“Making a Spiritual Legacy”   2011

Joshua 4:1-7          2 Timothy 1:1-7

 

Joshua 4:1-7

4When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: 2“Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, 3and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.’” 4Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. 5Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, 6so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.”

 

2 Timothy 1:1-7

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

 

Today is Mother's Day, and I do hope that it is a good one for you.

 

    Beyond the sentimentalism of a Hallmark greeting card,

            this is a special day for giving thanks to God for the blessingsà

                        of life and the nurture given to us through our mothers;

            - and    when I think of   Christian motherhood   in particular,

                        I see it as something more theological than gratitude alone.

 

For many of us who were raised in  faithfully-Christian homes,

     much of our earliest Christian education came through our mothers…

                  … and just as a sponge absorbs environmental moisture, so too

                             our environment can influence us toward faith in Jesus;

            perhaps even as unaware of receiving that that blessing of truth

              as a fish is unaware of the water in which it lives and breathes.

 

    A part of that environment of Christian influence also includes

          taking advantage of life’s teachable moments that come along.

           

I remember seeing a mother with her young son in worship one Sunday,

            and I noticed that she was leaning down to him with her hymnbook

                 and tracing her finger along   word by word through the hymn.

 

It was a wonderful and moving moment to see, 

            for it was something very caring, intimate,  and very important.

                                    She was exemplifying Christian motherhood-parenthood

                                                by teaching her little boy in a very simple way

                                                            about her faith and how we worship the Lord.

 

It wasn’t arranged, but entirely natural ---

          and demonstrated how faith can be passed down through the ages

                   through the faithful practice of   Christian motherhood…

                             … using our opportunities in life to share God’s truth.

                       

When I was a boy, in our family, on the way home from church,

            we were always asked about our Sunday school lessons

                        and what we heard in the sermon and church that week.

                                    My parents were intentional and careful to explain

                                                about worship, the church and the symbols of faith.

I still remember one particular ride home from church, when I asked,   

            “why the grownups got to have a snack after the sermon that day?”

 

My mother explained about the bread and grape juice, by retelling

            the story of the Last Supper in the Upper Room, and how Communion

                       is a reminder of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

She used simple terms, telling the story in a way I could understand,

            which helped shape my faith toward my life’s spiritual journey.

 

As a child, I asked about something I didn’t understand,

   and I was answered with a story that explained what I wanted to know.

 

That is the same process of  instructive story-telling,

            of parents teaching and influencing faith in their children,

                        of passing  a knowledge of God  down through the generations,

                                                and that is described  in the Joshua 4 passage.

 

In it, those who had come through the long desert journey with Moses,

     learned to trust God through their experiences along that journey;

**           but how to pass that along,  to guide the future generations?

 

In the story, the people of Israel had at last reached the end

            of their 40 year trek through the Sinai desert and wilderness

                        and they were finally crossing into the Promised Land.

 

As the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant

    stepped into the Jordan River,  the water stopped flowing,

            and the priests were standing in the middle of a dry riverbed.

 

Then someone was selected from each of the 12 tribes of Israel

        and they were each commanded to pick up a stone from the riverbed,

                    and carry it with them all day as they traveled into the land.

At the end of the day when they stopped to set up camp that night,

            they piled up all those stones that were taken from the river,

                        and made them into a permanent memorial or monument.

 

            Then in the years to come,

                        a monument of those rounded and smooth rocks from the river,

                             was of course very noticeable,

                                          especially a full day’s journey away from the river,

                                              leading to questions about how they got there. 

vs. 6-7

            So that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’           then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord.  When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.”

 

That memorial of rounded-smooth river stones became a reminder

            intended as a useful teaching-aid   to help the people of God,

                 pass their faith and spiritual legacy to future generations.

 

            That pile of river rocks encouraged them to retell their stories

                        about how God had truly fulfilled all of His promises.

 

When future generations heard those stories about God’s faithfulness

            that knowledge of God would help teach them   about trusting God,

                        and their relationship with the Lord,  as the people of God.

 

When the WW. II memorial was still being built in Washington DC,

            Kathy and I happened to be showing our granddaughters the city,

                        so I also spoke about my father serving in the Navy in WW II.

 

I urged them that day   to notice and remember the construction site,

            so that someday when they returned to Washington DC,

                        possibly with    their children or grandchildren …

 

            … they should tell about seeing the partially-built monument,

                        which could lead to retelling the story about

                                    their great-grandfather’s service during that war.

 

            Their understanding and connection through his story,

                    then becomes a part of their legacy of family and patriotism,

                                    to be passed down to the next and future generations.

 

The Apostle Paul also builds on this idea of a ‘legacy connection’

            in explaining that he sees the same faith in young Timothy

                        that he observed earlier in his mother and grandmother.

vs. 6-7                                    I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.

 

The purpose of Paul’s letter was to encourage Timothy,

            a young pastor, to remain committed, strong and faithful…

… and that since his inherited spiritual legacy was the same faith

            taught by these two faithful Christian mothers, Lois and Eunice,

                                                    that same faith would surely sustain him,

                                                            just as it had always sustained them.

 

Paul was reminding and urging Timothy to be bold,

            for he had been blessed, he had received and was influenced by

                        the spiritual legacy given by these two faithful women of God.

 

One time when I met with a family to plan a funeral for their aunt,

            and was amazed by the detailed instructions she had written out,

                        they showed me how every single item in her house

                                    had a label on the bottom of it,  printed with the name

                                                of the person  that she intended to inherit it.

 

Her family explained that she was very attentive to detail,

    and that for years, whenever she bought or was given something,

        she immediately labeled it with the name of who was to have it.

It was most remarkable how obsessive she was about making sure

            that every object of her legacy went exactly as she intended.

 

Though that may seem a bit much for ordinary household items,

            it does raise an important question and challenge for us today:

                   are we being as careful and deliberate in passing along

                             our spiritual legacy, our faith and stories about God,

                                      to the next generation  who will come after us?

 

 

Thinking about Mother's Day, let me suggest these considerations:

 

First, gratitude to God and to the mother who gave each of us life;

                        and if your mother was also  a faithful and godly women,

                                    consider yourself   most richly blessed indeed.

 

It is also appropriate to honor our other   spiritual mothers,

            all those who helped nurture   by their worthy example of faith,

                        and from whom we received  a blessing of spiritual legacy.

 

Second, as a congregation we need to think about Christian motherhood

            and reflect on the quality & influence of our spiritual nurture;

                          and our attention to the opportunities we are given in life

                                    to share the Gospel story and show God’s gracious love…

          … nurturing and encouraging the seeds of faith to grow in others.

           

As a church and community of faith,

            are we careful and deliberate in making this a place

                        where everyone can experience God's gracious love & truth?

 

            Do they feel God's love and presence here  among us,

                        and are we faithfully passing along God’s word and truth,

                                    the spiritual legacy,   that we have received,

                                                especially to the next generations yet to come?

 

Our call is to intentionally and actively demonstrate

             God’s love and grace in every way we can by serving

                        as caring dispensers of God's love, truth, hope and grace…

 

            … and nothing that we'll ever do    will matter more à

                        than our faithful influence  and God’s truth we live out,

                                    as a faithful reflection of God's own gracious love.

 

On this Mother’s Day, let us hold fast to the words Jesus spoke:

(Matt. 18:5)               Whoever welcomes one such child in my name    welcomes me.