Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 1-038 Sermon

(Transfiguration – Sunday 25 February 2001)

LET’S FACE IT

by Andy Campbell

Scripture – Exod 34:29-35 2 Cor 4:3-6 Mark 9:2-10

Our face is a very important part of our anatomy. It enables us to be identified, it conveys our emotions, sometimes we may wish that our features were more attractive, and that we had not inherited family characteristics such as a prominent nose or bushy eyebrows. How many of us as young people yearned for the classic features of some of the matinee idols? But like it or not, it’s our face and we’re stuck with it. Sometimes it comes as a bit of a shock when we are confronted with our image in the bathroom mirror first thing in the morning.

“Face” is a very important word, we often talk about “saving face”, “facing up to our problems”, meeting “face to face”. We are told to “face facts”, or “Let’s face it, friend”.

Faces stare at us from advertising media, talk to us from television screens, there is virtually nowhere we can go to escape faces. The disobedient child looks at their parents face to try and judge the extent of the punishment. We often judge the mood of others by the expression on their face, if the boss looks like an impending thunderstorm, we all duck for cover. Often before a single word is spoken, we gain a fair indication of what is coming just by observing the facial expression. Our faces can reflect anything from sheer joy to abject terror!

Faces feature in the three chosen readings. Firstly, in Exodus 34, Moses returns from speaking with the Lord on Mount Sinai, and the people cringe in terror. Unbeknown to him, his face shines with a radiance that is visible to all. He calms the people down, and passes on to them the teachings of the Law. We are told that Moses placed a veil over his face between his visits with the Lord, as this made the people more comfortable to be with him.

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul speaks of our Gospel which is “veiled”, that is, “hidden from the minds of unbelievers” because “the god of this age has blinded their minds”. He goes on to say that he and his fellow preachers do not preach themselves, but “Jesus Christ as Lord” and speaks of “the light of knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Christ”. Are we prepared for Christ to have a “shining face”? Paul met that shining face on the Damascus road and was blinded by it.

If we step back to chapter 3 and read from verse 13, we find that Paul makes reference to the shining face of Moses. “We are not like Moses who put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at him while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even today when Moses is read a veil covers their hearts, but whoever turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

Moses glory faded because it represented the old covenant, which was only to last until Christ came and instituted the new covenant of salvation. The history of Israel shows just how quickly the covenant could be broken. Many times the prophets accused the people of being “Two Faced”, mouthing pious words, while practising every crooked scheme.

The old covenant had its short comings and therefore its glory faded to be replaced in the fullness of time by the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.

Now we consider the reading from Mark Chapter 9, a record of what we know as “The Transfiguration”. Here Christ is revealed in all his glory before three important apostles.

Much significance is attached to the presence of Moses and Elijah; both had experienced personal contact with God on a mountain top. Moses to receive God’s law, and Elijah in his confrontation with the prophets of Baal, and again at Mt. Horeb. To some people, Moses represented the “Law” and Elijah, the “Prophets”, both of whom Jesus said he had come to fulfill.

There is significance also in Jesus choice of his witnesses, Peter, James, and John. James would be the first of the eleven to be martyred for the faith, Peter would lead the early church, and provide the material for Mark’s gospel (note the comment regarding Peter’s confusion) and John would be the last to die, the last to write his gospel, in which he states in Chapter 1 v14 “We have seen his glory”.

John would also close the New Testament with his prophetic vision known as The Revelation, and in Chapter 1 v 16 he completes his description of the risen Christ by saying, “his face was like the sun, shining in all it’s brilliance”. The appearance of Christ here is very similar to Daniel’s vision in Daniel 10 where a heavenly visitor taken by some commentators to be Christ himself confronts Daniel.

As I stated earlier, are we prepared for Christ to have a shining face, or will it take us by surprise? We place quite some importance on appearance, and “rosy cheeks” are seen as a sign of health. Do we realise that our face is a mirror of the kind of person we are? Of the kind of life we live, of our outlook on life. We cannot “deadpan” our way through life as though it is a poker game. Do we not say that some people have a “mean look”, or that some have “happy faces”. We tend to think of criminals with “tough faces” or “foxy looks”.

I remember an old retired boxer who lived near me when I was a child, he had what we call a “cauliflower ear’, his nose was flat and misshapen from many blows, his appearance used to frighten me, but it belied a gentle interior. We have to be careful of putting on “false faces” of trying to appear other than what God intended us to be. There are some very unhappy people who are striving desperately to be something else, when they have not realised what God wants them to be.

You and I are unique, God has only one of us, and he does not want us to be somebody else! What was Moses secret of his radiant face? – close contact with God. Who are the most radiant people you know? I would be prepared to guess that they are people who walk closely with the Lord. One of the trademarks of a fulfilled Christian life, is that it is reflected in the face of the person concerned. Have you never met a person, old or young, who showed by their face that they loved the Lord? I know, I have!

Saint Paul is very careful in his remarks to the Corinthians regarding the preaching of the Christian gospel. He says that like Moses face, the radiance could only be seen when the veil was removed, and that the gospel is not accepted by all people, because their minds are veiled by the god of this world.

Surely we know this to be true, when our closest friends, loved ones, members of our own family cannot accept Christianity or the Bible, in spite of all we do or say. How does Satan blind people’s minds, he gives them other things to think about, he appeals to their intellect, he presents Christianity as a “myth”, “unscientific” a “superstition”. Surely modern man has come of age and does not require a spiritual crutch!

Paul says, “we do not use deception nor do we distort the truth of God, for we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus’ sake”.

Preachers have one task: to present Jesus Christ as Lord – if they do not do that, they are not being true to their calling. Paul says that only Christ can take away the veil from the mind, and later that “we with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory which come from the Lord who is spirit”.

What a challenge, to reflect the Lord’s glory and be transformed into his likeness. It is daunting, yet it should be the goal of every Christian. Some of us wear Christian symbols; some have stickers on their cars, or school bags. Others wear Jesus tee shirts proclaiming their faith. But if the face does not reflect Christ, we can look a contradiction in terms.

Some people expect Christians to have long faces like fiddle cases, to be gloomy and lacking in humor, nothing should be further from the truth. Our face should shine with the radiance of Christ, and like Moses our radiance will depend on our closeness to God. Daily prayer, Bible reading, fellowship with other Christians, whole hearted participation in worship, all contribute to that close contact with God.

But it does not end there. Moses returned from the mountain to give the Law (God’s Word) to the people. Elijah was strengthened for further work for the Lord. Jesus left the mountain to face certain death for our sake. If people are going to see Christ reflected in us, we must live out our faith, giving that cup of water in his name. Christianity is a very practical religion – long before governments took over, who cared for the welfare of the people?

The old argument about faith or works is a red herring if it stops us living for Christ. Jesus said by their fruits they shall be known, and we do not need to accumulate merit points for salvation, but our witness to others will be very much affected by the way we act, especially if our deeds contradict our words.

Are we prepared to have our veil removed in order to reflect the glory of Christ? Will our face show that we love and serve the Lord? Or do you place a veil over your face as you leave church? Are you trying to pretend that you have been somewhere else? On Monday morning, at work, at school, or at home, do you put on a veil in case others spot that you are a Christian? Will you take off the veil and allow our face to reflect the glory of Christ?

Let us not be in the position of giving only “Lip Service” to God. May each one of us strive to become mirrors of Christ, that through us others may come to know and love the Lord.

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Andy Campbell <>