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Some time ago, a friend and colleague of mine, we’ll call him Paul, told me a story about something that happened at his church.
The parish, St. Bartleby’s we’ll call it, had recently rented out a room in the church to a local non-profit. This space was set up almost on its own, away from the rest of the church, which meant this group could do their own thing separately from the rest of the parish’s thing. It was a win-win for everyone.
Except, this room had been given in honor of a long-standing member, we’ll call him Joseph, of the parish who had helped get the church to where it was today. There was a plaque in his memory in the room petitioned for by another member we’ll call Richard when they dedicated the room. This plaque was in just the right spot for a picture frame to hang. The new group, trying to make the space their own, did just that, covering the plaque.
Well somehow word got around about what had happened, and Joseph and Richard, each in turn, went to Paul to complain. Neither was happy, but Joseph eventually was able to let go and head out. Richard, on the other hand, remained livid, particularly because of all the hard work he had done to get this room dedicated for Joseph. He even had the gall to tell Paul that if these two men didn’t have Joseph’s legacy to go on, what did they have?
Of course, our legacy isn’t what matters. What matters is what we do, who we are, and whose we are as Christians. What matters is the gift of the Resurrection we receive from our Lord. What matters is Jesus.
This is the lesson we hear in both Deuteronomy and 1 Corinthians this morning. Both these readings teach us that the one thing that should be on our hearts and minds is God.
In Deuteronomy, we receive the last words of wisdom from Moses before he dies and the Israelites set forth to the land God has promised them. Moses reminds them, as they prepare for a new prophet to guide them, of all that is needed. This new prophet can’t speak anything on their own and pass it off as God’s. They cannot speak in the name of any other god other than the Lord. The only thing that matters is that this prophet speaks the words of God and no other.
This is a tall order given to the next prophet, and to the Israelites as a whole. Yet God promises that such a prophet will be raised up among them. God declares that the People will continue to hear the Word of the Lord.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks to a different concern. He speaks to a time where the followers of Jesus are surrounded by shires to these “other gods” Moses speaks of. Eating food offered to these idols would have been common place.
Yet Paul assures his readers that who the food has been offered to doesn’t matter. What does matter is the spirit in which they eat it. The only danger is if they eat it with the intention in their hearts that this is a sacrifice to idols, because then they are drawing themselves away to God.
The only thing that matters, according to our readings, is God. We need to have the Lord in our hearts, not some idol and certainly not any of the many things that can draw us away from the love of God.
In the end, even our own legacy, what we leave behind, doesn’t matter. What matters is that in all that we are and in all that we do we are striving to do God’s work in this world. All that matters is Jesus.