The Safety Net – Grandparents
Family Circus

Transcript

Good morning, church. We're concluding our series entitled, “The Family Circus,” today. Over the past five weeks, we've been talking about different aspects of the family and we've been talking about our tendency that when we have a family, we all want the perfect family, but we soon find out that what we end up with is more of a crazy, chaotic kind of circus.

And so this series has been about taking a realistic look at what the family really needs and how instead of aiming at perfection, we ought to be aiming at how we can bring our families under God's presence. That's what we've been talking about. And today I'm going to be preaching for the second time I've ever preached this sermon, because the first time was at the first service. I've never preached a sermon on what it means to be a grandparent. And so we've entitled this particular sermon, “The Safety Net.”

Because being a grandparent is a support role. It's a shift that we have to make from being parents to grandparents requires a change of thinking and a new understanding. And so we want to hear what God's word says about it. That's what we'll be doing today. And before I begin, I want to pray. I want to pray for our church and for our grandparents in our church.

But I also want to pray for a family that represents us in the country called Turkey and they represent us there. That's a Muslim country and it's a place where they don't have access to a relationship with someone who actually knows Jesus. And so they've moved there with their family of four children and they're part of our church. They were members here. They answered the call to the ministry here.

I'm not naming them because of security reasons, but if you noticed in the lobby, we do have a table set up for them where you can stop and you can say, ‘I'd like to ask you some questions. How can I pray for you?’ And if you really want to keep up with them, you can put your email address down and they'll send you their newsletter. By the way, we're offering a free lunch after this service. We're having a pizza “meet and greet” to be with that family.

It'll be in the room next door in the Gathering Place. And so we'd love to have you stick around, give you a chance to talk to this sweet family and get to know how God's working in their lives. So let me pray. Let me pray for us. Lord Jesus, thank you for your word.

Thank you that we can talk about what your word says about being godly grandparents that pass on a legacy. And Lord, we also want to pray for this dear family that is like our very own. And because they are, Lord, because of you, we pray for them. We pray for this family, for their provision and for their effectiveness.

We pray for gospel opportunities in the country of Turkey. And, Lord, we just pray that you would give them great favor there, and we just give you praise now, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Amen. So this sermon is about being a grandparent. And the Bible says that being a grandparent is a joy and a blessing.

Here's what it says in Psalm 128:5-6 (NLT) “May the Lord continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren!” So the Bible sees being a grandparent as being a joy and a blessing.

But sometimes it might not always feel like a joy and a blessing being a grandparent, because it's a shift. You have to change the way you're thinking about your role as you shift from being a parent to a grandparent. So we've been showing a little cartoon from “The Family Circus” every week. Here's one. This cartoon's written by Bil and Jeff Keene.

Here's one about being a grandma. And notice little Jeff, he walks up to grandma. “Grandma, why do you always start redecorating as soon as we come?” So grandma, she's figured out, I gotta move everything up. I gotta get all my “knick knacks” and my “doodads” up high.

Do you all have any “knick knacks” and “doodads” at your house? You gotta get them up out of reach. And that's not the only thing in your life. You have to redecorate and change because it's a hard shift. It's a confusing shift, in fact, because grandparenting and parenting are really two different roles and they require different approaches. It can be confusing because grandparents are still the parents of their children.

You still have a mentoring role, and you're still their parents, but you're not the parents of your grandchildren. And so what's that look like? It can be confusing. It can be challenging. You're moving from a direct role to a support role.

You're moving from being the decision maker to being the influencer. You're moving from being in charge to being an encouragement. This is a shift that requires prayer, thinking about it and making some decisions about what kind of grandparents you want to be. Now, if you're here this morning, you're not a grandparent yet and the Lord delays his coming,

one day you'll get your shot. You'll get your chance, Lord willing. It's a joy and a blessing. But by the way, you're building the grandparent right now that you're going to be, because the old person you're becoming, you're working on right now. And all you have to do is look in the mirror. You young people have those smooth, beautiful faces, but the rest of us have these things that we call “wrinkles.”

And those wrinkles came from whatever you did most with your face. If you have “smile wrinkles,” you are a smiler. And if you have “frown wrinkles,” you are probably a frowner. And your face shows it, because you're not gonna become something new just because you get older. You become more of what you are.

You're working on the “future you” right now. So take notes, because being a grandparent can be a joy and a blessing if you understand what the Bible teaches about it. So whether you're a grandparent today or whether you're still working on it as you grow, this message is for you. So what's a grandparent to do? Does the Bible say anything about being grandparents?

