Friday, February 16, 2018

Ron's Legacy (A Tribute)





I recently attended the memorial service of an extraordinary man.  His name would be unfamiliar to most, he certainly wasn't famous by the world's standards.  But for over two hours I sat in a packed sanctuary filled with a few hundred people and listened to the personal stories of some of those he had impacted over the span of his life. The officiating pastor didn't preach, but I heard the most eloquent sermon spoken that day through the example of a life well lived.  It left me challenged, changed.   

Ron, the subject of this piece, lived out the greatest of the commandments.  The priority of his life  was to love the Lord his God completely with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind and all his strength.  The second greatest commandment, to love his neighbor as much as he loved himself, was for him a natural response that came out of the first.  He couldn't help himself.   

When one loves, one serves,  and over the years that's exactly what he did.  He became the coach of the church's Bible Quiz Team, even taking the young people on more than one occasion to Nationals.  Ben, one of his former quizzers, shared about the influence Ron had on him and so many others, spending hours studying God's Word with them while getting ready to compete.  I suspect, however, that beating out the opponents was not the primary reason he took on the role of coach. He was investing in something much greater,  young people building strong foundations on God's Word.  Ben's family sat across the aisle from me, his wife holding a baby with three or four other children sitting on either side of her.  The investment made into the life of Ben and others like him wasn't over when Ron's heart stopped beating.  It will continue on with the generations to come.  

What man in his retirement years wants to hang with twenty somethings on a Friday night?  Turns out that Ron did.  He and his wife were regular attendees at The Happenin',  a ministry for the young adult community in the area. From what I heard, his presence had quite an effect on that age group as well.  But it didn't stop there.  When asked if anyone else had something they'd like to say, a little girl took the microphone and talked about how special he was to her too.  It didn't seem to matter who they were, Ron found ways to connect with every one of them.               

Glenn was one of the last to speak.  He deals in cattle and shared a conversation from 25 years ago.  Ron gave him a call and told him that he was going to sell his cows.  He had left teaching several years earlier, moved to Pennsylvania with his family,  renovated an old farm house, purchased some land, built a barn and took up dairy farming.  But as much as he had enjoyed this season of his life, the thought of investing in something even greater pulled at him.  When explaining his decision to let the cows go, he told Glenn that there was already more than enough milk being produced. "I want to do something that's needed," he said.

Zambia might seem a far cry from rural Pennsylvania. And yet maybe not so much.  It obviously fit him well, for he and his family would serve the people there for the next 10 years.  With his farming experience he worked in mobilizing the people to better their lives by drawing upon the resources they already had on hand.  Working right along side the villagers, using the most basic of tools and materials,  he taught them among other things how to build dams and dig wells, giving them and the generations to come a better quality of life.

This man's life reminds me a bit of what the Apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters.  He had become a servant to all, entering their different worlds so that they might come to know Jesus. Ron was many things: a teacher, a farmer, a planter, a builder, a mentor and a friend to so many.  But mostly he was a servant, the motivation of his life never changing, always driven by the love placed in his heart by the Father.  His son-in-law, a Zambian, gave tribute to his father-in-law with the words of a fellow African.   "When I am with Ron," he said, "I forget that he is white."

There were no signs, no warnings Ron Herr was about to pass from this life to the next on the day his heart stopped beating.  Upon hearing the news everyone was stunned, there'd been no indication of anything. In fact, I think it was his daughter Tandi who said her dad was probably as surprised as everyone else. But I know as his spirit broke free he had no regrets.  He was ready, having invested heavily in what he couldn't see but believed to be true with his whole heart.  And he did that through the gift that he gave of so freely while he was here.  It was love, pure and simple.        

1 comment:

Nomi Bird said...

What an amazing man this Ron must have been and what a privilege for you to have known him. I was certainly challenged by his story to examine my own priorities in life and service. But I was also inspired to serve, motivated by love more, wherever I am; whatever I'm doing and with whoever Im with.
I could almost feel his love for God just in the telling of all the testimonies you wrote about.
It brought me to tears and to pray, "Father make me more like this Ron, teach me to love you more, to love others more as I learn to love myself more as your child.
Thanks you for sharing Ron's story!