What Masks Do You Wear?
Hebrews 4:13
The Bible is full of religious festivals and celebrations. They’re even authorized by God to have them. And the Jewish people were very serious about following the rules of having such festivals. The Jews were given many feast days in which to recognize. There are many in the Bible, and here are a couple:
- Feast of the Passover
- Feast of Pentecost
- Feast of the Harvest
The Jews were very committed to having these festivals. And there was an air of excitement on being the people of God. There still should be today. David wrote:
Ps 145:7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
Sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it? You’d want to be a part of something like that wouldn’t you?
Then we should aim to reclaim such an attitude in the church. We should make it our goal to come together as a body and celebrate God’s abundant goodness in our lives. We need to be singing of God’s righteousness. We need to be filled with Joy as we recall all the wonderful blessings God has poured out on our lives and continues to do so.
So why don’t we? Perhaps God’s people have forgotten who they are, whose they are and what they have.
What does it mean to be a part of the family of God? It means, that God knows you and has seen behind your last mask, and says, “I love you anyway,” and invites you to be a part of His family.
You know, it is true that we all wear a lot of different masks these days. Our masks are our protection from a not so nice and unaccepting world. They become a barrier between yourself and others. You meet someone on the street, or at the market or even at church and they ask you how you are doing.
You put on your smile, say fine and ask them the same thing and they put on their smile and say fine and then you both go your separate ways feeling miserable.
Yet the more we get to know each other, the more masks we take off. This is what love is about. Getting more comfortable with one another and hiding less from each other. But we think, I‘ll never take off that last mask. To let someone see me exactly as I am. We feel if we do that, and then someone doesn’t like me exactly as I am, I’m ruined. I won’t take that risk. So we keep playing our games and putting on the masks because we are afraid to tell other who we are.
I think deep down, we all really desire to have that kind of relationship with others, but the fear of rejection or judgment keeps us from doing that. We are afraid to become transparent and vulnerable because as soon as we let our guard down, we might be hurt. The risk seems too great.
Even the elders and I have been talking about this for the last few weeks and realize that we need to take off some of our masks and be more transparent with one another. How else will we learn to trust one another? How do we build our relationships with one another if we don’t let our guards down?
It can only be done by taking the masks off and begin to reveal more of who we are.
No matter how many masks you wear, realize, that God has seen behind them. He knows you exactly as you are and He still loves you regardless. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says:
Heb 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
No matter where you are in life, no matter what you have done, God knows all about it. He is the One you will have to give account of your life to. But don’t forget, God still loves you.
Ro 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
Ro 8:39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is nothing that separates you from His love. Although it is true that your sins separate you from God and put a huge wedge between you, He still loves you. He wants you to turn away from that sin and live faithfully and obediently to Him. He wants you to humble yourself and confess the sins in your life to Him. Again, He already knows them, but it is a mighty step of faith, to humble yourself before God and share with Him the things you don’t want anyone to know.
He also wants us to bear one another’s burdens.
Col 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Col 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Col 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Bear with one another. Be patient. There are things that take time. Then forgive each other. You can’t be holding grudges with your brothers & sisters in Christ. Why? Remember, God forgave you when you have opened up to Him and shared the sins of your life. How can you think that you are above God by not forgiving. Listen to what Jesus says about this:
Mt 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Mt 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
After hearing this verse, I don’t know how anyone can truly go on and hold onto some grudge about a brother or sister in Christ. Sin happens. There are consequences to sin, but we are not the judges. We are to bear with one another and forgive one another, but how do you truly begin to do this when you won’t take off the masks and be honest and true with one another?
This is exactly what the body must do. How will you grow to know one another if you keep all of your masks on? This is the body of Christ. None of us are any better than the rest. We all have things we are afraid to share. What better place than with your church family? This should not be a place of judgment, but of compassion. This should not be a place of fear, but of love & acceptance. When it is all said and done and we open ourselves up to one another, we find that we are all on an equal playing field. We all come before the foot of the cross and seek the same forgiveness, love, mercy, grace and justice that Jesus offers to us, by the shedding of His blood on the cross. He took up those sins for us and allowed Himself to be alienated from God for a brief moment so that we all can come together as one and live at peace with one another.
(Describe the old time Curry Reunion: My dad would tell me…)
How many of you have ever been to a family reunion? There’s usually a lot of work and preparation to get ready for a reunion. There are usually a couple of the family members who make all the arrangements and then send out the invitations. Everyone that can make it shows up at the specified place of meeting and share a wonderful day together.
There is a lot of reminiscing. Remembering past get-togethers and laughing about funny memories. There are discussions about those family members who have past away.
Memories filled with laughter and tears. Yet the whole day is spent with family. Family members know a lot about one another. There is the ongoing grapevine. You hear things about cousins and aunts & uncles because aunt so & so called your grandma, who passed it on to your other aunt, who shared with her husband who calls his brother who is your dad and the grapevine continually grows.
Your family, are those people who know you, mistakes and all. They know your past and where you have come from, they know the things you have done and they know what you are doing now. They are able to see beyond the masks that you wear. And they still love you in spite of it all.
This is exactly how it should be when we come to church. When we get together here every week to worship we are having a family reunion, for we are the Family of God. No, we don’t need the grapevine to spread rumors or gossip about anyone, nor should we justify using the prayer chain as a means of doing such a thing. We should be coming together and sharing with one another, with no fear of judgment and rejection. We all count. All members of this family count, and there needs to be laughter and yes, sometimes tears as we take off the masks and learn to be open with each other. Celebrate and worship together our God who has made this all possible.
Remember the feasts and festivals I mentioned earlier. There is still to be a great deal of celebration. Some may say, “I thought we’re just supposed to bow in reverence & silence before God.” Yes that is right, but that is not what we do all of the time.
Marvin Phillips, minister at the Garnett Church of Christ, in Tulsa Oklahoma, has this to say about that.
“God’s people have more to laugh about than anyone else on earth. If the world ended tomorrow in a nuclear holocaust, sinners would meet their doom in a fiery judgment. But the people of God? Why they just go home to be with the Father! It’s kind of like the Christian who was being mugged. The would be robber said, ‘Your money, or your life?’ And the Christian answered, ‘ You can’t threaten me with Heaven!’”
This is the attitude of Joy that you need to have. As I said last week, we will face many trials, and some of those trials may come as you remove your masks, but this place, this body, should be a place of refuge and safety. Not a place of shame and scorn. And as the masks come off, and the new relationships are formed, you will be more joyful than before. More joyful than you are right now. This is what the goal is with our theme this year, United We Stand. The unity will grow as the masks come off and everyone stops hiding themselves from everyone else.
Conclusion:
No it will not be easy. It won’t happen overnight or next week. But I challenge you to make this a matter of prayer. Next time you have quiet time with God, tell Him about the masks you are wearing. Ask Him to help you take them off one at a time. He already knows what they are, but have you asked Him to help you remove them. Do it! Don’t put it off any longer.
You will be amazed on what you have missing out on in getting to know your brothers and sisters in Christ even more.
So, what masks do you wear? Ask God to reveal the things in your life that maybe you have overlooked and forgotten about. His Word says:
Ps 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Ps 139:24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
It’s time to start taking off the masks.
