DEFINING MOMENTS
“A Father’s Legacy”
2nd Timothy 2:1-7
When I was growing up there were several television programs I enjoyed watching. My favorite was the Andy Griffith show. I had the opportunity a few years ago to actually meet Ron Howard who played the role of Opie. Ron Howard is now a very successful filmmaker in Hollywood. Our youngest son, Ross was working at a large Hotel in Tampa at that time while he was in college and Ron Howard checked in. So he set up a time with him for me to drive over and meet him in person. I got 10-15 minutes to talk with him before breakfast that morning and among several questions I had for him, I asked him, “what was it like working on that show during those years” and he smiled and said two things….. (1) It was odd because he was so young and at that time the show came on around 8 or 9 o’clock, which was past his bedtime so his parents would never allow him to stay up late enough to watch it. (2) He also said that the whole experience was amazing because Andy Griffith became like a Dad to him and Andy had such high values that they rubbed off on him and it made him a better person. Much of the programming in those days had a positive influence on families I believe. Now we live in a day when Dads are pictured on television as being uninvolved, aloof; men who don’t provide for their families and frankly just not very smart ….. The programs may make us laugh but when it seeps over into real life it’s just not funny anymore. When we emulate/copy/model these kinds of actions we lose our ability to leave a good example for our children and grandchildren. It is called leaving a legacy. All of us will leave one. Some for good. Some not so good. But at some point in life all of us must consider what kind of legacy we plan to leave behind when we are gone. Dads have to decide. Moms have to decide. All of us actually. So I’m asking you, what will your legacy be? For your children, grandchildren, friends. Because we don’t want to waste this one shot we get.
Paul was nearing the end of his life when he wrote this letter. Later in this same letter he says, “The time has come for my departure. We have finished the race, I have kept the faith. He then says, now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day… and not only to me but also so all who have longed for his appearing.”
So let’s look at what Paul tells us…4 keys we must consider if we plan to leave a godly legacy.
1st key. Consider the place of GRACE in your legacy. V. 1. Be strong in grace. Salvation is free. We receive this gift of God called salvation. It’s free. We do not work to be saved. We work because we are saved. Big difference. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn God’s favor.
Let me ask you a personal question. How did your Dad/Father impact your life? You can tell a lot about someone by the kind of Father they have/had.
Fathers have a huge impact. Was it positive? Were you proud of him? Was he there when you needed him? Or was he absent from the family? I suspect that here today we could find examples of both. Dads have an enormous amount of pressure placed on them today. The role has changed through the years. It used to be that Dads were the bread winner of the family, came home, ate and went to bed. They were tired. They worked hard and that was enough. Today a dad is expected to be at every ballgame, every event their child is involved in….all I am saying is that much more is expected of today’s Dads than 20-30 years ago.
(2) Consider the powerful place of WORDS and how they will influence your legacy. Paul says this, “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust those things to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” V. 2. This is how leaving a legacy works. Paul teaches Timothy, Timothy then teaches others who are (1) reliable (2) dependable and (3) qualified to pass these things along to others.
Jesus was very careful about who He chose to be His followers. That doesn’t mean they were perfect. One of them completely walked away from Jesus. The one He picked to be the leader denied him 3 times. But 11 stuck with Him and learned from Him and if not for their legacy we would not be here today. Can you imagine having a legacy like that? Ask yourself, who will be walking with the Lord, 20 years after I’m gone? Men, our job is to teach our children and grandchildren so that they, in turn will do the same. The legacy Paul left is still intact 2000 years later.
Now how do we make this kind of impact? The answer can be found in the words we speak and the way we speak them. James tells us that while the tongue is a small part of the body, it has great power. He compares the tongue to 3 things. (1) He compares it to a FIRE. (2) He compares it to a BIT we place in a horse’s mouth. (3) He compares it to a RUDDER on a ship. Now think of the power here. One spark can burn a forest down. That bit, while small can control a large horse and send him in the right direction or in the wrong direction. The rudder though very small can control a large ship and again it can be turned in a good direction or in a dangerous direction. It all depends on the captain, the one driving the boat. That’s you. James goes on to say “with the tongue we praise our Lord and with it we also curse men.” It depends on how we use it but either way it has great power.
3rd Key. We must stay focused on the task before us. Vv.3-7. Are you focused? If you weren’t focused just now, let me ask you again, are you focused? It’s harder to be focused today than ever before. I read this week — Google says there are more than 60 trillion web pages … I can’t fathom that number and it is growing every day. There are now more active cellphones in the US than there are people. Facebook users are uploading 350 million new photos each day. That’s over 4000 every second. We live in the age of information but it is really the age of misinformation. Whatever opinion you want on anything, for it or against it you can find it on the internet. Because of that focus becomes crucial. We can’t do everything; we can’t be involved in everything. We need focus. So Paul gives us several models to follow.
Consider some examples you should follow:
(1) A soldier. Listen to what he says, “no one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian matters.” A soldier has one goal—here it is---to please his commanding officer. You see his opinion is the only one that really matters.
(2) An athlete. He says “he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. If an athlete fails to follow the rules he is then disqualified. Keep your focus. Keep your focus on Jesus.
(3) A farmer. Maybe you have raised a garden before. I haven’t but it looks like to would be a lot of work. But it is another thing altogether to be a farmer who completely depends on the soil for his living. They plant, harvest, till the soil, kill insects and disease that gets into the crops, worry about too much rain or too little rain …. all of these are factors. So there are not many people who work harder than a farmer does. And if he doesn’t focus there will not be food on his table. But if he does Paul says he should be the first one to receive a share of the crops.
4th key. Consider the need for wisdom. V. 7. Proverbs 4:5-7. Dads need wisdom. The role of today’s dad is very complicated so Paul tells us we must ask God to give us the insight/understanding we need. He says consider these individuals, the soldier who faces battle, the athlete who must train every day and the farmer who must patiently labor day after day that as we do we will see results. We will see these results in our own lives and we will see the difference they make in others.
There are 3 things they share in common. Endurance, patience, hard work. There is a book that I read that made the NY Times bestseller list that is titled “Tuesdays with Morrie.” It is the story of a man named Mitch and his former teacher whose name was Morrie. Mitch was a good student when he was in college but he was always concerned about how much money he was going to make when he left college. His entire focus was on material things that he would be able to get...a bigger house...a new car...he was driven to get as much as he could. Mitch was very fond of his professor Morrie and he always looked up to him in his college years but he lost track of him after he graduated…..he was simply too busy to keep up. But some things happened in his life and he needed to talk with someone one day and he really wanted to talk with Morrie. To his surprise he learned that Morrie was still living in the area. So he began to go and visit Morrie every Tuesday and they would sit and talk. He learned that Morrie was dying. They met every Tuesday for fourteen weeks, until Morrie had taught Mitch the things he needed to know about life, finding himself, and truly living. They talked about regrets, death, family, emotions, the fear of aging, money, how love goes on, marriage, forgiveness. Morrie teaches Mitch that all of us sometimes get too wrapped up in our fast-paced world, with materialism… with things that really don’t matter in the long run and we often forget to stand back and just enjoy life. One Tuesday...arrived ...people coming and going in black. He assumed Morrie had died. When Morrie’s wife met him at the door he apologized that he did not know. His wife said well Morrie is still alive but that he always wanted to have a living funeral so that he would not have to wait until he was dead to be able to hear all the good things that would be said about him. What will be said about you after you are gone? It’s up to you. As a Dad, as a believer in Christ, what is the legacy you will leave?
