My father lived for 92 years. When you live that long, you get to know a lot of good people. You have neighborhood friends, people you know from school, from work. You have good people you get to know from the places you’ve lived, the cars you’ve had, the things you’ve bought, the places you’ve visited. And, of course my Dad had a lot of very good doctors and medical professionals.
But not a single one of them received even one cent from my father’s inheritance.
Who received the inheritance? That’s right, my brother and me. Only the kids received the inheritance.
It’s the same with God. Receiving His inheritance is not about being a good person. It’s about being a son or a daughter.
Very soon, we celebrate Pentecost, when Jesus sends the Holy Spirit on the disciples and on us. Now, why do we need the Holy Spirit? Because the Holy Spirit makes us into sons and daughters of God. There is only thing that the Holy Spirit does, and He is trying to do it all the time. He reproduce the life of Jesus in our lives.
So I want to talk about that for a minute. What is the first step in reproducing Jesus’ life, what is the first step in being a son or daughter of God? Well, let’s take a look at Jesus’ life. The first thing Jesus did was become a baby in the womb of his mother. Now, we all know that a fetus, even a baby, can’t feed himself, can’t stand himself up, can’t see clearly, doesn’t have his own house or money, doesn’t know what is going on around him. That’s why the baby cries, right? The first thing that Jesus did was He made himself completely dependent on God. The first step in being a son or daughter of God is being completely dependent on Him.
What about Paul? He meets Jesus, and the next thing you know he is on the ground, completely blind. That’s right, completely dependent on God. What about the Israelites? They pass through the Red Sea, and then … no food, no job, no place to live. Completely dependent on God. And let’s go to the very first of the first: Adam and Eve. No house, no clothes, no money, no work, relying on the trees for food. Completely dependent on God.
The first time I came to Ecuador on my own, I arrived at the airport hardly speaking the language at all, in a place where no one speaks English. I was waiting to be picked up by an Ecuadorian priest who spoke no English, who I had met for about 15 minutes and exchanged a few emails using Google Translate. I knew no one else in the country. In my first steps into my mission to Ecuador, I was completely dependent on God.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He’s going to invite us to the first step. Maybe it’s the first time, maybe it’s renewing it or refreshing it again, but when He comes He’s going to invite us to be completely dependent on God.
To become sons and daughters.
Ready to receive our inheritance.
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.” (Jn 17:1-2)
ALM 