Leaving a Legacy

Abel has been dead for thousands of years. He still preaches.

Hebrews 11:4 makes a striking claim — that a man's faith can speak louder after his death than most men speak during their lives. This Father's Day, that truth is worth sitting with.

Most of what we associate with fatherhood is presence. Showing up. Being home. But Hebrews 11 is populated by people who are no longer present. What remains is their faith — and that faith, the text says, still speaks.

The question for fathers isn't only are you here? It's what you're leaving behind that will still be speaking when you aren't?

Most of us can name someone. A grandfather who prayed without embarrassment. A father who opened his Bible before the house woke up. A man who bore suffering without bitterness because he genuinely believed God was sovereign. Those men may be gone. Their faith is not.

The deepest legacy a father leaves is the answer his life gave to this question: Is God actually worth trusting?

If you are a father, decide that your faith will be something your children can point to long after you're gone. Not because you were perfect — none of the men in Hebrews 11 were — but because you trusted God visibly enough that the echo remains.

That is the only legacy that cannot be taken.

— From this week's sermon on Hebrews 11 | Living Word Community Church, Carnation, WA