Donkeys and Walking Sticks

 "Jair of Gilead, led Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon....  After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel.  He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites."  Judges 10:3-5, 12:13-15

   I'm always amused by these verses - to go through life and be known for how many donkeys you owned and where you were buried seems to me such a waste of a life. I recently was reminded of this in a personal way. My dad died and as we arranged his burial, the funeral director, knowing that my dad loved to hike to Mt. LeConte asked if we would like to have his walking stick buried in the casket with him. He stated that he has even buried motorcycles with people. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that he was wrong by offering this; if so I am much more guilty for offering prenatal testing for birth defects (it's one of those things the profession requires) - but I was horrified to think that my dad's life might be remembered by his hiking. Sure, that was enjoyable for him but it wasn't WHO he was anymore than I would want to be buried with a Doctor's bag or a scalpel and be remembered for being a doctor.
     What would my dad have wanted to be remembered for? What do I want to be remembered for? Let me illustrate it this way. Do you know how the gospel came to Korea? In the 1800's a British missionary to China, Sir Robert Thomas, felt deep compassion for Korea, a country that was hostile to outsiders. He learned a little Korean and bought a bunch of tracts and Bibles, mainly in Chinese and convinced an American trade ship wanting to establish relations with Korea that he could be their interpreter. The ship got attacked in the waters off shore Korea and was set fire. As the crew abandoned the ship and were quickly killed, Robert Thomas was said to have abandoned the ship with an armful of Bibles throwing them to the Koreans while yelling "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" while he was clubbed and speared to death. The killers noticed something different about this man and thought that his "book" must be very important. When people who could read Chinese later came to Korea they translated these Bibles and now South Korea is one of the most Christian nations in the world.
      What would my dad have wanted to be remembered for? What do I want to be remembered for? I want to be remembered for having a passion for and sharing God's word. I'm comforted to know that even if I am as unqualified as giving Chinese Bibles to Koreans, God can use a willing servant. And I want to be known as a person who constantly spoke of Jesus till my last breath. That's what I want. That's what my dad DID. Isn't that what you want to be remembered for?