It was early in our marriage when money was tight that I saw the small table discarded by the side of the road. For anyone who had money, it wasn’t worth a second glance; but we were on a tight budget and furnishings of any kind were of interest to us. So I retrieved the broken table and carried it home.
I didn’t have many tools as I began the restoration project. Sandpaper, glue, and lots of elbow grease were employed to prepare the pitted surface. I also had to cut some wood to replace the top of the table which was in bad repair. I devoted several evenings getting the table prepared for finishing. I carefully smoothed the scars, the distressed surface, the dings and dents and then painstakingly applied wood stain. Once the surface was dry, I bought a brush and carefully applied varnish. Finishing a piece of furniture is a satisfying endeavor. To take something battered and broken and bring it back to usefulness is very rewarding.
That same table I reclaimed from the trash over forty years ago now sits next to the bed in our guest room—a place of honor for any who might visit.
I was thinking about that table the other day. In many ways, we all were once like that table. Discarded. Broken. In disrepair. In need of care. In need of finishing. We needed someone to lovingly rescue us from the trash heap. We needed someone to fix our broken pieces and replace that which was missing. We needed to be finished so we might sit in a place of honor in the Master’s house.
Finished is an interesting word. It has two definitions. It can mean to seal something with a protective coat. It can also mean “to complete” something. Sealed and completed – fascinating words, spiritually speaking.
Finished is the word Jesus used when He completed His mission of redemption. You recall His words as He hung from the cross: It is finished! And then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit (John 19:30).
The writer of Hebrews later uses the word finished as he encourages us to “look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
It’s this loving act of finishing we remember when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. We were scarred and broken, discarded and in need of repair; and Jesus lovingly rescued us and—because he finished His work and because He works to this day finishing us—one day we will find a place of honor in His house forever.