Lord.

Fourth, it’s easy to feel intimidated in the presence of a giant, even a good giant. I look at the old ledger that belonged to Roady, read some articles about him, and he was amazing in his day. What a powerhouse. Close to where I live, is the factory and museum of the world famous baseball bat, Louisville Slugger. I have been there multiple times. On certain days, you can put on a pair of white gloves and hold a bat that was used by Mickey Mantle. The bat. His bat. They have a mock home plate so you can get your picture taken holding an original bat. Holding this old ledger brings the same “wow” affect to me. All of us have wonderful things that we can do to help others in the kingdom. Our job is not to try to out do each other, but to simply do what we can. We are talented in different ways and in different areas. Some can write. Others can’t. But those that don’t can certainly share what was written with others. Some can teach. Others can’t. But they can invite folks to come here the word taught. Some can cook. Others can’t. But they can put the cooks in connection with those who need meals. Some give money so others can do what they do. It’s all one big family. It’s all one giant team that is helping each other get to Heaven. Help where you can. Do what you can. Don’t feel less because you can’t do what others do. Don’t feel intimidated in the presence of a giant.

The righteous will be remembered forever. What a great statement. What a promise. It makes a person just want to get busy today doing something good for someone else.

It is interesting, that the man who preached J.C. Roady’s funeral, just happened to be the very first preacher I remember in my life. His name was Loren Raines. He was as old as Moses, as I remember him. I have a few of his books. He was a good man. A connection. A giant circle. One big family.

Precious memories…

Roger