We always say that it is the inside that counts and not what is on the outside. But do we really believe this?
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
As a church we are getting geared up to create a new church directory with each of our smiling faces. As I stand here this morning and look out at each of you, I believe it will be the church’s best looking directory ever! I pray we all have met with Jodie and have slotted a time in which we can have our photos taken.
Pictures are really great aren’t they? A couple of weeks ago Stacy created a really nice Power Point Presentation of her Grandmother’s life to be played during her funeral. She did a great job, I know her Grandma would have been very proud of the work she did to honor her.
It was filled with pictures, snap shots, of her life. Some were black and white, some were in color, some were old, and some were new. But they were all pictures of her life. They were filled with memories of a life that was full of love. The presentation really encompassed much of life.
As I sat there during the playing of the presentation, I thought to myself that for those that never met Opal, how could they really grasp who she was, what she was about, who she was on the inside? We can’t really ever know people through just snap shots can we?
Some of us take great pictures. We may have been during our life time that we are photo genic and that the camera loves us.
However, some of us may not be as fortunate with taking pictures. You may be sitting here right now thinking of ways in which you can get out of having you picture taken for the directory.
People have told you that you don’t take good pictures, you hate the way you look in any picture, you often dodge the camera, you may hold your hand over your face when someone tries to take a snap shot, and you may even run away at the very sight of a camera.
However you handle yourself, the fact remains: YOU HATE SEEING YOUR SELF IN ANY SNAP SHOT! We really are strange creatures aren’t we?
We are so focused on our appearances.
Guys, did you know that there are some women that will never ever under no circumstances be seen without make-up. It’s true!
Ladies, did you know that there are some men out there that will never ever under no circumstances be seen unless their hair is combed just right? This is the real reason you see many men wearing hats.
James 2: 3-4 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Why do we place so much emphasis on our appearances? We are so concerned about how we look and how other sees us.We must wear certain clothes depending on where it is we are at. Some people would think you would be under-dressed if you were to wear sandals or shorts to an elegant restaurant. Some people would think you would be over-dressed if you went to McDonalds wearing a tuxedo or a prom dress.
We live in a very visually conscious world. We live in a world that believes that it’s the clothes that makes the person. The better you look, the more successful you are, the better you look, the happier your life is.
I remember part of basic training in the Army was learning how to blend ourselves to the environment around us. And this is what each of us do on a daily basis. We are masters at concealing our true selves to those around us. We cover everything up with a smile.
If pictures could reveal the real us, what is really going on inside I wonder how different things would be.
If we were to take a snap shot of your life right now, what would we see? Would we see a happy filled life that is full of joy, peace, and love? Would we see Jesus? Or would we see a life that has pains, hurts, and loneliness, a life separated from Jesus?
It seems in our society that we are more concerned about hiding than really living. We don’t want to let people in do we? We hide our pain with a smile each time we are in public. We believe it to be a sign of weakness to show our tears.
When we take pictures, we put on our best don’t we? We put on our best clothes and our best smile. I can’t help but to wonder how different each of our lives would be if we a snap shot could reveal more than just the appearance. If a snap shot could show who we really are and what we really stand for.
Illustration: Who knows Danny Glover? Danny Glover is an actor that is probably best known for his role as Detective Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon movies with Mel Gibson.
I loved those movies and was a big fan of both Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. I had seen other films with Danny Glover in them and I thought he was a really nice guy as he always played the good guy roles and it seemed to me that he just, well, a good guy.
In the summer of 94 I was traveling back to Hawaii from visiting my family here in Kansas. I had a layover in Las Vegas and as I was sitting at my gate waiting for the plane, I realized that sitting right there at my gate, waiting for the same plane was no other than Danny Glover.
I just had to go over and talk to him. I went over to him and told him that I was a fan and really loved his work and then I asked him if I could have an autograph. This is when I realized that I had been under estimating him as an actor. All those movies that I had seen him in where he was the nice guy was all an act. Mr. Glover became irate with me!! He told me very, very sternly,
“ NO, IF I GAVE YOU MY &^*%^&* AUTOGRAPH, I WOULD HAVE EVRYBODY IN HERE WANTING MY !$%#@$^^ AUTOGRAPH. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!”
The truth is, we really don’t know people. We may think we know them by what they allow us to see. But when it comes right down to it, we place barriers in our lives and appear the way that we want to appear.
Illustration: I had one professor that taught inspiring pastors: Don’t let the congregation know the real you. Keep a wall up and do not show your weaknesses with them because once you do, they will tear you apart.
