The Transformative Gaze.

(Reflecting pool at the Nassau County Museum of Art. Courtesy Long Island Daily Photo)

We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (Second Corinthians 3:13 and 3:18)

God has blessed me to meet a few people in life whose faces reflected the glory of God. And, though it is not considered polite in this culture to stare at people, I couldn't help but stare at them. I would wonder, Is this person really human? How is it that he loves so deeply? How is it that he gives himself to God so freely? And then, I would ask myself the hard questions: Will people ever see Jesus in me the way I see Jesus in this person? Can my walk with the Lord be that consistent?

It is a hard question because it cuts to the core of what I am not doing. Perhaps it is a hard question for many of us. Why was Moses's face aglow? Because he had spent time in the glorious presence of God. Some years ago in a sermon, Pastor Sam said (and I paraphrase): "Moses didn't ask God, 'Please make my face shine.' Moses asked, 'God, show me Your glory!'" But that encounter had a marker: the glory of the Lord could not be experienced by Moses without the whole community knowing he had been in the presence of God.

The Second Corinthians passage above has an interesting phrase: Moses would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring while the radiance was fading away. It seems that time in the presence of God brings the glow of His glory, and time apart from Him causes the radiance to fade away.

Oh, but why would we opt to spend time apart from the One we say we love so intensely, the One who we love so much that we agreed to enter into covenant with Him?

If the Lord continues to extend His mercy and grace to myself and my husband, we (and the Lord with us) will celebrate our fourteenth anniversary later this year. Time together has led us to look like each other: not necessarily in terms of our physical appearance, but in terms of our conversation, our decision-making processes, our ability to predict and reflect each other's behavior, and so on. We therefore "know" each other not just in terms of sexuality, but in every aspect of our lives.

The late Derek Prince once made an interesting comment about this. He took note that in some areas of Scripture, it would say a husband "knew" his wife. But when discussing unmarried persons, the Scripture would instead say a man "lay with" a woman. The implication being made by Prince was that the true knowing, the true depths of intimacy, are only present in the lives of those who have submitted themselves in covenant to God and to one another in marriage.

So, to return to this reality of man being able to reflect the glory of God, we ought keep in mind that such a transformation is an outflow of submission to God: our relationship with Him is distinguished by covenant. The Scripture even goes so far as to give us a covenant name-tag: The Bride of Christ. There are many persons in the earth who can do the nice things we do. (In some cases, they do it far better than we can.) They give to the poor, they save the planet, they love their neighbors... but the glory of God is not evident in them. So they give to the poor, but they also slander their leaders. They save the planet, but they also support pornography. They love their neighbors, but they also hate persons who are unlike them. And we, unless we submit ourselves fully to God, unless we have covenanted with Him, will tend towards the same double-mindedness.

We need to "know" God in the deepest, most intimate way. But if we are not spending much time in the presence of God, then how can we claim intimacy with Him?

-Lord, draw us to Yourself by Your Spirit, so that we might know You and experience Your glory.
-Lord, keep us at Your side, so that Your radiance never fades from our faces.
-Lord, give us a deep desire to spend our days and hours in Your presence.
-Lord, cause the Bronx and the world to see You on us, in us, and through us... and place in them that same longing for You. Amen.