mirror, mirror

from my message on 9/2/12, from James 1:17-27

(show video clips from various Snow White films, where the evil queen asks that question, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?")

There are lots of mirrors in literature.  Frank, who leads our praise band, and is an English major, says that whenever you find a mirror in literature, it is always a reflection of who we  are.  (I look into the mirror I have set up on the chancel)  When you look into the mirror, what do you see?

Of course, one of the classic stories of looking in the mirror is that of Narcissus.  You probably have heard of this ancient story from Greek and Roman times.  Narcissus was hunting in a land that was bounded by water.  His potential lover was a girl named Echo.  When she at last found him, she was rejected by him.  He was so vain.  In his hunting, Narcissus grew thirsty.  He looked down into a pool of water.  There he saw the most beautiful face he had ever seen.....His Own!  He tried to kiss the face, but it disappeared.  He tried to get a drink of water, but the face disappreared.  At last, he dies of thirst, staring into the beautiful face.  As you have read your psychology, you know that we have a condition that comes from this story known as narcissism.  It is to be totally self-absorbed.

Today, we have many mirrors in our houses, cars, purses, etc.  But we don't need a literal mirror to look at ourselves, because we have this thing, you may have heard of, called the internet.  There was  a girl, a 13 year old girl, who was insecure about the way that she looked.  Can you imagine that?  Nearly every 13 year old girl is insecure about her looks.  What does she do?  She posts a video of herself on YouTube.  She entitles it, "Am I Ugly?"  She got more than 5.5 million hits.  She got more than 130,000 comments, some kind and some not so kind.  Is this what we need to look at ourselves? 

The Bible passage has something to say at this point.  The book of James is wisdom literature, like the Old Testament books of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes or some of the Psalms.  It is full of practical advice, how to cope with life.  James says to be doers of the word, not hearers only, or we will be like those who look in the mirror and upon going away will forget what we look like.  James says to look into the perfect law, the law of liberty.  Three things I take away from this passage.

One, we look into the perfect law, the law of liberty.  I take that to mean we read the Bible.  That's how we are to look at ourselves.  You may know that I teach human sexuality.  One course for 5th and 6th graders and their parents is called Created by God.  I will be offering this course here the first weekend of February, 2013.  This a paid commercial announcement.  At one of the early sessions in the weekend, I retell the first creation story we find in Genesis.  I love how that magnificent poem builds, as God creates light, land, sky, water, animals, fish, birds.  At the pinnacle of creation, God creates humankind in God's own image.  Male and female God makes them in God's own likeness.  Every other time, God has said that what God has created is "good."  After creating human beings, God says that it is "very good."  Except that there is no word for very in Hebrew.  What the text literally says is "good good."  So I take a mirror like this one, (don't worry, this is not my compact, I borrowed this one, I left mine at home.)  I go to each person, have them look at themselves and say, "Good, Good."   That is what God says to us in the words of the Bible, the perfect law, the law of liberty, "Good, Good."   We can't hear that too much.

Two, the passage says "those".  It is looking with a community, by a community, to see who we are.  I shared this sermon topic with several  people asking for their help.  One said to me, "My mother could look at me with her eyes.  She saw the best in me, even when I could not see it.  She looked at me with eyes of love."  Or as a friend of mine from college days said about her church friends, "They love me in spite of myself."  What a gift it is to be seen by others who love us, who can remind us of our best selves.

Three, we can see ourselves in others, especially the most vulnerable.  The passage talks about being quick to listen, sloooooow to speak, and sloooooow to anger.  It talks about true religion being that which takes care of the orphan and the widow.  This is how we get beyond self-absorption.  We see the face of Christ in the most vulnerable around us.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?  What does God see?

Let's listen to some wisdom from Michael Jackson.  (music video of his "I'm looking at the man in the mirror)

The good news is that we can change.  The good news is that God looks at us and calls us Good, Good.