INHERITING THE FAITH

Psalm 78:1-7; II Timothy 1:1-7

October 18, 2009 – Rev. Jerry Duggins

Though it was some thirty-five years ago that I first looked at this text from Timothy, it feels like yesterday. I remember identifying strongly with Timothy as though Paul were writing to me. When I looked through my old Bible of that time, I saw underlined in red, verses that in some ways shape my life. From the New American Standard Bible; “And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” I heard these verses at the time as a reminder of my call to ministry. And periodically they remind me of that call again.

“Kindle afresh” is used only here and nowhere else in the New Testament. The image reminds us that we need to stir up that passion for faith from time to time, like a fire that burns down, but not out, needs to have fuel added and the coals stirred up to continue to produce light and warmth.

I’ll come back to this image, but first I want to talk about something else in the text. Grandparents don’t get much play in the Bible, but here Lois is mentioned with her daughter Eunice as the first of three generations of Christians. It remains true in many families today that mom and grandma are the ones who take responsibility for getting the children to church, but there’s something more going on here than dragging the kids to Sunday School. There’s a depth to the faith that is shared by the three generations, which Paul relies on in order to encourage Timothy in his call.

Now I didn’t have this kind of connection with my grandparents or parents. As the fourth of six boys born over a period of eight years, I kind of got lost in the crowd a lot of the time. We’d see my grandparents on vacations, but as they’d had five children who all married and had children, the number of grandchildren was around twenty. It’s hard to forge much of a relationship with that kind of competition going on. So they got me to church, and even though they didn’t take much personal responsibility for shaping my faith, the connection to church has made a huge difference in the direction my life took.

But I don’t have stories to tell about this special relationship with grandma. And I’d like to. I feel a little envy sometimes when I do funerals for grandmas and grandpas and their grandchildren tell me how special they were and how close they were. I certainly wasn’t abused by my grandparents, but I do get a little sad when I think about them, because people should have stories to tell about their grandparents, good stories.

So even as I welcome all the grandparents in this morning’s congregation, I have this challenge for you. Are you making memories for your grandchildren? I wonder what stories Timothy might share with us about his grandmother Lois. Whatever successes Timothy would go on to have in his ministry, surely Lois could take some credit. Paul doesn’t give us any details, but I imagine that there are some grandparents and grandchildren out there who could say the sorts of things that make for a strong connection. I won’t pretend to know, but you do. And you keep doing those things that make such a big difference in one another’s lives. If you’ve got grandchildren and you live near them, let me encourage you to build a solid relationship. It matters now and it will make a difference for them when you’re gone too.

Having said all that, I do recognize that there are some special challenges in relating across two generations. If you found that your own children lived in a different world from your own, how much more you must find this to be true of your grandchildren. While you’re still trying to figure out how to turn the computer on, they’re surfing the net, onto the next game, sending a text message to their friends. And whatever you, do not let them get hold of an I-Phone. You will never catch up.

And technology is not the only difference. Their friends will come from a much more divergent background than your friends. They’ll be close to people from a broad range of ethnicities, social backgrounds, sexual orientations and religious identification. Your grandchildren are living in a much larger and more connected world. This is not easy for them all the time. Sure they thrive on it, but the pace of life will sometimes wear them down.

You can help them, but only if you make the effort to understand them. There is wisdom in slowing down and you can teach them this. You know some things that work in life, but you’ll have to sort that out with the things that use to work but can’t any longer. You’ll have to keep up with the times. You can talk about the good old days (your grandkids want to hear that stuff) but you can’t pine for them. You have to help them with their world not the one that was.

That’s why I think these words to Timothy are good for grandparents as well. Forging a relationship with someone two generations away will require, as Paul says a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. And it will require many re-kindlings of the gift of God. Faith seldom burns bright for long periods. There will be times when we just need to move the logs around a little, let some oxygen into the fire to rekindle the flame. Other times we will need to add fuel, some times a lot of fuel. Except for fires that have gotten out of control, they don’t stay strong without tending.

This is what we need to do in any relationship, whether it is with God, with a spouse, a friend, a child, or a grandchild. We do need to tend it and adapt to the changing circumstances.

Rekindle the gift of God that is within you. I know that this is sound advice for anyone interested in longevity in the ministry, but I also know that it is good advice for any calling in life, whether that be marriage, work, parenting; and yes, even grandparenting. Amen.