I wish you could have been there for Sunday's service two weeks ago, because it was all about disposable packaging.* Pastor titled the sermon, "Don't Save the Veils."** Moses was in God's presence for a while, and his face was radiant. But after a few days, that radiance began to fade, and he felt (perhaps) shame as the glory left him. So he covered his face with a veil.
Moses himself was not glorious, that stuttering, murdering, shepherd. The radiance was the glory of being in the presence of God. God chooses to use inglorious people, disposable packaging, to contain and reflect his presence, because in our weakness, he is stronger. The less impressive our clay pot is, the more beautiful is the glory that radiates from the contents inside.
This week three people asked me how I was, and waited for an answer, to which I confessed an embarrassing truth: "I just... I don't feel... sparkly this week. You know? Like my sparkle is... just... blah."
One friend considered this, and somberly answered, "No. I can't say I've ever felt 'sparkly'."
Another more inquisitive soul asked, "What is your sparkle, exactly?" Of course I don't know the answer to that one. It just is sparkly. It's how I feel about myself.
And another said, "You're just tired. It'll come back," to which my inner self responded, "A-HA! So you agree that I'm not sparkly! Jerk."
But there's hope for my sparkle to return, because it's not me. "[W]henever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces, reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
And until my sparkle returns, I'll take comfort here, in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, where Paul boasts in his weakness, because,"when I am weak, then I am strong." In this passage, Paul [is crazy and] rejoices in his sufferings and deprivations, because God gets to show Himself to the world in those situations. Paul is glad that he's shown up to be the mere human (read, gifted animal) that he is, and that God gets to be God in those unbalanced situations.
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Hannah and Mary: Clay Pots Filled with Glory
Hannah and Mary were humble clay pots, entrusted to carry children who were blessed and purposed by God. They sing similar songs # about God filling the empty with good things. Mary says, "He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on, all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name."
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A Prayer
Your glory will shine in the humblest, ugliest faces, and make them beautiful.
Your glory will cover the least melodic, grating voices, and make their song rise to the heavens.
Your glory will fill the barren woman, and give her many children.
Your glory will bring down the proud, and lift up the humble.
Your glory will fill the whole earth, of this we can be sure.
You have chosen the weak of this world to confound the strong. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourners, the lost, desperate, and hopeless, the insulted and grieved, because your ear is attentive to their cries, and great is their reward in heaven.
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Notes
* You can listen online (maybe start around 55 minutes), but know that it was better in person. There is so much more happening than just what is spoken, especially the moments after everyone is dismissed. People start to mill around, a few people may leave right away (they probably have friends coming over for lunch, and need to make sure their house hasn't burned down because their electric is a little finicky and the crock pot may have caused a power surge (okay, I don't even know if that's possible)).
** (but he is German, and "veils" sounds like "whales" and it's a whole German/English pun that people groaned at mostly, but that was actually the funniest thing to happen in my life all week).
# Here's one such song, "Holy is Your Name (Magnificat)," one of the most beautiful renderings of the Magnificat I've heard, written by David Haas, performed here by Mark Haas.
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