SERMON FOR SUNDAY THE 25TH OCTOBER 2026
Deuteronomy 34: 1–8, Psalm 90: 1–6 and Matthew 22:34-40
This week the readings speak about what legacy we want leave and although we don’t name our Subaru’s Legacy here in Australia, it is the name of a Subaru in other countries. Why is this so?
In respect to the Anzac Day Legacy movement and the Australian Charity that refers to both the historical and cultural inheritance left by service members who support the families of deceased and injured veterans.
Of course, there are many interpretations of what we mean by legacy in life. We often speak of a good legacy in relation to a family legacy. There is the legacy of values, stories, traditions, lessons or financial assets passed down from one generation to the next. Basically, what future generations understand and remember about who you are.
I mention this with a view to the readings today and finding how core values lead to a legacy.
When we look at the first of the Bible readings today, the first of three that I will briefly explore is Psalm 1:1–6. The Psalmist ponders the vast contrast between God being eternal and human frailty. The difference between righteousness and destructiveness and what legacy these will leave. Theologians attribute this Psalm to Moses, who we will look at in a moment in our second reading.
The Psalmist writes, “above all else, love” It reads, ‘Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations’. It’s a practical statement of God’s ongoing love. God provides the safety of a ‘dwelling place.’
It’s an antidote to the vanity that puts us at the centre of everything.
When we read the second reading in Deuteronomy 34: 1–8 we find Moses in old age and confronted by his mortality.
The Israelites protested to Moses, we’re hungry, thirsty, going around in circles. But Moses was a protester too. He protested to God about the ongoing journey and it never seeming to end and yet the end in in sight as the people sit on the cusp of the Promised Land. Will Moses reach the Promised Land after all the many years of wandering?
We discover, he doesn’t get to go over into the Promised Land and yet, at the tender age of 120 years old, has the strength to climb up to the top of Mount Nebo where we hear that Moses has a conversation with God and dies in peace.
On hearing this, I wonder, and you probably wonder too, that a giant of faith lives on the Promise and is within grasp of the destination, though dies without this fulfilled. It cannot be a Hollywood Movie. Surely, the reward of faithfulness is to reach the Promised Land?
What helps in this, because the account does speak of how great was the legacy of Moses. We find that the true legacy of Moses is defined by faithfulness to God rather than personal control or seeing every goal to completion.
There are important lessons in the legacy of Moses:
- Servanthood over Status: He showed humility and devotion matter more than public acclaim.
2 Seeing the Vision yet seeking to hand over the Reins: Where Moses doesn’t get to the Promised Land, he teaches God that leaders can plant the seeds and catch a vision of the future even if they do not personally cross the finish line
- Passing the Torch Well: Moses prepares and commissions Joshua before his death, proving that a strong legacy relies on empowering the next generation to carry the work forward.
- God Continues the Work: Moses dies, and no one knows the location of his grave. This was important than what appears first. While there is an ending, there will be a new beginning, are-formation.
While loss is extremely difficult and real, the remembering and telling the stories was given a much healthier place in social life then.
The truth for us is that we never exist in a vacuum. We are always in relationship. Relationships with those around us, in the here and now – as well as in relationship with those of past generations, many of whom we owe a great debt.
They have helped make us what we are and our world what it is. It’s sobering to remember that we also leave a legacy to future generations.
What about that encounter of Moses on Mount Nebo?
We hear that Moses was barred from entering the Promised Land by God. This was because of his earlier disobedience at Meribah (striking the rock in anger instead of speaking to it). Remember the water issuing from the rock in the desert.
We don’t know what happened and may conclude that God was disapproving of Moses, though the account reads differently in a wonderful way as Moses speaks to God personally. We hear that Moses dies in the presence of God and before he does so is given a panoramic view of the Promised Land. Most interesting of all that is where the account tells us that God buried Moses him in an undisclosed location. There is a wonderful sense of knowing and trusting in God. Who needs the Promised Land when there is so much better in the presence of God.
There is a legacy that defies logic because we are more accustomed to the fulfillment of achievement in getting to the Promised Land rather than the fulfillment of accepting that we are in the hands of God, even if the goals and achievements of life are not reached. We hear that the people of Israel ground to a standstill to grieve Moses for 30 days.
Lastly, the third and last reading for today found in Matthew 22.
Jesus is in Jerusalem, facing tough questioning in the last week of his life. The question Jesus answers here are one about priorities. Jesus is questioned about what laws are the most important ones, what are the fundamental core values and principles of life and faith we should build on? On what foundations do we do that on?
It’s not a bad idea to clarify the bare bones of life’s meaning and best practice. Jesus could have taken the questioner’s bait and fought back, or refused to answer. But instead, he continued to teach about love; about God’s loving compassion and how we should echo it. Jesus does this in the face of threats to his life.
Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
So, what might that mean for us? It sounds wonderful, though difficult to put consistently into practice. What does it mean to take Jesus seriously?
Martin Luther King Jr put his finger on a big part of the issue for us. “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power”, he said, “We have guided missiles and misguided men.” So how do we go about putting into practice that love Jesus
summarised all the law with? This is about what guides us and our decisions. It’s something that we have a degree of conscious control over something in fact that we need to decide to do; engage in those things that make love real, with
words and actions.
We find that little things count big in this field. The warm smile of greeting, the thoughtful comment, the remembered occasion, the phone call, the giving where need is dire – these are ways to make love real. When we talk about sharing our gifts in the church, it’s about making love real by what we do and give of ourselves. Love has to be ‘incarnate’ – has to be made real in words and actions.
Jesus brings the fundamental philosophical question down to real life actions. Love, not the warm feeling that is the icing on the cake of life, but love, the basic ingredient that binds it all together. And when we make love real in this
world, we make God present – the God who is love. Like it was for Jesus, the place we have to exercise love is often in difficult circumstances. Confrontation and antagonism are not an excuse to stop loving, but all the more reason to follow Jesus.
The early Protestants believed that they were not only creating a new church, but were creating a new world. One that would resemble God’s loving desire for humanity. The Protestant impulse was in favour of the power of God’s spirit to transform human hearts and society. We see this particularly in the early Quakers who looked at God’s work in humanity as legacy of what might be or could be. Protestants knew things weren’t right and they set out to change the world. How can we do more of that?
Summary
We have talked about legacy today. We hear the Psalmist ponder on the set time we have and the eternal perspective of God. It is a good question because it focuses our perspective in how we seek to live.
We hear of the legacy of Moses, even when things don’t turn out like the expected ending we might of thought rather than God’s way. Lastly, we hear of the legacy of Jesus in the face of great questioning and Jesus says to, above all else, ‘Love God with all your heart, soul and mind’, it’s not about abstract concepts.
References in part to a sermon by the Rev. Ian Brown, Uniting Church of Australia.