At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance with his kindred; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God promised him. Deuteronomy 10:8-9 (NRSV)
I have been taking a class with Lauren Winner, professor at Duke Divinity School and author of Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God (among other books). As part of a class assignment, we are to explore a less-common metaphor for God found in scripture. I chose inheritance. Here’s a poem about it…
God as Inheritance
Inheritance.
It’s what binds us together.
One generation passes on to another
businesses and cars and boats …… and God.
I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, God says.
And, I would add, of Grace and Wynelle and Virginia.
It binds us together as co-owners
of the restaurant left by Uncle Charlie,
or as members of a church vestry.
Inheritance binds us together.
Except when it doesn’t.
Then it tears us apart.
Why did you get dad’s farm in addition to your share of his bank account?
And who is God’s favorite –
in war, or the filioque, or where the announcements
come in the service on a Sunday morning?
Inheritance is about the land –
be it a trailer park in Valdosta,
or the promised land in Palestine.
Inheritance is about the land.
Except when it isn’t.
The tribe of Levi receives no allotment of the promised land,
because the Lord is their inheritance.
Then inheritance is not about land;
it’s about priesthood.
Like the inheritance of baptism.
“We receive you into the household of God.
Confess the faith of Christ crucified,
proclaim his resurrection,
and share with us in his eternal priesthood.” [1]
You, child – your land will be the one
you join with us in helping God create –
the kingdom of heaven.
And then inheritance becomes about so much more.
Yes, it’s about economic security,
influence, freedom, relationship, peace,
and, most of all, love.
But not just for us.
For everyone else, too.
Inheritance can be squandered by overspending.
Except when God is your inheritance.
Then you can only squander it by burying it.
It grows every time you give it away.
[1] Book of Common Prayer, 308.
An Honest Hope 