A Work in Progress

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Here in the book of Philippians, the apostle Paul is writing while in prison.  He is writing to new Christians - those who had been converted and come to new faith in Jesus Christ.  The Christians in Philippi were persons who had begun to find their way in the faith, and at the same time, they were finding that in many ways, there were those of different opinions as to how the church should function.     

Paul here offers words for those in the Philippian church to remind them and to encourage them that despite their differences, despite their disputes, despite their growing pains, God had indeed begun to work in their lives.  Paul says, “He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

One of the realities of God’s creative process, and God’s power, provision and promise for us is that God has begun a good work in each of us.  This is the essence of what persons would be alluding to when they would sing, “Please be patient with me, God is not through with me yet,” or when it was declared that “God has not brought us this far to leave us.”  God has begun a good work in each of us, and we are a work in progress.

All of us have seen the yellow caustion signs that serve to stop us in our tracks and point us in another direction.  The signs say “Work in  Progress.”  These signs serve as a notice that the work that is going on behind the yellow sign is work that will bring about improvements in that particular space.

These yellow signs simply imply that there are some necessary improvements and upgrades that have to be made, and that the work is now in-fact underway.  There is a work in progress.  

The word for us today is that there’s a good work that God has begun in you and me.  There’s a work in progress in each of our lives. What was Paul really saying to the church at Philippi and to us? 

God Has a Plan for Your Life

“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for your welfare and not your harm, plans to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah29:11)

It is clear in scripture that God’s work over the course of history relates to God’s plan for all that God has created.  This is to say that from the very beginning of time, God had a plan for us.  We are told in the Book of Genesis, that in God’s divine plan, God created heavens and earth.  God created the light and the seas, fish in the seas and birds in the air.  

 We can imagine God as a divine architect, thinking and planning and scheming as to how creation would look.  Or we might see God as a divine potter, with clay in hand, making and molding the world according the divine vision, the divine plan God has had for creation. 

And we find in the Genesis story, that as God observed that which had been divinely created, God realized that the plan for creation was not complete, so God decided to create humanity, and not only did God create humanity, but God created us in God’s own  divine image.

Indeed, throughout scripture, we find evidence of God’s divine plan at work.  We are told later in Genesis that God told Abraham to leave where he was, and that God would make Abraham the father of all nations.  God spoke to Moses, and told Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go.  We find in Matthew that over 42 generations, God’s divine plan was in effect, preparing the way for the coming of Christ into the world.  And we are told that Jesus arrived in the world in the fullness of time.

I believe we could all affirm that plans are important.  Plans serve as the roadmap, the GPS, for our success.  Plans are critical to us moving forward in life.  Someone has wisely suggested that if we fail to plan, we are really planning to fail. 

HOPE

Recently, I have had a chance to re-read Jurgen Moltmann’s book, Theology of Hope.  Moultmann shares that “Hope alone is to be called ‘realistic’, because it alone takes seriously the possibilities with which all reality is fraught.  It does not take things as they happen to stand or to lie, but as progressing, moving things with possibilities of change.  Only as long as the world and the people in it are in a fragmented and experimental state which is not yet resolved, is there any sense in earthly hopes.”  

I believe that hope is the window that God has given us to see into God’s preferred future for our lives.  In the midst of the apparent hopelessness, nothingness, meaninglessness and lovelessness that seems to pervade our collective reality today, hope lends credence to the promises and possibilities that God has for each of our lives.  So we are encouraged – regardless of the circumstances that confront us - to keep hoping, for indeed we know that with hope - our best days and our most blessed days are not behind us, but ahead of us.

The "Butler" and Hope for Today

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see the movie, “The Butler.” What is most clear to me is that even before Cecil Gaines would become the butler for eight United States presidents – God had a plan for his life.

Raised on a cotton plantation in Macon, Georgia, Cecil experienced family tragedy that could have destroyed him. But he escaped the plantation and finally made his way to Washington, DC, ...and in DC he learned how to serve people. It’s clear that God had a plan for Cecil's life - and God made him into the very best servant, the best butler that he could be.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us years ago that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. God made Cecil Gaines into a great butler because he was willing to serve, and Cecil realized that that was his purpose in life, God's plan for him.

In Jeremiah 29:11, the prophet shares these words from the Lord - “I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not your harm, plans to give you a future with hope.” The same God of Jeremiah and Cecil Gaines has a plan for your life. What is God's plan for you? What is your purpose for living? Where are the places that you see possibility and hope for your life? Where and who have you been called to serve? Never forget that God has a plan for your life, and that your tomorrows are bound to be better that our yesterdays and todays!