It’s a phrase from the quiz show, Mastermind. The contestants have a limited amount of time to answer questions before a klaxon sounds. If the host has started reading the question when it sounds, he says, “I’ve started, so I’ll finish” and finishes the question.
Why is that relevant? Because even though time has run out, that which has been started is able to be finished.
On the third Sunday of advent, some churches celebrate the prophets, the ones who spoke about God’s redemption plan. They are the ones who wrote the promises of the coming saviour, how he would be recognised, and what he was going to do. They held on to the hope of that saviour even when things around them looked dire, even when there was silence and it seemed so impossible.
And then around 400 years after the last of the prophets (or at least, the ones in the bible – there is a out 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament) a virgin gave birth to a son in David’s town of Bethlehem where he was laid in a manger. He was visited by wise men from the east who followed a star foretelling the birth of the king of the Jews, called in to Herod on the way and as a result a whole generation of boys were killed. All of this is foretold in the prophets words.
The redemption plan has started.
But then we look to Easter and Jesus is crucified. It’s like the klaxon, time is up. Except…
Except that’s not where the story ends. Jesus comes backs to life. The redemption plan isn’t complete. There’s more to come. Jesus tells of a time of war, of famine, of natural disasters, but to hold on to faith and hope because its not finished yet. The promise of redemption, of eternal life, of things still to come still stand. They are all part of God’s plan, a plan I don’t pretend to understand, but a plan made by one I trust.
Today, we look at promises made, remember promises kept and those still to come. We remember the bigger plan. And we remember that it’s not the end.
God’s started, so he will finish.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 