To Completion

Grace mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. I hope you've enjoyed our series on the beatitude is going through all of the sayings of Jesus and seeing how he is showing us that narrow a step-by-step growing us deeper and deeper in relationship with God and relationship with one another preparing us more and more to be the people who represent him on this Earth. It's a humbling thing. It starts that way that we're humbled your real realize that we can't do any of this on our own that we're not we don't provide this for ourselves. We don't win our own salvation, but once given that Kingdom of Heaven as a gift. We begin to change our lives change. We simplify Our Lives we create space for other people. We find those who are in need and we find ways to help them to serve them to love them. Even if it means. That there might be harm done to ourselves. Even if it means that we might be put in danger. We are willing to love we are willing to make peace.

Couple weeks ago when we talked about peacemaking. I mentioned that it was the destination of these Beatitudes. We're going someplace in a journey when we get to the destination. We like to stop. Right. I mean this is that going to get me that usually what we do something right? We like to stop and it maybe if we're like working really hard on something and we get to the completion of it. Oh man. It's just great to look back and say I did that for instance yesterday was a nice name. It was a nice day to do I to put up our our modest little Christmas lights on our house after working the morning on it. It was done. I was able to look back and say I did that. I'm good. I'm done now. Write with so many things in life are not that way. Write Life as a Christian is not that way so many things in life are not that way where you just get to the end of it. You're just done. Actually, it's more true to us that that life keeps throwing things at us. Continually. There's always the next thing I was just thinking about that this week. Like what's a good could a real life example of something that's important that needs to be done and he just need to keep doing it and there's just seemingly no end to it. Here's what I came up with.

truth I think so. I think so. It's important to do the laundry, right? It's very important to do the laundry. Does it ever end? There's always work. I have a house of six of us. It's never. Never really thought. I'm going to taste it. I'm going to find completion. Okay, and you work really really hard and you get every scrap of dirty laundry in your entire house finished. What's going to happen by the end of the day? You're wearing it.

But I feel like that's kind of a health way for us to think of Our Lives of Christians. Okay. God has given us this amazing gift of Salvation is given this is amazing work to do on Earth of loving people in caring for those who are in the midst of this dirty mess of Otherworld, okay? Are we ever going to get to the end of that?

eventually And we'll talk about that indeed. But it's going to feel like it just keeps coming. Right and it'll be really easy for us to get discouraged when the proverbial pile of laundry shows up again in front of us and we like I'm just tired. I don't want to do it right. I don't want to care for that person. I don't want to love that person again, I'm really frustrated this time. You been there. I think we all get there right when I looked at the Advent lessons for today and I saw this passage from Philippians, and it was just it was really touching to me because here is Chris Paul, he's he's in prison in Rome. And there's been this church the one in Philippine. Who has consistently cared for him consistently supplied for him and even and really sticky situations. Okay, and what you wanted to do for them is just write a thank you note and encourage them to carry on. I just felt like I'd be in such a perfect thing for us to look at today as we find ourselves continually doing this work and maybe getting a little bit tired or frustrated what he has to say to the Philippians very beginning of his letter. He says I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now he thanks God for them. He thanks God for them. Thanks God for their partnership. in the gospel

Now why do you need a partner in anything?

How many partners in things? Cuz none of us could do it aloud. right And I think it's so very true for us in in this Christian faith. That God does not give this to us to do a loan. We are not called to be out there all by ourselves as I'm trying to adjust to change the world all by ourselves. Okay. It doesn't work that way. We all play different parts. We all play different roles and we're all there to encourage one another to Route each other on in this as partners. For Paul his Partners In The Gospel hundreds of miles away from him. He's in Rome their way over in Macedonia, but the fact of the matter is while he is in prison in Rome. He can do the work in Macedonia. They need to do the work there. But they can't be doing the work in Rome. Cuz I don't hold their I think that's the way we need to see each other right then we're all doing the work of the Kingdom, but I can't be doing your work. You can't be doing mine, but we need to support each other in that because we're all of us it's hard. All right. We need to be there for each other. And we carry on and that work just like you said that they were they were this doing this partnership in the gospel for the first day until now they kept it up and he wanted to encourage them that he saw them as partners in the work that he was doing. I am sure this maybe he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. This is such a beautiful passages. But that is his confidence that God who started a good work in them will carry it on and how do we begin these Beatitudes write blessed are the poor in spirit? Who gets this good work started. I mean, we're Lutheran's right? We know where it comes from income from us. We didn't start this good work. We don't learn our own Redemption. That is Christ. It is his cross. That is the gift. He's the one who gets the good work started. Okay for that means I'm busy with it. And as we're growing in our faith as we walked through his Beatitudes, we realized that we walked further and further into the broken world and into the messes of the world. And what often happens is we find ourselves surrounded by all the most disgusting things happening in the world trying to make peace and trying to do the things that are good and maybe some people are really upset about this and maybe they start yelling at us when we're in the middle of everything or kind of ruining the world's plans. We can just say we'll get started it.

