I Am Under Construction

I AM UNDER CONSTRUCTION

by

Pastor M.L. Maughmer, Jr.

TEXT:- Philippians 1:1-6 “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this, that he who begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.

SUBJECT:- “I AM UNDER CONSTRUCTION”

Depending on who you talk to, construction zones are not the places of peace and contentment. They are chaotic and dangerous. Most people will say that they are messed up places, dangerous places, and oftentimes unsightly places to look at. Construction zones have lots of bumps, lane changes, starts and stops, backed up delays, and falling hazards, they are dirty, noisy, disorganized confused untidy hectic and disgusting places. However, if you are talking to the Architect they will say that the construction zone is beautiful despite of all of the chaos that is going on because they envision what the end product is going to be they know that what they are looking at is the process of progress.

My wife and I watch a show called Property Brothers and they take a couple and show them a house and how they can transform that house into their dream home. Most of the people will say I can’t see how you are going to take this space and turn it into my dream home, but the Property Brothers envision what the end product will look like and then they work to bring that vision into reality. The process of bringing that vision into reality is construction the house is the construction zone. I am under construction.

OPENING:- Contrary to how it may look to you right now. In-spite of what it may appear like to you. Regardless of the smile I may have on my face and prayerfully the delightful, compassionate, and loving disposition I try to portray. Beyond the suit and tie - I don’t have it all together. You see me standing here and I pray that what you see is good. However, what you don’t see and don’t understand is that what you are looking at standing here behind this sacred desk is a work in progress you are looking at a construction zone. There is some hazardous material that is falling here there is some hammering and drilling going on. There is some stuff that is taking place in the construction zone that actually should cause me to wear a sign around my neck that says Danger Construction Zone Keep Away. I am under construction I don’t have it all together but please be patient with me God is not through with me yet. Paul said it like this “I count not myself to have apprehended…” in other words I’m not there yet, yes I am better than what I was but I am not yet what I shall be and in some people’s eyes I may even seem like a chaotic mess. But 1 John 3:2 says “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” I am in the process of progress - I am under construction. As I said I am better than what I was but I am not yet what I shall be.

Truthfully we are all in the process of progress. We are at different levels in the process and our progress is different, however, we all are under construction!

CONSTRUCTION:- the process of putting something together, building something for the purpose of something else. People build houses to live in, stores to shop at, stadiums to have sporting events etc.

PROGRESS:- a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage: growth or development; continuous improvement: the development of an individual or society in a direction considered more beneficial than and superior to the previous level, for example there is good, better, best.

WATCH THIS:- good is o.k. but it is not as great as better, and better although is greater than good fails in comparison to best. If you have been sick and then one day you feel good, the next day you feel better than yesterday, and the next day you are at your best that is the process of progress.

The problem with progress is that progress can be fatal until the process is completed or finished. Finished always seems to be so far away. In our house in the basement next to the washer and dryer we have a table, this table collects all the clothes as we pull them out of the dryer. Because we don’t often fold the clothes the moment they come out of the dryer this table builds up until the clothes are almost up to the ceiling. My wife and I hate when we finally decide it’s time to fold the clothes because before we are finished – finished seems to be so far off.