Finished

My thoughts in yesterday's blog became this magasine article today.
Wh oknows what they might become next!

Out of the Ordinary – Finished!
I wish I had a pound for every time someone asked me when the work at Mytholmroyd would be finished. It sounds such an easy question but it is actually very hard to answer. Of course with any building projects you have deadlines and builder’s promises but it is never an exact science. If I had another five pound for every time someone asked me if or when we were going to start work on the church in Cragg Vale I would be very rich indeed. The answer to both is that I don’t know, but also in a way I am not that bothered.
Generally speaking I don’t like finishing things, preferring the ongoing story rather than the complete one. I think that’s why when it comes to novels I like to read ones that are part of a series, so that after you have invested a great deal of effort in getting to know a character you are able to continue the relationship in the next book. My son, an avid reader, is always really sad when he finishes a book that he won’t continue the friendship with the characters he has met. Maybe that’s the attraction of soap operas, we never have to say goodbye.
It’s the run up to Easter and one thing has struck me this year about the words of Jesus on the cross. At the very end he says: “It is finished” and then he dies. Scholars have debated for ages about what he meant. The obvious understanding would be that his life is finished. However he doesn’t say “I am finished!” but “it is finished.” The consensus now is that Jesus was saying that he has finished the job he came to do.
Earlier in John’s Gospel we read the very familiar words that outline Jesus’ mission: “
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:16-17 (KJV)
Jesus came to save the world and the cross was the means by which he did it. Somehow he took the punishment, which because of our sin was meant to be ours, on himself: replacing us at the last minute because of his love.
Like all the best stories although the work was done the story continued with the resurrection. The work and the story continue in us as we find our way to Jesus and experience that new life for ourselves.
“It is finished!” the last words of the story of our salvation but not the last words of our relationship with God through Jesus.
I hope that you find you place in God’s story this Easter time and that you remain, like me, a work in progress.