The Only Thing Left

"I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead." Genesis 23:4

The Only Thing Left
By Rev. William Dohle

My kids are SOO excited! For two weeks now they have been jumping up and down at our house, eagerly awaiting the fateful unwrapping of gifts.

This year we made it terribly frustrating for them too for we set out already most of the gifts they are receiving. Now that they've seen them, their shape, their texture, the way they shake in their hands, they are dying to open them.

Of course I know the novelty will fade. A few short minutes into Christmas and all the mystery will be revealed. And after a few weeks of playing with their toys, they will want more. More games, more things, more stuff. I know they'll want more...because I always want more. One Christmas is never enough. There's always another one just a year away.

So what do you have to hold onto? What will remain? After this Christmas and next Christmas and all the Christmases of your life are past, what will remain of you? What will people remember? What will you have that lasts?

Even the patriarch, Abraham, faced this question as he mourned the death of his wife, Sarah. What does he truly own? Abraham, who has lived, in his own words, as "an alien and a stranger among you" owns no property or land. He has no home to call his own. He doesn't even own a cave to bury his wife in! He owns no property or land in the place he's been living most of his life.

It's only after some negotiating with the Hitties that he purchases the only bit of property he'll own: a burial cave and field for him and his wife Sarah. In that cave, he places Sarah's body. Later, after remarrying and siring six more children, Abraham too is buried there.

But that's not where Abraham's story ends. For Abraham himself carries nothing with him into death but his faith. And it is the faith of Abraham that is remembered by Paul thousands of years later. It is by the faith of Abraham that we call ourselves "children of Abraham" for it is his faith that began everything.

Paul tells us: "Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham."(Galatians 3:7).

Abraham's faith lasts through the centuries. Far after his sheep and goats have all died. Far his tents have all gone to dust. Far after everything he owns has disintegrated, Abraham's faith lasts...even to today!

Our legacy is the same way. We too can leave with our children our faith. Everything else we might leave them will fade away with time. But that faith, the faith we have in our God planted in our children, will outlive us. It will be passed, as Abraham's faith was, from generation to generation, throughout the centuries. As the faith we have has been inherited from those who came before us, so too our faith is inherited and shared with those who come after us making that the best Christmas gift we could ever want.

"Come one and all! Enjoy the faith that will outlast all the other toys in your life. Take it, enjoy it, and share it with others. For this is the gift that will truly last forever!"

Heavenly Father, thank you for the faith you have planted in our lives. Make us aware of your precious gift, given to us this Christmas. May we give it to others as you have freely given it to us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.