We encounter it repeatedly in the account of the living God’s creation of his world and then, at the end, finally and climatically we hear God’s evaluation of all that he’d made:

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” — Genesis 1:31

Have you ever wondered what it would require to receive that sort of evaluation of yourself? of your own life? of your own work?

Pastor Borchert tells the story of when he was serving as a young (and likely insecure) pastor. After preaching one morning, an older, much more experienced Dutch pastor (”domini” as they are called in the Dutch tradition) came to him and said, “You did good, boy; you did good.” Pastor Borchert treasures that man’s evaluation of his life and ministry even to this day.

As wonderful as such comments are coming from people we love and admire, what would it be like to receive such a comment from the God who himself is the standard by which “goodness” is known? What would it take to receive such an evaluation from such a God as that? Such reflection is no mere parlor game; it is this question that drives us every day in our life and work as men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, teachers, managers, customer service providers: it is all driven by the passion to receive that evaluation from someone, “Well done.” And it is not limited to the product, but it encompasses the manner in which the product has been produced: we want to know not only that we “got the job done” but that we did it in a way that was pleasing.

This question was at the heart of the struggle facing the Christian believers gathered in Colossae. Like us, they were being inundated with all kinds of strategies and methods for securing the “Well Done” of God’s evaluation. Paul prayed that they “may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him …” Paul’s letter is offered as part of the means of God’s answer to that prayer: “in my Son, you have been made pleasing to me.” (Col 2:6-19) “Well done.”

Since, then, we have been evaluated by God in Christ and received his pleasurable report, “Good!,” let us come and revel together in the presence of his goodness, giving praise to the abounding generosity of his mercy poured out in Jesus by which we have been made pleasing to him.

Order of Worship for 07.19.09