Words to Live By: "Legacy"

The following were Sunday's Sermon Notes from Pastor Jay's series on "Words to Live By"

Salvation - while being personal - is also communal. "Your kingdom come," we pray every Sunday following "communion." The Israelites were inheriting a land. We are inheriting a kingdom. We are "preparatio messio" (preparing for the coming of the messiah) which means that the work of our salvation ("work out your salvation with fear and trembling") is not just a personal matter, but something that we pass on to others.

In our individualistic (consumerist) society, we lose sight of our communal responsibility. When the Bible says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, we read "your" in the singular rather than the plural. But faith is never singular. The words, thoughts, songs, prayers, doctrine, and experiences we have always happen and are given meaning (interpreted) with others around us. They help us understand what is happening. They provide context not only through their own experiences and understanding but by sharing with us the stories of people of faith who lived long before us.

It is time to reclaim the wisdom of age and experience. Reclaiming wisdom to be passed from one generation to the next. Reclaiming the pursuit of wisdom and Christian maturity which becomes exemplified in the lives of the elder and then reflected or mirrored in the lives of the younger.

There is also a wisdom of youth. The youth know things that older people have often forgotten. Passion. Intensity. Focus. Idealism. Pure-heartedness. Innocence. What if the "elders" of the church retained these qualities rather than dispense with them in the face of more "pragmatic" concerns and thinking.

How it works itself out is something being evaluated by our young people and by unbelievers. What hope does our faith REALLY offer? Is the faith we present workable? Does it lead to life? Does it lead to harmony among the believers? Does it help us to get through another day. How would we frame this kind of faith? What words best express it? Is it simple or complicated?

Jesus said "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." It's not hard to be a follower of Jesus. But it does require attention, a growing maturity, discipline, and obedience. Is this hard? To whom or what are we obedient? Most of us follow our appetites, our blind passions. There are times in our lives that we connect with a higher purpose and recognize transcendence in that purpose. Something feels right about being lifted out of the everyday pursuit of things and into some higher calling. We feel at these times like we were created for this reason. We feel like we are at home. We have come to know that home as something we call the "kingdom of God."

And so, what we teach is also from a vision of God's emerging kingdom. Catch this vision and own it. All of us have a vision of our lives. Make the good news of Jesus the central vision of yours. The church reflects that vision. Real community. Moving forward. Justice. Reconciliation and mercy. Compassion for the "fatherless and widows" -- those without advocates. The personal, in Christianity, ALWAYS becomes the MISSIONAL. There are no exceptions to this.

Our responsibility is FIRST to LIVE the faith and then teach what we're living. Don't teach it because we believe it's simply our responsibility to teach faith. Don't teach it because if we don't the institution won't survive another generation. Institutions are fleeting and institutional loyalty changes with each generation. Succeeding generations are looking for an ORIGINAL experience of God's Spirit. So, teach it because deep down you know it leads to life. Share your experiences of the gospel giving you life. Teach the stories of faith from scripture and from people within your own church community who fought fear, despair, uncertainty, illness, even death and were delivered - saved - because of their faith in the power of Jesus.

We all leave some kind of legacy. There is no getting around this. You will leave a footprint behind when your life is done. People's WILL have been influenced by your manner of love, joy, mercy, work, values, anger, conflict, hatred, bittnerness, brokenness. If you can accept this foundational truth, then our task becomes choosing what footprint we will leave behind.

We are the community of those who hope in Jesus. Here people find love. Here people find integrity. Here people find an living anticipation of what God's kingdom is like. And we are its citizens. We are its inhabitants. We are the temples of God where God resides and where, if someone wants to see the work of God, people might look.