Leaving a legacy

Our church celebrated its centenary a few years ago and as part of the celebrations, some large photo boards were commissioned showing notable figures and important events from the past. 

I stood there in front of the boards one Sunday and thanked God for those who had gone before, who had often sacrificially given of their time, money and talents to lay the foundation that we were building on today, not just of a church building but a thriving community.

There were difficult times over the years, even within my memory, of upsets, disagreements and even parting of the ways, but Godly men and women had persevered through these hardships and now, on this Sunday morning, we were going again to lift up the name of Jesus to see him honoured and to give thanks for all he is doing in this day.

Legacy is something that is very important to me. I have been handed a good legacy from those in my family who went before and even though I did not appreciate for many years what they passed on to me, I do now. I am standing on the foundation they laid through prayer and hard work and making some very good choices.

Recently we have visited some National Trust properties in UK and read about men and women who worked incredibly hard, with entrepreneurial skill to create something of lasting value for those who came after. Their efforts often blessed the locality and even the nation with their creativity and philanthropy. The tragedy has often been that sometimes those who followed completely squandered their inheritance. Fortunes have been lost on the horses or at the gambling tables and in one case, amazing treasures had to be sold to cover the debts. What did those forebears think of that I wonder? 

However, the Bible is also full of those who have been handed a Godly inheritance who ignored it, turned away from God and caused great damage to their own lives but also, even more tragically, upon the people of the land. These people deserted God and bowed down to idols and encouraged the people to do the same.  This led to disaster with invading armies overrunning the land and eventually the people were taken off into exile, despite warnings from God through the prophets. 

All of us will have been passed an inheritance. Some may have had a Godly heritage, and some may have not even known where their unwanted legacy came from. Some legacies of broken lives, debt or addiction are very unwelcome but just because we inherited a problem does not mean we have to pass on one.  There are so many stories both in the Bible and in our nations of those who have chosen a different, better path. It’s always possible with God to change things for the better.

I received a good inheritance, and I want to leave a good legacy for my children and grandchildren, but I also want to make sure that not just my family but my brothers and sisters in Christ receive something of value from me. I hope that if in another 100 years there are more photo boards (or their 22nd century equivalent) of the life of our church, I will have contributed something to a thriving church. 

Catch me if you can

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12: 1 - 2

Every baton change was secure and it was with great cheers that the British men’s 4 x 100m relay team brought home the gold medal. It had been a rather disappointing week of athletics for Britain but on the final weekend all four relay teams won medals.

Watching relays always reminds me of the analogy of handing the spiritual baton on as an inheritance to the next generation.

An inheritance is something passed on that we get for nothing from someone else who has paid for it. It can catapult us up to the next level. For instance – getting a financial inheritance can help us buy a house we couldn’t possible afford otherwise. Spiritual inheritances work in the same way. We inherit a grace for something, for instance healing, that others have laboured for and may have paid a high price in terms of commitment and even criticism but it makes us more effective for the kingdom.

A natural inheritance gives us something we did not have before but a spiritual inheritance reveals to us something that was there all along but which we had never seen or grasped before. When we realise the inheritance we have, we receive all the knowledge and experience gained by the previous generation. We don’t have to find it, earn it, dig for it, battle for it but just receive and walk in it.

Bill Johnson says that one of the saddest things in the Church is that one generation has never been able to pass on revival to the next generation. Revival has become the boost that the Church receives every few years instead of being the norm. What should be normal is that ‘of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end’ Isaiah 9: 7.

Going back to the analogy of passing on the baton it is as if the next runner takes the baton, looks at it and decides that running the next leg is too hard, demands too much and anyway they are too busy with work and family. Worse still it when the baton is put in a place of honour and revered as ‘the baton from the GB and NI team who won the gold medal in 2017.’ This is like honouring Smith Wigglesworth or John G Lake but not trying to run past them and push into God for the next revelation or grace he wants to impart.

For me the saddest thing is when the next generation take the baton and then goes back to the starting blocks and starts the race all over again, running the same lap as the previous generation. Instead once the baton has been passed, the next generation must take their inheritance and run hard their own race into fresh new things of God.

Jesus ran the first lap and he promised we would do greater things than he did (John 14: 12). That’s the norm. Our forefathers are our example and they are cheering us on the greater deeds, to greater revelation that the Kingdom of God would advance not stagnate or repeat.