Well, it just so happens that it does. We're going to be looking at a Psalm written by David, Psalm 71, that many people refer to as “the grandparents prayer.” We're going to be looking at Psalm 71, verses 14 through 18, where David says that when I get old and gray, I, Lord, help me to pass on a godly legacy to my grandchildren. And I believe that today we can pray like that, we can prepare like that. We can say, ‘Lord, as I get older and as you trust me with grandkids, I pray that I could pass on a faith legacy, a godly legacy to my grandchildren.’

And as we look at the text, I think the text today gives us four steps on how to do that. Let's dig in. We'll be in Psalm 71:14-18 (ESV) 14 “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. 15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.

16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. 17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” This is God's word.

Amen. We're looking for four steps on how to leave a godly legacy, how to pass on a godly legacy to your grandkids. Here's the first step:

1. Determine to be an example of hope and praise.

Let's start with that first verse, verse 14. Circle the words, “hope” and “praise.” Do you see them there? Hope and praise. David has these “I will” statements.

In fact, he has five times that he says “I will.” It depicts, because of the Hebrew tense, it depicts a decision, some would say it's like a vow that David is making. He's making a decided intent to do a thing and to keep doing a thing. And so the tense of it is, ‘I've decided I'm going to be like this. I've decided in advance to do so.’

When you get married, you make some “I do” vows. You say, you know, “I do.” But David has chosen. As he gets older, he's made some “I will” decisions. He's determined to be an example of hope and praise.

‘As my body gets older, as my hair turns gray,’ David says, ‘I've decided I will hope in the Lord. I will praise him more and more.’ That's what David has decided. ‘I'm going to be more hopeful and more worshipful as I get older, not less.’

David has decided in advance, ‘I'm not going to let my body run down with the passing away of many of my loved ones, family and friends.’. Because as you get older, you begin to accumulate grief and loss. You just do. So, the world's full of trouble, and you get more scars,more wounds and more wrinkles.

And many old people, as they get older, the old person that you're working on right now, that'll be you. You're either becoming bitter or you're going to become better in Jesus. You're going to become a blessing, and it's really going to depend on what you've decided between you and the Lord. Are you going to be one who says, ‘You know what? No matter what, I will hope in Jesus.

No matter what comes, I will worship and praise the Lord.’ I don't know about you. I don't know what kind of people you have in your life, what kind of family. I don't know what kind of grandparents or elderly uncles and aunts you've got in your story. Many times, there's a family system where there's an embittered old man or old woman

that's the, you know, the grandparent. You feel guilty that you need to go check on them more often. You need to call them more often. But every time you call them, they ask, “Why haven't you called me?” And then they begin to complain about how you haven't done this and how you hadn't done this and how my bursitis is acting up, my arthritis. And they go through the list of all the things that are hurting and bothering them.

And you know why they're telling you about that? Is because all these things are hurting and bothering them. They're not lying, but it's making them bitter, and they're not full of hope.

Every time you talk to them, you feel like that cloud that continually seems to rain on them, getting you soaking wet, too. And so then you're kind of like, I think I'll wait a few weeks before I call again or before I check on them again. And you feel bad about it because you love them, but they've just gotten so discouraging to be around. What kind of old person do you want to be? What kind of old person are you right now?

What have you decided? David has decided, ‘I will be hopeful. I will praise the Lord more than I did when I was young, and I will keep doing it. Lord, help me. Help me keep doing it.’

Do you remember the story of this woman named Naomi in a little book called Ruth? There's a little four chapter book in the Old Testament called Ruth. And this woman, Naomi, had a husband and two sons, and they lived in the land of Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means “house of bread.” But a famine hit the “house of bread” and so they decided, We're going to move to Moab. That's what her husband decided.

They moved to Moab because of the famine and because of the drought. And they went over there looking for bread, and instead of finding bread, they found trouble. And so her husband died, and both of her sons, who married Moabite women. As soon as they got married, they died. They got sick and died. And here's old Naomi in a foreign land with two daughter in-laws, and she's got no way to provide for them, and so she tells them to go home.

And one of them does go home, but one of them refuses and that's Ruth. She says, “Wherever you go, I'll go. Wherever you lodge, I'll lodge.

