July 13, 2003
Deut. 4:1-14 (p. 149)

Intro - before crossing over into the Promised Land, Moses preached 3 sermons.
- his goal was to prepare the people to live in the Land of Promise
- these 3 sermons became the book of Deuteronomy

Our theme this morning is Legacy. A legacy is anything that is handed down from one generation to another. One of the distinctive features of human beings is that we are aware of our own mortality. Therefore we can more easily think about this important question - what are we handing down to the next generation?

To help us think a little more about the subject, I’d like you to listen to a song. It’s a song by Randy Travis - he’s a country singer & a committed Christian.

The song is entitled, “Three Wooden Crosses.”

Three Wooden Crosses
A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher
Ridin’ on midnight bus bound for Mexico
One was headed for vacation, one for higher education
Two of them were searchin’ for lost souls
That driver never ever saw the stop sign
And eighteen-wheelers can’t stop on a dime

Chorus:
There are three wooden crosses
On the right side of the highway
Why there’s not four of them
Heaven only knows
I guess it’s not what you take
When you leave this world behind you
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.

That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres
The faith and love for growin’ things
In his young son’s heart
And that teacher left her wisdom
In the minds of lots of children
Did her best to give ‘em all a better start

And that preacher whispered,
“Can’t you see the promised land?”
As he laid his bloodstained Bible in that hooker’s hands. Chorus:
That’s the story that our preacher told last Sunday
As he held that bloodstained Bible up
For all of us to see.
He, said, bless the farmer, and the teacher and that preacher
Who gave this Bible to my momma
Who read it to me

There are three wooden crosses
On the right side of the highway
Why there’s not four of them
Now I guess we know
It’s not what you take
When you leave this world behind you
It’s what you leave behind you when you go
There are three wooden crosses
On the right side of the highway

Written by Doug Johnson and Kim Williams
Recorded by Randy Travis on “Rise and Shine”

A man named Alfred was reading his morning paper one day when he came across an article that intrigued him - he saw his own obituary. You see, his brother had died the day before and the newspaper printed the wrong obituary. The headline read, “Dynamite King Dies.” Alfred was a business man - dynamite, used to bring down large buildings was his speciality. He read his own obituary and deep sadness came over him. Is this how I will be remembered? The Dynamite King? Is this the impact of my life? Is this my legacy? And so he evaluated his life & refocused his energies, and he came up with a way to try and make the world a better place. You might know that Alfred’s last name was Nobel. And after that mistaken printing of his obituary, he went on to establish The Nobel Peace Prize, and the other Nobel prizes for the advancement of science, medicine and the arts - the most coveted awards in the world today. They come with great monetary prizes that promote further research and study. All this came about because Alfred Nobel thought about his legacy.

I chose this topic today because of a conversation I had several years ago with Michael McGrath. We were talking about our facilities and our ministry here at First Parish Church, and about the possibility of expanding them and improving them. And Michael said, “It’s about legacy. Each generation has the responsibility to leave things a little better for the next generation- to take what we’ve been given and make it a little better for those who follow. Look at the legacy we’ve inherited here at our church. Think about the sacrifices that previous generations made to give us such a wonderful church. Are we going to be the generation that takes it all for granted, and lets things deteriorate, or are we going to build upon the legacy that we’ve been given and make things better for those who come after us?”

Michael and I were talking about this yesterday, because I called him up to make sure I quote him correctly. He added to his original comments and said that our generation, The Baby Boom Generation, does not always think very much about the future, and about those who will come after us years and years from now. We don’t give a great deal of thought and attention to our legacy. We live for today. We live for right now. And this has all sorts of implications - from families, to World Peace, to Poverty, to the Economy, to Education, to the Church.

I’d like to briefly highlight three areas where we can leave a very positive legacy.
1. The first is with Children.
Whenever we work with children we are touching the future, - we are building the future, we are shaping the future. We are leaving a legacy. Moses was clear about this in Deut. - “Teach these things to your children and to your children’s children, that they may know these things and learn to walk with God, so that they may then teach their children these things.” Whenever we work with children, we touch the future.

Leaving a legacy with children is so important. And it’s something that we work very hard on within our church and within our town. “Teach your children well,” as the song says, and you leave a wonderful legacy.

2. A Second area we should all keep in mind when it comes to the issue of Legacy, is the Earth, the Environment.

The Israelites had an advantage over us when it comes to considering a legacy with the Earth. One advantage was that the Earth was all they knew! They didn’t have TVs, VCRs, movies, computer games, or cyberspace, or even baseball. They had the earth. It was more a part of their lives and their thinking than it is for us. You can hear it clearly in their hymns, the Psalms.

“The Heavens are declaring the glory of God. The firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day after day they pour forth speech.” -Ps. 19

“I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Ps. 121

They were so attuned to the earth that they even envisioned the earth worshiping God.

Now this is a bit of a stretch for me, but it’s in the Bible.

Psalm 148 - “Praise him from the heavens. Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, all you shining stars. Praise the name of the Lord. Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle. Let them praise the name of the Lord.” These passages seem to honor the earth as something sacred.

Brad Hirst’s favorite scripture is Isaiah 55, where it says, “You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth in singing; and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” The Israelites were in tune with the earth.

They also would have an easier time thinking about an environmental legacy because part of God’s covenant with them was for the Land, the Promised Land. Moses said, “Give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the LAND that the Lord has given you.” I think if we called our area “The Promised Land” given to us by God Almighty, we might take even better care of it. It’s important that we do, to leave a positive environmental legacy.

3. The third area I’ll mention today is the Church.

Michael is right - we have been given an incredible legacy here in York.

Do we want to be the generation that takes it for granted or one that builds upon this legacy. I’m grateful that we are continuing to build upon our legacy today. For our sake and for the sake of those who come after us. Communities need strong churches. Vital, dynamic churches are a blessing to peoples’ lives and to communities. But strong faith and strong churches not only bless us, they bless those who follow in our footsteps.

St. Augustine was once asked why he was a Christian. He thought for a moment and said, “Because my mother was a Christian.” What he meant was, “My Mother was a true Christian. I saw God’s love in her. I saw the Gospel lived out in her. And I wanted to follow.”

May all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our spirits light their way. Because, It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you, it’s what you leave behind you when you go.

Think about it.

Let’s pray about it.

Eternal God,
Thank you for the legacy of faith that we are a part of today. Thank you for the heritage of Congregationalism and the heritage of First Parish Church. For the legacies of faith, of prayer and mission, of a biblical faith and a Christ-centered faith. Thank you for the legacies of beauty in architecture and in music and words. Thank you that we not only celebrate our heritage but that we are also building upon it. Keep us faithful that our legacy would one day be celebrated by others. In Christ’s name and for his glory and his alone. Amen.