I Peter 1:3-9  “An Unending Inheritance”  3/30/08 (Lectionary).

            They say that in the next 30 years $41-136 trillions dollars of wealth will change hands from one generation to another. [i] But every time I see such articles, they immediately talk about how much of that will not pass on to individuals.  The articles often talk about federal taxes which are about 45% of everything over a certain amount.  Then they talk about inflation, and it seems like the media likes setting you up to take you down.

            Frankly people often squander their inheritances- Dostoevski had a great inheritance, but he squandered it by gambling it away.  Some say that the 77 million baby boomers in America do not save up enough money, and are spending their inheritances before they get them.

            But there are things that are left to us by those who have gone before that cannot fade- it may be simple things like manners, perseverance, or discipline.  It may be as the Bible says that they pass on sin and its appropriate wrath from one generation to the next.  There is some evidence of genetic tendencies toward things that lead to sin- like alcoholism.  Faith also is something that we should really seek to pass on to the next generation.  You know, if you have found something good, don’t you want your children to experience that?

            Our passage in I Peter talks about our inheritance.  The passage describes the inheritance confirmed in the resurrection with three adjectives.  In the Greek these three words rhyme- they begin in “a” and end in “ton.”  Imperishable, undefiled, unfading.  These words basically mean that those who believe have an inheritance that will never end.  I want us to think about the inheritance we have coming to us.  It is a bit like Peter is the lawyer and has read us the will, and it is in probate for us for now.

            It is an inheritance.  It is not something we earn.  You cannot really earn an inheritance- it is something you are born into.  Jesus said we must be born again to the kingdom.  We cannot earn our way to heaven.  There are those who might say that someone might disown us if we do something really terrible (like the Hiltons disowned Paris Hilton- that self-proclaimed but self-deceived role model for young girls).  But built into this inheritance is an amazing clause- even if you mess up- it’s still yours- you just have to claim it by saying you’re part of the family.

            We are called to remember how much our inheritance cost us.  It was paid for by the precious blood of Christ- more precious than gold or silver (which do not last).  I remember reading a column by Ben Stein about his father’s estate and how his father, head of economic advisors for president Nixon, never drove a luxury car, never took extravagant vacations, but worked to leave a rather large estate for his children.  Stein said he was grateful and would respectfully care for his estate.  So we should remember that our inheritance of the blessings of heaven cost Jesus Christ his life.  We should live grateful lives.  We should not waste our lives- like the Prodigal Son.  We should live lives that honor God. 

            We are called to have the right perspective.  I want us to think about this for a bit.

There are things that will last and things that will not.  If we let our appetites rule over our souls, then we will give into the temporary.  We live in a world that is very much caving into the right now and losing perspective on what will last forever. 

            This is what some people call “big picture thinking.”  Some people think only of their little lives, and not for the good of the whole.  Some people think only for the moment and not for the long run.  Some people waste their lives trying to entertain themselves and being consumed with how they feel instead of doing something with their lives for what will never fade.  An example of small picture thinking is Esau who came to his brother Jacob starving from exercise and said he had to have that wonderfully smelling stew right then (I guess there was no more food in the house or surrounding area).  He ended up selling his tremendous inheritance for a bowl of really good stew.  Are you a stew seeker or are you someone who has perspective and discipline?  An example of large thinking that shrunk into small thinking is the Pilgrims.  In their first year a small group of settlers established a town, and learned about farming.  In their second year they elected a town council.  In their third year the council proposed making a road to take the colony westward.  In the fourth year the people complained that this was a waste of public funds.  The person who wrote about them [Lyn Anderson-Leadership Journal] said “the Pilgrims had once been able to see across oceans;they now could not look five miles into the wilderness.” 

            Alvin Toffler once said, “You’ve got to think about “big things’ while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.[ii]  So thinking big allows you to achieve your goal, hit your target.  The epitome of big thinking is to think of what will never die or fade.  Many live for the moment and they look back on their lives and wonder what they did with it.  I remember baptizing an 85 year old lady once.  She said to me, “I’ve wasted my life up to now.  I’ve wasted my life.  What did I do with my life given to me from God?”  Many waste life focused on the day to day grind, the worries of this world.  Many waste life by thinking that as long as they avoid the really bad sins they’re okay.  But one sin is to live selfishly.  We need to think bigger, about a higher plan, a larger purpose—and how we might fit into that plan.  Sure we must pace ourselves- and there is a time to work and a time to refrain from working.  Sure we must enjoy this life and frankly enjoy God.  But life is not all about me.  It is not just about me and my family.  It is not just about the Chapin-Irmo area, or South Carolina, or even the United States.  It is about God- and the glory of God.

            When you have the right perspective and you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then you are relying on God to bless you.  I believe God blesses those who fully put their trust in Him.  For most Christians in America God and faith are something secondary instead of something central.  Can you tell the difference between what is central and what is secondary?  If you can tell the difference, then you are part of the way toward this big picture thinking described in this passage.  I have met some people (mostly children) who would readily live off of desert and skip the vegetables and nourishing part of a meal.  I have met many nominal Christians who live for themselves-or whatever motivates them- it may be golf, it may be watching movies, it may be some game they play- but everything else is secondary—including their faith.  I can talk about this and it will completely go over their heads- they can’t even hear this.  But one day we will realize- like that 85 year old lady- that if we do not live for what will last forever, we have wasted our lives on trivial, unimportant, fading things.  We will have earnestly tried to squander our inheritance. 

            When I start my day- I begin it with prayer and a quiet time.  Then I look at my schedule- my appointments, what I have to do.  I think and pray about what really is important for me to do that day- and try above all else to do that well.  It is easy to get swept away by the secondary, the urgent and miss the important. 

            Theologian David Wells said that God is “weightless in our society.” This doesn’t mean God is ethereal, it means that God doesn’t bear much weight or importance to us.  God is less interesting that TV; less important than our sleep; less meaningful than our hobbies.  That God is weightless in our society tells us little about God and everything about us.  Why believe in an unimportant God.  Maybe we really don’t believe that we are bought with the precious blood of Christ- more precious than gold.  If someone offered us an ounce of gold, we might readily take it-especially at today’s prices of near $1,000 an ounce. But if someone offers us an audience with the King of kings in worship- we yawn at the weightlessness of it.  Today is what we call “Low Sunday.”  It is the least attended day on the church year around the world.  People get up for Easter, but not for this day.  Every Sunday is a chance to meet with the One we say we love, and the One who died for us because of His love for us.  He is alive and wants us to meet with Him.

            Think about your unending inheritance.  Remember how important that will be to you.  Live your lives in ways that honor that inheritance as the most important, lasting thing in your life.  Amen.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,  5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:  7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. KJV