1 Unfinished Business Deuteronomy 34:1-12; 1 Thess. 2:1-8 Rev. David Hutchinson Sunday, October 29, 2017 I love FINISHING a project - - and looking back - - on something I have completed - - or accomplished. / Everything wrapped up neatly - - no loose ends. / All done. / Good work. When I finished making some BOOKSHELVES - - years ago - - I stood - and I just - - looked at them for five minutes. / The next day - I went into the garage - just to see them again. / Standing there all finished. And - - whether it s finishing - a piece of WRITING - - - - a completed LETTER to a friend - - - - a successful PARTY - remembered - just after the last guests leave - - - - or the end of a RACE - - - - the top of a hill - at the end of a long CLIMB - - - - or - - a graduation - - from school - - - - - There is something SATISFYING - about FINISHING something. / Maybe that s because - so much of our lives - - - continue to remain - UNFINISHED. / Things - - relationships - - people - - situations - - - - - keep CHANGING. / They CONTINUE to need our attention. It s the nature of life. Unfinished business - - is everywhere. We re involved in PROJECTS - that take months - - - - we re members of organizations - that are ongoing. For example: once you re - - a PARENT - you re ALWAYS a parent - - so I am told.
2 Your husband - or wife - - changes! Your RELATIONSHIP is never neatly wrapped up - - - it s always in need of - - - some - - attention. The CAT-LITTER-BOX - - is NEVER - - clean - - It s the nature of life. Unfinished business is everywhere. We just got the church painted and reroofed! / So we won t have to do that again. Do you think that s what they thought when the LAST roof was put on? It s just a matter of time. Unfinished business is everywhere in life. And if you AGREE - - with THAT statement - - - then maybe this morning s Scripture Readings - - are - - - completely UN--surprising. / In the Bible - - as well as in life - - - there is UNfinished business. And that s fine - - - except - - - - - - unfinished business - can be - UNsettling. / And most of the time - we want MORE from the Bible - - and God - - than we find in our own lives. / Don t we?? / I know that I want - a sense that somehow - - in the END - - God is there. / God is at work - - and tying things up - - eventually. And I think we DO get that - - if we THINK about the readings - - for this morning. / But - - - AT - FIRST reading - I am struck more strongly - by the UNfinished business. In the book of Exodus - we read the story - of how Moses life came to an end - - - on the top of a mountain. / There was ONE MORE good climb left in his 120 year old legs. / After all that wandering in the wilderness - - Moses was still - strong.
3 Lots of people settled down - into the honor and rest - of old age - - at 80 or 90 years old. But there was Moses - - in his 120 year old body - - - climbing - - - to the SUMMIT - - of a high mountain! / You d think that would get him something! From the top of the mountain - - - Moses would see - - - the land - - - that he had ALWAYS seen. / In his mind s eye - - - as a VISION - - - given to him by God - - he had continued to see the Promised Land. / And he had LED the people of Israel. / And NOW - - - in reality - - - there was the land. / For real! / Through the mist - and off in the distance. / Standing on his TIPTOES - - - Moses glimpsed - - - the land - - which was the destination of his people. But he would never go there. We are told - - that Moses would never complete the journey - - because he had disobeyed God - - earlier in his life. / ok But that seems like only PART of the story. It certainly seems a little - - UNFAIR: After all - - the people of Israel - had disobeyed God FAR MORE than Moses. / And they would CONTINUE to do so. And THEY got to go into this land. Why does Moses - have to leave his life s work UNfinished? Maybe the answer is - - - that THAT is the NATURE - of the work. God s promise - to Moses - - was for the generations to come. / That the people would share this promise. / Moses work - - was not HIS work. / It was not just for him alone. And no one can BOTH - lead a people into a promised FUTURE - - AND finish their future up - for them You can lead a horse to water but well you know.
4 Moses BIGGEST challenge - - is the challenge of - - having the COURAGE - - - - to start something - - - - - that he KNEW - he could NOT FINISH. It is the challenge of church leadership - from then to now. We are called by God - - to PASS ON - - - the church - - - and the Gospel. / And that work - - is the work - - of having the courage - to start - - - what someone ELSE will finish. To finish what you can but to ALSO leave some things unfinished. TO stay OPEN ended about the future. Open to God - - in the future. It s the challenge - - of leadership - - and of parenting and of marriage - - - - and of friendship - - - and of much of life. It s what HOPE is all about. If you have NO hope - you just focus on NOW. / Get things done and then BE done. But HOPE - - is about the FUTURE. Paul - - in his letter the Thessalonians - - - our New Testament reading for this morning - - - held out a great HOPE - - for the church he had started in Thessalonica. In the book of Acts - chapter 17 - - - we can read about how Paul and Silas worked in Thessalonica - - and were thrown OUT of the town by angry authorities - - thrown out - - - - before their work was finished. / In Paul s letter - - he wrote to encourage the leaders of that church - - - to CONTINUE - the UNFINISHED work - - - of building the church. Paul wrote to give THANKS for them. / For how they were an EXAMPLE to others. / And to encourage them - - - in the face of what he knew was GREAT opposition.
