Building Legacies

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University in Houston where he declared the intent of The United States to plant a man on the moon before the decade concluded. It was an ambitious claim at the time. He said,

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

The goal of landing a man on the moon before the close of the decade was crazy ambitious! So little was known about space at the time and there were people who thought Kennedy was nuts! But Kennedy was right. On July 20, 1969, with only six months left in the decade, the Apollo 11 mission landed the first astronauts on the moon. It was a truly historic moment. Many of you remember this moment in history. The only trouble is that Kennedy didn’t get to see it.

Only a year after he gave this speech in Houston, Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. Kennedy had a crazy ambitious goal, but he didn’t get to live to see it come to fruition. Have you ever worried that maybe the goal or dream you have had isn’t going to happen? That’s where we meet Abram in Genesis 15.

Last week, we met an Abram who launched a rescue mission to save his nephew Lot. Then he refused a gift that most assuredly had strings attached from the king of Sodom. There was a confidence that God would provide. He passed up an opportunity to get even wealthier because he was so confident God would provide. In the very next chapter, we come across an Abram who is not so confident.

Have you ever felt super confident in the Lord’s promises one day and then the next you aren’t so sure? But God never lets a promise go unfulfilled. If you found out God was going to fulfill a promise but you weren’t going to live to see it, what would that do to you? That’s what Abram faces is Genesis 15. From that point, Abram knew his mission was building a legacy.

Today we are going to take a look at fighting through barriers and building a Godly legacy.

Don’t let fear override faith.

As I said, the Abram of chapter 14 is a different Abram than the one we meet in chapter 15. Even those who have ridiculous faith have doubts from time to time. Life has peaks and valleys. Abram’s time in Egypt was a valley. His rescue mission in chapter 14 is a peak. Chapter 15 is a valley. The valleys are not wrong, just difficult. But what I want you to see is that God is a God who meets people in both the peaks and the valleys. Let’s look at chapter 15.

Genesis 15:1–6 NASB95

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Notice the exchange here. I don’t want you to miss it. God tells Abram what he is to him in the relationship. But Abram doubts what God is saying is true. How can you be my shield? How can you tell me my reward will be very great when I’m old, childless, and the only person to inherit what I have is this guy from Damascus? How can that be true, Lord? Then God responds with assurance. “Come here.” Now, we know it’s nighttime because God brings him outside to look at the stars. “Come here. Look up. I’m telling you right now that your descendants, that will come from you, will be too numerous to count. That’s your destiny.”

Then something important happened. Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. As his faith was shaken, God stepped in to renew and strengthen that faith. Don’t let fear override your faith. Everybody has hopes and dreams. Everybody longs for something. But what if that something may not happen in your lifetime? We’re going to get to that in a moment. But fear paralyzes. Faith mobilizes. Don’t let fear override your faith. When you are confronted with fear, remember God’s promises, which actually leads to the next key.

Maintain fellowship with God.

When we doubt God’s promises, we tend to retract from our relationship with God. We do this as a form of protecting ourselves. We think that if we retract from our relationship with God we will minimize the risk of being let down or disappointed. If I have no expectations, then I can’t be let down. Have you ever thought that?

But in times of waiting, that is the time to lean into the relationship, not retract. God meets Abram in the valley to remind him his promises have not expired. They will continue.

Genesis 15:7–11 NASB95

And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” He said, “O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

To you and me, this sounds foreign. Why do we need all these animals? Why do we need to cut them in half? Well, several weeks back, when we talked about the covenant with Noah, we talked about how God makes covenants. Every covenant is a series of promises and every covenant gets ratified through some sort of ceremony. The point made in that sermon was that God seals his covenants through sacrifice. This idea was not unique to God alone. Human covenants were done the same way in ancient times. God is using a well known ritual to seal the covenant with Abram.

In ancient times, when two people would enter into a covenant with each other, they would do what is happening here. They would sacrifice animals by cutting them in two and they would make promises or pledges to one another. Then they would usually join hands and walk through the pieces of the animals together. What they were saying to one another was, “May it be done to me as it has been done to these animals if I break my promises to you.” These were serious promises.

