...legacy

What is legacy?

Well this past February at our annual high school Mid Winter gathering we tackled this very topic. Webster tells me that a legacy is...Something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.

So a legacy has a two fold meaning you might say, or I might just say that... A legacy is something passed down to me, and at the same time I am passing something on as well. As I see it the legacy never ends, whether its being passed to me or i am passing...the legacy is on going.

Now the logo I created above was my visual interpretation of legacy. You will see the graffiti, now why might graffiti represent legacy? Graffiti was and still is used to mark ones territory or to leave ones mark, to leave a legacy...now graffiti is also a very intricate and personal form of expression. Graffiti is not always destructive, but in the end it tells a story, it captures a moment, it is the legacy. You will also see wings, a crown, and a Bible verse...no there is not a Ephesians chapter 512, its 5:1-2. In this passage we given a glimpse of a legacy that was passed down through the generations, its simple. Follow the example set by Christ, as loved children, and walk with love, just as Christ loved you and sacrificed himself to pay your debt to the Father...because you could not do it yourself. Now I said simple, I mean simple to understand...I do not mean it is simple to live.  These images are of God, they are our reminder that bigger things are in play in this world. Christ our King, the angels who protect and watch over us, and the rays of light that must shine forth into the darkness of this world.

We can read many passages in the Bible where Christ passes on his legacy, where he imparts wisdom on his people. He has called us to be imitators, to walk in his likeness, to love in the way he first loved us. This is our legacy as Christians or as followers of Christ. It does not matter if you are Lutheran or Baptist or Methodist or Catholic or Presbyterian...what matters is that we imitate the love that Christ showed for us on that cross. On that cross where, "sorrow and love flow mingled down" where "love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." (Watts, Isaac; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross) Think about those words for a moment...is that not powerful? Does that not urge you to look to the cross, to see a man who's love for you outweighed the pain of that cross...it demands your all! 

Now we see that Christ himself left a legacy, Christ Jesus gave himself up to be the final all availing sacrifice to God the Father...he paid a debt for you and for me, he hung in our place on that cross.

Now what will you do?
What will I do?
What will our legacy be?
What will we be known for?

Will we be remembered for our house, our cars, for our collections, for our money, for our looks...or will we be remembered as ones who loved God, loved our neighbor, lived a life of love. What will your legacy be? God did not give each of us an expiration date, we do not know what day will be our day. We have not been guaranteed 80 years or 90 years, so your legacy begins now, as you read this what will you do? How will you live the legacy that has been left to you, and how will you live what will be passed on to future generations?

It starts NOW!