Famously timid and fearful of death, Woody Allen was once asked, "Do you want to be immortalized by your work?" He replied, "No, I want to be immortalized by not dying." Asked again, "What do you hope people will say about you in 100 years?" His reply was, "He looks good for his age."
What would we expect people to remember of us 100 years from now? I suppose if the Internet is still up and running, a collection of my sermon files could be floating around somewhere. With God's blessings, there might be some great-grandchildren, but I doubt they'll know my name any better than I know those of my great-grandparents. Then again, maybe people will be saying, "He looks good for his age . . . or he would if it weren't for the beard."
We've spent the last two months with Micah of Moresheth, a small-town minor prophet who should have been forgotten long ago. Yet, 100 years after his death, his words brought comfort and hope to a major prophet marked for death. Jeremiah's life and message were impacted by reading Micah. His legacy of faithfulness preserved Jeremiah in difficult days. One wonders how the legacy of our faithfulness might bless those who come after us.
Today, we will hear Micah from Jeremiah's perspective and see something of our own legacy of faithfulness.
