R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Thoughts for R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Women
“It All Ends Up On The Curb” – Sermon Title
Well, the day’s almost here. A day I've been dreading, but a day that I hope will bring new commitment to what's important and an even stronger bond of the individual members of our family. Tomorrow is the day all the grandkids come over to my parent’s house and everyone chooses what particular physical things they want to remember Grandma and Grandpa by. Neither of my parents had much of anything when they started their lives together. My dad was the first of his siblings who was not born in a sod house on the plains of Kansas. My mom grew up in a house with no indoor plumbing, and things were very tough for their family in Louisiana when her father died when she was a teen. But here we are almost seventy years later trying to hold on to things that remind us of our relationship with these two people. We are trying to make sure that their memory isn’t going to fade away. We think that some physical something will keep that from happening. But you know what? If my parent’s house caught fire today and everything was gone in a puff of smoke, we would still have the best things of all: the sound of my Mom saying, “Come into this house!” or “I love your from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.” Or my Dad ‘s regular admonition when we left to drive home, to “Check you oil.” Or hearing in our head, “Call me any time of the night or day.” Or seeing them on the driveway holding hands and waving as we drove off. Or the way Dad’s shoulders still shake when he gets really tickled about something or when he’s telling a joke and he starts laughing before he gets to the punch line. The best things about my parents are not the things (to borrow a well-know phrase). The best things are the invisible lessons they taught us. Lessons like honor … trustworthiness … generosity … courage … a love that covered us completely and an unshakeable belief in God. And an understanding that His love endures forever. Those are the things that matter. After my divorce I hated the fact that our children would never have the heritage of parents who stayed together. But I have to keep reminding myself that the most important things we are passing along now are the undeniable Truths about life. Truths like: Goodness always wins and that life is NOT about the things. Our most important heritage is passing along our experience of what’s important. What’s lasting. Lessons that will guarantee our eternity is secure and our here and now is abundant and full because of God. Our heritage and legacy will never be about the stuff. It’s about the eternal values we are teaching and passing on to the next generation who will pass it along to the next and so on. That is a legacy we are all leaving every single day of our lives … especially now. Everything else eventually ends up on the curb.
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 (The Living Bible)
