Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is verse 6 of the epistle lesson Philippians 1:2-11

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

There are people that begin many things yet finish very few of them. They are usually awesome at beginning things. They get things going with great enthusiasm and efficiency. They have every intention of completing everything they start but unfortunately it seems they finish few of them. Do you know someone like this; is it possible it is you? Unfortunately leaving many things unfinished does not inspire confidence that any task will ever be completed. The self help gurus have helpful tips like "Let go of perfectionism," "Set a deadline," "Limit yourself in all kinds of ways," and "Make it light, don’t create problems and complications in your mind." These sound like good ideas. I know I’ve had perfectionism stall a wood working project or two.

God is just the opposite. He finishes everything He begins. He delivers on every promise He makes. As a result, Paul can say to the Christians at Philippi that he is confident that He who begins a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Let’s take a look at God’s track record that inspires Paul’s confidence. In the Garden of Eden, satan is more crafty than any other beast of the field that God made. He confuses and tempts Eve. Adam and Eve rebelled against God by partaking of the fruit. God told Adam and Eve they would die if they ate the fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden. God finished what He began. Before they ate the fruit they would have lived eternally with God and now they would die. God promised to put enmity between the offspring of the serpent and man. He promised Jesus would be bruised by satan yet He would crush satan’s head. We know God finished what He began, He fulfilled that promise; satan bruised Jesus’ heal when He died on the cross. Satan’s head was crushed when Jesus rose victoriously from the dead. Promise fulfilled, beginning finished.

In Christ’s mission satan tried to prevent the cross. He tried to change what God began. He tempted Jesus with worldly things that he thought would benefit Him personally. Man sure didn’t make Christ’s mission easy either. Herod tried to kill Jesus by killing all the newborn males. The people misunderstood His mission; they thought He came to be king. After He fed the 5,000 the crowd was about to take Him by force to make Him king. Even one of His own, Peter attempted to derail His mission by protesting Christ’s suffering at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes leading to His death on the cross. As if it was bad enough that one of His closest followers tried to derail His mission, the very people He came to save mocked Him while he was dying on the cross. They didn’t understand what God began and was about to finish.

Christ completed what God began in His crucifixion and resurrection. Christ made the world right through His righteous death and defeat over death when He rose victorious on the third day.

In Philippi God completed what He began. He began a good work by sending Paul to them. The seed was planted by the Gospel and nurtured by the Gospel through the Spirit, Paul, and Timothy. Their nurturing sustained the good work in Philippi. We know from the examples already given that God finishes what He begins and Philippi is no exception. Through God, the faith of the believers in Philippi will grow to completeness. Another way to look at it is God perfects their faith. Please notice who I say is doing the action. It is always God that finishes what He began. If it was up to man we would fail; in Philippi and today.

God completed what He began. He didn’t need the tips of the self help gurus. He didn’t need to "Let go of perfectionism" He is perfectionism. He lived the perfect life which we cannot. He was the perfect sacrifice once and for all. He didn’t need to "Set a deadline" in order to accomplish what He began. He did it in His time and for all time. God surely didn’t "Limit himself in all kinds of ways," He became man yet He is still God. He is both man and God. This last one "Make it light, don’t create problems and complications in your mind" is actually kind of a funny tip. If God had made it light He never would have gone to the cross. We read about the shear agony He went through the night before in the garden of Gethsemane. He had so many problems and complications there was blood coming out of His pores. Now that is problems and complications. God took on all these challenges and finished what He began. He saved the world. He saved you. You have forgiveness of your sins and you will spend an eternity in the presence of Jesus because of Jesus death and resurrection. He finished it. He even declared it from the cross, "it is finished."

God brings His good work to you today. Through your baptism He completed the drowning of the old Adam and created a new creation in Christ. He finished creating that new creation through the water and the Word. He finished what He began. Your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life with the Father.

He continues to work toward your completeness of faith through the Word. Through daily reading, studying, and hearing your faith becomes more complete. He is working His good work in you.

We remember and celebrate His completed task of taking our sins on himself to the cross when we come to His table and receive His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. I want you to be clear; we remember and celebrate a completed task. You can have the same confidence Paul had when he was writing to the Philippians. God has fulfilled His promise; your sins are forgiven because He loves you.

This is the season of Advent, the advent of Jesus as a baby in the arms of Mary. We look with anticipation to the celebration of His birth. His birth is a beginning. You have confidence that God finished what He began. You have forgiveness of your sins! There is a larger picture of what God began. He began this world with the Garden of Eden in a state of perfection. We messed His perfect world up and He is bringing His world to completeness or perfection soon. He will bring us home to be with Him and create a new heaven and a new earth when He comes again at His Second Advent. He will finish what He began. You can be confident! God finishes what He begins.

There are people who start many things and complete few. There are people who promise many things and deliver few results. When it comes to what God has begun, Paul’s confidence can also be our confidence. "He who began a good work in you will perfect it, complete it, bring it to completion, and FINISH IT at the day of Jesus Christ!

Amen.