As I was walking a wedding party from the fellowship hall towards the sanctuary narthex recently, we made our way past the library and I apologized for the current state of our building, explaining that major work is underway to repair water damage and renovate our facility. The grandfather of the groom said, without missing a beat, “No problem. We are all undergoing renovation in Christ.”
That wise grandfather nailed it. We are all undergoing renovation. And anyone who has remained in a house while it is undergoing significant renovation knows how difficult and taxing that can be. At LMPC, we have already endured a significant season of renovation. But it will soon get even more challenging as the renovation work begins to make its way inside. Even harder than exterior renovation is interior renovation while you still have to live in that space. This season will be all the more challenging because we will have to endure the mess, inconvenience, discomfort, and noise until the work is done. Sounds like discipleship, doesn’t it? This really will be a picture of us all spiritually—as disciples of Jesus, we are all undergoing renovation of heart and life AND we have to live with ourselves through the process. This is called sanctification.
In his book Broken-Down House, Paul Tripp speaks to this very reality: “Sin has ravaged the beautiful house that God created. This world bears only the faintest resemblance to what it was built to be. It sits slumped, disheveled, in pain, groaning for the restoration that can only be accomplished by the hands of him who built it in the first place. The Bible clearly tells us that the divine Builder cannot and will not leave his house in its present pitiful condition. He has instituted a plan of restoration, and he will not relent until everything about his house is made totally new again. That is the good news. The bad news is that you and I are living right in the middle of the restoration. Things seem to get messier, uglier, and less functional all the time. But that’s the way it is with restoration; things generally get worse before they get better.”
Renovation involves endless mess. Sanctification is a process of walking through the endless mess of sin upon our lives, relationships, church, and world. Until glorification, when Jesus comes to fully and finally makes all things new, we will meander our way through many construction sites in our lives. All the noise, chaos, sweat, and stress that will accompany our physical repairs is but a shadow of Paul’s instructions to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
Already in the renovation work at LMPC, we have encountered ugly discoveries that we didn’t expect or anticipate. Again, this is a lesson in sanctification. By his Spirit, Jesus constantly leads us to surprising discoveries about bad things that really are in our hearts and minds. In his last letter (not his first), Paul said he was the chief of all sinners because he was constantly discovering more of his sin, but with hope in the grace of his Savior. From this and our own building repairs, we will learn that we simply will not be renovated without revelation beyond what we can see with our eyes. So, as we peel the walls and stone away and find bad conditions, remember Jack Miller’s words, “The gospel means that we are worse than we think, but God’s grace in Jesus is better than we could ever imagine.” May the unending hidden ugliness remind us to heed John’s admonition “to guard our hearts from idols” (1 John 5:21). There is certainly unending mess to discover in the heart of every follower of Jesus. But there is hope.
There is hope in the long and hard journey of renewal. In Romans 8, Paul says that not only are believers justified, but also glorified. Interestingly, he puts the word glorified in the past tense. He could have said that we will be glorified. But he gave us hope that, because of the finished work of Jesus, our glorification can be viewed as an absolute reality. As Paul Tripp further says, “But let us also see that this world of ours is more than a broken-down house. It is a broken-down house in the process of being restored.” We have a confident anticipation that restoration of our place at LMPC will take place. But honestly, we do not have absolute and full assurance. However, when it comes to the renovation of our hearts and lives by the Spirit, know this: redemptive hope and renewed beauty are absolutely sure in Christ. 1 John 3:2-3 gives this assurance: “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” We shall be like him!
Throughout the journey of sanctification and much like our process of physical restoration, we will be prone to wonder if the job will ever get finished. We will long for rest from the mess and may hope to escape the chaos. When we are tempted to focus only on the difficulties associated with physical renewal, let us all use each and every occasion to look at the reality of the renovation of our hearts and lives. The parallels and lessons for our sanctification will be clear and plentiful. And let us endure with hope. For after all, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Renovation is an endless mess with ugly discoveries but not without hope. He will complete the work—our restoration and renewal is sure.
