In Memory of...

Today at our church we enjoyed the Seventh Annual Joe Neal Memorial Valentine Spaghetti Sweetheart Lunch Dinner. It really doesn't go by all those names -- although sometimes it seems so. Every year that we have had this youth fundraising luncheon, the name changes is some aspect. What has remained the same is that is the Joe Neal Memorial .... The presence of Joe's memory has remained constant.

I got to know Joe when we took the Bethel Bible Teacher's class together. He was a gentleman with a big heart and a very large and active brain. I have three memories that have kind of stuck with me:

1. The teacher we had for that class was Dr. Chuck Echols, our assistant pastor at the time (another really good man). Chuck was discussing grace, and how our salvation is a gift from God. I asked him to explain the parable of the sheep and the goats in the light of salvation being a gift. (The sheep and goats parable still worries me). I don't remember what Chuck said, but it was a compact answer, and didn't really answer the question. (Even all these years later, I'm still not sure that there IS an answer to that question). Chuck was continuing in his lecture, and Joe stopped him, telling Chuck that I had asked a good question, and deserved an answer. I still don't remember what Chuck said, but the memory that I took away from the discussion was that sometimes -- maybe -- my questions do have value (and that sometimes maybe I'm wondering the same thing as other people are wondering).
2. Joe was talking about Moses and the Ten Commandments during one class. His theory (and maybe he had read this somewhere) was that God hadn't given the Israelites these particular Ten Laws in order to just give them these laws. Joe theorized that God's purpose at the time was to make his presence real to the Israelites -- to establish a relationship with them. Joe thought that perhaps this was more important at the time than the delivery of these commandments.
3. In another class, Joe brought forth the idea that we each have our own image of God -- within us -- our perceptions and ideas of who He is. I'm sure this is obvious, but I had never thought of it before.

After we finished that class, I was privileged to hear Joe teach Sunday school. He was always well researched, and his lessons were thoughtful and thought-provoking. Sometimes I would just sit back and listen, sure that his level of understanding was so much higher than mine.

My most lasting impression of Joe? He was such a smart, intelligent man who was in touch with God and kept learning about God as a high priority in his life. He has left a lasting legacy in our church.