Righteousness: Part VI

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21

We have been taking about becoming righteous, how we can, the road that must be followed and the benefits that will be reaped for following the righteous model of Jesus.

Let's take this one step further. What about our legacy? When I think about legacy, the name Billy Graham comes to mind. Here is a man that has done everything in his power to follow the command of the "Great Commission" for God. "Go and make disciples..." It is hard to put a fine pencil to the number of people that have been impacted from his evangelistic efforts. I have witnessed stadium upon stadiums of people listening to him preach and responding to the call to submit themselves to the call of God to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior. He...has "run the good race."

There are others. Rick Warren. Joel Osteen. Charles Stanley and his son Andy Stanley, a man I have seen personally preach. I could go on for sure, but these men are additionally representative of those who have "followed the call" toward reaching the masses. While these men are humble and have willfully agreed to submit and commit their entire beings to the will of God, I feel certain even they have asked the question, "What's in it for me?" What follows this question becomes an answer that is eternally based in their quest for God. Their thinking is vertical, not horizontal. Their reward is also eternal. They have a different perspective than others who have not submitted their lives fully to God.

What is important to note, is that we all can submit. We are all called in different ways. We all have different skills. We all have a race to run; for God.

Paul writes in Galatians 6:9, "Let us not be weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This is where persistence comes in. That drive. The intestinal fortitude at your very core as you search for His purpose and deploy the strategies that He has laid out for you; effectively.

As a precursor to the idea of the effectiveness that Paul seeks to measure, look no further than Matthew 6:33. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to us as well." While Matthews gospel verse relates mostly to the very necessities required to live, it is much more. Matthew 6:25-34 is affectionately labeled the "Do Not Worry" passage.

God promises to clothe us. He promises that we will be fed. He uses the "birds of the air" as a representation of His goodness. Read verses 30-33 together. "If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith? So do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

The question at the end of verse 26 reads, "Are yo not much more valuable than they?"

So the question becomes, "What makes us more valuable?"

My gut reaction is this:  We are able to "go and make disciples." I am not saying that a man or woman can't look at a bird in the air and say to himself, "There can be no other explanation that God created such a fine specimen as that." Birds, mountains, hillsides, the sea, mothers and fathers and babies. God made all, and God made them all equally precious; perfect in His eye.

But it is us who have ears. Us who have eyes. Us who have a mouth. We are biologically superior and therefore equipped to be the mouthpiece of God. We are His evangelists.

We can therefore see how becoming righteous and displaying righteousness; representative of God the Father and Jesus Christ, becomes of critical importance. Like Paul, it is our measure of effectiveness. It is imperative in our ability to reach others for the Kingdom of God.

Since we are all equipped differently, it is natural that our skills and abilities are different. Each one of us is equipped with different tools. Using our perspective; understanding what those skills are, will help to mold and shape what our "jumping off" point should be, based on the underlying foundation that God has laid out for us in the form of our unique gifts. We can't all be Billy Graham, or Rick Warren or Joel Osteen. What we can do is use what we have been given, to the best of our ability, for His good and His purpose.

What legacy do you want to leave?

A legacy is defined differently by all. For some, it is to leave their children with business skills. For some, money. For some, the ability to reach fame. All of these remain horizontal. While wealth can be transferred, it is not eternal. It may last for generations, but should that perspective shape our goals, desires and dreams?

My grandfather is the one person in my family who had the largest, and will have the longest lasting effect on what I want to achieve. He never had a job that paid more than $12,000 a year. Yet he remained fiscally responsible and wealthy in his own right. My mother and her sister never wanted. They were fed, clothed, and never felt unsafe as the basic necessities were never jeopardized. They never felt as though they had to do without.

He, unfortunately, knew what it was like to go without. Born in 1922, he was old enough at the age of 7 to understand the ramifications of the Great Depression. It shaped him. He was a member of the United States Army, served in World War II. He served exactly 3 years and 16 days in the South Pacific fighting the Japanese, and came home alive. Many of his friends and soldiers would not be so fortunate. He worked hard until the age of sixty-five and retired.

However, I think of his legacy as eternal. He was a "Man of God!" He attended church. He tithed. He sang in the church quartet. He gave to others who would otherwise go without. And not to say that he was better than any other in his family, but he outlived all his brothers and sisters and even nieces and nephews.

Why did God allow this to happen? Because he had not finished "running his race." He was with us just shy of the age of 94. He was blessed with 2 children, 5 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren at the time of his death. But it was his legacy that would remain.

He instilled in me the value of going to church. Of supporting the church. Of being involved in the church. And the benefit of reaching out to others who need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the community of the church.

One of his greatest displays of fostering a lasting legacy hangs in the church; that of the stain-glassed windows. As I mentioned previously, he lived frugal and saved many hard-earned dollars so that his family and those within his sphere of influence would not have to go without. In his nineties, it was painfully evident that the church windows would not remain unless a major restoration project took place. Many of you reading this can appreciate the beautiful hues and colors and patterns of stain-glassed windows. They are representative of a craftsmanship and an art that has not remained.

In the United States, there are more bars than churches. Sad, but true. Sure, my opinion may be skewed by the fact just reported that I am a Christian; but I feel sure many of the founding fathers would also shake their heads at the glaringly obvious changes that have taken place. The pledge of allegiance is not recited in most of our schools. Prayer in schools and even public places is more than just frowned upon; to some, it is prohibited. What happened to "freedom of religion" anyway?

Let my rant stop, and my focus regained.

My grandfather left a legacy that will remain. Not just with me and my mother, aunt, uncles, cousins and my nieces and nephews; but also those around him. It is not the money that has transferred, not the home that his grandfather built that my brother owns, not the giant maple that is in the front yard and not the gifts he bestowed upon others.

It is much more.

Psalms 37:28 reads, "For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.

Let's also look at Romans 2:6 written by Paul. "God "will repay each person according to what they have done."

When I think about my grandfather, I have heartfelt feelings, at my very core, that I will always be blessed. He was faithful. He was kind. He did for others before himself. He submitted to the will and direction of God the Father. This alone gives me a feeling of stability. Because he was faithful, I have faith that I will always have my basic needs met. His faithfulness, becomes the legacy that is left behind.

The best part:  I see the blessings each day. He did right by us, and forever we will be blessed by his blessings. He prayed, he followed, he led and we are the ones who will on earth and in heaven benefit.