5 Paul had to know - - as he wrote the letter - - that he might not ever see them again. / But whether he DID - or not - - - - what was important - - was continuing the WORK that they had started. / The work of building the church - - and spreading love and hope - - and the message of the Gospel - - of the RISEN Lord. It is such GREAT work - that we are ALL called to. It s described by Jesus - - in two great commandments: Love the Lord your God - - and love your neighbor - as yourself It is work that is in fact SO great - - that it is NEVER finished. If God HAD led Moses into the promised land - - the story would have been WRAPPED up NEATLY. / We could read it - - comfortably. But because it ended - - unfinished - - - with Moses standing there - - looking across - - - - - people of faith - - - have to deal - - - - for all eternity - - - - - - with the UNfinished-ness - - - of the life of faith. And - - in that un-finished-ness lies the HOPE - - for the future. The life we live - - as faithful people - - - - - - is NEVER - - EVER - - just our OWN life. We are part of a story - - - in which God has ALWAYS been at work - - a story that STRETCHES for CENTURIES - - - - and will continue to do so - - - even after us. The challenges and failures and mistakes along the way do not END the story. But that can NEVER be a reason to RELAX from the life of faith. Instead - - it is to realize that living the life of faith - - - is NEVER over. I ran across several stories which illustrate this point:
6 This first story is called Mrs. Beulah s Invitations In the first story - George - - worked in a garage owned by Mrs. Beulah and her husband. Every Monday - Mrs. Beulah would greet George by saying, Good Morning, George, where were you yesterday? / We missed you in church. / You re always welcome to come with us. He knew she was sincere - - but he hardly ever responded - even verbally. She never said much MORE than that - - but each week she did the same thing. After George got married - he took another job. / But even then - when Mrs. Beulah saw him at the store - or the post office - - she would ask how he was - - and invite him to church. Week after week George - - eventually - - had a family. Mrs. Beulah congratulated him - and added The Lord - and the congregation - could help you raise those children. Eventually Mrs. Beulah died. After her death - George MISSED - her weekly invitations. In fact - - he missed them enough - - to ATTEND a worship service. Out of respect for Mrs. Beulah - of course. But something happened there. / George has supported the church ever since. He s a regular attender - - a tither - - and an elder. And the congregation - gives thanks - - for the work Mrs. Beulah STARTED - - - but could not finish.
7 It would have been EASY - to give up - - early on - - - after a few ignored invitations. / But she remained FRIENDLY - and interested. / Not overbearing - but always there. / It would have been easy to quit - - thinking that her work was finished. / But it is often - - not the FIRST breath - - we utter - - - but the SECOND breath - - that counts. Robert C. Morris describes the beginning of his PRAYER life - this way: I didn t BEGIN to pray - in a steady - daily way - - - until I gave up all attempts - at a prayer life. / I tried schemes - - regular daily routines - - BUT - ALWAYS - - eventually, my habit of NO habit - - - reasserted itself. Life was just too pressured - unfinished - unpredictable - - to carve out a space for prayer. Then one day - rushing and behind schedule - - - I stubbed my toe - on the stairs. / I breathed a frustrated CURSE - - - and realized I was PRAYING. Not that it was a very GOOD prayer - - but ornery as it was - - - it was a prayer. / A kind of prayer. / A groan - from the heart. O God - - I mused - - well - - if I m praying - why not go all the way? So - - on the SECOND breath - - I repeated - - in a more FRIENDLY way O GOD. On the third breath - I heard myself - pray with feeling. And instead of CURSING - - I was BLESSING. O God - - bless my aching toe - - - and bless my spirits - - - And the issue was NOT - - whether the FIRST breath was a curse - - or in frustration - - - - but the KEY was in - - - - - - what I chose to do with the SECOND breath. The second breath moment - - was a movement - - from cursing to blessing.
8 The second breath is recognizing - - that something is STARTING - in you - - - - that will not be FINISHED - - for a while. And maybe it s OK - - or even GOOD - - - - to leave some things UNFINISHED. What is your unfinished business? What would it be like to unfinish a thing or two that needs a little more work? To leave - - a few things - - open - to the Spirit - - - - not to wrap them up according to OUR way - - - - but to seek God s way - - - God s often unfinished - - way. The way of hope. Amen.