This week sees many schools starting again, and this affects the lives of many children, young people and their families, and all those whose work connects with them.
Everyone will be hoping that term starts well, and there is an inevitable nervousness about the need for a good start.
But a difficult start may not be the disaster we imagine.
Finishing well is more important.
St. Paul was aware of the way in which Jesus finished well, and he contrasts that with what happened before.
'Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.' (Philippians 2.5-11)
Within our culture, there is a great pressure to be seen to be doing well, and to be on top of the pile. But this was not how Jesus lived. He was content to be ignored and despised. He lived out his life of active service of others, in line with the will of God. He took it all the way to dying for people like us. That didn't look very impressive. But that wasn't the end of the story, as we know.
But the ending delivered by God changed all of that.
We can know a quiet confidence today that the same God who raised Jesus from shame to glory, from death to life, is at work in and through us, as we lay our lives before him, and bow the knee to Jesus, and confess him as our Lord and leader.
Then we too will finish well.
Best wishes,
Richard
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