This sort of thing has been replaced by signing documents, shaking hands, and other gestures, but it indicates that the people forming the covenant are forever bound to one another. There is fellowship in the relationship. God has established the same thing for us. Abram is about to find out that he is not going to see the promises God made at the start. He will die before it happens. Yet, Abram maintains fellowship with God through faith that a descendant of his will see it.

I spend my Thursdays right now with a group of men who are cultivating a walk with God. It is not that they don’t have a walk with God, but they are learning to maintain a fellowship with God that they haven’t had in this way before. It is challenging and we don’t have all the answers, but we are working together to help each other maintain fellowship with God. It’s one of the highlights of my week is spending time leading these men. There are Tuesdays where I go to Kenedy and meet with a group of pastors. We do all kinds of things, but that group has helped me maintain a walk with God on days I would rather quit.

The words of John F. Kennedy keep coming back to me.

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

I’m not trying to land on the moon. I’m fighting for the kingdom of Christ. I choose to do the things God has called me to not because they are easy, but because they are hard. It is hard to lead a family. It is hard to lead a church. It is hard to look evil in the eye and stand against it. But I am a soldier. Therefore, I must stand firm on the promises of my Commander-in-Chief, who promises never to leave me or forsake me. It is the fellowship with God that releases the power of the Holy Spirit to operate through us and touch the lives of others. There is no power without fellowship.

Keep planting.

Next, Abram receives some life-changing news. Let’s pick up in verse 12.

Genesis 15:12–16 NASB95

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

At this moment, Abram knows he is not going to live to see the promises God made fulfilled. Not only that, but his descendants are going to be servants to another nation for 400 years? We know God is referring to the slavery in Egypt that the book of Exodus is all about. Could you imagine being Abram? “Come on, Abram. Come with me to a land I will show you. I’ll make you a great nation. You will be a blessing. Those who bless you, I’ll bless. Those who curse you I’ll curse. The families of the earth will be blessed by you.”

When you get news like that, you’re excited! God’s going to do something. With me! But when you realize how long it’s going to take, it can really take the wind out of your sails. Abram isn’t going to live to see the promises fulfilled, but his descendants will. From this point forward, he is working for something someone else generations from now will enjoy.

There’s a saying that goes, “We are planting shade trees we will never sit under.” We are doing the work now for something that we will never see, but future generations will. Dr. Dennis Swanberg writes a story about his great grandfather coming to the US from Sweden in the late 1800s. He met his wife and bought land in Texas. He began planting trees on the property. He did not live to sit under the shade those trees would provide, But his son, Dr. Swanberg’s grandfather did. So did his son, so did Dr. Swanberg, and so did Dr. Swanberg’s sons. Four generations benefited from the work that the great grandfather put in.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second greatest time to plant a tree is right now. We are enjoying the fruit of labor that began over 100 years ago. For generations to enjoy it as well, we must put in the work right now. This is more than personal legacy. This is kingdom building work.

So many times we talk of legacy building as the inheritance we are going to leave to our kids. It might be land, wealth, possessions, or some sort of tangible asset. But our legacy is so much more. It is the character you have built into your children and grandchildren. It is the ministry of the church. It is the values we pass down from one generation to the next. What are we building? What seeds are we planting in the ground right now with a hope that a shade tree will come?

The problem today is so many people want the product without the process. If you knew God had something for you that was of tremendous value, but you would have to walk through something tremendously difficult to get it, would you still do it? Israel must pass through 400 years of slavery.

What stands between you and the promises God has for you is you. What must you do, or shift in order to build a godly legacy? What you are doing right now may not seem like it is going to pay off, or maybe it is taking too long. But keep planting. God will bring the results in time. Consider what you are handing off to your kids and grandkids. Who cares about material inheritance if they don’t know God? Your mission is to help people find forever family through Christ-centered relationships. Invest in people over assets.