Your God will be my God, and your people will be my people.’ You know the famous line there? Ruth says that I've learned about God from you. I'm going to follow you and so Naomi says, ‘Well, I don't know what to do for you. I can't bear any more sons.

I'm too old to bring you a husband. I don't know what I'm gonna do for you. Let's just go back to Bethlehem and do the best we can do.’ And so she goes back to Bethlehem, to her hometown. As she gets walking up the street holding hands with Ruth, here come all the older women that remember Naomi.

They come out and they go, ‘Oh, Naomi, we're so glad to see you. We're glad you came home. Her name, “Naomi,” means, as J. Vernon McGee says, it means “happy sunshine.” It literally means “sweet, delightful.” And I think that's how she was before she went to the land of Moab, before she went to the land of bitterness.

And when they came up hugging her and saying, ‘We're so glad you came home, happy sunshine, because you just make a smile come to their face. She says, “Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). Don't call me Naomi anymore. Call me Mara, which in Hebrew means “bitter.” And they all said, ‘Ooh.’

Her life was marked by loss and grief and pain and trouble. She had no hope. And she was not praising the Lord. I'm glad the story doesn't end that way, because this little girl, this little Ruth that her deceased son had married, saw something. She remembered how Naomi used to be and she had decided to follow the lord.

And Ruth met this man named Boaz, who was a great man in this little town called Bethlehem. And she began to work on his farm and to provide for herself and Naomi. And he ultimately marries her. Ruth has a son. And that's how the book ends.

I'm sorry to ruin it for you. It's only four chapters. It's wonderful. And Naomi tells everybody, ‘Stop calling me Mara, call me Naomi,’ in chapter four of Ruth.

Ruth 4:14-15 (ESV) 14 “Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15 May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”

It's funny how God can change your bitterness into blessing if you'll just hope, if you'll just praise. Anyway, just like that, it concludes like this. It says, inRuth 4:16-17 (ESV) 16 “Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!”

And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. David became the great great great grandfather of a man named Jesus. So this little Moabite girl who didn't even belong to God from a foreign land, was brought into the land. And now she's in the lineage that you read in the book of Matthew, in the lineage of Jesus, because Jesus can turn your bitterness into blessing.

What kind of old person do you want to be? You're working on it right now. You're going to become more and more of what you are right now, unless you make a hard shift and make an adjustment. I've decided I will hope in Jesus, I will praise the Lord. Be a blessing.

Grandparents choose to be a blessing rather than a bitterness. I was reading an article. It's entitled, “Magic Happens When Grandparents Care for Grandchildren,” by author Karen Nemeth. Here's some tips, some applications for how to be a blessing:

Give your time. It's the greatest gift. Stop everything and focus on your grandchildren. That's the one thing when you're a parent, you're so busy, you're working, you're carrying them here, you're doing this, you're providing a roof over their heads. You're busy, busy, busy, busy.

And then, you're a grandparent, I actually asked my small group this week. I said, “I'm getting ready to preach on grandparenting, and can y'all give me some tips because I've never preached on grandparenting before. What do y'all think? What kind of grandparent are you?”

Everybody in my small group pretty much are all grandparents. And I asked, “Are you a better grandparent than you were a parent? What do you think?” And most of them said, “I think I am. I think I am because I'd like to think I've grown in the Lord.”

And I asked, “Well, give me some character traits about how you've changed. One of them said, “I think I'm more loving.” I asked, “Well, what does that look like?” They said, “I'm way more patient than I used to be with my own children.

I wasn't patient with my children, but I feel like I'm doing a better job being patient.” And one of the men in my small group said, “I'm more present. I'm more, like, right there with them, talking to them. They get my eyeballs when I talk to them like that.” They said “present, more peaceful, more loving and more patient.”

You know what these are? These are attributes of the Holy Spirit. When he lives in you, this is what should be happening, christians, is that you get older. You don't just get grayer, but you get more glory. You get more like Jesus.

And so you become the blessing to your family. Let me get back to the list. I got distracted there for a second: Play with your grandchild. Paint together, play board games, play catch, play pretend.

When you interact, you model good sportsmanship. You're teaching them how to converse and how to get along with each other. Good manners. Tell your stories. Pass down the stories of your childhood and the kind of games you used to play.

Read the old books, the old classic children's books that you grew up on. Or maybe pull out the old VCR and pop in some little show you watched. You know, I don't know if it still works. Maybe you can get it on some modern version, I don't know,

but share the old stuff with them. Teach them your skills. Whenever you're working on something, don't say, “Papaw's working on something.” No, bring them in. Even though they're too little and they can't figure it out.

