Michael's New Year's Message, 2010
Take a Long Look and See
Text: James 1:19-27
“If anyone keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men . . . God will greatly bless him in everything he does.” verse 25, Living Bible
2010 started with both Jan and me sitting in reflective silence rather than celebrating. We wanted to be thoughtful rather than noisy. We wanted to pray rather than party—we see this year will be a unique and special year, and we need to begin it with mature, discerning thought centered on the Lord.
C. S. Lewis talked about the importance of silence and contemplation. He said, "It is what we do with our solitude that makes us fit for company." And not until we have turned our back on a noisy world do we begin to find ourselves and fully sense we are in God's presence. We, I fear, have almost lost the ability to have reflective times of silence, but meditation could be the best way to start a new chapter in our lives.
Gordon MacDonald said, "Most Christians learned at an early age how to talk to God, but they did not learn to listen as well." — We all need times when we get alone with God and talk in silence! James said, "Don't ever forget that it is best to listen much, speak little . . ." (James 1:19, Living Bible)
James speaks of this very thing, of taking a long, honest look. Too seldom we do that. We rush on without taking a long, pensive look at our life. Instead of praying and searching our hearts and thinking about priorities—we rush past the mirror of the perfect Law where we could see reality, and never pause to see what it tells us—often to our downfall.
James talks about a person who “looks into,” that is, a purposeful pause with a sense of thoughtful reflection.
I was in an Eastern European city, and there was an area set aside for artists and crafts people who made souvenirs. Some artists had a little booth set up to sketch people. But it was a caricature they drew of people. You may ask—what is that? It’s a line drawing where the artist will highlight one’s most prominent features! (like, for example, a long nose, a receding hairline, high cheek bones, big ears, or a large mouth) I asked myself—how would they draw me? And also—why would I want them to draw me? The pictures were not at all flattering, and some were even embarrassing!
On the other hand, photographers try to make these features less evident. They try to make us look better, but these artists emphasized the worst features.
I realized maybe these people who sat down to have their caricatures drawn wanted to be playful or maybe to see how others see them. If so, that takes some high degree of self-acceptance and some special courage. Maybe they wanted to laugh at themselves, which is not a bad thing!
Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, wrote:
Oh the gift to see ourselves
As others see us!
And that thought is very timely as we begin this new year of 2010. Why? Well, for example, if God sketched my spiritual caricature, what features would He now emphasize? What would He draw as the most prominent features of my life? Or yours? Would it be embarrassing? What faults, flaws, and failures would He see as prominent? We know this; He would be honest and show us those things we would prefer He didn’t see! The only solution is to deal with it now.
In his letter, James tells us that it’s actually possible to see what God sees. How? Look at “the perfect law” like a mirror. It’s possible to discover what God would sketch if He were to draw a caricature of us. All we need to do is to stop and look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s perfect law. Doing that helps us see ourselves in God's true light. We might find we are disfigured spiritually. We might see flaws and warts aplenty! Do we have the courage to be invited to do it thoroughly?
But here is a positive truth to declare: Christ has come to give us a spiritual makeover. It starts in the heart and reaches to the surface of our life. In other words, inward character produces outward characteristics! Christ has come so that we can have a character makeover and to be like Him. Living in the fullness of Christ puts love in our heart which produces a kind face, joyful expression, tender eyes, and gracious and selfless characteristics. He makes us attractive people! A well known British Catholic Christian, G. K. Chesterton, said, "Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian." Wesley said, "Sour saints is the devil's religion." May God give us all a Christ-like charm that fully honors Him.
Yes, on the other hand—a sinful lifestyle disfigures us. It takes the bad in us and makes it worse so it becomes dominant and destructive. We actually become disfigured inside and out! One of the great students of the Bible says sin always makes the mind blind, and the heart hard, and it puts a black shroud on everything—and eventually turns the world into a shadow filled midnight! A sinner not only sins against God but against himself; the wrongdoer wrongs himself—the longer we sin, the more ugly we become as a result. We do it ourselves.
It is said when da Vinci started the famous “Last Supper” painting in Milan, Italy, he chose a distinctive young man from the street to paint as the Christ. Years passed, and he kept painting character after character. At last he came to Judas. Again he went to the street to find a model. He found one in a back alley—a man with evil in his eyes and a wicked expression. "I want to paint you," said the artist. Then he was told by that very man, “You painted me before as the Christ! Why do you want to paint me again?” In a very short time sin had horribly disfigured him to the point that he no longer looked like the same man. That can happen to anyone!
Positively, Christ can take the ugliest face and person and make them beautiful and graciously charming by His miracle of grace. Let Him do that for us in the coming year! Let Him this year transform us and change us into His own likeness.
It would seem logical that to be much like Christ, we must be much with Christ. It is no wonder then that Jesus says that if we are pure and authentic before God, ". . . God will greatly bless him in everything he does." (James 1:25, Living Bible)
I believe what A. W. Tozer said is totally correct, and I want it to be true of my life. Tozer said, "No Christian is where he ought to be spiritually until the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ is being reproduced in daily Christian life." Our prayer should then be, "Oh Lord Jesus, You now dwell within me; please express Yourself through me. Be all that You are in all that I am and show Yourself in all that I do."
If He did that, it would be a very wonderful year. Let it be so!
We would be delighted for you to tell us what you think of this challenging message. Have a blessed New Year.
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