The difference July 14, 2007
Posted by reformedville in : Theology , trackbackThe difference between those who study the Scriptures, attend church, perhaps serve in a variety of ministries, and yet never experience the presence and power of God in their lives, and those who daily experience the presence of God and delight in knowing him, is explained by Paul in his description of the difference between those who worship God with unveiled faces and those whose hearts are veiled in God’s presence.
The Israelites asked Moses to veil his face because they did not want to have to know God in such an intimate, face-to-face way as he created us to know him. They wanted religion, and Scripture, and worship so that they could try to establish a safe, distant relationship with God. But they did not want to know God so intimately that their lives were constantly exposed to his eyes as they drew near and gazed at his glory. So also today, churches are filled with earnest folk who want everything that God has to offer, except for a close relationship with him that demands time and energy and intimacy. We don’t want to have to change that radically, and we know that if we ever get that close to God, we will never be the same again.
In a culture that bases its confidence on achievements and possessions, we hear the apostle Paul claim that there is really only one treasure worth pursuing in life, and only one basis for confidence in facing the future. Throughout this letter, Paul calls us to base our lives, not on the changeable circumstances of life, but on what cannot be shaken, no matter happens to our health or our family, or to the economy, or our community, or our nation. We need a place to stand and face whatever comes with the confidence that our lives have meaning and purpose, and a future that cannot be taken away. We need to know that we are pursuing a treasure that can never perish, spoil or fade.
This kind of confidence is unknown by most of our neighbors, whether we live here in America, or serve Christ in a very different culture. Here in the States, we so easily fall prey to the notion that the only life worth living is the one depicted by advertisers who sell us things by showing us images of beauty and robust health, of wealth and success, and promising such a life to those who buy their products. These images have power to shape our longings and desires, to make us place our confidence in our conformity to what this world calls success, and to fear the loss of all that this world treasures. Missionaries spending time here in the States often fear the effect of such powerful images on their children.
Yet everyone of us here knows that one day he will die, and that all that he has labored to achieve will pass on to someone else. Life as our culture pursues it is truly a chasing after the wind. But even we, who claim to have been saved from this present age, live as if our lives depended upon it. We who are engaged in ministry can easily rest our confidence on whether or not we are being affirmed by our team or our supervisors, by whether or not we are achieving our objectives. When we fail to realize our goals, when illness comes, when relationships shatter, when wealth disappears, we become as depressed as our neighbors who make no claim of sharing in our blessed hope. As long as we prosper, we find it hard to take such texts as this seriously. But the day will come for each of us when we will need these words. ”Therefore we do not lose heart” (4:16a). Why do we so often lose heart? Isn’t it because we so easily forget what is the only lasting treasure? Isn’t it because we place our confidence on the shifting sands of circumstances? God offers us nothing less than the joy of his presence, the unveiled gaze of the friend of God who treasures all of his good gifts, but none so much as this: that we may know him and Jesus Christ, who is the express image of God, and the radiance of his glory. In Christ, we see who God is and who we were meant to be. As we gaze at him with unveiled face, his Spirit transforms us from one degree of glory to another
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