Grandfathers and grandmothers are so much better at this than parents, because parents really do have to get that thing finished; they have to get on to the next thing. But grandparents have learned something - hopefully, it's more important to spend this time teaching this grandchild than it is to accomplish this project.

Hopefully, as we become more like Jesus, it's people over projects rather than projects over people. Hopefully, we're making that shift. Hopefully, we're growing. Share your passions for music, for sports, for drama, for working on cars, for cooking, whatever it is, teach them your skills. Include them in conversations.

Talk about your things. Go through your house. My wife's got this curio cabinet. It started out that it was supposed to be a place where you put your china, and she's got some in there, but then, there's a doll that belonged to her grandmother that she gave her; her grandmother made the doll’s dress. And so it's in there.

I was like, that looks odd in there, Robin. In fact, that's a scary looking doll, I'm telling you. What is that thing? 200 years old? That thing would scare me, scare our grandkids.

But anyway, tell them the story about where that came from and how their great great grandmother passed it down to you and when you were a little girl, you always wanted it. Heaven help, don't move anything, because your grandchildren want to come to your house and see it in the same place because you're like an anchor to them. The world's full of change and grandparents are like this permanence because often the parents are kind of barely hanging on and grandparents can be kind of an anchoring point. At Christmas, my wife and I

Man, we decorate like you wouldn't believe. Our whole house. And so I was talking about this first service. My granddaughter, Cadence, was sitting right here at first service

so I could see her, and it just reminded me that she's been doing this the past few years. She'll come in, and she'll get Robin. The grandchildren call her Mingie, and I'm Papaw. She will say, “Mingie, that's not where that goes. For the last five years, you've had the Christmas tree sitting over here and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer goes over here, and all of those nutcrackers that you have going up and down the steps, it looks like you got some new ones right here, but this one used to be right here…”

They love these traditions; they look forward to them. So talk about your things. Try not to change.

See, I'm stuck in this house now. I meant to sell this house and get a house on one floor. You know, as I get older, I still have this two-story house. These grandkids, they want some permanence. They love our house.

We have ten of these grandchildren. Did I mention that to you? Five boys and five girls. It's awesome. We've been grandparents for 15 years.

My oldest grandson, Nate, 15 years ago made his grandparents, and now we have a bunch. But they love our house. They love coming to our house. We had a grandparent's weekend last weekend. I'm just now getting over it.

It was fun. It was a lot of fun. Oh, a lot of fun. And we put in an above-ground swimming pool in the backyard just to keep them out of the house a little bit, keep them busy, get them wet, wear them out. Maybe, they'll go to sleep.

These are the things that grandparents work at. So, in previous years, we've taken them to different places. There's only two qualifications to be on the grandparent weekend. Number one is you have to be one of our grandchildren. Number two, you have to be potty trained, because that's too much. Eight of them have not qualified, so eight of them made it last weekend to grandparent weekend.

And we said, “Okay, we've taken you to the lake, and we've rented a pontoon boat, and years gone by, we've taken you to the beach, we've taken you to the zoo at Asheboro and spent the night over there, and we've done this…” Then the older ones, like in Cadence, said, “No, we just want to be at your house.” Really? “Yeah, we just want to be at your house with you and each other, with the cousins.” And I'm like, Praise the Lord.

That's a lot cheaper. Wow.

But it's sweet, too, isn't it? God's showing us favor. Be the cozy lap, the warm embrace, the listening ear, and the relentless cheerleader to your grandchildren. Be a blessing. Be a blessing, not a bitter representation of what an old person looks like.

I know life's full of trouble. I know it's full of pain. Put it off and put on Jesus. Be a blessing to your grandkids. That's your first job as a grandparent.

Be a blessing. Here's number two:

2. Tell them the good news of salvation.

We're at verse 15 and 16. Tell them the good news of salvation. Circle the word, “salvation.” If you're taking notes, I told you, there are five “I will” statements. Three of them are here.

I will tell, I will come. I will remind, I will tell, I will come. I will remind. Tell them what? About salvation.

Come with what? I'm bringing salvation; remind them what salvation is. I'm going to tell them the good news of Jesus until they have heard it so much where they say, ‘Papa, you've already told us this.’

