If you have driven by our Clarkston Campus on Bluegrass Drive recently you have probably noticed that our church is under construction.
We are delighted to be expanding our family ministry space for children and youth ministry, and our fellowship space to accommodate even more community, fitness, and recovery gatherings and events. This is certainly an exciting time for us at Calvary Lutheran!
However, in a recent message I shared these words: “The facility, the building, is the least important thing under construction this fall. The expanded facility is only a tool for the real construction project – you and me and us together, as God’s people – people of LOVE who are always growing and sharing and seeking new ways to serve our community and world.”
I know that I sure am “under construction,” always seeking to grow and become more and more the person God has made and called me to be. I am a work in progress and still have a long ways to grow to fully live out the characteristics of a Christian (the fruit of the Spirit) as noted in Galatians 5: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
As the old bumper sticker says: “Be patient with me, God isn’t through with me yet.” Of course this is not an excuse to be a jerk or not try, but it is a reminder that we are all, by God’s grace and this side of heaven, works in progress. God invites us daily to “come as we really are…and become more.”
I believe all of us are “under construction” in one way or another. A walk of faith involves trusting God and opening ourselves to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Jesus living in and through us. This is a construction project that will take a lifetime.
The construction process of course does not just happen by itself. It involves having a vision for the project, developing resources and blueprints, preparing the foundation, the actual construction, and then living into the new space with a new way of doing things. We would be foolish to enter into a construction project expecting things to stay the same or that it will be painless.
And construction can be a messy process that seldom goes exactly as planned. There are always some surprises and difficult decisions along the way, and it can be hard in the midst of things to see how the finished project could possibly emerge from the seeming chaos – unless of course you are the architect and builder.
That’s Good News for us as God’s people. God is the architect and builder of our lives and our church. This means that even when things don’t go as planned or our lives fall apart or we make some big mistakes along the way, God looks past the chaos and sees a child of God “under construction.” God will use even our pain and hurts to help us grow into the person God has designed us to be.
I read recently that Ruth Graham, the wife of evangelist Billy Graham, has on her tombstone a Chinese character, because she came from a family of missionaries, that means “righteousness,” and these words, “End of construction – thank you for your patience” That sure sums up a life well lived.
Paul writes in Philippians 4: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”
May you be blessed and faithful on the lifetime journey of becoming all that God has made you to be!
The Rev. Jonathan Heierman is Senior Pastor of Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church