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Reflections

A Legacy of Faith

“I am an oil heiress,” my friend Edith proudly announced to me one day. The twinkle in her eye should have clued me in, but I took her seriously.

“An oil heiress” I exclaimed. “That’s great. Tell me about it.”

Edith’s brother had uncovered some of their father’s papers showing that he had retained mineral rights to the family farm in Oklahoma. Knowing the richness of the oil pools in that state, her brother investigated to see if the claim was still valid. Sure enough, the rights were in their father’s name and his heirs would receive the benefits. Edith smilingly showed me her first annual check for the smashing sum of $2.31.

What if Edith’s check had been many times that amount? Most of us would have called her rich. But would it have been a lasting legacy?

How would her riches have compared with those of Timothy? According to 2 Timothy 1:5, his inheritance was a legacy of faith, handed down first from his grandmother Lois to his mother Eunice. That faith was the foundation for his life and ministry as a companion to the apostle Paul.

Material riches are measured in the currency of the culture. Their value can change with the whimsical winds of man’s vacillating economic system. Possessions have little intrinsic value, only the value the culture assigns to them.

This fact was illustrated to me once as some friends were trying to sell a house. The first owner sold it for $28,000. Three years later it sold again for $42,000. The real estate market in that area jumped and the house soon was estimated at more than $100,000. Then the market dropped. The next sale was only $89,000.

The question is: “What was that house truly worth?” The answer: “Only what someone would pay for it at a given time.” It had no absolute value. Someday when time takes its toll, the house will lose all value and be torn down.

But what about Timothy’s faith? He passed it on to the church at Ephesus as others in his generation did in their places of ministry. His faith survived the persecution of the early centuries and the Dark Ages. Parents passed this living legacy of faith on to their children generation after generation, from continent to continent.

Early settlers brought faith to the United States. During the Civil War, this faith spread rapidly as the war dragged wearily on. The country was ravaged, but faith was “marching on” as Julia Ward Howe expressed in the stirring anthem, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

When the war was over, one Union captain went back to his hometown in northern Missouri. Not only did he rebuild his own life, but he donated ground so a church could be built. He left his sons and grandsons a legacy of faith.

One of those grandsons moved to Kansas around the dawn of the twentieth century. When he and his young family migrated across the prairies, he carried few possessions— but he brought his faith.

One daughter was 14 when evangelists preached the message of Pentecost in schoolhouse revivals in their community. She responded to their declaration of the Word of God and faith passed to another generation.

As the twentieth century neared its close and that daughter was at the end of her life, she lay paralyzed in a skilled nursing home. The outlay for her care rapidly eroded any financial legacy she might have left her children. But her faith was alive and well all her days.

Her illness brought nights of delirium, but because of her faith she was able to sing: “And He walks with me and He talks with me, and tells me I am His own.”  She could tell her daughter, “I know I am in the valley of the shadow of death, but I am not afraid. The Lord is with me.”

How do I know about her faith? Because it lives in my heart as well. It is the legacy she gave me—her daughter—the greatest legacy a mother could possibly give a child.

Because of her—and my grandfather—and his grandfather—and all those who kept the faith through the centuries—I have something of real value to pass on to my children and grandchildren.

On this Mother’s Day, though she is not with us, I want to say, “Thanks, Mom, for a legacy of faith.”

Points to Ponder

What steps are you taking to pass on your legacy of faith?

PEGGY MUSGROVE is a licensed Assemblies of God minister. She is also a speaker, freelance writer, author and prayer group leader. Her latest book, Musings of a Maraschino Cherry was released in 2004.. You can visit her at www.musgroveville.com.

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