7 Generations, 7 Grandkids

When I was a youth pastor we would go away for retreats or camps, and we had a philosophy that we left the buildings and grounds which we had “used” over the week or weekend in better shape than we found them.  We collected and emptied trash.  We cleaned up the kitchen.  We made sure the beds were in the same or better condition than when we had arrived.  We vacuumed, and scoured the places that had been entrusted to us.  If we used the fireplace, we cleaned it.  If we found trash, we picked it up.  We had paid to use the facilities, but that didn’t mean they were ours to abuse.  They had staff that was paid to clean when we left, but we wanted to make their job as easy as possible. 

We can’t help but consume.  We use things.  We hope the ways we use the resources around us create livable, sustainable environments.  But we consume in a variety of ways; some leave things around us in better shape than when we find them, others not so much. 

I’m not sure I was smart enough to know that as we cleaned up a retreat center or camp.  I honestly might have been more concerned about our reputation and what they thought of me as a youth pastor as we were scrubbing their floors, but I think we all learned a valuable lesson.

We are responsible for what we do.  We are responsible for what we use and how we use it, resources and people.  We are responsible for what we create.  We are responsible for what we leave behind, and more than our reputations are on the line.  We are responsible for the ways we consume and how we cultivate our lives.  What we leave behind not only says something about us but also how we feel about those who come after us. 

Tony Kriz talked with us this week about the idea of “7 generations”.  As I watched that video, I thought about my 7 grandkids, wondering about the life they would have when they are my age, or yours.  Is what I’m doing now creating a meaningful heritage for them?  Is the way we’re living helping to create a better world for them?  What does a “better world” mean?  Is that just a first world issue?  Is it a first world question?  I don’t think so.  What we do and how we do it matters, and not just for us.

I want the way I live to foster a desire in them to live in the way of Jesus, to tend to the things Jesus would tend to; to love people the way Jesus loved people; to have their hearts broken by the things that break the heart of God; to live alongside the forgotten, broken, marginalized, poor, weak, handicapped, bruised, beaten, and helpless; the people Jesus lived alongside.  I want them to care about their world, both the people in it and the resources entrusted to us, passed on to them. What is the story our lives are telling about us?  Is that the story we want to tell?

My prayer for us as we journey together is we listen to what our lives are saying not only about us, but about those who will live in the world we are leaving behind.