Lor San Tekka and Rey.....

The only reason is for story purposes. JJ needed BB-8 on Jakku so Rey could find him, help him and start her journey. It's really that simple.

 

While reading your post, I recall:

• The Emperor had such an interest in this planet.
  
• There was such a buildup of Jakku (the Battle, the Observatory, etc.) in the Aftermath novels.
• The Falcon was right there, where Rey was trading parts for portions.
• Lor San Tekka's familiarity with Leia, Luke, and Ben seemed significant, as did the map to Luke.

Perhaps any or all of this was

• simply backstory elements not intended to be developed any further
  
• extraneous details simply for speculation's sake
• just JJ "mystery box" stuff
• something considered unimportant as of TLJ
• something deliberately mentioned yet left unexplained for future storytelling possibilities (book, comic, IX)
  
• intentional misdirection

LST and the Falcon being there at that key time as of TFA seemed such key pieces, for me, after watching VII. I recall Han's explanation, but I was not sure that was true or the entire story.

That LST had the map and knew Ben and Leia very well seemed incredibly relevant. LST knew of her "royalty," Ben's origins, the Jedi, the Dark Side, the First Order, and the notion of "balance." Ben knew LST well, too.

Looking back after seeing TLJ, LST simply could have been used as a character prop put there to allude to Kylo's Light Side origins early while also serving to be the first unfortunate in-film example of Kylo's destructive "let the past die..." creed. Kylo does note how "old" LST has become.

As for the Falcon, it could have simply been a convenient plot device to link Rey up with Han and Chewie and to get them to Maz Kanata.

Personally, I believe, as a general practice, it can be somewhat a waste to leave many such ends dangling like that: investing, visually, in an effort to educate the viewer through elaborate references and setups only for those to have little or no development or significance.

In cinema, there is always the baseline practical consideration of wasting minutes through visual exposition and character development which leads nowhere (unless you're an experimental filmmaker like Andy Warhol). Usually these precious minutes wind up cut from the film.

Now, as a writer/artist, I know and appreciate that not everything has to be connected and explained, but, on the other hand, not everything has to be disconnected, purely coincidental, and without reason.

What I also remind myself, within the Star Wars realm, is that there is a tangible will of the Force woven and active throughout the films, allowing for synchronicity to occur, for characters' paths to cross in meaningful manners, and for certain archetypes and cyclical patterns to become apparent as struggles, heroes, and foes arise and fade.

Perhaps it was the will of the Force that the Falcon and LST were there, at that fateful point, and neither being there was a decision anyone consciously made with Rey in mind.

 

I've been reading the Poe Dameron comic which takes place shortly b4 TFA. The last couple of issues are about Poe meeting LST for the first time. Right now in the story LST is in a prison on Cato Nemoidia, or he was in the last issue I read. As of yet there hasn't been any mention from him about needing to get back to Jakku for any reason.

I think the only reason LST is in TFA is because he holds the key to Skywalker's whereabouts. Nothing else. I do think this character could have an interesting backstory with his involvement with the Church of the Force.

 

Maybe JJ will feature a flashback of LST in Episode 9.

 

Honestly i think JJ set it up that way incase a future director wanted to go that way and Johnson didn't so forgot about it and told a different story.

It's the same with numerous things in this trilogy so far, their was very obviously no plan from the start so things that where set up in one film are forgot about in the next.

 

This is also what I conclude is at the of what hasn't worked in this trilogy so far. Next time they need to have a clearer idea of where the story is going or give one person creative control over how the story develops.

 

Jakku is basically no where. Luke doesn't want to be found.
LST has the map. Where better to hide than no where?

Is it luck Rey and LST are both on Jakku or is it that the force chose Rey because there would be a chance meeting at some point between Rey and LST/his piece of the map to get Rey to Luke?

Is it possible, that the force chose Rey because she would end up on Jakku. Where LST would set himself aside to help keep Luke hidden....destiny....

 

LST knows the galaxy needs Luke. He is seeking out the location of Ahch-To (which he had helped Luke to a few years back). LST believes Luke found it and so he sets out to find a map as well. This takes him to Jakku, likely because of the ancient observatory that was there. And as it says in the opening crawl of TFA, he finds the map there.

As for why Rey is there - likely exactly the same reason Anakin was found on Tatooine when Qui Gon needed to fix the hyperdrive on their ship: I’ll leave it to you to decide what that reason is...but it’ll save you time if you just put it down to the will of the Force

 

I think this should be merged with thread'"Where are the plot holes."