Antonina thinks I’m pretty weird sometimes. One of the things she just never understands is why I don’t do a better job cleaning the bathroom. I usually satisfy her standards when I clean the tub, or the toilet, but I can never make her happy when I clean the mirror. She is just too much of a perfectionist (which is really strange, because usually I am the perfectionist of the family)! I like to spray it down, and wipe it off. It’s good enough for me. But it’s not good enough for her. She will find a stray streak here, or a difficult deposit of who know what there, or a stubborn smudge wherever. I think they are just minor little things that don’t really make any difference, but to her they get in the way of a perfect reflection. Perhaps its because when she looks in the mirror she has something very nice to look at and I’d rather not see what I have to look at! Her mirror has to be perfect. She will take a paper towel and rub off every stingy spot. If she can’t get it with the paper towel, out come the fingernails. Then she sprays, wipes and buffs out every streak and smudge. No matter what I do, I just don’t care enough to get the mirror that perfect.
This week, I found myself staring at a set of texts, peering deeply into one of my streaked, spotted, and smudged mirrors (wishing that Antonina had cleaned it for me) trying to understand God’s message for us today: Hear the word of the Lord from 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2.
To a church in dire straits, Paul writes this compelling call - he puts forth this vivid vision. It is a call to and a vision of holiness. It is a call to and a vision of transfiguration. The two stories I shared with the children this morning are brought together in Paul’s desperate words to the church at Corinth. They were a church he planted. They were one of the great churches in one of the greatest cities. It would be similar to New York or Los Angeles. It was full of commerce and trade. It had a very active economy. It had a very international flavor due to its impressive port. It was growing and thriving. Yet the church wasn’t.
Being in such a city had definite advantages, but so too it had definite dangers. With the diverse influx of travelers from various places, came the religions of the various places. Because of the large population and the relative wealth of the city, false prophets and peddlers of snake oil thrived. Just as a car is much more susceptible to rust in wet climates than in dry, so too the church at Corinth had been highly susceptible to the dangers around it. The church began to tarnish. Its glossy paint job began to bubble. Despite Paul’s repeated warnings, the church continued in self-destructive ways.
Paul begins by reminding them of their story and the story of Christ. He reminds them who Christ is, and who they are. They are a new people living under a new covenant of grace. They all had veils over their hearts that kept them from a clear vision of God. But in Christ, the veil was removed. Christ has come and has removed the veil from their hearts so that they can see the splendor of the King. That is who they are. That is their story. They are sinners who have had the veil of sin removed. They are the church of God. They are the body of Christ. Now it is their mission to reflect the glory of the Lord, but they can’t because the mirror of their hearts has become corroded. It has become streaked. It’s become spotted - it’s become smudged. They no longer are able to really reflect God’s glory – to bear God’s image – in and to the world.
I’m a Corinthian. I look into my mirror and just ignore the spots. I ignore the smudges. I ignore the streaks. I look past them and they don’t really concern me. Antonina is a Paul. They understand that the mirror needs to reflect a perfect image. They understand that reflecting a perfect image is a lot of work. Just because the mirror was once shiny does not mean it will always be so. Keeping a mirror reflecting takes a lot of work. This is even clearer if we consider Paul’s understanding of a mirror. For us, a mirror is more like reflective glass. It is perfect the very fist time we take it home and pull off the protective film. Sure, we have to clean it from time to time, but it is what it is.
This is not so for Paul. For Paul and the Corinthians, a mirror was a piece of metal. Initially, it had no reflective qualities at all. But you can shine it and buff it. You can begin to see an image take shape. You can keep shining it and buffing it and polishing it. The image will continue to improve. This type of metal mirror took a lot of work. Not only did you have to polish it to make it shine, but you had to constantly be working against rust and tarnish. Metal does that you know. People were willing to do it. They were willing to do the work to produce a good image. Perhaps a mirror never would, in the owner’s lifetime, reflect a perfect image. Certainly if it got there, it would not stay that way without continuing hard work. Getting a good reflection was not and is not easy. Just ask our kids. I gave them all a piece of aluminum foil. They folded it and unfolded it so it was nice and crinkly. They have been working hard to rub out all the imperfections. Have any of you had any luck getting a better reflection? It takes a lot of work doesn’t it? Keep at it OK?
