“Under Construction”

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, named such to remember when Jesus marched into the city and the people cut palm branches and made a “red carpet” of sorts so that the Lord could enter in majesty. The tragedy is that only a few days later He was arrested, placed on trial, found guilty, and put up for execution.  Good Friday, as it is called, was the same week as Palm Sunday.

            There is such irony in this fact.  James speaks of something similar in his short letter near the end of the New Testament when he writes, “Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, it ought not to be so.”

            Here is what James is saying, and what we saw in the closeness of Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Our lives are often filled with contradictions.  Some people refuse to attend church because they claim that churches are filled with hypocrites.

            My response to that is to say, “Yes. What’s your point?” The church is filled with people, and people are sinful, and that includes you and me.  As hard as we may try, we simply don’t get it right all the time.  We say things and do things that we know we should not say and do. We feel bad about it, and we try to change.

            Here’s the thing about that.  We can’t change in our own power. But I am reminded that Jesus said, “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” In other words, the Holy Spirit can help us to change.

            Mrs. Ruth Graham once said that her life was like many of the roads in her native North Carolina. It was, “Under Construction,” and only to be completed when she passed from this life to the next. What a great description!

            And it is true for you and for me. Yes, we do sometimes contradict what we believe with what we do. But we are in the process of becoming more like Jesus every day.  I hope that is true for you. And I hope you will remember the words to the song.

            “He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be…how loving and patient He must be. He’s still working on me.”