Have you ever seen how the previous runner at the hand over, shouts at the next runner exhorting them to run their fastest? May it be the same in the kingdom. As we pass on all we have laboured and fought for, may we urge the next generation to catch hold of everything and then run into a fresh season of revelation with faith and anointing to increase the Kingdom and see Jesus revealed in ever greater measure.

Inheritance versus heritage

People will spend a lot of time and effort making sure they leave an inheritance for their children and family. They will work hard to leave their house, money, jewellery and possessions to those who will remain when they die.

However what is even more important is to not just leave an inheritance for our children but to leave a heritage. Heritage is something that is handed down to our ancestors and often it is non material. Family stories, practices, ways of doing things and faith. As Christians passing on our Christian faith is the best possible heritage we can leave our children and family.

One of the greatest blessings for a parent is to see their children and grandchildren living out a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for themselves not based on parental wishes or peer pressure but out of personal conviction. This is the heritage we would most like to pass on.

However the Christian faith is a choice and whilst we can do all we possibly can to pass it on; prayer, church, Bible teaching, lifestyle and so on, at the end of the day it is a personal decision for every individual. One of the greatest heartaches for parents is to see their children turn their back on the faith they were raised in.

Sometimes this may be for obvious reasons; family divorce or breakdown, parents whose faith is far removed from their lives, problems with other Christians or the shortcomings of the church. At other times it may just be the lure of the world and the pleasures that the world appears to hold.

I believe that what we do for the child not walking with God is the same as the one walking with the Lord; pray, bless and maintain good relationships. One of the saddest things is parents who fall out with their children because they have turned their backs on their faith.

God spoke powerfully to me from the title of a Joseph Garlington book Right or Reconciled. So often being right becomes the most important thing. However I believe maintaining relationship through reconciliation is far more important. We will never reach out to the lost whether in or out of our family by maintaining the moral and spiritual high ground that I am right and you are wrong.

If we have brought our children up in the faith, our grown up children know what is right and wrong. They do not need parents going on about their life style choices. They need parents who love and accept them whom they can talk to.

I am not referring to teenagers who still need a firm but loving hand and help with their choices till they have developed a mature judgement. Teenagers who yell at their parents ‘you don’t trust me’ are quite right. We should not trust our youngsters to make mature decisions at this point in their lives. It takes time and maturity to develop good judgement.

However even as adults our children may do things we do not consider appropriate such as living with partners or having sex outside marriage. Our children know this. What they need is our acceptance based on the fact that they and we both know what we think their choice.

In time these children of ours will return to their faith if we are diligent in prayer and loving in attitude. Even if we never see it ourselves, I firmly believe that we can all not only leave an inheritance of material possessions but also a heritage of Christian faith for our family members.

Our future inheritance

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.  Ephesians 1: 13 – 14

These are more wonderful verses from Ephesians chapter 1 which are worth a longer look.  I was surprised how often Paul spoke in his letters about the Holy Spirit being a seal, a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. I quickly found 3 other references using almost exactly the same.  This is an important truth that Paul wanted the early church to hear. 

Paul assures us that having believed in the word of truth, our salvation, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit. The seal denotes ownership not in a slave and master way but in a loving Lord looking after his own.   The Holy Spirit was also given us a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Now we know that an inheritance is something we receive when someone dies and it is usually something very nice. When my father died I received an inheritance from him which was certainly a great blessing.  

A deposit is a down pavement on something so the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. So what is our inheritance that we have received down payment for? The Bible refers to it as the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 25:34) or kingdom of God (James 2:5) or kingdom of light (Colossians 1: 12).   When we are born again we are able to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) and we have in some measure access to the kingdom but because of our fallen world it is only a measure.

When we die, we inherit full access to the kingdom and full rights as co-heirs with Christ of that kingdom (Romans 8: 17).  What is more our bodies will be transformed, glorified so we are completely like Jesus (Philippians 3: 21). That is some inheritance!! 

Now that is probably enough theology for one day as I am struggling to get my head around these wonderful promises. However I know that as we let these truths of our future inheritance sink into our spirits; truths that Paul was so keen to try and help the early church understand, it will transform the way we think about life here and now. The more we realise what a wonderful future we have both in this life and the next, the more it will stop us living just for now. It should help us build for a glorious tomorrow while at the same time making the most of every moment and opportunity today.