I know, but I'm reminding you now because I want to be a blessing. But I also recognize I'm the one passing on the legacy of faith. And so I want to constantly remind them because I want to see them in glory. See, the chances are, because I'm the oldest, I'll get there first, unless Jesus comes tomorrow, and I want them to come right behind me. Don't you?

I want them to be smart. I want them to be educated. I want them to have a good life and all that, but all that aside, I want them to be right with God, and I want them to spend eternity with me in heaven. Don't you? And so I want to be an evangelist.

I think that's the second important step of the shift of being a grandparent. Be the evangelist in your family. Tell them. David says, ‘I will tell. I'm going to come carrying it like when I come to visit you.’

I've brought the gospel with me again. Well, you told us that last time. I know. I'm reminding you because I said I'm going to remind you. David made these determined, almost like vows if you will, of what kind of an old man he wants to be.

And so have I. So have I. How about you? Have you decided what kind of a grandparent, with God's help, that you can be? Verse 16, he addresses the Lord as the “Lord GOD.”

If you have your bible or if you have a bible app, we might not have gotten it right in your notes. I can't remember. I didn't look back. But it's that whole capital letter thing, so it should be capital L, lowercase ord, which shows the hebrew word underneath it. In the Old Testament, it's “Adonai,” which means the Lord.

Good accurate translation. But then you have capital G, capital O, capital D. If you're looking at your Bible or looking at the ESV Bible, that means “Yahweh,” which is the covenantal name of God. So it's like David says, ‘I'm going to tell them about the name of God, the sovereign name of God. I'm going to tell them about the Lord God.’

I'm going to remind them of this and help them keep remembrance of it. Remember how the apostle Paul talked to his spiritual son in the Lord, Timothy? It's in 2 Timothy. You have to imagine how hard it would have been to be the “wingman” of the apostle Paul.

You know, the apostle Paul's the guy who's preaching. He gets in trouble with some people there. They take him outside the city gates, stone him and leave him for dead. And then in the power of the Holy Spirit, he gets up and shakes his clothes off, goes back in and gets right back at it again. That's the apostle Paul.

Can you imagine being his “wingman?” That's Timothy, but Timothy's not got the story of the apostle Paul. The apostle Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus, a persecutor of the Christians. He was basically a terrorist who got converted to Jesus.

I remember growing up and people at our church sometimes would stand up and give their testimony, and they'd say, ‘I did this, this and this and then the Lord saved me.’ People would be crying; that's a great testimony. I'd be thinking about my testimony and thinking that yeah, I got saved when I was a little kid. That's what happened to Timothy.

So look what Paul says to Timothy. “I am reminded” because Timothy would get kind of timid sometimes. He didn't have a “Damascus road” testimony. Here's his testimony, 2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV), “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice

And now, I'm sure, dwells in you as well.” And so, he says, ‘Timothy, I'm just reminding you, stop being so timid. You've been in the faith for years. In fact, your grandmother and your mother were in the faith. You grew up in the faith.

You should be thankful for that.’ By the way, my grandmother and my mother were not named “Lois” and “Eunice.” Now, Lois and Eunice, you might be in the house right now. There might be somebody. I mean, these two ladies could live in Wilson, couldn't they?

Their names don't sound like Hebrew names to me for some reason - Lois and Eunice. But my grandmother's name was Ettie

Elizabeth. Ettie Elizabeth Dillon. That was her name. My daughter's middle name is Elizabeth.

We named her after my grandmother. My mama had a long name. Because she was born premature, my grandmother was so excited about the nurses that took care of her at the hospital there in Beckley, West Virginia, that she put all their names on my mama. The nurses' names were Wilda, Jewel and Ann. That's my mom, Wilda

Jewel Ann. That's my mama's name. Named after all the nurses there that took care of her when she was born. So those two, I didn't have Lois and Eunice.

I had Ettie and Wilda. And they raised me up from the time of my earliest memory, teaching me about the Bible.

That's a boring testimony, isn't it? That I had a grandmother and a mother told me about Jesus. My dad died when I was eight years old, and so he was a big influence on my life. But I gotta say, those two women were the ones who handed me the “baton” of faith. They really did. My grandmother, more than anything.

My grandmother, man, I was a little bit scared of her. She was so intense for Jesus. But every time David was around them, he would tell them about Jesus. He would come with the gospel.

I'm telling you the gospel, and I'm going to remind you of the gospel. That's how my grandmother and mother were. Praise God. I'm glad I made a decision to follow Jesus when I was eight years old. I didn't know everything.

