Unveiled Faces
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
A jeweler watched as a huge truck pulled up in front of his store. The back came down and an elephant walked out. It broke one of the windows with its tusk and then, using its trunk like a vacuum cleaner sucked up all of the jewelry. The elephant then got back in the truck and it disappeared out of sight. When the jeweler finally regained his senses he called the police. The detectives came and he told them his story. “Could you describe the elephant?” the cop asked. “An elephant is an elephant,” he replied. “You’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. What do you mean ‘describe’ him?” “Well,” said the policeman, “there are two types of elephants, African and Indian. The Indian elephant has smaller ears and is not as large as the African elephant.” “I can’t help you out,” said the frustrated jeweler, “he had a stocking pulled over his head.”
As bad as that joke is, it reminds us that people will often try to hide their identity. Robbers put a mask over their face, so that people won’t know who they are. Celebrities will put on glasses or a scarf, so that they can go incognito. Even we ourselves at times will try to cover things up, so that we can’t be recognized. In a strange way, that’s the same thing St. Paul was talking about in our Epistle lesson for today, when he spoke about the veil that Moses wore to cover his face. We are told that when Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, after he met with God, it was as if shafts of light were beaming from his face. That’s because he had seen the Glory of the Lord. As a result, the people listened to him with rapt attention, hanging on to every word that Moses spoke. But, pretty soon the glory began to fade away. The shine on Moses’ face started to lose it’s brightness. And he was afraid that the Israelites would no longer listen to him. So Moses covered his face with a veil, so that they wouldn’t know the glory had disappeared.
In other words, Moses had something to hide and so he fooled the people. And yet, in that respect aren’t you and I very much like Moses. We too have certain faults and foibles that we want to cover up, so that no one sees them. Whether it be a secret sin or an ugly attitude, an embarrassing behavior or a sinful thought, we all have something to hide. Take the case of a farmer, named Sam, who lived by the motto: “The end justifies the means.” Every fall the farmers would sell surplus grain to feed mills. So that the mill could accurately weigh each load, the farmer was required to first bring in an empty wagon so they could determine the weight of it and know what amount to subtract when the filled wagon was later brought in. Needless to say, the farmer was expected to use the same wagon when he brought in his grain. The boys at the mill began to be suspicious about Sam’s loads. They always seemed to run hundreds of pounds heavier than loads from other farmers. They inspected Sam’s wagon and discovered that he had carefully filled each tire on his wagon with water. Sam was getting paid for water!
Well, Sam may have been able to fool them for a while, but it didn’t last. And the same is true for you and me. No matter how much we try to cover up our sinful faults, it doesn’t work. For when we try to hide ourselves from God’s eyes, we He sees right through our pretenses. And the only ones we wind up fooling is ourselves. In our text, St. Paul indicates that that’s what happened to the Jews. They were fooled by Moses’ veil, and too this day many are still fooled. It’s as if a veil covers their eyes, so that they cannot see the truth. Whenever Moses is read, that is, whenever they hear the Law, they’re fooled into thinking they can save themselves by keeping the Law. Instead of realizing that salvation is a free gift, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
That’s what St. Paul was getting at, when he said: “But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.” In other words, their minds we made dull by sin. Interestingly enough, the verb ‘made dull’ is the Greek word πωρόω, which literally means: ‘to harden or petrify.’ It’s related to the Greek word for ‘stone.’ We could think of it like petrified wood – trees that have turned into rock through the action of mineral-laden water. Well, in a way that’s what happens to people as the result of unconfessed sin. It hardens their heart and soul, so that the love and forgiveness of God does not penetrate or get through to them. And that’s what happened to the Jews.
However, that problem is not peculiar to the Jews. Many people in our world today are blinded by their own sinful human nature, so that they cannot see light of God’s love. It’s as if a veil covers their eyes – the veil of sin and unbelief! And sadly, sometimes you and I act the same way, whenever we become blinded by sin and temptation. For instance, it may be something as simple as pride, like that of Moses, or something more blatant, like ignoring the message of the Scriptures, such as the Jews did. In our text, St. Paul describes it as secret and shameful ways. What shameful secret sins do you harbor in your heart, that you want no one to know? Lust, jealousy, hateful thoughts? Whatever it is, like Moses we do have something to hide. And, often times, like the Jews in our text, we try to cover it up with a show of piety and goodwill, acting nice and religious, thinking somehow we can save ourselves by keeping the Law. In other words, we try to hide our sin with a veil of works righteousness.