This is why some pastors are afraid to open their lives up to the congregation. Some feel that they need to keep a guard up at all times and not let them see that they too are human; that they have the same temptations and the same obstacles in life. This is why so many people wrongly place their pastors on a pedestal. And this only leads to disappointment and failure. And I feel this is something that Satan himself has placed in our heads.
People need to be able to relate to their pastor, not feel dis-connected from their pastor. I cannot begin to tell you of how many time I have walked upon a group of people that were enjoying one another’s company but all of a sudden the entire tone stops dead cold? When they see “pastor” coming, they all of a sudden put on a mask and act as different people. They put on a show or they clam up and say nothing.
This has frustrated me in the past. How can I minister to those people? How can I become close to them if they will not show me who they are?
We all deal with the hurts and pains of life and we need others to help us get through it all but we push them away as we put on a smile to cover it all up. We sweep our emotions under the rug. We have placed our appearances above our emotions.
The Psalmist writes about life several times;
Psalm 39:5 “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.”
Psalm 102:3 “For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.”
Psalm 144:4 “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.”
Wouldn’t you agree with me, that life is unspeakably precious and unbelievably short? Since life is so precious and so short – it is really insane to waste it on stupid things… Like being consumed with what other people think about us through our appearances, or walking through life burying all of our hurts and tears– so that you are never able to see the awesome wonder and beauty that God has surrounded you with every day.
Life is too short to be wasted away like this. God made us to love one another to be there for one another, to not hide. Hiding who we are and what we need is a plow from Satan in order to keep us separated ultimately from God.
We really do get caught up with our appearances and we tend to worry about how we are viewed. Worrying about how we look will only distort our view of how God sees us. We desperately need to………
I. Remember Who We Are.
A. Who or what do you see when you look at a snap shot of yourself? Chances are that what you see is distorted… Because we are too critical of ourselves and we see all the flaws and none of the beauty that God has made us with. Chances are that the snap shot you see of yourself is not the real you.
Illustration: How many of us have seen “Disney’s The Lion King?” The star of this story is a lion named Simba. And Simba because of various things he lost sight of who he truly was.
Watch with me in this clip as Simba looks at himself.
VIDEO: “The Lion King”
Like Simba have you forgotten who you are? HAVE YOU – allowed fear to keep you from seeing the real you.
1 John 3:1-3 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,[a]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
1. Who are you? At this very moment God is looking at you and saying, You are
• My child (a son, a daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords…
• The One I love
• The One I adopted into my family
• The one I chose before the foundations of the earth were even laid
• The one who though you have flaws and failures are still is worthy of my grace.
• My workmanship, my masterpiece
• The one created a new in Christ Jesus, to do awesome things that will display
my glory to the world.
• You are more
2. Define yourself radically as one Loved by God. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life. Not the appearances that cover up the real you.
3. This is who we truly are. We are not the make-up nor are we the designer clothes we wear. A snap shot will never do us justice; a snap shot will never show the true beauty of Jesus in us. And there’s only one way we can show that inner beauty
We need to realize that….
II. It’s not about me, it’s about Him.
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
A. There is a story that was going on long before you breathed you first breath. And this story will still be going on long after you have breathed your last.
1. It is the story of an: All powerful, All knowing, All present, Always existing, good and gracious king…
2. He created all things. Never forget why everything and I mean everything exists, so that you and God can be together. SO THAT – you can know Him, be with Him… AND rest and come alive in Him! It’s not about me it’s about Him.
3. YES – there is an awesome story going on of a Great and Merciful God bringing His people back to Himself. Rescuing them from faraway places and bringing them back home. A story whose final and never ending chapter will be when the new heaven and the new earth come down from the sky.
4. BOTTOM LINE God is big and we are not. HE – is the one who is calling the shots, directing the script, determining the plot, we are not. AND what’s really wild is that while this huge and powerful God doesn’t need any of us… He nevertheless has invited each of us to join him and play a part in the story that never ends.
5. We need to stop being so caught up with ourselves and STOP looking for ways to shine the light on ourselves… and making it all about us.
6. Let’s enter every environment (home, school, work, church..etc.) with every intention to shine as little light as possible on us and as much light as possible on Jesus.
Conclusion: In a couple of weeks we are going to have our pictures taken and when we do let us not be so concerned with what other see on the outside. Let us understand that it’s how we live our lives that matter. Life is too short for us to hide behind our fleshly appearances. We need to be creatures of compassion and open our lives up to others in order to receive the blessings that God has in store for each of us.
