Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

Joshua 1:1-9, Deut. 31:1-9

There is a difference between leaving an inheritance and leaving a legacy. The inheritance goes through the attorney's office. More often than not, when we leave an inheritance it causes hurt feelings and jealousies, anger and family disputes. "Why did Mom give them the condo and only give us the car?" "What was Dad thinking to leave that much to my brother who never did a decent day's work in his life?" The attorney has to divide the inheritance among the family members according to the will.

But the legacy doesn't go through the attorney's office. Instead it goes through the church. The pastor leads the memorial service, telling stories of how this person's life has impacted others. "We remember when Paul served the church as the chair of our Pastor Search Committee." "This grandmother used ironing to teach her grandchildren an important life lesson. Do it right the first time so you won't have to go back to iron out a crease you put in by being sloppy." "Tom not only volunteered in the local Kiwanis Club, but he helped found an annual event at the local park to help children with special needs." The attorney sorts out the inheritance, but the pastor describes a legacy.

Tony Campolo interviewed several people in their late nineties. He asked them one question: If you had it all to do over again, what would you do differently? He tabulated the results into three primary answers. The third most common answer was that they said they wished they had risked more. The second most frequent answer was that they said they wished they had lived more in the moment and taken time to smell the roses. The most frequent answer, however, outnumbered all the other responses put together. People near the end of their lives wished they had done a better job of leaving a legacy.

It happened just over a hundred years ago. Alfred opened up the morning paper and was shocked to discover his own obituary. Alfred's brother had died a few days before, but the paper accidentally printed Alfred's obituary instead of his brother's. He was horrified to see that the obituary remembered him primarily for his extreme wealth and the discovery that led to his amassed wealth. He did not want to be remembered that way. So he decided to do something about it. He decided to dedicate the last years of his life to leaving an entirely different legacy.

As we conclude this winter series of messages from the book of Deuteronomy, I have a question for us: Which is more important, to leave an inheritance or a legacy? As we examine the last words of Moses‹as he passes the mantel of leadership to Joshua‹let's consider his legacy.

When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them: 'I am now a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, and the Lord has told me, "You shall not cross over this Jordan." The Lord your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua also will cross over before you, as the Lord promised. The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. The Lord will give them over to you and you shall deal with them in full accord with the command that I have given to you. Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.'

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: 'Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.'

Then Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

Deut. 31:19

The three clergy turned solemnly to leave the grave. As they were walking away the Catholic priest said, "I wish he'd lasted another two years. He made a large donation to our new parish hall on condition that my prayers for his healing were answered. He told me if he lived for three years longer we could keep the five million dollars. But the attorney already told me that his will made it clear that since he died only one year later I had to give the five million back. I hated placing that money in his casket and letting it be buried with him."

The Baptist pastor nodded his head understandingly. "I know, I know. He donated five million dollars for our youth facility under the same conditions. But the attorney told me I had to give it back so it could be buried in his casket. What we could have done with that five million!"

The Presbyterian pastor looked at the other two and said, "The attorney called and told me the same thing. So at the funeral I simply dropped a check in his casket."

This month we are inviting our congregation to commit themselves not only in continuing to give their regular tithes and offerings for the annual budget, but prayerfully to consider stepping up their giving by including an amount above and beyond the annual budget. By the end of this month we will invite you to present, along with your annual commitments, your extended threeyear commitment for the construction of our second campus‹The Porch. I believe the Porch is our legacy to future generations.

If we do a word association with the average nonreligious person and say the name of Moses, what is the most likely response? I suspect most people connect Moses with the Ten Commandments. Some immediately associate the movie image of Charlton Heston holding the Ten Commandments carved on stone. Others have laughed at the image of Moses presented in the movie "History of the World Part 1." In one scene we see Moses coming down from the mountain balancing three stone tablets and announcing, "God has given us fifteenŠ" Just then he accidentally drops one of the stone tablets and it shatters. He looks up quickly while holding the other two tablets and barely skipping a beat announces, "TenŠ God gave us Ten Commandments!"

