A Legacy of Faith

Last weekend, I was given the privilege of preaching at New Life in Christ Church in Punta Gorda. New Life Church is led by Pastor Casey Taylor. He has become a dear friend to me in the last year. My assignment was to preach on grand parenting. This was a new topic for me in my preaching ministry, so I started from scratch or as I like to say “with a blinking cursor.” This was all new material for me and I sensed the Holy Spirit’s direction as I studied and wrote. I thought the message would be an encouragement for every Christ following adult because I talked about how both our “blood family,” our family of origin and our “blood-bought family,” the family of God are called by God to mission. Below is the message for you to watch and listen. Below that is the unedited manuscript as well. I hope it blesses you for your are “blessed to be a blessing!”

Jorge

A Legacy of Faith
Rev. Dr. Jorge Acevedo

Every parent in the room at some point or another has said, “I would die for my children.” I know I have. But after having four grandchildren, I have changed my tune. Now, I say “I would kill my children for my grandchildren!” Can the grandparents in the room give me a big “Yes?” Here is what I really think about it. When I was a parent to my two sons, it was “practice.” Now that I am a grandfather, it is “perfection!”

Well today, my assignment given to me by our amazing Lead Pastor, Pastor Casey, (Can we give God praise for our pastor, Pastor Casey?) is to talk about what the Bible says about grand parenting. To validate my speaking to this issue, let me share with you a picture of my four amazing, beautiful, smart grandchildren, Mia, Levi, Seth and Zoe. I’ve got 18 years’ worth of grandparenting credentials! To do this, we need to back up and have a broader discussion about what the Bible teaches about marriage and family. This is the bigger backdrop that the Bible paints on when it mentions grandparents. A quick read of the creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 is a good starting point.

In the Genesis 1 story, God speaks the universe into creation through his spoken word. From nothing, the whole universe is made by God’s word. In the first five days of creation, light and darkness, water and land, vegetation and wildlife are all created. And then saving the best for last, on day 6, God makes man and woman “in his image,” and they are told by God to be fruitful and multiply. The first humans are charged with having dominion over the creation by tending and caring for it. It is important to note that in this first creation story, told from this cosmic view, marriage and family are not mentioned except for the command to have children.

In the second more localized creation story, the generic and cosmic tone of Genesis 1 shifts to a more specific and intimate one in Genesis 2. The man has a name, “Adam.” After declaring that it is not good for Adam to be alone, (the first crisis in the Bible was relational not moral) a partner is made for him, and the woman is called “Eve.” Along with their names, they had an address, “the Garden of Eden.” And after this “splitting of the original Adam” (Did you get the pun? The splitting of the original A-D-A-M not A-T-O-M), the Bible makes this important commentary in Genesis 2:24:

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”
Genesis 2:24 (NIV)

We are introduced to God’s original design of marriage as a covenant relationship between a man and woman. Two chapter later, the Bible matter of factly states that Adam and Eve made love (Yup, that’s in the Bible) and gave birth to a son named Cain and later she gave birth to another son named Abel. Thus, marriage and family are introduced and woven into the Creator’s original intent for his creation. You can say with confidence, that marriage and children (and how they are made!) was and is all God’s good idea!

 But don’t miss this. From this simple starting point, the Bible connects family to God’s greater mission of redeeming and restoring his creation. Don’t let this slip by my friends. Family was not created to simply enjoy each other. It’s that but so much more. Do you remember that whole fruit eating incident in Genesis 3? It is what started this whole mess on planet Earth. After creating the whole of creation with all that it needed for peace with God and harmony with one another, our first parents blew it. Eden’s innocence and intimacy was lost. And from that moment until this very moment, the God of creation has been looking to fix what was broken. And to repair it, he began with a married couple to whom he promised a child.

 Go with me ten chapters later to Genesis 12. Abram and his wife Sarai are 75 and 65 respectively. God told this childless couple to leave their home and go to where he would show them. Genesis 12:2-3 (NIV) reports God’s wishes for this childless couple:

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2-3 (NIV)

You caught the dilemma of this divine calling, right? They are to be a “great nation,” but there is only one problem. They are childless. If you read the next several chapters, you see the strange, ugly story of how this couple on social security and Medicare indeed had a son, but don’t miss the point. This family was to be a blessing to “all the peoples of the earth.” Their family was in the blessing business. Family joins God in a mission to fix what was broken.

And friends, we cannot talk about what it means to be grand parents without framing the bigger story of God’s intent for family because it changes everything. Here is what all these first few minutes of the message has been all about. God’s vehicle to redeem and restore the broken creation is the family. Let that sink in. You might be thinking, “I thought that was the church’s job. Hold on. Before you pick up rocks to stone me as a heretic, let me also say this. Family in the Bible is not just “Baby, daddy, and me. Just us three.” No, in the Bible, family extends from our family of origin to the broader family of God. Like the Sister Sledge sang, “We are family. I’ve got all my sisters (and brothers) and me.” Or like we sang in Sunday School, “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.”

