Worship Investments

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Peter Chace. June 28, 2026. Proverbs 13:22.

Summary

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22). My grandfather was a good man; I know because he was my grandfather, an Air Force chaplain and a pastor. The two most valuable things he passed on were my faith and my name. I knew we were Christians because my father and his father were; it was our identity. And I carry his name: Peter means rock, his means noble stone, and it was fitting when I was ordained bearing both.

We throw “good” around, but when a man called Jesus “Good teacher,” Jesus answered, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). The big idea: Christians let God define the good and then pass it on as an inheritance. The Hebrew tov has five overlapping senses: economic, desirable, quality, moral, philosophical. A good meal is good, but not as good as God. Yet Esau came in hungry and sold his birthright for a meal.

All goods are not created equal. God is the highest good; “every good gift and every perfect gift” comes from him (James 1:17). Gold is good too, yet the lowest category, because everything Scripture compares to gold is better than gold: God’s law, genuine faith, wisdom, a good name, an excellent wife, a dinner of love (Psalm 119:72; 1 Peter 1:7; Proverbs 8:19; 22:1; 31:10; 15:17). In between, he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city (Proverbs 16:32): strength of spirit over strength of body. So: God, grace, grub, and gold. All good, but put lower goods on top of higher goods and your life is literally disordered. Children pick up what we value; if we say Jesus is first but live as if the 401(k), the next vacation, the next promotion, or even the kids themselves are the most good thing, we teach them disorder.

The list runs God to gold; living it out runs heart to hands. We imagine what is good, letting Scripture shape our imagination; do it whether we feel like it or not; produce it, not fermenting division and nursing wounds; desire it, for it is not enough to say, “I haven’t murdered anybody today” (temptation is not sin, but giving a sinful desire room to breathe is); and inhabit it, abiding in Christ. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). What is in a parent’s heart ends up in his hands and passes on. We want to give them Jesus. A good education, straight teeth, a moral compass, sports, a strong work ethic, music lessons, a good diet, a firm handshake, a professional resume: all good, but not Jesus. If we fail to give our children the highest good, we are failing as parents. This is first the Spirit’s work (Matthew 7:9-11): Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, to the glory of God alone, as written in his Word. But parents and godparents are charged to pass it on.

Three ways to leave a godly inheritance. First, be grateful for what you have inherited; we have nothing we did not receive (1 Corinthians 4:7). Tall stature, strong hands, great hair, an education, wealth, an example of faith: not equal, but all worth gratitude. Without gratitude a gift becomes an entitlement. Mercy triumphs over justice and gratitude triumphs over griping; gratitude really is like a superpower. But my parents left me nothing! God knows your story; you do have things to be thankful for, so do not live into that lie. Perhaps your parents were absent or even abusive. None of that is good, and I do not make light of it, but nobody else’s sin excuses our disobedience. Honor your father and mother, “that it may go well with you in the land” (Deuteronomy 5:16); the land is the inheritance, and it does not go well unless you honor those through whom God gave it. The spigot of God’s love will not pour through you to the next generation until you are grateful for what you have. Be grateful too for your spiritual mothers and fathers, two thousand years of church and Israel before that, and for the Reformed tradition; Calvin takes more work to read, but it is a rich inheritance. Teach your kids in the pew to enjoy singing a new psalm. I went to music school and fugal psalms are still hard for me, but say to your kids, “This is our heritage. Isn’t it great?”

Second, be generous with what God has entrusted to you. A good man does not bury his talent; he spends it and trusts God for the growth. Who are you spending your life on? My wife has not had a single Sunday service in fourteen years without a child on her lap or needing discipline. Training kids in the pew takes real work, and that is exactly the point: it costs us something, and it makes spiritual deposits into the bank account. Spending your worshipping hour on your young children actually is the worship. You cannot pass on what you do not have; teach them to love church because you love it. Third, give it away, beyond the next generation. Have Sabbath suppers, read Scripture at the table, instill Psalm 128 in your sons and Proverbs 31 in your daughters, and remember the faith that dwelt in Lois, then Eunice, then Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5).

Christians leave the most valuable inheritance they can. Charles Bridges: even with no earthly substance to leave, “a church in the house, a family altar, the record of a holy example and instruction, and above all a store of believing prayer” is an inheritance of inestimable value. Nothing is wrong with a great earthly inheritance; great wealth left for the future is an earthly manifestation of heavenly glory. But Christ is our inheritance. We are heirs of what we did not earn. May we bequeath, with grateful hearts, the inheritance that matters above all else, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Key texts: Proverbs 13:22; Mark 10:17-18; James 1:17; Genesis 2:12; Revelation 21:18; Psalm 119:72; 1 Peter 1:7; Proverbs 8:18-21; Proverbs 22:1; Proverbs 31:10; Proverbs 15:17; Proverbs 16:32; Luke 12:34; Matthew 7:9-11; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Matthew 25:14-30; Psalm 128; Proverbs 31:26-28; 2 Timothy 1:3-5

For reflection

• If my children wrote down what I actually value most, judging by my time and attention, would the list run God to gold, or the other way around?
• What have I inherited, from my parents, my grandparents, and the church that came before me, that I have never thanked God for?
• Who am I spending my life on right now, and what would it look like to spend myself on the children in our pew this Sunday?