I didn't understand it all, but I made a public profession of faith when I was eight years old. Indeed, I think I asked Jesus to save me every day of my life from my earliest memory until I finally began to understand it, because I heard it so much. I don't know about you. It's great having a grandparent and a parent like that.

So tell them the good news. That's your second job. Be an evangelist. Be a blessing. Be an evangelist.

3. Proclaim to them what God has taught you.

In verse 17, here's David. He says, 17 “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.” Look what I've learned. A lot of it I learned in the “school of hard knocks,” Lord, but you taught me and you brought me through it. And now I'm going to tell everybody what you did for me. That's really your testimony, isn't it? It's how God brought you through to where you are today.

Have you ever told your testimony to your children, parents and grandparents? Have you ever told your grandchildren how you got saved? Have you ever admitted to them what a crazy, wild young person you were before you got saved? I don't want them to know that part. Why?

It might help them get through what they're going through. They might feel, I wish I was holy and perfect like my granddaddy. And maybe you need to tell them what granddaddy used to be like before Jesus got hold of him so they could get a leg up and understand. I used to struggle with some of the things, or maybe you still do.

I still kind of struggle with that. But I'm praying. I'm praying for you, too, because I see some of me in you, and I'm praying for you. And he says, 17 “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.” He's decided, ‘I'm going to pass on to my grandchildren.

I'm going to teach them what God's taught me through experience.’ In the book of Deuteronomy, it says this, Deuteronomy 4:9 (ESV) Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children.” That's a command. Don't forget what God's done for you and tell your children about it.

And when you become a grandparent, tell your children's children. Tell your grandchildren, ‘This is what God did for me. This is how he brought me out to what I was in.’ The book of Psalm talks about it.

Psalm 78:1-4 (NLT) “O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying… I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.”

Make a decision, grandparents: I'm going to be one who tells them the stories of how God has done a work in me. I'm going to be honest about how God brought me to the place I am. I've told you a little bit about my mother's mother, EttieElizabeth, my grandmother. She was a Bible believing woman. But, let me tell you about my papaw

I took his name on when I became a grandparent because it was a sweet name to me. And so when my first grandchildren came into the world, I taught them to call me papaw. . I thought that was a name that I could wear with honor. My grandfather, my papaw, was not well educated. When we would ask him, “How far did you go in school, papaw?”

He'd say, “Well, I just about finished the second primer.” I'd ask, “Is that like second grade?” He'd tell me, “I don't know. It was this McGuffy reader thing.” He never finished second grade.

His daddy, who was an alcoholic, worked in the coal mines, tried to keep a garden, a little farm to feed the family. He'd take my papaw out of school every time he needed help on the farm. And so, every year he'd get behind again. By the time my papaw was twelve or thirteen, he was still sitting with these little six year olds trying to do second grade work. And it was getting embarrassing for him.

And so his father, not just for that reason, but because his father was somewhat abusive, took him and his brother, Tracy, out of school and put him in the coal mines to work, at ages twelve and thirteen, in what's called “thirty inch coal.” That's coal that you work sixteen hours a day, on your knees, six days a week. And so that's all he knew. It was hard work when he became a father. He wasn't a believer.

He grew up rough, but he had decided he was going to take care of his family. As they lined up to get their pay, he'd be standing there with his daddy. Here's 13 year old and 14 year old Walter and Tracy. His daddy would take all three of their checks and head down to the pub and drink it all up.

And then they'd be hungry. My papa used to talk about eating “water gravy,” whatever that is. But when he became a grown man with a family, he worked hard and he made sure he took care of his family. He wasn't a believer and he had the same little problem with alcoholism. He was an alcoholic.

I heard stories growing up because my granny was a Christian and they used to pour his liquor out so he couldn't have any in the house. He had to hide it in the barn. But finally, he got so miserable, plus his wife talking about Jesus all the time, he got saved in the decade before I was born. I never knew my alcoholic grandfather. I only knew my born again grandfather.

And all I knew about him was he was sweet and he loved to tell stories, and he loved to work hard. And he would take me with him to learn how to do the things on the farm because my daddy had died. I spent a lot of time with my papaw. And I knew one thing; I knew he loved Jesus. The way I knew was not because he was a good teacher about stuff like that.

Truth is, he wasn't. And he couldn't really read that well, although he could write his name. But I'd sit next to him in a pew at Willow Branch Baptist Church, this little country church in the woods. And a certain song would come on that my family would sing. My mom and my grandmother were in a gospel quartet.

