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? 

For the church, God has entered into each of our lives, and God who is all and knows all, senses that there are areas in our lives that only God can change.  God has begun a good work in each of us.  For those of us who know the Lord or seek to get to know God, this work in progress looks like sanctification. 

In Wesleyan terms, sanctification is expressed in terms of us going on to perfection.  None of us are yet at the place we want to be in the Lord, but we’re not what we used to be.  It’s good to know that we’re not yet where want to be, but we are not at the place where we are going to be.  God is not through with us yet.

The Steinway piano has been preferred by keyboard masters over a long period of time.  It is a skillfully crafted instrument that produces phenomenal sound.  Steinway pianos are built today the same way they were 140 years ago when Henry Steinway started his piano–making business.  Two hundred craftsmen and 12,000 parts are required to produce one of these magnificent instruments.  Most critical is the rim-bending process in which 18 layers of maple are bent around an iron press to create the shape of a Steinway grand.  Five coats of lacquer are applied and hand-rubbed to give the piano its outer glow.  The instrument then goes to the Pounder Room, where each key is tested 10,000 times to ensure quality and durability.

We are likewise being “hand-crafted.”  We are being pressed and formed and shaped by God to make us more like God.  Like the Steinway, we are being polished, sometimes rubbing off the stain of sin, and sometimes rubbing away affliction in our lives, until we “glow.”  We are a work in progress.

God desires to grow us in grace – to sanctify us and make us holy.  Howard Thurman prayed – I want to be more holy in my heart. 

And the question for each of us is that as God “has begun a good work in us” (Philippians 1:6), what specific good work has God begun?

First, God has begun the good work of moving us into right relationship with the Lord.  The thing that occurs when we become a Christian – when we give our lives over to Christ - is that Christ begins to work in our lives in ways that may not have been evident before.   Paul first of all wanted the people of Philippi to know that God had begun to change their hearts through their new relationship with the Lord. 

God had begun to reveal to them how to righteous lives where they would humble themselves before the Lord.  That’s why later in Philippians, Paul would remind them that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, that he is Lord.  God had changed their lives, and begun the good work in them of knowing how to live in right relationship with God – lives where they would realize that it matters not only how high you jump on Sunday, but how you walk on Monday. 

Second, God has begun the good work in us of moving us to serving and ministering to everybody in our midst.  When we come to faith in Christ, we are not only called to believe, but we are called to work.  James declared that “faith without works is not really faith at all (dead).” 

We are called to engage in the good work of ministering to the least, lost and most left out among us.  Today these are the children, the elders, and the poor.  These are those without healthcare, those without adequate access to education – those who are unemployed and underemployed.  These are those who are the victims of this democracy - the victims of the results of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.

Third, God has begun the good work in us of moving us toward being true worshippers of him.  We are told in scripture that “God is spirit, and we are to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.”  Thank God for the opportunity for each of us to become a true worshipper.   God be praised for blessing our lives, and inclining us to praise and worship God in-season and out of season.   

I’m glad that we are a work in progress – God has begun a good work in us.  And it’s good to know that the same God, who has begun this work in us, will carry it on to completion.  Most of all this was a word of hope for the Christians at Philippi and hope for each of us.  This is a word of hope that God still has a plan for our lives – hope that God is still at work with our lives bringing forth the divine plan that has been crafted out for our lives – hope that our tomorrows will be brighter than our today.