Working Out My Salvation

 

So then my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.  Philippians 2:12-13

 I was a homeschool mom for fifteen years. I taught four kids, three of them until they went to Running Start (a community college/high school mashup) in eleventh grade. The fourth I taught until God finally got through to me that I was not the best teacher for him. That was a hard lesson to learn, but not what I’m trying to share today, so, moving on. When I began teaching my children, I had this Americana image of giving them their little lessons and having them sit at their desk doing them while I worked on lesson plans at mine. Spoiler alert, that’s not how it went at all.

 Turns out, kids learn better if you do their lessons alongside them. By the end, we typically sat around the dining room table together so I could be present with whoever needed something. I would check in on how things were going, or they could ask questions if they got stuck. If I saw them doing something completely wrong, I could stop them and go over the lesson again, typically in a new way, rather than have them reinforce the wrong way in their mind by doing it over and over again.

 It's this image that I have in my mind this morning as I read today’s verses. We are given our lesson, our thing to learn, our task: continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence. Notice it doesn’t say, “Continue working on your salvation,” or, “toward your salvation.” It says, “Working out your salvation.” Now that we are saved, we need to learn how to live in that. How do I live, work, eat, relate, breathe like a saved person? The Bible tell us we have been “born again” and we are a “new creation.” Just as a baby needs to learn to roll over, sit up, crawl, and then, finally, embarks upon a stumbling walk, we too need to go through these phases. We can’t jump straight into cross country running any more than a toddler could.

 Our verses go on to say, “for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.” God knew we couldn’t hit the ground running and we’d need to be trained in this new life. For that matter, He knew that the training would be ongoing until we find perfection with Him in Heaven. Those kids I homeschooled are adults now, but that doesn’t mean I’m not their Mom anymore or that they no longer need me. Parenting continues with adult children, just in very different ways. I am no longer telling them what to do or creating boundaries between them and the world. I can no longer protect them from harm in the ways I sought to so desperately when they were little. But they still come to me to work things out. “What should I do about this situation?” “How do you cook this thing?” “Could you pray for me with this challenge?" I still get to be there for them, I’m still their Mom. I don’t get to sit at the table with them, doing their lesson alongside them (well I usually don’t anyways), but I’m still a part of things. I’m not in charge of figuring out their curfew or whether it’s a good idea for them to spend the night at their friend’s house. But I am in charge of praying for them for those things. They have transitioned into a new phase of life where they are more directly responsible for listening to the Holy Spirit, instead of having me as an interpreter or an amplifier. But just as I am still their Mom, still living alongside them in whatever capacity is befitting their life stage, God is still walking alongside me in the same way. I believe I’ve made it past the crawling, stumbling, walking phase and now I’m working on my endurance (although I recognize that I could be totally wrong on this!). Just like my parenting of my children has changed as they have become adults, how God works with and directs me has changed as well.

 As adults, my kids have had to own their own stuff. They pay their own bills. They are responsible for getting to work on time without me hauling them out of bed. They take their own medicine – they even have to remember to go to the store and pick it up! They no longer have me reminding (nagging?) them to do what they are supposed to. Similarly, my relationship with God has changed from Him having to follow me around and remind me about what to do and not to do all the time, to me coming to Him with questions. “Father, what is the best way forward with this situation?” “Jesus, please fill me with love for this person.” “Holy Spirit, show me how to react and interact in this environment, please.”

Here's the Thing: Just like my kids still come back to me for advice and how-tos, I need to come to my Heavenly Father for guidance, and I can trust that He is always walking alongside me, sitting next to me at the dining room table as I do my lessons.

Abiding in Jesus

Introduction

1. Week 1: Trusting the Gardener's Work
1. John 15:1 - Seven Things Jesus Is
2. John 15:2 - Pinch Those Suckers Out!
3. Philippians 2:12-13 - Working Out My Salvation
4. Matthew 5:16 - Stay Salty!
5. 1 John 1:6 - Walking in Relationship
2. Week 2: Bearing Lasting Fruit
1. John 15:3-4
2. John 15:5
3. John 15:6
4. Psalm 1:2-3
5. Galatians 5:22
3. Week 3: Abiding in Jesus Through His Word
1. John 15:7-8
2. John 8:31-32
3. Psalm 119:9-11
4. Psalm 119:15-16
5. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
4. Week 4: Abiding in Jesus Through Obedience
   
1. John 15:9-10
2. James 1:22
3. 1 John 3:24
4. Matthew 7:24-25
5. John 14:23-24
5. Week 5: Abiding in Jesus Through Love
1. John 15:11-12
2. John 15:13-14
3. 1 John 4:10
4. 1 John 4:11-12
5. Romans 12:9-13
6. Week 6: Chosen and Commissioned by Christ to Bear Fruit
1. John 15:15
2. John 15:16
3. Ephesians 2:10
4. Galatians 6:9
5. John 15:17

Wrap-Up