Passed On
Dave Faust
On rainy days I wear a tan-colored raincoat. It’s a little too big and somewhat out of style. (Remember the one worn by Peter Falk as the TV character Columbo?) I figure raincoats are meant to keep you dry, not to make a fashion statement.
But I value that coat for a deeper reason. After Dad died, my mother invited me to go through his closet. I decided to keep a couple of his ties, a black spring jacket, and the over-sized raincoat. Whenever I wear it, the coat reminds me of Dad. I found a half-eaten package of breath-mints in one of the pockets, and even the mints reminded me of Dad.
Remembering Our Lord
When people die, we euphemistically say they “passed away.” Biblically speaking, however, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). This painful, broken, sin-filled world is what actually passes away. If we live and die in Christ, we won’t pass away; instead, we will experience the reality that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Dad passed on valuable things—his godly example, his devotion to my mother, his faithful work on the farm and in the church, his quiet but firm trust in God that was the guiding principle of his life.
Since Christians don’t have to worry about “passing away,” we should focus on what we can “pass on” to others. That’s what the apostle Paul did. He told the believers in Corinth, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23). This included words of instruction about what happens when God’s family gathers around the Lord’s table. The Lord’s Supper involves:
Relaying Our Faith
One of the Christian’s most important jobs is, in the words of Paul, to pass on whatever we “have received from the Lord.” He told Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).
What have we heard from the Lord that we need to pass along to someone else? What faith-lessons do our children and grandchildren need to hear and see? How can we ensure that the message of the resurrected Christ isn’t just relegated to Easter Sunday? How can we remember Jesus meaningfully—not only during the Lord’s Supper but throughout the week? What spiritual truths must we pass on to the next generation?
The Christian faith is a relay race, and before we finish running, we must hand the baton to the next runner.
I’m glad my dad passed along more than an oversized raincoat.
QUESTIONS:
This column first appeared in The Lookout on Apr 20, 2014.
Pass the Plate, Please
At the dinner table it’s rude if you don’t pass the food. At church another kind of plate passes your way. How do you feel when the offering plate moves down your row?
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Church leaders are busy people. There are endless deadlines, appointments, and meetings to attend, and phone calls, text messages, and emails to answer. Week after week, there are services to plan, and sermons, lessons and other talks to prepare—and it takes many hours to do this well. There are problems to solve, funds to raise, budgets to manage, buildings to maintain, programs to organize, groups and Bible studies to lead, volunteers to recruit and encourage, letters and articles to write—and a lot of evening meetings that add up to exhausting weeks.