Legacy - The Eleventh Day of Advent

Photo by Laura Fuhrman on Unsplash

"He asked you for life; you gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever." - from Psalm 21

For more generations than not, a person's life was measured by his or her legacy. It did not end with the grave; it continued through generations. Thus, from the book of Genesis and, even with nods in two of the synoptic gospels, genealogy is noted without concern for a few gaps or glosses. The point is established, that, among the fathers and mothers, there runs a common thread that expands at the bottom and the top.

Life goes on through our descendants and has been passed on from our antecedents, branching in all directions.

Life is a gift from God and our ancestors

Our enduring significance is what we pass on.

That is why Abraham was so concerned as reflected in his dialogue with YHWH.

Genesis 15:1-18

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

 

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 

 

But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 

 

And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 

 

But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 

 

He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”

 

Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 

 

And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 

But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 

He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 

He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years, but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.

God reassured Abraham that his covenant was solid and that Abraham's legacy was sure.

 

Everything we do and say, matters.

 

Our lives are new branches of a great tree from which countless branches will form and grow and give life.

 

Jesus, the Branch from which his people receive life eternal, has a word to say about the legacy of our words and deeds.

 

Those, too, have life and give life. They matter and will be the basis for the evaluation of our lives no matter how many or few offspring we may sire or give birth to.

 

Abraham's greatest legacy has been passed on to us, that he believed God and it was counted as righteousness.

 

Matthew 12:33-37

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”