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My pastor shared a message today entitled “The Unfinished Church”. It was a very thought provoking message. If you’ve ever attended an Easter service, you know that the last thing Jesus said was “It is finished”, right? I’ve attended Easter services just about every year of my life and never even thought about the fact that the last 3 very important words really indicated that there is more work to do. Pastor John taught us that although Jesus finished His work and paid the price for our lives, that was when our work began. Our work as “the church” was officially launched the moment Jesus drew His last breath. We, the people/the church (not the building) are commissioned to continue the work of Jesus and in order to be effective, we must be as passionate about our work as Jesus was about His.
What does this message of the gospel have to do with renovations? One thing you’ll learn about me is that one has everything to do with the other. I truly believe that is so. I believe that God gave us instructions that we can apply to every area of our every day lives. Sometimes it may seem like a stretch, but it is so helpful to have a guide. Since I don’t quite have it all figured out, I certainly need as much help as I can get in order to navigate through this thing called life.
A few months ago, the renovation was finally finished through blood, sweat, and tears. Well … thankfully, there was not a lot of blood. There may have been a nick or two that was easily cleansed and bandaged. But, there was an awful lot of sweat. I don’t think I have ever sweated, or shall I say perspired, as much in my entire life. Painting the porches and stair rails in the middle of a hot southern summer was brutal. No matter what time of morning we started or how late in the evening we finished, it was hot. You may be thinking that painting porches and stair rails is easy. So did I until I decided to undertake it myself. I said “Oh yea, I’ve got this.” Ha, Ha, Ha! Well, you can’t just paint over old peeling green paint without doing some prep work. And, of course, if you decide to paint the porch floor and steps gray, you certainly can’t let the white paint for the rails, ceilings, and posts drip onto the gray floor or steps. Sometimes it would’ve been helpful to use a tiny watercolor brush to avoid getting paint on the adjacent surface. Hmmm, maybe I should’ve painted the ceiling and posts first. Note to self: Rethink the painting plan on the next project.
We really are finished with the renovations and the project looks amazing. This will be a rental property and the owner has now had the appliances delivered. So, it is finished, right? Yep, that work is finished. But now the property manager has to be as passionate about getting a tenant as we were about getting the property ready for a tenant. Our work was to get everything all cleaned up and ready for someone to live their life there. Now the property manager has to bring someone to this new place that has been made ready for them … a fresh start in a neighborhood that is filled with some good activities and some not so good activities, filled with some good people and maybe some not so good people. The new tenant has a choice to make. He or she can move in and take advantage of how this home has been made new for them, regardless of the surrounding activity; or they can ignore the opportunity and choose to participate in the chaos. There is no pressure either way; however, this one decision can and will affect his or her family indefinitely.
That’s what Jesus did for us. He came into our “neighborhood” which is the earth, a place full of good and bad activities and good and bad people. He worked hard while He was here to prepare people for a change that could alter their standard of living, a change that could affect our families for generations. He taught us that although we live in this world, we are not of this world and therefore we have a choice in how we live our lives. When He went to the cross, He went with blood, sweat, and tears. He was beaten for our sins, He sweated as He carried the cross on His back, carrying our burdens for us, and He even cried to our Father God, but He went through with it because He knew that was His purpose and that we would be better for it. He did all that and finished His work. Now its up to us to do our work and to grow the church by living a life that makes what He did purposeful to people who may or may not ever walk thru the doors of a church; but will be able to understand that God wants us to live our best life no matter the circumstances. We are to bring people to that place of purity that has been prepared and paid for by Jesus. We shouldn’t pressure people to make the decision that we want them to make. The choice is theirs, it just our job to be a light in a dark world and present the opportunity.
It is finished, now let’s get to work!