Where Change Begins Series

I’ve lived here in NE Ohio for 18 years. I’ve never been stuck in the snow… until December. I was in a hurry to get to the office. And got stuck just around bend from our house. Being stuck was definitely not OK. I walked back home to get Ryan. I asked a neighbor to help. Before it was all over, six guys were helping to dig me out. I hated being stuck.

It’s worse to be stuck spiritually. And, frankly, some of you are stuck. You’ve been having the same arguments with your wife for months, maybe years. You’ve been trying to break the habit of cursing and you can’t. Computer pornography is choking out your spiritual life. You can’t go for a week without driving by a gas station to buy a lotto ticket. Your kids can predict when you are going to start yelling at them. There’s no more love or joy or peace in your life than you had 5-10-15 years ago. You’re not changing. I hope you hate being stuck.

If you’ve been coming here for awhile and this sounds a little familiar, you’re right. Last year at about this time, we began a series called “Fit 4 Life.” Shortly afterwards, we launched into a series called “Spring Cleaning.”

What we wanted to see happen in our lives was radical transformation. I asked you to pray for me… that I would be a new man, so changed that it would seem like this church had a new pastor – one much more like Jesus. More loving. More joyful. More at peace. And I asked you to join me on this journey – that your family and our friends would find you becoming a new you.

We saw some changes. Some of you wrote to me that you could see changes in me. But I’m not satisfied. I want to be even more like Jesus. I want my life to be irresistible – that show off Jesus in me so much that the people around me will want to know Him.

The verse we are going to study over the next few weeks tells us how we can see even more change in our lives. It tells us how to be transformed. Let’s read it together.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

II Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

It’s that first part of the verse that I want to focus on for a few minutes this morning. “And we all, with unveiled face…” This tells us where change begins.

I have to tell a story from the OT before you can really understand what this verse means when it talks about “an unveiled face.”

In the OT, Moses was one of God’s greatest leaders. He led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. And on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses spent time one-on-one with God at a place called Mt. Sinai getting what we now know as the Ten Commandments.

In Exodus 34, we learn that Moses came away from his time with God with a face that glowed. He was radiant. And the people could see the glow of God on his face. They were afraid. But Moses called them close and gave them the Ten Commandments.

Now, here comes the connect with our verse for today.

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Exodus 34:33 (NLT)

The word is “masveh.” It comes from a root word meaning “to cover.” Some translate it as “hood.” Others translate it as “mask.” Maybe it covered his entire face except for his eyes. Maybe it was his Hebrew prayer shawl pulled over his head and around his face. Maybe it was a scarf covering his whole head and face.

When Moses would meet with God, the veil would come off. His face would glow again. His radiant face showed that Moses had been with God – that the words he shared were God’s words. Moses would come out and talk to the people about what God had said, his facing shining. Afterwards, he would put on the veil again until he once more met with God one-on-one.

Why the veil?

Moses… put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory fading away.

II Corinthians 3:13 (NLT)

Don’t miss this: When it was time to be with God, the veil came off. Moses didn’t want anything to get in the way. He wanted to see God.

Now, look again at our verse.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.