I remember growing up in a time when TV’s weren’t flat, your entire family only owned one, and would gather around it as a group to enjoy our favorite show. There were no such things as remote controls (that’s what kids were for) and there were roughly 3 stations to watch. Today, in our homes we have anywhere from 8 to 8000 channels. My daughter informs me this is a necessity! The odd thing is we really only watch 3 stations on the regular: HGTV, ESPN and Food Network. For the record, I believe ESPN to be the more Godly of the three.
My wife loves HGTV and all the home renovation shows like Property Brothers, Flip or Flop and Fixer Upper. I’m not sure if you’ve seen HGTV before? It doesn’t really matter if you haven’t, I’ll give you the premise of the shows in a nutshell: The homeowners have had enough it’s time for a change. The builder gives a vision of what could be. Renovation begins and inevitably there is an issue!! Uh oh! The damage is worse than you imagined, the renovation will cost more than you estimated, take longer than expected…..Then comes a commercial break, we come back to the show annnnnnd……the homeowners decide “Let’s do whatever it takes!” Progress is being made, suddenly it’s reveal day……NOPE not yet, another commercial… queue the REVEAL!!! Then we see tears, joy, gratitude…. “OMG I NEVER THOUGHT IT COULD BE THIS LOVELY!!”…..credits roll! I’ve just unpacked for you every Home Design show AND the process of sanctification.
Salvation is God’s free gift whereby through the cross of Christ God declares you Holy. Sanctification is the process whereby God makes you Holy. You see, we are basically all FIXER UPPERS!
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13
Sanctification the job is bigger than you realize.
After I came to Christ, I was sure I just needed to clean up my mouth a bit, quit drinking on the weekends and I’d be a Holy man! Father, Son, Holy Spirit and Adam! Was I EVER wrong! Jesus would begin to demolish old ways of living, thinking and acting, all for MY good and HIS glory.
C.S. Lewis explains it better than I could
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Sanctification always takes longer and costs more than you thought it would
I think sometimes as Pastors and Ministers we paint an unrealistic picture of salvation/sanctification. “Come, receive God’s free gift…..” and this is absolutely true, we don’t earn our salvation, but it is somewhat incomplete. Following Jesus will cost you everything. He’s the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in a field (Mt13:44-46). Restoration always takes longer than you imagined. I love the epitaph recorded on the tomb of the late Ruth Graham, “End of construction. Thanks for your patience”. You and I will be ‘under construction’ by Jesus, the great Fixer Upper, until the day He calls us home. At that time we can say, Construction complete!
Glimpses of the Big Reveal
As a Pastor, I feel especially blessed to see glimpses of the ‘Big Reveal’ all around me on a daily basis. Brokenness restored, Marriages restored, Hearts restored, Lives restored. It never comes cheap, it often takes time, but in the end: Tears, Joy, and Gratitude. ARE YOU READY TO SEE YOUR FIXER UPPER……..?