Memory Text: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13).
Someone once asked Billy Graham what surprised him most about life, now that he was old (he was only in his sixties at the time). Graham’s answer? “The brevity of it.” The brevity of life, indeed, is what is so shocking to those of us in late middle age, and even older. Scripture confirms for us what we increasingly realize as we get older:
“Man that is born of a woman has but a few days to live, and those are full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.” Job 14:1. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” James 4:14.
Whatever wealth we have been fortunate enough, or blessed enough, to have amassed during this brief life cannot go with us into the next life.
“For they will take nothing with them when they die; their splendor will not descend with them.” Psalm 49:17. “For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can take nothing out of it.” 1 Tim. 6:7. “As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.” Eccl. 5:15
Estate Planning is Prudent and Recommended
If you have been fortunate enough to accumulate some real wealth, estate planning should be your final act of stewardship, of carefully managing what God has blessed you with. It is prudent to have a will drawn up well before your final illness:
Christians who believe the present truth should manifest wisdom and foresight. They should not neglect the disposition of their means, expecting a favorable opportunity to adjust their business during a long illness. They should have their business in such a shape that, were they called at any hour to leave it, and should they have no voice in its arrangement, it might be settled as they would have had it were they alive. Many families have been dishonestly robbed of all their property, and have been subjected to poverty, because the work that might have been well done in an hour had been neglected. Those who make their wills should not spare pains or expense to obtain legal advice, and to have them drawn up in a manner to stand the test. Retirement Years, 103.
It is shocking how many people believe they are going to live forever. Okay, no one really believes he will live forever, but many avoid estate planning because it reminds them of their mortality, something none of us prefers to dwell on. But we are all going to die, unless we are privileged to live until the Second Coming, and so far no one has.
Money not to be Hoarded for End-of-Life Gift
One thing Ellen White is very clear about is that money is not to be hoarded during life with the thought of making an heroic bequest after death. The work of spreading the gospel needs your financial support now, not in 50, 30 or 10 years. The tithing system is the best available plan for supporting the Gospel in the here and now.
“Let no one think that he will meet the mind of Christ in hoarding up property through life and then at death making a bequest of a portion of it to some benevolent cause. Some selfishly retain their means during their lifetime, trusting to make up for their neglect by remembering the cause in their wills. But not half the means thus bestowed in legacies ever benefits the object specified.” Adventist Home, p. 397.
The prophet says “not half” for good reason. The probate system is not designed to quickly and efficiently transmit a person’s estate to his heirs and/or beneficiaries; it is designed to generate salaries for Judges and clerks, and fees for legal and other professionals. I’ve seen the system from the inside, and I know whereof I speak.
It is far better to settle gifts and benevolent giving during life. Estate planning does not mean everything has to go through the estate, the legal entity that springs up after a person’s death to pay his outstanding bills and hold his assets until they are distributed to his heirs. It means that everything possible is disposed of during life. Foundations, trusts and other such entities can be created during life. Life insurance—the proceeds of which pass directly to a named beneficiary, not through an estate—can also be used as an effective estate planning tool.
“The Lord would have His followers dispense their means while they can do it themselves.” Retirement Years, p. 105.
Again, so far as supporting the gospel is concerned, sooner is better. If we are faithful stewards, the system of tithing is the ideal way to support the church, and is more than sufficient to meet the needs of the church organization. “Systematic benevolence,” money given all along, is a much better way of funding the church than saving up money for a testamentary bequest.
Children and Families Should be Taken Care Of
The surviving spouse and children are, first and foremost, to be provided for in a will:
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.” Prov. 13:22.
Scripture tells us that a good person takes care not only of his children but also of his grandchildren. With housing, education and even food prices constantly spiraling upward, it is something to think about.
Hire Your Own Legal Counsel
Here is an opinion that will be controversial: The church ought not be writing wills for people and putting itself and its institutions in those wills as beneficiaries.
Tithe is returning to God what already belongs to Him. By contrast, money willed or bequeathed to the church can have a transactional flavor; the carnal heart is encouraged to imagine that someone can buy his way into heaven with a generous bequest to the church upon his death. For its own good name and reputation, the church should not put itself in the position of encouraging transactional thinking, or even appearing to encourage it. But when the church hires the attorney who writes up the will, this appearance is created.
Another problem is when parents disinherit their children, or give the church the power to force a sale of estate assets. Obviously, parents may dispose of their property however they think best, and if they judge that their children do not need, and/or do not deserve, an inheritance, that is their prerogative. But let that decision be effectuated by attorneys the parent himself has hired; let not the church get in the middle of it, appearing to fight with natural heirs over an estate, bequest, or inheritance. That is a terrible look for the church.
Absolutely nothing looks worse, nor more disreputable, than financial over-reach by the clergy and the princes of the church. One of the reasons the Christian church became so corrupt so quickly that, by the 6th Century, it was effectively anti-Christ (538 A.D. is the date Adventists have used), is that it got rich beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. Wikipedia tells us:
Constantine's biggest effect on Christianity was his patronage. He gave large gifts of land and money to the Church and offered tax exemptions and other special legal status to ecclesiastical property and personnel. These gifts and later ones combined to make the Church the largest landowner in the West by the 6th century. [citing Ramsay MacMullen?]
Bequests leading to the corruption of bishops is still a problem today. Here is an excerpt from a story in the National Catholic Reporter from June, 2019:
In yesterday's Washington Post [three reporters], broke the story of Bishop Michael Bransfield's alleged spending habits and lavish lifestyle as Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. According to an investigation conducted by five lay people and overseen by Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Bransfield spent $1,000 a month on liquor and $100 a day for fresh flowers at the chancery, gave gifts totaling $350,000 to other clergy, and spent $4.6 million renovating the bishop's residence after there had been a fire in one of the bathrooms. I cannot even imagine how hard it is to spend $4.6 million on real estate in Wheeling, West Virginia.
This lavish lifestyle was made possible through the generosity of Sara Catherine Aloysia Tracy who died in 1904 and left the bulk of her estate to the diocese. The bequest included land in Texas that turned out to be sitting on lots of oil and has yielded some $15 million per year for the diocese, which now has an endowment of $230 million.
My solemn plea to the church is that they leave estate planning to the individual. Let not the church be involved with this process. Let not there be even a whiff of money-purchased salvation, nor of financial overreach, nor of snatching property away from natural heirs.