Legacy

Simeon is one of my favorite people in the Bible. Took me many years to unearth his story and realize the beauty and the value in his life, but once I did, he was an instant favorite. Simeon {if you haven't uncovered his story yet} was an old man who had received a promise from God that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple when He was eight days old, and that was the day Simeon met - and held - the Son of God. The day the promise was fulfilled.

When I wrote the chapter on Simeon in my Advent book, I wondered what it would have been like to wait your entire life for the fulfillment of a promise. I wondered if he ever talked about it to others and if, along the way, people rolled their eyes and thought he was crazy. I wondered if he ever started to doubt that he'd heard God correctly. I wondered if, as years crept by, he began to fear he made up the whole thing.

This past Sunday, our pastor preached about Simeon and Anna and the legacy of their lives. He preached about how their faith was strengthened by the lifetime of work they'd seen God accomplish in not only themselves but in those around them.

Pastor Steve shared stories of people in his own life who had invested in him from their senior years and had been able to guide and encourage him out of the wealth of their own faith journey.

And then he reminded all of us that such people still exist. They exist in our own church and in the pews around us.

And then he brought them all to the front of the church.

 If you click on that picture to make it bigger, you'll see that stretching as far as our little camera could get, from the left to the right is a row {sometimes two and three people deep} of people 65 and older who have been part of the legacy of this church and of the lives of those of us remaining in our pews.

The picture isn't even as powerful as the moment was in real life. I'm not sure any of us escaped without a tear or two. We stood and thanked them with applause - for their faithfulness in lives that have had many mountains and valleys.

A handful of them read Scripture to us, and we listened while voices that have lived the truth of the words passed them forward to us.

And among that crowd were some I've known since I was old enough to have memories. People who attended the church where I grew up. People who invested in me personally.

Here are two:

June {in the red jacket} and Harold {in the black suit} are friends of my parents, and I've known them my whole life. June taught my Sunday School class when I was little, and she taught me to look up Scripture in the Bible. Harold directed the handbell choir and let this awkward junior high girl join and take a spin at something new.

I'm thankful for them and ALL the seniors God has put in my life along the way, from childhood to now, who have taught me by example how God works in life. And just a couple of days away from Christmas, I recognize the gift each of them are to me. {And Ryan has just as many in his life!}

Maybe this Christmas you can give the gift of a note or a phone call to one of the seniors in your life - someone whose walk with the Lord has encouraged you! Someone who has been faithful in leaving a legacy for you to follow.

 {This last photo courtesy of the College Wesleyan Facebook Page}