Paul’s concept of holiness is tied directly to his mirror imagery. Holiness requires Christ to do a lot of work in us. We were created in the perfect image of God, but sin distorted that image. Sin cast a veil between the Father and us. Through Christ, the veil has been removed and we can enter the presence of God. By Christ, we live a life of holiness, being transformed from glory to glory. Christ is constantly interceding on our behalf recreating us anew in His image. Christ is forever working on our behalf restoring the image of God to our broken lives. The life of holiness is the life lived in submission to the restorative work of Christ.
This is a great holiness text, but I think its greatness is not in just a deeper understanding of what holiness is. The greatness of this holiness text is in its explanation of why holiness is. Holiness is not so I can feel good about myself. Holiness is not so I can I can be the best that I can be. Holiness is not about self-esteem, or personal success, or health, wealth and prosperity. Rather holiness is about reflecting God.
Sure, holiness is an intensely personal and intimate thing between me and my God, but holiness is really not for me. Holiness is for reflecting God to the world. As we are changed into His glorious image, we reflect him. The question becomes for us not how we obtain holiness, but rather what we do with it as we get it. Paul says the veil is removed, we are transformed, to reflect God. The ancient Eastern Orthodox churches believed that a person could be so transformed by God that even their physical body reflected God’s holiness. Paul said we must be very bold…we must not be like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory. Do we reflect God, or hide God? Do we give the world a good image of God, His Kingdom, His love, or do we portray a distorted image of God and God’s Kingdom? Do we reflect His perfect love, or do we reflect something less?
I was completely stunned when I came across a survey from George Barna. “when asked to rank people groups in terms of their respectability, ‘evangelical Christians’ were ranked one notch above the bottom, just above the prostitutes” (Gregory Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation, 134). Some might argue that is due to the revolutionary nature of the Gospel, but the author discussing this survey suggests doing a survey of your own. “Ask any random sampling of [non-Christians) in America what first comes to their mind when you say the words evangelical or born again Christian, and chances are close to zero that anything like “outrageous, sacrificial love” will be the first thing out of their mouths. Ask them to list the first ten things that come into their mind, and chances are still close to zero that “outrageous, sacrificial love” will be on any of their lists” (Ibid.).
If that is so, then why? What veils have we put up that have given the world such a distorted image of God, God’s Kingdom, and God’s love? If we are made holy so that the world in us might see the holiness of God, what is preventing people from seeing it? These are questions with which I am still struggling. These are questions that we must struggle with and strive to answer. We must be bold, not like Moses who put up a veil. We must be bold, for God has not given us a spirit of timidity and fear, but of love (2 Tim 1:7)!
The holiness we’ve been given emboldens us to reflect God to the world. We are emboldened and empowered, but not to be preachy, but not to be judgmental, not to think that we are better than anyone else, but we are emboldened and empowered to reflect God in love. “If I [don’t] love others, I…have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstances” (1 Cor. 13:3-7).
And so, “you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave us his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Php. 2:5-8).
When people see us, what do they see? A veil we have let remain, or the glory of God…the kingdom of God…the love of God? Do we dispense vengeance or forgiveness? Do we speak judgment or grace? Do we stand up for our own ways and ideas or do we die for other people? What will it take for people to automatically think: “sacrificial love” when they are asked the first thing that pops into their heads when the hear the words evangelical or born again Christian? It will take us leave our agendas to follow Christ. It will take living out the Kingdom of God, though we are surrounded by the kingdom of the world. It will take being transformed from glory to glory, knowing that to be like him, is to be willing to die like him – sacrificially, in love for others…even for those who hate us and make life tough for us. Then, by His transforming grace, will the world see Christ in us. To the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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