And they'd sing this song, and I'd look next to me and I'd see him. He'd start sniffling. “I'll meet you in the morning by the bright riverside.” Have you ever heard that song?

”Where all sorrow has drifted away. I'll be standing at the portals as the gates open wide. At the close of life's long, weary day.

Oh, I'll meet you in the morning by the bright riverside.” All of a sudden, I'd feel the pew shaking a little bit. And I'd look over at him. He'd already have those big black glasses off. He'd have his hanky out.

He'd be wiping his face. He'd be cleaning his glasses. He'd start holding his hanky up, crying his eyes out. Thank God he saved me.

I'll meet you in the morning. What a legacy. That's my papaw. Not a well educated man. Taught me how to work hard, taught me how to cry and love Jesus.

We don't even call the song by its title, “I'll meet you in the morning,” if you want to look up the lyrics sometime. But that's not what my family calls it. We call it “papaw's song.”

That's his favorite song. We sang it at his funeral.

Be a teacher. Grandparents, granddad, grandma. Be a teacher, be a blessing, be an evangelist, be a teacher. Here's number four. Here's the fourth step:

4. Ask God’s help to pass on a godly legacy.

Ask God's help to pass on a godly legacy. We're at verse 18. Verse 18, especially, is referred to as “the grandparents' prayer” because you can see he's addressing God. He started in verse 17, if you will. But here he's talking about it.

He says, 18 “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” God, you've brought me this far. You've taught me so much. I've learned some things.

Oh, I wish I'd have known this when I was younger. Would you let me live long enough to pass this on to my grandkids? I have a purpose. Grandparents, you have a purpose. There's a reason you're still here,

to wave that banner called “Jesus” and to pray “Jesus,” as we sang a moment ago before this sermon, to pray Jesus over your family. To declare his name over your family, to wave the banner of faith over your family. Oh, Lord, don't forsake me. My body's forsaking me. My knees are forsaking me.

My hips are forsaking me. Praise God, my hair hasn't turned loose, but it is turning white.

There's a lot that I used to depend on that's undependable. But my God is more dependable today than ever to me. I've learned to lean on him more and more. There's a sobering reality for that generation that doesn't have grandparents that pass on the legacy, that doesn't have parents and grandparents that pass it on. The book of Judges speaks of this, Judges 2:10-11 (ESV) 10 “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers.

And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.” So, when all that generation passed away, the generation of Joshua and of Caleb and all those men who came through the wilderness, all those men and women who loved Jesus and loved the Lord died, they were warriors, but they must have failed in one important way. They failed to pass on the “baton of faith.” It's a sad and sobering reality.

But yet we are called. Proverbs 13:22 (NLT) says, “Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren.” What's your greatest inheritance? Is it a house? Is it money?

Or is it a legacy of faith? I would say it's the last one. You might not have a lot of house or a lot of money, but if you have Jesus, you have all that you need. You can give him Jesus. When Jacob moved to Egypt, because there was a famine in the land of Canaan, and Joseph was already there, he was “number two man” under the pharaoh.

Jacob and all of his family moved to Egypt. And we get to Genesis, chapter 48, we see that Jacob's on his sick bed. He's approaching death. His eyesight is failing. He's old and gray.

He doesn't see well anymore. And Joseph, he comes, and he brings his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh He brings them to their granddaddy. And Jacob says, Genesis 48:8-11 (ESV) 8 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”

You can read about this in Genesis, chapter 48. He puts his hands on him, and you know what he wants to do? He wants to bless them.

He starts off by saying, ‘When I was in the land of Bethel, an angel appeared to me. And he told me, this land is going to be yours. And that your children are going to be like the sands of the seashore.

They're going to be like the stars of heaven. And the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he changed my name. I wrestled with him. And trust me, you shouldn't wrestle with God.

Cause I've been walking with a limp ever since.’ And he tells them this. He's telling about these angels, he's telling them about his testimony, and he blesses them. And he kind of freaks Joseph out a little bit because God had given Jacob an insight. And so Joseph had very, very carefully put Ephraim in front of Jacob's right hand because he's the firstborn.

And he put Manasseh in front of Jacob's left hand. And he thought, Well, daddy can't see well, because daddy's done this to me. He says, ‘No, dad.’ He's trying to interrupt him. ‘Ephraim is the firstborn. Put your right hand on Ephraim, because the right hand is supposed to be

the firstborn blessing, and this is the second born blessing.’ But Jacob said, ‘No, I did what I did’ because the Lord gave him insight. He gave him insight into Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim is going to get a blessing, but Manasseh is going to be the greater. He's going to get a greater blessing.

