Under Construction
Renovations, building projects, road construction, car repairs, natural disasters, budgets, homework or even knee surgery; the “Under Construction Stage”of life. If you have lived any amount of time on this earth, you have experienced the stress of the “Under Construction” period of life.
Recently, Shanna and I moved into a rental house in Shinyanga, Tanzania. It is beautiful. The rooms are spacious and the yard looks like paradise, and yet there is much room for improvement. As with most houses, there are some things that needed to be tinkered with in order to make it a home. Our recent tinkering included hot water heaters and air conditioners; essentials for us Americans. After going through the motions of buying materials and securing workers for the renovations, we began to experience the period known as the “Under Construction Stage”. It wasn’t pretty. Let’s just say that the sinner/saint complexities were on full display.
In Lutheran theology—the phrase "under construction" may fit well with the classic doctrine of simul iustus et peccator, meaning "simultaneously justified and a sinner." What this means is that a Christian is 100% saint because of Christ's righteousness, and yet at the same time 100% sinner because the old, broken human nature remains active until death. The Apostle Paul speaks of this struggle in Romans 7:21-25 when he says…
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The reality of sin is like the stark reminder that your house is never perfectly clean. You are always in the “Under Construction Stage”. This is not a self-improvement stage. You may think you are getting better, but the reality is that you are “captive to the law of sin that dwells in (your) members.” You can scour the cabinets, scrub the floors, dust your lampshades and the Lord’s white glove test will still reveal your selfish, fleshly nature. His Word will show you that you still rebel against Him every day.
Across from our house there is some other construction going on. It is on the Seminary campus where we will be teaching. On this campus there is also a Lutheran Church that gathers throughout the week to receive God’s gifts. Currently this church worships in a shabby room with cracks in the walls and paint that is chipping away. The seats are uncomfortable and the space is cramp. However, a few hundred yards away this church has begun laying the foundation of what they hope to see as a future church building that will deliver God’s forgiveness into the future. You see, they have experienced in their current shabby church building God’s delivery system of forgiveness through Word and Sacrament. Weekly they hear from their pastor that they are righteous through Christ. Even in the midst of their “Under Construction Lives” the pastor proclaims that they are completely righteous (“justified”) by grace through faith because Jesus took their sin and credited His perfection upon them. Because of this good news that they have received, they are going through the difficult “Church Building Construction Stage” so that many more into the future may receive what they cling to each week.
As with most construction projects there is a daily dying and rising that must go on. The Christian life is daily repentance—drowning the old sinful nature in baptism and letting the new person rise through Christ. It is during this “Under Construction Stage” that we rely more completely on Christ as we recognize our brokenness. We always have a constant need for grace: Because construction is ever ongoing, you are encouraged to continually return to receive God's forgiveness through His Word and Sacraments (Absolution, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper). You are encouraged to daily die to sin and live for Christ. Look at what you receive now! Wouldn’t it be great for others to receive it like you?
In Christ Alone,