Moses is most famous as the leader God used to deliver not only the Ten Commandments but also the basic laws of Israel. Moses is celebrated as the one who wrote down the laws and commandments. When Joshua was promoted to leadership, he was instructed by the Lord to regularly read the laws that Moses had given them. Moses first legacy, then, was the writing down and passing on of God's word.

But Moses is also remembered as the leader who brought the people through forty years of wandering in the wilderness in order to take them to the Promised Land. For forty years he helped them to grow in their ability to trust God so they would be prepared for living as faithful people in the Promised Land. Moses' second priority, then, was to grow their faith as preparation for their new, uncertain future.

What was Moses' legacy, then? The answer is twofold‹the laws and the life lessons that prepared them for the future. They were to pay attention and listen to God's word proclaimed‹Law. They were also to be prepared to adjust their lives to live faithfully in the Promised Land. Law and land‹proclamation and preparation. Both were necessary.

What will be our legacy? Let's review the essential purpose of our church. We say it regularly; "We believe that encounters with Jesus transform lives, so we encourage people to meet and follow Christ." How do we help people meet and follow Christ? Two ways‹proclamation of the word and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Our current campus is the place where we encourage faith primarily through proclamation and worship. This campus focuses on holy space and holy moments. The center of this campus is our beautiful sanctuary. In our worship services people often experience the holy touch of God. With an ambience of incredible music and stained glass, people seem more open to hearing the Holy Spirit's whisper. Our friendship evangelism takes the form of inviting someone to experience a worship service.

But that is only one way to share our faith and encourage people to meet and follow Christ. The other way involves loving our neighbors by meeting their needs. For those who are not religious, how can we meet their needs?

Already on this church campus we have discovered that when we offer the community a high quality preschool program people bring their children. Young families flock to a place that will love their children and keep them safe. We also know that when we offer wonderful children's enrichment programming and youth music and drama programming, the community responds. When we show our love in practical concerns for the community, people may come initially to have their needs met. Then it is quite common for them to become interested in our faith as well. Many of our church leaders came to our church to sign a child up for preschool or a music program. We can build on these proven methods of reaching our nonreligious neighbors with God's love.

Our second campus‹The Porch‹is simply a logical step to complete and complement our current campus. While we currently invite neighbors to experience the Lord through worship and proclamation, on that campus we will focus more on meeting the needs of our nonreligious neighbors in our community. What is the greatest need in our community? A recent team of youth did some onthestreet interviews, and the answers were surprisingly consistent. Nonreligious people are asking for "a place to connect, hang out, to be with friends." These answers came not just from youth looking for a safe place to hang out after school, but also from seniors, singles, and new residents to our community. The Porch, then, is a community center where people can connect and develop friendships.

The key to the success of The Porch is knowing our purpose and at the same time remaining flexible in our programming. It isn't easy to walk by faith and follow God's Spirit. Everything inside us wants to nail down the specific programming we will use in the new facilities. Where will the PingPong table be located? How many hours will be given to scouting and how many hours to adult volleyball? While we have spent the last five years doing extensive research on successful programs as well as working closely with a recreational ministries consultant, let's remember that we are leaving a legacy. A legacy blesses generations into the future. The lives of future generations will be extremely different from ours today. We need the same attitude as we teach our mission teams going overseas to other cultures, "We be missionaries; we be flexible."

I like Pastor Tim's summary: "On this campus, we are a church that offers community service programs. The Porch will be a community center where people will find a church."

Back to that story about Alfred. Remember Alfred, reading his own obituary? He did not want his legacy to be that he made a lot of money through the discovery of dynamite. So he came up with an idea. What if he left an endowment that rewarded people who worked for peace. Alfred created a peace prize. Today we remember Alfred Nobel as the founder of the Nobel Peace prize.

What will our legacy be?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Who are people who have left a legacy in your life?

2. What legacy do you hope to leave?

3. How were you first introduced to Jesus?

4. What are the biggest challenges you face in building community with neighbors?