Here is why we must frame any conversation about grand parenting in this broader understanding of family. Family whether we are talking about what we often call “the nuclear family” or “the family of God,” the Church, exists for a mission and that mission is to bless the peoples of the earth. This is God’s design.

But for our discussion today, let us focus on the nuclear family and build towards grand parenting. It is important for us to acknowledge that the word “family” means lots of different things today. We tend to think of mom, dad and 2.5 kids as “family.” But now “family” includes single parent families, grandparents raising grandkids, unmarried couples and their children, and fostering families. And then let’s add to this, the reality that even after our children are grown and we become empty nesters, we play a major role in helping them as well. Each of these constellations bring unique challenges but what they all hold in common is this one simple, yet profound truth. Say this with me. All families are dysfunctional! Repeat that with me. “All families are dysfunctional!” Somebody just got saved!

And, why? It goes all the way back to the Garden in Genesis 3, my friends. It’s the out-of-date word. It’s “sin.” Remember this simple biblical truth. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Everyone of us has a deep brokenness that gets expressed in a variety of ways. From destructive selfishness to violent murder, the root cause is the same: our alienation from God. And the mission of God’s family in the home and the Church is to declare and demonstrate that God has provided a solution to our universal sin problem and his name is Jesus.

I think if you did a quick glance at Genesis 12 to Genesis 50, you would read about the earthy, dysfunctional families of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and his brother Esau and end with Joseph and his brother’s. Along the way, our ancestors would engage in lying, murder, incest, cheating, favoritism, and even slave trading. And these are our spiritual parents! I wish these Bible families were “Little House on the Prairie” (If you are under 50, Google it!), but it is not. And let’s be honest. Neither are our families. Mine is not. In my family constellation are addictions, adultery, divorce, greed, rage and so much more dysfunction, but (and don’t forget this) this is not God’s design for family. Genesis 1 and 2 paint a world where we live in intimacy with God and harmony with one another. And the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is a testimony to God’s relentless mission to restore us to Eden’s paradise.  And despite our sinful dysfunction, God uses dysfunctional people like them and us to fulfill God’s redemptive and restoring mission in the world.

What I love about God’s Word is that it tells us about the raw, gritty, unfiltered stories of sin’s devastating damage in our families and in the Church but also lifts up God’s promise of what flourishing in our families and the family of God can look like. This is life lived under the reign and rule of God or what the Bible calls “the Kingdom of God.” This is life lived in homes and churches of all make ups where “Jesus is Lord.” Listen to these words of hope for children, parents, and for today, especially grandparents.

From Psalm 103, David who knew his fair share of family dysfunction (just read it!) wrote:

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
Psalm 103:17-18 (NIV)

The unnamed writer of Psalm 128 wrote a psalm of ascent that was sung by families as they traveled to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. God’s family would sing:

May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children—peace be on Israel.
Psalm 128:5-6 (NIV)

Or, how about these sage words of Solomon, the wisest man of his day? This pithy verse from Proverbs 17 delights the heart and mind of every parent and grand parent in this room and online:

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.
Proverbs 17:6 (NIV)

Despite our brokenness as a people, despite of bent to sin, God gives us a promise that things can be different for the household of faith.

With all of this in mind, let me give you the big idea of this message. Here it is: The greatest gift parents and grandparents can give to their children and grandchildren is a vital, vibrant, and up-to-date relationship with Jesus. Repeat that with me. “The greatest gift parents and grandparents can give to their children and grandchildren is a vital, vibrant, and up-to-date relationship with Jesus.” It’s not a trust fund though that might (I say this carefully) …it might help. Memorable vacations won’t hurt, but it’s not the x-factor in being a godly parent or grandparent. It’s have an first-hand, up-to-date relationship with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Another way of putting it is: The faith is more caught than taught.Say that with me again. “The faith is more caught than taught.

Go with me all the way back to the Old Testament. God has gotten the enslaved Jews out of Egypt, but in the wilderness, God is trying to get Egypt out of the Jews. Through Moses, God gives them the Torah, instructions to live as followers of Yahweh. In the “Shema,” that Jews prayed twice a day (think of it like the Lord’s Prayer for Jews), God tells them the importance of passing a vibrant faith in God onto the next generations. Look with me at Deuteronomy 6:1-8 (NIV),

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:1-8 (NIV)

God takes the transmission of faith in God from one generation to the next very seriously.

