“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1.6
Dear friends,
One of the challenges for Vestry in looking at ways to improve our lovely church building so far has been finding tradesmen(/people!) to even turn up to give a price for work. Whether this is peculiar to Dunblane or a wider phenomenon we don’t know. But an almost universal experience for anyone having any kind of work done is that tradesmen, especially builders, are notorious for starting a job and then not coming back the next day. Even the good ones do it because they have to earn money while waiting for things to dry and set, so they start another job and then return a few days later to finish the job. Sometimes that really is a test of faith for their customers; if you know the tradesman well enough you know that they’ll come through. But some are not entirely honest and make up all kinds of excuses for not showing up. The poor old van gets used a lot as a scapegoat! It wouldn’t be so bad if people were just honest and told you that they wouldn’t be back “tomorrow at 9am” so that at least you would not be wasting your days waiting in for them. It’s not as if the excuses are convincing; we see straight through them.
Lent is a time when we are encouraged to be open and honest about our own shortcomings, failings, and to cease making excuses. That can be a rather unsettling experience because when we do see ourselves more clearly as others see us, and more importantly perhaps get a glimpse of ourselves as God might see us, it can be easy to be discouraged.
So much of what we learn about ourselves from the Scriptures apply corporately to the church as a whole body, as to the personal journey of each individual of which the church is built. At present at St Mary’s we are part way into a major commitment to improve the interior of our splendid church building. There has been a significant amount of clearing out and moving around. Some things have been stripped back and others laid bare. It’s an ambitious and expensive undertaking but we believe God has set something going here that we had to pursue. We are trusting that God will bring it all together in the right time and reward our commitment. And, our tradesmen have been outstanding so far.
Speaking of the universal church built of Christian disciples like you and I, Jesus told St. Peter, “I tell you… I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it”. Matthew 16:18 (NRSV). Right now you may question that! Jesus seems to have disappeared off site before the job is done, promising to return and complete it one day. Have we got faith to know that he will, despite the crumbling buildings and tragic discord that are so typical of the church in decline in the West?
But, these are exciting days, days of opportunity! Churches that have grasped that in faith and are trusting that Jesus is coming back to complete his work in the lives and hearts of his people, are growing. That is becoming our testimony too!
I doubt that the work on our church building will be completed by Easter, but certainly the work going on in the body of believers and seekers that is the church seems as though it has a long way to go, as does the work that God began in my own life. But I am confident that he will complete it. God never leads us up a dead-end only to abandon us there with no resources or hope. God is faithful to us.
We have the choice; to follow him in faith, or remain with the familiar, unchanged by his calling on our lives and his redeeming love and saving power. Yes, there is risk, not least the risk that things may never be the same again. But there is also promise, of greater things to come.
With love in Christ,
Nick
