A Lasting Legacy: A Charge to the Church & Deacons

I did not intend last week’s sermon to produce a sequel of sorts. I was ready to move on to the next chapter in Ephesians and already had a sermon written, ready to go but as last Sunday came I felt something tugging at me. The events and conversations that took place Sunday and through emails raised a question that kept nagging me: How are we spending our days? How am I spending my days?

I answered part of the question last week when I ended the sermon with, “what we do with our life from beginning to end matters and it must have meaning” but the question still nagged at me. Was I using my days wisely or was I being foolish? I was caught off guard by this question and I really wondered where it came from. It is not often that a scripture will catch me and hold me for so long but this one did. “Be careful how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”

Am I making the most of my time?

It’s fascinating how things line up sometimes. Divine intervention is a funny thing, it comes at a time you least you expect it and in a way you least expect it. I was asked a question at the Fellows orientation this past week that began to shine a light on the reason why Paul’s instructions were haunting me. The question goes like this: Imagine you are at your 85^th birthday. Everyone is there: you’re entire family, your friends, your colleagues, teachers, everyone. You’re surrounded by everyone who has ever loved you and during the celebration your son/daughter gets up and offers a toast, what would their toast be?

It’s hard for me to think that far ahead. My personality type struggles with planning or thinking about what someone would say about me at a celebration of my life. I rarely think about it, and I am sure most of you do as well, because life moves and taking a moment to see how we use our time affects our legacy is something we rarely do. I searched for answer in the back of my mind, just in case I was called on and I struggled to find something. My heart of hearts was saying, “I hope, when my son stands up he will simply say, “I am glad you are my dad.” It is not the most awe inspiring toast but it is the one I desire to hear the most.

As others answered the question, I wondered what my response would be if the question was: Imagine you’re at a banquet and you are the guest of honor. At the banquet are all the people who’ve encountered in your life, including a who’s who of important people. Jesus gets up, clicks the champagne glass and offers a toast, what would his toast be? My hope would be that he would say that I used my time wisely, making the most of it by living it in such a way that showcased his love through my actions and in my caring of those he placed in my life.

But that’s how I would answer the question. How would you answer the question? What would you hope his toast would be? What would you hope be your children’s toast? How would our church answer the question? What would his toast to Bruington Baptist Church be? What will be our children’s toast in a 100 years, 50 years, 20 years, 10 years, even 5 years?

It is one of two questions I ask each of you to think on this morning. It is one of two questions I ask our current active deacons and our newly elected deacons. It is one of two questions I ask our Trustees, our Sunday school teachers, our nursery workers, our parents, our youth, our children, our choir, our leaders: what will be our legacy?

The thing about a legacy is it’s unwritten. We are able to write out our legacy and create a story that will help define our lives and our church. For years Wyatt Earp was remembered as a criminal, an outlaw for murdering members of the McLaury’s and Clanton’s in a federal deputized raid of vengeance for the death of his brother Morgan and the maiming of Virgil. It wasn’t until later in his life when he invited a young reporter up to his hotel room and began to share his side of story that his legacy changed. We remember Wyatt Earp as a pioneer in Western Justice because he shared his story and chose to help shape his own legacy. Likewise, we have the opportunity to shape ours by choosing how we spend our days.

Before we look forward, sometimes it helps to look back and see all that we’ve done. In the past year this church has: called a new pastor, baptized three new members and welcomed two more. We have installed a brand new sound system, crossing off a goal that’s been lingering since 1994. We have made several important repairs to the church. We’ve hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch. We have built ramps, made visits, and help feed our homebound members. We have celebrated weddings and we have mourned deaths. We have planted seeds and help provide an experience in which the children in our community could encounter Christ and possibly changed a life without knowing it. We have begun reconnecting with others through our softball games. We have clothed and fed countless families in our community to help them make ends meet.

Over the past year we have done a lot of wonderful things and accomplished many goals. I am proud to say that all the goals I set for the year have accomplished. We have done some amazing things and we should be proud. We should take a moment and celebrate this past year and we will do so on September 16 at the Open House at the Parsonage. We will remind ourselves of the hope this past year has brought us and we will take a moment to be thankful for that is the mark of wisdom and using our time wisely: taking a moment and being thankful for the blessings of the year.

Then, after some good food and company and cake (there should always be cake at a celebration), we will turn towards the horizon of 2013 and begin to make goals for the year that will further shape this church’s legacy and how we will spend our time. And this leads me to my second question for us this morning: What is our vision?

Our vision is a part of our legacy. It is the why that gives us reason to live a legacy that matters. It is the why that shapes our goals and forms how we spend our days. Our vision gives us ambitions to achieve our goals. Our vision fuels our programs, events, gatherings, worship, and our community services. It drives us to give everything we do our best. It gets out of bed when all we want to do is sleep. It helps us spend our days wisely because we are doing what God has called us to do.

I believe in visions. I believe in the importance of having a personal vision, a goal, an ambition as well as the church having their own. I used to struggle with as a teenager. I remember riding around in the car with my dad one day, I think I was 15 or 16 and he asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I told him I wasn't sure and so he asked, "Don't you have any ambitions?" I said, "Well, I'd like to ask out Llaura Harris but I am not sure how I do that." 

I struggled with the question as a college student as well. By the end of my first two days of classes at OBU I answered the question, “What do you plan to do with your life?” eight different ways for eight different classes. I believe I wrote the following: US Marshal, hostage negotiator, actor, writer, Superman, Batman, Olympic Runner, and if I told you I’d have to kill you (that one got me in a little trouble). When you’re 19 it is hard to have a vision or a clear vision of what you want to be when you “grow up.” But as I grew up and discovered my calling I found a purpose. I found my vision and each day I am here, I hope I have the wisdom to spend the time wisely living into that vision. That vision is this: To care for those I am gifted to minister in a congregational setting. And to minister to ministers who need a helping hand.

People come to places where they know they are prepared for and cared for. I learned that this past week and reminded me of the importance of how we spend our days. You come here expecting me to be prepared for you, to have a service and sermon ready for you. You come here expecting Sunday school teachers and nursery workers prepared and ready for you and your children and to care for you. You send your children to VBS expecting us to be prepared for them and care for them. You come to picnics, breakfasts, revivals, candlelight services, musicals, camps, outings, expecting us to be prepared for you. Each of us comes to church and church events expecting the church to be prepared for and care for us.

People will come to a place where they know they are prepared for and cared for. Will our legacy be one in which we prepared for those who are here? Will it be one in which we are known for our care? Will our vision be one that motivates us, excites us to prepare and care?

That is our challenge this morning as a church and newly elected/ordained deacons: What will our legacy be? What will our vision be? And as leaders and members of this church you are being asked to help shape it and that gives me great hope in our future together.