He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
This spring while reading on topics related to my job in spiritual services, I discovered this phrase, “cathedrals in the making” in a book[1] written by an older leader to a different generation. The author used the phrase in the context of engaged couples starting a marriage and their family. As I contemplated the concept of a cathedral, I realized that the image could also apply to hearts. I adopted the phrase and have repurposed it a bit to help us understand the ongoing work happening in our lives as a result of God’s presence in our hearts.
Cathedrals are sacred spaces of art, of light, of worship, or word, and of history with spires and steeples, all of them pointing upward to the sky. When God is allowed to take possession of a heart, the same thing happens in our lives. We become a sacred space. We are his work of art full of light where the corridors of our souls resound with the song of worship. He redeems our past, speaks his word to us, and gives us a purpose. When we live for his glory, everything we do points up, to him, directing the vision of others to heaven.
In Paul’s writing to the Philippians, he counsels that this sort of grand work takes time. It doesn’t happen in a day or a week, or even at a pace we notice. Each morning and evening of our existence seems to frame another ordinary day of routine tasks and the same old conflicts. But in the midst of living, by making wise decisions large or small, and by staying in relationship with the Lord, he grows us until he expands us to greater levels of strength and of witness.
Theologians have a fancy word for this process called “sanctification.” Little by little, the Holy Spirit heals us, freeing us from addictions or destructive patterns. We walk a little closer to the Lord. We venture a little deeper with him in faith as part of a gracious journey that lasts our whole lives.
God is
faithful. He will complete the work he has begun. It takes years. We don’t
reach the destination where perfection awaits until our arrival in eternity.
But along the way, we can rest assured that we are cathedrals in the making. We
are becoming spaces of beauty that are works in progress bringing delight to
the Master Architect who constructs each one for a very special purpose.
[1] The Pastoral Care of Families by William Hulme. Published by Abingdon Press, 1962. The quote is taken from page 56.
