Almost one year ago Vanessa and I bought our first house here in Prince George.
After spending many years renting and house sharing with other people we finally had a place to call our own.
Even before we moved into the house we began to imagine what the house could be.
A splash of paint in the bedroom, a new room downstairs, some tile in the boot room and definitely a new floor in the workshop.
In our minds we had an ambitious idea of what could be done.
Then we moved in.
A year later we find ourselves with half done projects through out the house.
And even the projects that are done mean that another one starts up.
But I have to admit that there is something rewarding about finishing something.
Whether that’s a quilt, new kitchen cabinets, freshly baked bread or a sold house, taking something from start to finish gives a real feeling of satisfaction.
Life is full of projects and goals that we’re working towards, some short, some small, some long, some big.
We gain some real worth from taking on a challenge and overcoming it.
The problem is the satisfaction seems fleeting.
One goal reached is another one set.
The end of one race is the beginning of a new one.
This is the way it seems to go with these house renovations along with most other goals in life.
The minute I stand back after putting the last brush of paint on the wall I seem to see a light fixture that needs replacing or a tap that needs tightening.
Even when I do finish something I never feel complete.
Life is a search for completeness, for wholeness.
Albert Einstein knew this well.
Even the most concrete things like mathematics and it’s finished equations, still failed to provide completeness.
Einstein would start with a problem.
A problem presented meant one thing.
A solution had to be found.
And so the journey began.
Soon he would be sucked down the rabbit’s hole, away from wife and child, into a world of numbers.
And there he would stay, shutting of all other life in search of the answer, the formula that would make it all clear.
There’s no doubt that he discovered amazing things in that rabbit’s hole.
The Theory of Relativity, E=MC2, the Theory of Critical Opalescence and scads more.
He became one of the most well known scientists in our time.
That’s no small accomplishment.
But was his work ever done?
Did the answer bring finality?
Did his restless heart ever find rest?
Saint Augustine of Hippo talked about this very thing.
He talked about a restless heart within all of us.
It’s a sense that no matter how far we make it, no matter what we accomplish, there is always a restless part within us that drives us forward in a never-ending race.
Jesus has come to the end of his race on this Good Friday.
He spent time with his family, friends and followers on this 33-year journey.
He’s healed the sick, shown compassion to the poor and stood up against injustice.
And now after all that, after finishing one task and moving on to another he’s come to his final to do on the list.
Number 1856 – Die.
As he hangs there on the cross, getting ready to draw his final breath he says, “It is finished.”
Then he bows his head and gives up his Spirit.
And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
The tomb.
Darkness
Death.
A finality, a finishing, a doneness that cannot be denied.
The finishing of life.
But there is more to this finishing.
It’s finished, yes but Jesus is also saying that it’s complete.
Not finished, that’s over now on to the next thing, but finished, it’s complete, what needed to be accomplished has been done.
It’s a finality with purpose, not a life cut short in mid stream.
For us death is the moment when all the striving ceases, when what you began cannot be finished.
For God death is not a barrier to future accomplishments but a means to an even greater purpose, to make all things complete.
So what restless longings are you sitting with here today?
Is it a career that needs building?
Is it a retirement fund that is almost at the right level?
Is it longing for relationship?
What future do you look towards, all the while not seeing the present that’s right in front of you?
For all of us today these words are given.
“It is finished, it is complete.”
Are you done building your career?
No
Do you have enough retirement funds?
Probably never
Have those relationships you deeply long for happened.
Not all of them.
We are a restless people, dessert wanderers, looking for the water that gives life, for the bread that will fill us up.
As Augustine said “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
“Our hearts are restless until they rest in God through Jesus.”
My friends on this Maundy Thursday, on this quiet evening, your hearts are resting in your Saviour, just as they were before you came in the door and after you leave.
It is already complete.
All that needed to be done has been done.
It is finished.
Amen
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