I. Introduction
I saw a little quote about work a while back that said this: when a president was asked what his coat of arms was, he replied quickly “a pair of shirt sleeves”. He was ready for the work, was he not? This week has been VBS for our church, and I don’t know about the rest of the workers, but I know that I am both very worn out but also very much excited about what God has done this previous week. We’ve seen so many youngsters here in our church building. But this is only the beginning of the work! Now, I know that some of you are like “did he just say this is the beginning of the work? Didn’t we just get done with doing a TON of work getting ready for this week?” Yes, you heard me right, this is the beginning of the work. There is a reason, though. Look one more time at one of the verses we just read. Philippians 1:6 says “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” That was our focus verse this week, and it reminds us that Christ has started the work for us when we became Christians, but he will continue to complete it until he comes again!
II. 5 Words
One of the things that we did this week was that there was a theme to every day’s lesson. It was always just one word, and it always was leading us to the grace of Jesus. For instance, our first day’s lesson was about the worth that Jesus has for us. Next was forgiveness, reminding us that Jesus loves us regardless of our sin. Then we had love, which reminded us that Jesus chooses to love us, that we cannot earn that love. Then we had promise, that Jesus will always love us, and then finally, we ended the week with the word life, reminding us that Jesus’ love is the foundation for the rest of our lives. As we know, these are always lessons that Paul puts into his letters to the various churches. He reminds us often that the work that was started in us through Jesus finds us in a way that reminds us of our worth, of our forgiveness, of the love, the promises that Jesus keeps with us, and the life that we can have in Him, and only through Him.
Really, it is those five words that give us the path to Christ, and to a life that is full of richness and full of Godliness in our lives. I was reminded as I studied for this message that when Paul was writing this letter to the Philippians that he was sure of the need of reminding the people of Philippi that there was still work to be done. One commentary states “Paul’s conviction that God, the one who began the work, will complete what he began, but that conviction reflects Paul’s awareness that the Philippians were not perfect and that they needed to be reminded of this.” The Philippians, in other words, had felt like that because they were Christians now that they were perfect and that there was nothing else to be done. It’s times like this that reminds me of a question that I was asked one time by a Sunday School teacher. She asked “why is it that God doesn’t take us up to Heaven right away when we are saved?” This serious question merited a moment’s thought and contemplation. No ‘Sunday School’ answer would have worked. The reason that God doesn’t do that is because we are not completed yet. The work is not done.
Let me put it another way: we will be completed when we reach heaven or when Jesus returns. Many times we are like the Philippians. We think that the work that has been done is enough, and that there is not anything else we need to do. But this isn’t true! There is always work to be done, both on the outside, and on the inside. We can have great works, and we can do a great deal of things for the Lord that reflects the faith, but if we are not doing both parts, then we must look hard at ourselves.
III. Jesus, Our Strong Foundation
Our Motto this week for VBS was “Jesus! Our Strong Foundation!” When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he knew that they were strongly supporting his mission work. They had given funds to him to help establish other churches, but they were struggling to keep the faith. Their foundation had not been built upon the rock of Jesus fully. Jesus told a parable of this in Matthew 7:24-27. It reads “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Jesus was, of course, speaking about himself and the teachings that he was giving to all of us even to this day. Our foundation is the Scriptures, the words of Christ, but also living a life that is continually trying to be more Christ-like daily. When we build our house on the rock, we survive the storms of life. We survive the turmoil and the heartache, and we survive the floods of our life. We survive the sentence of death upon our lives because we have a substitute in the form of the perfect lamb slain for us. And we will continue to improve until the Day of the Lord comes.
Some of you might be wondering what the Day of the Lord truly is. It refers to the end of days. It’s a truly terrifying time that we read about in Revelation 6:12-17. I won’t read the entire passage here, and in fact, I’ll invite you to come and study the book of Revelation in depth with us on Sunday mornings in the Fellowship Hall at 9:45 where we will be talking in great detail about this day coming very soon. But in essence, the Day of the Lord will be the day coming where great calamities, great climate and earth shaking events will happen to the point where those that have not been saved will realize that God is God. They will beg for death by the falling rocks around them. They will say “For the great day of wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” No one, except those who have built their house upon the rock of Jesus Christ. We are reminded in Romans 8:1 that “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We should celebrate that God is going to complete the work for those of use who have no condemnation under Christ!
IV. Conclusion
One last part of VBS this week had to do with those same words of the day. There is a tab within those words that had a simple set of pictures and three letters on it. It is a reminder to all of us working, and to the kids that attended of the plan of salvation. It reminded us that God is King. He is the ruler of our lives and the master worker. But there is a problem, and that is sin. That sin is what keeps us away from God forever, and condemns us to death. But there is hope! A promise made to us all the way back in Genesis, that God would make a way for us. And that is the gift that God gives to us through Jesus. The way for us to be saved is given to us freely, and cannot be earned. It is the gift of grace. And when we accept that gift, we are saved. It just takes the ABC’s. We first have to admit that we are sinners, then we have to believe that Jesus died for our sins, for everyone here. And then we confess that Jesus is our Lord!
Rev. Dr. D.P. Thomson, the great Church of Scotland minister and evangelist said this one time about starting the Christian life. He said:
If you are going to play football, you have got to kick off. At least somebody has. It is not enough to pick or take sides – the ball has got to be set in motion before the game can start. You may have two teams out spoiling for the fray, but there’s nothing doing until someone kicks off. It is only then the games starts and things begin to happen!
And so it is in the greater game of life. You have got to take sides, but that isn’t enough. You have got to kick off – to make a beginning. Perhaps you have heard or read of people “getting converted,” as Paul was on the road to Damascus, or giving their hearts and lives to Christ, as some of us have done. That just means, in plain, homely English, that they have not only taken sides with Jesus Christ, but have kicked off. They have made a beginning in the Christian life. They know which side they are on, and they have begun to make their contribution to the success of the team. We have not only taken sides with Jesus Christ, but have kicked off. We don’t say we have got very far in the Christian life – we know we have at least made a start! Have you? If not, why not make a beginning today?”
That last set of questions is our question for today. Have you? If not, why not make a beginning today? And that’s not just for those who might be wondering about the faith. Not just for those who have never fully understood what it means to be a Christian. It is also a chance for a new start continuing to work towards the completion of the work that Christ has started in you. Today, we celebrate the end of our Vacation Bible School. We know that God has done a great work this week. We know that families have been empowered through Christ, that they have seen the work that the Holy Spirit has done through the workers of this week. We know that the Holy Spirit will keep working. This is the beginning of something special for this church, and we ask, why not make a beginning today? Let’s pray.
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