The Herald Sun recently reported that – there is going to be a massive transfer of intergenerational wealth among Australians. It is estimated that a staggering $3.5 trillion of assets will be handed over by parents and grandparents over the next two decades to their children through inheritance. But what this is predicted to do is create a massive amount of disputes and legal challenges by family members who believe that the share of inheritance they receive is unfair with what they believe they deserve. And unfortunately, when that happens, the ones who end up getting a large proportion of that wealth are the lawyers engaged in the dispute.
It’s not a new thing for disputes to occur over inheritances. Even in the Bible – both Old and New Testaments – there have been disputes over inheritances. We have Abraham in Genesis 15 complaining about his inheritance: “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Abraham didn’t think it was fair that a servant rather than family would benefit from all his hard work. Which is a complaint also by Solomon in Ecclesiastes. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. And then there were the daughters of Zelophehad. They complained because the rules of inheritance didn’t allow for an inheritance to women and there were no brothers in their family so the family property would be lost. God himself stood up for them – What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them.
And in the New Testament we have the Parable of the Prodigal Son and his demand for his inheritance NOW before his father had even died. And even Jesus was asked to settle a dispute over inheritance: Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”
Part of the problem with inheritance and why they cause disputes is because they are only enacted after a person has died. So people will argue about their entitlement but the true owner can’t be asked about their intention. People will argue that the owner was forced into writing their will – that the owner had verbally promised something that’s not in the will – that there was a later or previous will that had something different.
In our 2nd reading today St Paul refers to our salvation – our eternal life in heaven – as an inheritance.
He says – In Christ we have obtained an inheritance … marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
But the difference here is that God is not dead but alive. And whereas the inheritance, as earthly inheritances are, it was enacted at Jesus’ death. But there is a big difference in that Jesus was raised from the dead to live eternally. So there can be no disputes because Christ is alive for us to refer to. As we hear Jesus say in Revelation chapter one – I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!
As we celebrate All Saints Day today we take comfort in this as we grieve for our loved ones because we know without any doubts or disputes that just as Jesus was raised from the dead we too shall be raised to eternal life. And that’s why, in death, St Paul says – we grieve but not like those who have no hope. That’s why Jesus was able to bring comfort to Mary and Martha at the death of their brother Lazarus “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though they may die, they shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
Our grief is comforted by the assurance of the inheritance which St Paul refers to as our Christian hope when he says: That, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints.
And so, when Jesus says in the beatitudes – Matthew Chapter 5 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted, what comfort can there be for a person who is grieving other than to receive back the loved one who has died. And that’s what faith in Jesus offers – comfort in the midst of mourning the death of a loved one. In heaven, where we are raised to eternal life, we are assured that God will wipe every tear from our eyes and that there will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Death is the old order of things, as Jesus says that he has come to make all things new. And that begins by dealing with the most difficult thing that human beings have to deal with which is death. And so, Paul says – with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which God has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe. And God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
So as you grieve, do not forget the hope to which Jesus Christ has called you. The hope that in Christ we have the assurance of our inheritance to eternal life. An inheritance, which like the prodigal son we can ask to enjoy now as we grieve but not as those who have no hope. Our hope is that in Jesus he has made all things new and that death has lost its victory and that we claim that victory now through our faith in the one who is the resurrection and the life believing that those who die believing in Jesus shall never truly die but simply sleep waiting for the day we join together in heaven.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
