The Mask
Mask: To conceal one’s real personality, character, or intentions
Masks prevent us from looking at our lives honestly or experiencing true intimacy with others. Mask don’t protect they suffocate.
Jesus’ encounter with people was so dramatic because he saw right through the masks we wear, address the fear that made us feel we needed them, and gave us hope we could actually live without them. James Baldwin once said, “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” The Gospel is deeply personal and brutally honest, but in the end, healing.
Lent is a season when we encounter the Gospel in such a way that we can no longer avoid the truth of who we are and who God calls us to be. We are encouraged to take off the masks that wear and look at honestly and lovingly at who God created us to be. It is a season of soul searching, uncomfortable as that may be. Lent pulls no punches but reveals what we want to kept hidden – a dirty room of regrets, smelly leftovers of the past, stains of self-centeredness under the sofa, or a back room filled with the clutter of hurt feelings. But it promises forgiveness, redemption and renewal.
Every person Jesus confronted on the way to Jerusalem he confronted with love but not with timidity. He confronts them and if they are willing liberates them. Will you choose to subject your life to Jesus’ scrutiny and accept the pain and the liberation?
This week we look at the mask worn by the “Rich Young Man” from Luke 18:18-26. Let us walk together and unleash the power of God in your life.
Sermon Audio: Confronting Our Masks 3.24.13 2
Sermon Notes: Sermon Notes 03.24.13 Confronting Masks
Leave a Reply