Whenever I have been privileged to do a funeral for a follower of Jesus who has excelled at passing the faith onto his or her next generation family members, I almost always preach from Isaiah 51:1-2. Listen to these powerful words:

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many.”
Isaiah 51:1-2 (NIV)

Remember who Abraham and Sarah were? They are father and mother of the Jewish people who lived almost 1200 years before Isaiah wrote these words. Isaiah points back generations to remind God’s people that “they are a chip off the old block!” Isaiah likely wrote this during the Babylonian exile. These weren’t exactly the golden days of Solomon. When times were tough, they had to remember their spiritual roots or as we say in Kentucky, their “ruuts!”

The powerful influence of godly parents and grandparents continues in the New Testament. Paul was a mentor to a young pastor named Timothy and he wrote two letters to his protegee. Listen to his opening salutation in 1 Timothy 1,

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord…I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 5 (NIV)

Even though Paul was not Timothy’s biological father, he was his spiritual father. But in verse 5, Paul reminds Timothy of his biological mother and grandmother who passed on their “sincere faith” to him. In these verses, we see the importance of both a godly family of origin and godly Church parentage. Timothy caught the faith of Lois, Eunice and Timothy. Their faith was vital, vibrant, and up to date. Their apprenticeship to Jesus was used by Holy Spirit to shape the life of this young pastor.

This is why we need both great homes and great churches cooperating together for the good of all children. We need godly real grandparents in the home and godly surrogate grandparents in the Church loving all God’s children well. Whether they are our blood children or our “bought by the blood of Jesus” children, we need to reach them for Jesus. The Fuller Youth Institute, considered by many to be the preeminent researchers on youth culture and ministry, champion the 5:1 ratio for students. This means that every kid needs five adults who know their story, understand their hearts, act as cheerleaders, and can be confidants. These adults know their names and their nicknames. They attend their events and maybe more importantly, the shake the gates of heaven in prayer for them and their needs. And hear some amazing news. Gen Z, those currently ages 13 to 28, are returning to church in record numbers. There is an openness to God among this generation!

Let me get real practical for just a few minutes before we close. I want to give you two recommendations for loving our children well. The first one is for those of us who have biological grandchildren. Give your grandchildren meaningful experiences with you.  When my first granddaughter, Mia was born, I got struck with brain damage. If she asked me for anything, the answer was always “Yes.” After a few more grandkids were born, her parents came to me and said, “Grandpa, quit giving our kids junk they don’t need, that will break and will be thrown away. Instead, give them experiences with you.” From day trips to area places to renting cabins in the woods, we have thoroughly enjoyed our experiences with them. But the best thing we have done is we decided that when each of our grandkids turned 10 years old, we would take them on a trip of their choosing with the two of us. This summer, we completed that last of their 10-year-old trips. Zoe, the baby, picked Hawaii!

The second practical recommendation is for grandparenting the children of this church and community. Pay for and pray for ministry at New Life Church that you don’t understand or even like.Here’s what I mean by this. Reaching the next generation with the Gospel requires spiritual maturity on the part of those of us who know and love Jesus and this Church. There comes a time when in the words of Paul, “we put away childish things” and we think not about what I need, but about what others need. If we want our church to reach the next generation, it will take deliberate and intentional decisions on those of us who are older to reach the next generation. Here’s how it played out in my life. When I came to our church in Cape Coral at age 36, we were one of the handfuls of families with younger children. I asked the retired people in our church, “Will you pay for and pray for ministry that you do not even understand or like if it will help your grandkids know Jesus?” Many said “Yes” and we did. The church filled up with young families paid for and prayed for our older adults. Fast forward 20 years and the church had grown older with me. We needed to do a better job at reaching younger people in our community. We met with some of the young adults, and they suggested changes in worship. Some of these changes, I did not like. I liked worship the way it was. But we made them anyhow and guess what? The church has grown dramatically younger. Let me ask you New Life Church, “Will you pay for and pray for ministry that you do not even understand or like if it will help your grandkids know Jesus?”

Let me close with this. Have you ever been reading your Bible and bumped into one of those laundry lists of names we call “genealogies?” I know when I read one, my mind goes to “Ho hum.” But go with me to the first biography of Jesus in your New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew. Look with me at the first and last verses of the list:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers…and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Matthew 1:2, 16 (NIV)

The list begins with Abraham and ends with Jesus. It took 41 generations to get to Jesus. I think this genealogy is a powerful metaphor for biological and spiritual parents and grandparents. All of the men and women mentioned by Matthew pointed the next generation one step closer to Jesus. Here’s my closing question for you: Does your walk with Jesus point the next generation to Jesus? This my friends, is our high and holy calling. Let’s stand for prayer…