Grandma’s Necklace

All Saints’ Sunday

November 6, 2016

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31

            I think it was Mother’s Day when I shared about my Grandma’s necklace. I hadn’t planned to talk about it; it was not in my notes. But as the Spirit leads during a sermon, you follow, and it fit the example perfectly, I think about using the gifts you’ve been given. However, I didn’t tell you the backstory, and like anything you inherit, there’s almost always a story. The first time I wore this necklace was at my college graduation. I had not put on a necklace and my Grandma thought I ought to be wearing one. So, she took off her necklace from around her neck and put it around mine. Grandpa protested, because he had only recently given it to her. I wore it for graduation, and then gave it back to Grandma. After she passed a few years ago, my mom, as the only daughter, inherited all of Grandma’s jewelry. She already knew from conversations with Grandma which pieces Grandma wanted which granddaughter to have. I received back the necklace Grandma had loaned me.

            Inheritance is also the theme in our Scriptures this morning for All Saints’ Day. In Daniel’s vision, the holy ones inherit the kingdom and shall possess the kingdom forever. This is God’s eternal kingdom, that has no end, that God’s children receive, simply through faith in God. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that we have the promise of  an eternal inheritance, and that by faith, we can attain this inheritance that Christ has promised to all who follow him. And in Luke, Jesus describes the disciples’ inheritance as children of God, the inheritance of faith, and of grace.

            And I realized there are at least three major differences in our inheritance as God’s children than from any inheritance we receive from a loved one here on earth. First is that whole thing about it being eternal. This isn’t an inheritance that can get used up or run out. It’s not like story of the prodigal son who spends his inheritance so quickly and foolishly that he ends up crawling back to his father seeking forgiveness. God’s kingdom is eternal. It has no end. And it’s our inheritance as God’s children. It’s not going to rust, it’s not going to eventually all get spent, there’s no chance of it getting lost. In 1 Peter 1:3-4, Scripture says, “By God’s great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” An inheritance that is imperishable, undefined, and unfading. Remember what you’ve heard about God’s City of Zion? It’s a place where there’s no more weeping or crying. It’s a place where the streets are paved with gold. It’s a place where it’s always day, because the Lamb is the light of the City of God. That’s what’s in store for God’s children.

            A second big difference with this inheritance is the timing of it. Usually you receive your inheritance when the owner passes away. However, God’s kingdom is not something we get when God dies. God’s eternal, just like his kingdom; he’s not going to die. And it’s not something predicated on the death or resurrection of Jesus, either. It’s an inheritance we receive through our faith, it’s an inheritance we receive when we die, and it’s why we can trust that our loves ones are there now, walking the streets of glory. I believe my Grandma is there. I believe your loved ones who you miss are there, too. And, last month, I learned that I do believe that dogs go to heaven, too, and our 13 year old dog is walking those same streets of glory, soaking up heavenly sunbeams. It’s an upside down inheritance, just like a lot of things are with God. The timing is different.

            Finally, unlike other inheritances, there is no chance of losing this one or being written out of the will. The only way we cannot receive this gift is if we refuse it. God will not refuse it to us; he freely offers it. It’s up to us to faithfully accept it. Now, who refuses an inheritance? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing. We may wish we didn’t have certain family genes or we may work to overcome some family history so that we can be healthy, that kind of inheritance is not one we want to receive. We all have inherited family skeletons in the closet or genetic diseases or predispositions. That’s life. With the inheritance from God, though, we have a choice. God’s not going to write us out of his will. The book of Revelation talks about the names that are written in the Book of Life, those names are already there. We’re already in the will. The names in the Book of Life stay there. This hope and promise of eternal life is for those who believe.

            Some of our loved ones we know for sure that they believed. Others, we don’t have that certainty, and we take it on faith. Our inheritance as the saints of God only happens by faith in God’s promise. And I don’t know about you, but I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in. I believe the promise. Gathered here we have one beloved community of the saints of God; gathering above is all the saints who have gone before us. I had never sung that middle hymn before, “Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above.” It’s by Charles Wesley, and it describes the two communities, separated only by a thin veil, really just one community of God’s beloved children throughout all of time. Pretty neat to think about, huh? That’s our inheritance as part of God’s family, which we joined in our baptism. We are part of that number. Thanks be to God.

(The candles lit on the altar of Cowenton UMC on All Saints' 2016)