What kind of legacy are you leaving behind?
October 31st, 2021 – Communion Meditation
Paul & I just got back from visiting loved ones in the beautiful country of Croatia on the Adriatic Coast. We were blessed to visit many beautiful places, all of which caused us to cry out to God – “How great You are!” (Incidentally, we stayed in the region of Dalmatia in Croatia, and while we were there, one of my daily Bible readings was from 2 Timothy 4:10, which mentions that Titus went to Dalmatia.)
Two places in particular stood out to me, tied to two particular individuals in history. Two persons of influence who lived two very different kinds of lives.
The first place was named after the apostle Peter. We were walking around a peninsula near the coastal town of Makarska, when we noticed a huge statue of St. Peter holding the keys of the kingdom. I was stunned as we came across Sveti Petar, St. Peter’s, a Christian church where believers have worshiped God together since the 6th century. For 1600 years, Christians have been gathering to worship Jesus in that location. Imagine how many prayers have been prayed there for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven!
The second place was completely unexpected to us. As soon as we arrived in the city of Split, we realized that many things in the city were named after the Roman Emperor Diocletian, most notably Diocletian’s Palace. We got the impression that he is held up in honor in that area. This was shocking to me, as I can only remember reading things that painted only a negative picture of him. Diocletian was the only Roman emperor who abdicated, basically retiring to the area of his birth and building a huge palace. All I had previously known of this emperor was what is called the Diocletianic Persecution, the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, in which he basically attempted to wipe out Christianity. The persecution failed miserably, and shortly after his death in the 4th century, Christianity was made the official religion of the Empire. But the most ironic part of this whole story is that inside the ruins of Diocletian’s Palace is now a huge Christian Cathedral, Sveti Dujam, the Cathedral of St. Domnius. Domnius was a 3rd century Bishop initially sent by Peter to evangelize Dalmatia, and who was martyred in the persecution. This church inside the palace has been a place of Christian worship since the 7th century.
As I pondered these two places and these two very different individuals, what struck me was that in spite of very different choices by these individuals, God’s Kingdom prevailed. We are all complicated people who make some good choices and some bad choices. And amazingly, whether we make saintly choices or sinful choices, the Kingdom of God goes on! We can choose to serve earthly kingdoms, which will not last. Or we can choose to serve God and pray for His Kingdom to come. Nothing can stand against Jesus or His Kingdom.
We can join God in His work or we can oppose Him, but His Kingdom will come and will never end. I want to encourage each of us to consider today whom we are going to serve. Will we choose to serve Christ or some earthly kingdom? What kind of legacy are we leaving behind? What kinds of choices are we making today? In what kinds of things are we investing our time, our talents, and our treasures? We know that our time on earth is limited. But we are each leaving legacies that will remain. What will people hundreds of years from now and visiting from another part of the world learn from our lives and legacies? As we come to the communion table today, I want to invite us to freshly dedicate our lives and legacies to God today, in the service of Christ and for His glory.
Let’s pause for few moments before we participate in the body and blood of Christ.
Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
By your Spirit unite us with the living Christ and with all who are baptized in his name. As this bread is Christ’s body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.
Amen.