Did you get do that? Maybe you did that right is little argument and it's like he started it, right? That's kind of how it is. Is it weird start this? the good work started by God all we're doing is just keeping it up right doing what he's called us to do. Let me tell you. Especially when we're feeling discouraged. If you started it. He'll complete it. Okay. He may not completely through you. But that that is our hope right as we were just talking about. He will complete the work. We look forward to that. That's what Advance about right looking forward awaiting that day when Jesus will come back and it will be completed when all of that good will be established on the Earth again.

In the meantime going to work to do. Miss the work he started. skip gone Indeed it is right for me to think this way about all of you because I have you in my heart and you were all partners with me and Grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel for God is my witness deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. This part gets me with the emotion. That Temple is so many hundreds of miles away from these people. And yet he has them in his heart.

This is not just an association is not just a mental kind of agreement. It's it's a hard thing. He's with them. He has them in his heart.

I guess I get this in a new way now. I've been to Liberia three times. I got to work with the same people each time. and especially now after this third time going And I see the faces I know their stories. I have them in my heart. I miss them. I pray for them. I want what is best for them? And they are again Partners in this. There's just something really beautiful about having that Bond. It's not just I agree with you it with every point of Doctrine. It's like I'm I'm with you in my heart.

I'm just thinking of Paul can have that with this church this hundreds of miles. When I type I got this with people across the pond. How much more For those of us who are in this together in the same church. How much more as we are working to gather day in and day out for the sake of this beautiful gospel that has been given to us and for the people who really need it. All right. We going to have each other in our hearts. I got to be seeing one another in that deep kind of family kind of way, you know and rooting each other on. Cuz like I said before we all have different jobs to do our different opportunities to reach out. We all need each other.

So it goes on and I pray that so here is his brother. Paul has a prayer when Paul prays about the Philippian Church. Here's what he says. That Your Love Will Keep on growing and knowledge and every kind of discernment so that you may approve the things that are superior may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ. the first thing he praised Is that their Love Will Keep on growing?

As we find ourselves in the midst of a broken world. A world that is very good at not loving. It is easy for it to rub off on us. Is easy for us to catch it?

and for us to get discouraged Rusty get angry maybe depressed if our love to grow cold What is the first thing Paul says to him? I pray that your love would keep on growing. Cuz that's what shines so brightly in the midst of this world Your Love. I know you might be able to tell the difference between that love at all all of the up to happening in the world. So you can shine that into the world where people so desperately need it.

And then he says this filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. I just love that phrase fruit of righteousness. Makes me think of something to Jesus said, you know, his fruit comes from trees not news for you. But Jesus talked about trees that bear fruit, right? What do you say he said a good tree will bear good fruit. We will bear bad fruit. Well, how does how does a tree become good does it make itself? Good? God makes a tree gun. Well, how do we become righteous? God makes us righteous, right? That's that's what has been given to us. We have been given the gift of righteousness. But what is a tree do? tree bears fruit write a tree bears fruit and that fruit then spreads. The tree to other people write other places just like in our righteousness has been given to us that we spread that we bear the fruit that they molt plays it out to other people. So here we are in the middle of winter. I wonder maybe maybe maybe this is true. Our trees are all largely dormant and I wonder I mean are fruit trees. Are they all saying to themselves?

I'm not sure so sure. I'm going to do that fruit thing again this year. How do you takes a lot of energy and then people come and pick it and then the birds come it's just not worth it. Maybe this year. I'll go without fruit. And while we're out of my mind.

Fruit trees bear fruit. I hate that's what they do. That is the way it works. And they don't just choose one season to do it and not another right? And I think that's very much an analogy for us as we carry on in this work. As we speak to bear fruit. There'll be some diseases where it's really easy to bear fruit. No the other Seasons where it's really difficult, but we don't give up. Cuz it's worth it. Cuz there's a world out there that needs wood has been given to us. And God has entrusted us with that gift. So I want to encourage you. You continue to grow in your love? how to encourage you to continue to bear that fruit And I have the confidence that he who started this good work in you. Will carry it on to completion. I meant