Unfortunately, God is not so easily fooled. He can see right through our flimsy veil of false righteousness. And He sees us as we truly are, with all our faults and foibles. The amazing thing is, He loves us just the same. He loves us in spite of our sin and guilt, and He proved it by tearing away the veil of our sin and shame. In the words of our text, it was taken away by Christ Himself. That word in Greek can also be translated: ‘to annul’ – which is precisely what Jesus has done to our sinful thought, words and deeds by His sacrificial death on Calvary – He has annulled them, cancelled them out, destroyed them for good. Just as Moses’ glory faded away, so our sin has faded away, swallowed up in the blood of Jesus Christ. It has evaporated like disappearing ink, and been replaced with a new glory – the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, which makes us pure and holy in God’s eyes. Now, when God lifts the veil and looks at you and me, He no longer sees us as ugly and sinful, instead He sees us as beautiful and holy, thanks to Jesus our Savior!
That’s what Paul was talking about, when he said: “BUT WHENEVER ANYONE TURNS TO THE LORD, THE VEIL IS TAKEN AWAY.” You see, in those days, a veil was basically used for three purposes: (1) as a head-covering for a sign of humility; (2) as a shroud in which to wrap the dead; and (3) as an ornamental piece worn by brides for a sign of anticipation. Well, according to our text, Jesus Christ came to remove all those veils for us. By His death on the cross He has taken off the veil of humiliation caused by our sin, so that we no longer have to be ashamed. And by His resurrection from the grave He has torn away the shroud of death, so that we can live with Him eternally. Therefore, with joyful anticipation, we can look forward to the day, when He will remove the last veil – the veil of this earthly life, so that we can see Him face to face in heaven in all the beauty of His love and mercy.
But the Good News is, we can see a little bit of that right now. Every time we call upon Him in prayer. Whenever we meet Him in His Word and at the Lord’s Supper. Whenever we do that we catch a little glimpse of His glory and it rubs off on us. For in the words of our text: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into Christ's likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit!” Right now we have unveiled faces, because the Holy Spirit has removed the veil of our sin and unbelief and brought us to saving faith in Christ.
That’s why this is such a perfect text for Transfiguration Sunday. The word transfigure means to change or transform, just like Jesus was changed on the Mount of Transfiguration. He was transformed, so that His face was shining like the sun and His clothing was as bright as a flash of lightning. Well, that’s what He has done for you and me. He has changed from sinners into saints. He has transformed us into brand new, forgiven people. And that happens every time we read and study His Word or partake of the Lord’s supper, every time we renew our Baptism by confessing our sins and turning to Jesus in faith. Every time we do that, like Moses some of God’s glory rubs off on us. But unlike Moses, the glory should not fade away. Instead it should grow brighter and brighter, because the Holy Spirit uses those tools, the Word and the Sacraments to conform us more and more to the image of God’s Son.
A little girl dying of leukemia had been in a coma for several days. In the last hours, the family had agreed to take her off the respirator. To their surprise, she continued to breathe on her own, though still comatose. Fearing false hopes, the doctor said, “It’s just a matter of time.” Eight years old, the little girl was surrounded by family members, all deeply saddened and waiting through the watch of death. Then amazingly, at sunset, the little girl sat up, opened wide her eyes and said, “Mommy, Daddy, the light! It’s beautiful! I see Jesus!” And her face shone like the sun, and she lay her head on her pillow, a tear in her eye. She smiled. Her parents each held a hand. Then, gracefully and even gloriously, the little girl died. Her parents say they will forever be grateful for those last moments on earth with their daughter.
Dear friends, most people would say that they witnessed a transfiguration. That little girl was transformed into Jesus’ likeness, as He brought her Home to heaven. And she didn’t keep quiet about it. She shared her witness with those who were there. Unlike Moses, she didn’t hide or veil God’s glory. Instead she freely told it to others. And that’s exactly what God wants us to do, too. He wants us to reflect His glory, by sharing His love with others and telling them the Good News of Jesus the Savior. May God help us to do that every day of our lives, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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03/06/2006