The Lord's already told him that. There's something about grandparents. They've been around a little longer, and they listen better, or they should. And they can see things in their grandchildren that parents might be missing. And they are the ones who can call it out of them.

They can call it out of them. They can pass on the legacy. And so when I was a little boy and I would spend those summers down on the farm, sometimes it would be the cousins that would be there, too. And there were twenty-one of us. That’s a bunch of cousins, right?

Twenty-one of us, and the ones that would spend the night there, first thing in the morning, my granny had a big old black Bible and her glasses were on top of it. She would say, “We're going to read the Bible and then we're going to have breakfast, and then you all can go play.” And it's a different time period where kids did exactly what they were told because we were all scared of her, basically, because she was very intense. I loved her to pieces, but I would do what she said. And so she'd get that big old black Bible and put it on her lap and start reading.

Because she would read a lot, some of us would get kind of squirmy, based on how old you were. But for whatever reason, and I'm not bragging on myself, it's something God did to me from my earliest memory and it might have been because I lost my father when I was a little boy.

It made me really spiritually sensitive. I don't know what it was. I just loved God's word from the first time I heard it. And Granny used to say, “Now y'all sit still.” And she would say to me, “Gary Wayne,

I think you're gonna make a preacher.” Because she would notice that I was just really listening

and I would ask questions. I said to her, “Granny, I'm going to be a farmer with papaw. I'm going to be a chicken farmer.” I still like chicken a lot, by the way.

When I was older, married, with three kids, I had a good corporate job. I had two houses. I had one at the lake and one in the city, I was on the ladder of success. I was making a lot of money.

I was not happy. I was asked to speak at my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. The reason they asked me, all the cousins and all the aunts and uncles said, “Gary likes to talk. Let's put him up front.” And so they did.

I wrote about my grandparents. I actually went and interviewed them, and I asked questions like, “Tell me how you met.” I wrote down stuff about what year they were born. My papa was born in 1903.

That was the year that president McKinley was assassinated. And I wrote stuff like that in it, I read it and I expounded on it. We had my grandparents sitting in these wing-back chairs, right in the front. All of the family and all of the friends were all around. I had my notes and I walked down and gave them to my grandmother, and she pulled me in. She said to me, “I still say you're going to be a preacher. I don't know if I'll live to see it, but you're going to be a preacher.”

I said, “Oh, granny, I'm doing pretty good. I don't see that.” She passed away not long after that and not long after that, I quit my corporate job, sold my lake house, sold my boat, sold a bunch of stuff, and went to seminary and planted this church. You know, sometimes a grandparent knows what hand to put on what head, knows how to listen to God, knows how to call something out of a grandchild that nobody else saw.

Oh, I want to be a godly grandfather. What about you? What kind of old man, old woman are you working on right now? Because you're working on him/her right now. What kind of grandparent do you want to be?

Be a prayer warrior. That's the fourth one. Be a prayer warrior, be a blessing, be an evangelist, be a teacher, be a prayer warrior that says, “God, tell me how to help that grandson, that granddaughter, how to call life out of them, of what I see in their little personality, because mom and dad are doing the best they can.

They're trying to hang on.” Grandparents, perhaps, have the insight to really bless. Will you pray with me? You can't do any of these steps that I've talked about in your own power. It requires Jesus in your life to do it. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, I pray right now, and I thank you for your word. I thank you that you gave me a sermon on grandparents, and I pray for that one. It doesn't matter if you're a grandparent or a parent or you're just here as a single person, but you're working on the old person you're going to become. And all of us will stand before the father one day in eternity and give an account for our lives. I pray for you right now that first of all, you'd give your life to Jesus.

You'd give your life to Jesus. Would you call on his name? Pray with me. “Dear Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I need a savior.

I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you were raised from the grave, that you live today. Come and live in me. I invite you to be my lord and savior. I want to be a child of God. I want to follow you all the days of my life.”

If you're praying that prayer, believing, he'll save you and he'll empower you to be what he's called you to be. And I pray a special prayer right now for our grandparents. Lord, help us not to become bitter, but to be a blessing, to be evangelists and teachers and to be prayer warriors for our families. In Jesus’ name, Amen.