Seeing Through Appearances

I'm teaching the young adults class in the morning, and it is on Luke 10:21-42. I preached from this text a few months ago, so I was thinking over this past week how I can approach it differently. As I was thinking about it, I decided to take put the emphasis on how we pay too much attention to appearances, and I had this whole lesson planned, but then I read the text. Oops, I was going for my own agenda over what the text was saying. Sometimes the Bible gets in the way of some really good lessons.

But not all was lost, because the Scripture really does have a lot to do with appearances. Both the story of the good Samaritan and at the home of Mary and Martha are about self-image. The priest and Levite are concerned about if they will be fit to serve in the temple or synagogue, chosing their own appearance of serving God over the reality of what He wants. Martha wants to make sure everything looks good, but Mary is more concerned about being good. In Luke 10:21 Jesus praises the Lord for hiding the Kingdom from the learned and showing it to little children. Perhaps I can come by this theme honestly.

This morning I will dress up for church. I will wear a tie and even bring out my suit. Normally I just wear khakis and a button up shirt, and rumor has it that my lack of tie is the reason I don't do any lead singing on Sunday morning, despite the talent being there. But no one has confirmed this, and I find it interesting that if this is the case, no one has told me directly about it. Maybe I should just know. But as it is, I am holding out to see if anyone will tell me. And if they ask me to, I will. (a tie, what a useless article of clothing). I have yet to find that "wear your best for the Lord" scripture. I suspect we are much more concerned with impressing each other than the Lord. But tomorrow the suit will come out. I want to see people's reactions. But underneath will be a shirt that is ripped to shreads. It won't be visible until I take the suit off in class. How easy it is to but on our best and hide underneath our fancy appearances.

Yet Jesus says love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. True agape love is encouraging and honest, and tough when it has to be, because it cares much more for the well-being of the person than even how that person feels or looks. It is much more interested in saving soul than saving face. Relationships get so much more complicated when we are more concerned about what the other thinks and feels about us than just letting go and loving with abandon. As Rich Mullins put it, "Love is found more in the things we have given up then in the things that we have kept." Love is honest and vulnerable and selfless. It is satisfied much more in honest reality than pretentious shallow outward appearances (which is usually where infatuation dwells).

The religious leader asks the question about his neighbor so he could "justify himself." He wants to look good for his peers, but his heart is far from the love he talks about. And Jesus throws it in his face. Jesus won't let him stay in the "appearance" realm. He wants to get to the heart of the matter. "Who wants to mess with a bloody broken unknown man on the side of the road? What will the synagogue say if they see me carrying him?" Perhaps if the man wasn't in bad shape and had a minor injury, it would have been different. It is the appearance in the story of the hated Samaritan race that demonstrates true godly love. God is much more concerned about being religious than appearing religious. And sometimes being truly religious doesn't look all that much like religion, like when we are honest about our sin and shortcomings. But loving your neighbor and loving God leaves no room to be above the sinful human condition.

This story is followed up with Mary and Martha. Martha wants everything to look good for the Lord. She wants the "Sunday best." Mary wants to be at the Lord's feet and once He is there, everything else fades into the distance. And Jesus is not concerned with how things look. He takes this opportunity to talk with Mary. When Martha gets upset, Jesus redirects what is important.

I say all that to point out how much the "Sunday best" is not so much for the Lord as for us. We somehow feel like we must protect God from the dirt in our lives. So we play dress up so everything looks nice. "Aren't you impressed with me, God? I put on my best outward appearance for You. Don't I look good?" Perhaps He responds with what He said to Samuel, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart." And the heart is exactly what He wants, whether whole or shattered. We instead want to put on a "we're great Christians" show and we don't want out brothers and sisters getting close to our sore spots and fractured hearts. Your supposed to leave everything at the door and worship God, right? BULL CRAP!! We are supposed to bring everything with us and lay it at His feet and worship. How can He heal what we will not let Him have? Besides, it is difficult to help our broken brother or sister. We have to make sure everything in our lives looks good so we can impress each other.

I think the Lord would be much more impressed with a desparate, broken, sinful heart brought out and laid at His feet with no pretense than a sharp dressed man hiding and covering wounds so the world can see how great he is and how much he has everything together. And don't let him get close to the broken heart, he might get blood on his suit.

We need more Mary's and less Martha's, more Samaritan's and less Levite's, more children and less wise and learned. Children will ask honest questions and aren't self-conscious. They will state the obvious and care nothing for pretense. If they are hurt or made a boo boo, they will usually just let you know. And in a child-like way, they will see through the appearance of things to the heart of the matter. Thank God He has revealed Himself to little children.

--written to City on a Hill compilation "It's Christmas Time" and Considering Lily "The Pieces Fit"

P.S. The South Dakota trip went well, I will post on that later this week.