“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.” (Mark 16:1-4) 

Last weekend our family had the pleasure of dining with some folks we had never met before. As we got to know each other over salad and the main course, one of those people began to talk about a family ‘issue’ that was brewing between themselves and their siblings over how their parents farm was going to be equitably divided among the children. As the description of the ‘sides’ was being related it became clear that the parents, though aged, were not deceased – and that this was a conversation of how to preserve the estate before it ever became an estate. My heart broke for them – all of them – as the story unfolded and each of the siblings concerns were outlined and I promised that I would keep them all in my prayers in the days ahead. As it is with prayer, they have been in my heart quite a bit in these last few days – and it got me to thinking about my own legacy and what our children would have to ‘stew about’ when I’m gone.

As it stands right now, Nancy is a Sixth Grade teacher in Marissa, Illinois, and I am a minister here in Lebanon. We do not own our own home because the church provides a parsonage. We paid off my college and seminary debts one month before our oldest son, Matthew, began college and we began helping him with his education. Our middle son, Raymond, is in his fourth year of college and his second year of Washington University in St. Louis with one more year to go, and our youngest son, Ched, is just ready to begin High School. In the course of our family history, aside from our giving to the church and other charities, there have been the necessary expenditures on cars, medical bills, clothes for growing boys, insurance, sports expenses, occasional vacations, and . . . well, most of you know the litany that goes along with raising a family these days. We have made vocational and family choices which reflect our faith, values and priorities – and I am not complaining about one darn thing. We are blessed. Still, I have been thinking about my legacy.

As I see it, aside from a couple of small life insurance policies and, assuming Nancy survives me (and she keeps praying she will), my hopes that our progeny will provide for their mother, upon my death our children and grandchildren will become the proud recipients of: a fair amount of debt; a set of golf clubs that are at least 20 years old and in need of re-gripping; a shotgun that is at least 25 years old, along with some shotgun shell reloading equipment; a vast array of religious books that will probably find themselves ‘bequeathed’ to a library in the hopes that no-one else will ever have to move them again; a fair number of ‘projects’ that ‘dad began and never completed in his shop’; several coffee cans of leftover and accumulated nuts, bolts and extra parts from projects that dad finished and just never got put away; some old tools that dad bought or was given and always seemed to get along with; a closet of suits and a few shelves of clothes that no-one with any fashion sense would want to wear; a couple of hundred bulletins with sermon titles – the texts of which were never written, just preached; and a bevy of bad jokes, farm stories, and family memories that are just a part of who I am. Yet, in listing my legacy here and mulling it all over, as if all of these treasures were not enough for them to equitably share, there is one more thing I hope to leave to everyone – one that was left to me:

Easter! I leave to each of you, Easter! Not a day in the year marked on the Church Calendar as a ‘high holy day’ and certainly not the event that clever marketing genius’ have designed as a way to wrangle millions of chocolate and clothing dollars out of the public, but ‘Easter!’ I pray that you will receive from me, Easter!

Easter which is an every day, all day, celebration of the very Presence of God made known to us in Jesus Christ;

Easter from which God’s Holy Spirit makes a grand and glorious entrance in the breath of our Living Lord;

Easter from which Life and salvation springs forth unexpectedly out of death;

Easter that rolls large stones away from places of sin and pain;

Easter that confronts powers and principalities with love and forgiveness;

Easter that boldly welcomes the marginalized and outcast;

Easter that heals the wounded and makes whole the broken;

Easter that is breathed in the smell of newly turned soil and freshly baked rolls;

Easter that is heard in the songs of the meadowlark, the robin and the cardinal;

Easter that is felt in the warmth of the sun’s rays breaking through the cold of a winter’s morning;

Easter that is tasted in mom’s ‘company roast’ in tandem with mashed potatoes and gravy;

Easter which is seen in a child’s delight upon the swing as she giggles, “Higher, Papa, Higher!”

Easter enveloping you as a mother’s arms would gather you in comfort when you have fallen;

Easter within you in the wonder of prayer and the sacredness of worship;

Easter flowing out of you in the joy of congregational singing and the laughter of Sunday School class lessons;

Easter lifting you as a parent would listen to their child’s heartbreaking story of distress – and love them anyway – and forevermore – in forgiveness and mercy;

Easter which goes with you on the highways and byways, through the fields and in the pastures, in the quiet of your family room to the welcome of your dining room;

Easter beyond the bonnets and dresses and Easter baskets – to the hearts which are ready to receive the peace of God in Good News and seek it as would a child who searches for every last brightly colored egg;

Easter that is strong as a parent’s love and pliable as your best friend’s understanding;

Easter as open as the Bible on your living room coffee table and as used as your favorite chair;

Easter as present as water in the oceans and as cleansing as telling the truth can be;

Easter that loves beyond our being lovable and saves beyond our being savable;

Easter that never fails.

Just so that everyone knows, to my knowledge, my own departure is not imminent. Still, as I continue pondering my legacy – if there is anything I might leave you, Easter is what I pray for all of you. It is not my possession to grant, but it is a Gift shared with me that I am privileged to share with you. Countless saints before us have lifted the chorus of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and, because they dared to name their legacy of God in Christ we, too – you, too, can  enter into the richness of God’s joy in celebrating New Life each day.

I pray each of us will treasure the Gift, the legacy, given in Easter. It is the very best, from the very Best, I could ever pray you share with me, in me, and through me.

Have a blessed and joyful Easter always!