A GODLY FACELIFT

SERMON STARTER

          I wrote this poem several years ago after one of my face-scanning trips to the market. One particular day I noticed one lady who passed me by who wore her "feelings on her shirt-sleeve." The woman's sadness and distress was like an aura around her, but people passed her by without seeming to notice. It struck me deeply that she was unaware of what her face was revealing and no one noticed or cared.

          American's are deeply concerned about their outward physical appearance. This obsession ends up with concerns about wrinkles, fat and hair. Many spend thousands of dollars pursuing beauty products and treatments that will make them look young again. Others spend thousands more on Botox injections and plastic surgery that may smooth the wrinkles but actually disfigures them.

          My sermon today is a reminder that our faces are God's billboard for displaying what is in the heart. The first ten days of December were stressful as I was finishing my Annual Christmas Family Newsletter. There was a rap at my side door. I looked up from my computer with irritation showing on my face. I was chagrinned to see the smiling face of my elderly next door neighbor. She was carrying a plate of festively wrapped homemade cookies. Her face radiated joy as she hugged me and thanked me for assigning the halfway house men leaf-cleaning duties around her place during the year.

          I was humiliated at my own heart and hoped my facial features didn't betray my initial reaction to her "interruption." Our faces reveal what is in our hearts.

 

 

Pastor Phil  <><<

 

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

Your face impressed me as you passed me by:

       I scan so many faces on my daily journeys.

In that moment I saw and felt such sorrow

What was it?

The disillusionment of a thousand lifetimes?

       A lost soul wandering through the crowd?

What would it take to lift your load of sorrow?

       A better choice for a mate?

       More responsive children?

       Supportive friends that care?

       More foreign manufactured goods?

Could anything fill the emptiness and aching void?

       A bridge-building friend?

       A connection to anyone who cares?

       God who died for me. . .

 

Phil Roland   <><<

2012

 

 

 

 

 

January 15, 2012 - Sheepfold Ministries

Pastor Phil Roland

 

A GODLY FACELIFT

Psalm 42:1-11 - 43 - Exodus 34:27-35

"We have waited for the long, winter coldness to set in. Some have complained about it's delay. Now, we complain because winter has finally arrived. Your face is God's billboard for displaying His Spirit in you. Never minimize what you do with your eyes, your gestures and your face."

                                                                                                               Pastor Phil  <><<

Psalm 42:11 (NKJV)
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 43:5 (NKJV)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."  2 Corinthians 3:18

I.  OUR FACE REFLECTS WHAT IS IN OUR HEART - Jere. 17:9-10

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10

          A. What is revealed on the human face? Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV)
            "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,

             uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,

             jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

            21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you

             beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice

             such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

                        1. Anger, bitterness and rage

                        2. Depression

                        3. Hatred and un-forgiveness

                        4. Jealousy

                        5. Sadness, grief and loss

                        6. Depression

             B. What is in your heart will show on your face - Prov. 4:23

"Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

            24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you."

1. Most messages are revealed from your face

                        2. Facial Features reveal the heart's hidden messages

                        3. Tone and Volume of your voice are relevant

                        4. The meditations of the heart will reach your face

                        5. Guard your heart for it is connected to your face

             

 

A GODLY FACELIFT, cont., p.2

            B. Time spent with Jesus will show on your face - Galatians 5:22-23
            "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,

             goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is

             no law."

                        1. Love for God and Man

                        2. The Joy of the Lord is our Strength - Neh.8:10b

                        3. Peace - John 14:27

                        "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world

                         gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it

                        be afraid.

 

II.  DAVID'S COUNTENANCE IS FALLEN FROM DEPRESSION

          A. David reveals his Depression in Psalms 42 and 43

            "As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
             2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear              before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they              continually say to me, "Where is your God?" Psalm 42:1-3
                        1. His eyes are filled w/tears and weeping

                        2. He's lost his contact with God

                        3. He feels isolated and alone

                        4. Was God lost? No, David was lost.

                        5. He stopped looking at God, seeing only his problems

                                    a. Look at yourself and be Depressed

                                    b. Look at the World and be Distressed

                                    c. Look at Jesus and be At Rest

            B. David ends both Psalms on a Note of Hope -  Psalm 42:11

            "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within

             me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance

             and my God."

1. God is famous for Unanswered, "Why" Questions

                        2. Man's humanity looks up and asks, "Why?"

                        3. We see through a Glass Darkly - 1 Cor. 13:12

             "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now

                          I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

a. Mirrors of the OT were probably polished brass

                                    b. Saw yourself imperfectly

                                    c. Depression is like that

                        4. HOPE in God, only He can see you through depression

                                    a. David is famous for his love and devotion to God

                                    b. Psalms always end on positive exhortation

 

III.  MOSES' FACE GLOWED FROM HIS TIME WITH GOD - Ex. 34

"Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.
30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his

face shone, and they were afraid to come near him."  Exodus 34:29-30

A GODLY FACELIFT, cont., p.3

            A. Moses Spent Time Alone with God on the Mountain

                        1. Climbed Sinai's mountain alone

                        2. We were sent here from Him and were essentially alone

                        3. One day we return to Him as we came: alone

            B. Moses' Lost Sight of Himself with God

                        1. He "Forgot" his Stuttering and Shyness

                        2. Moses Wrapped / Immersed himself in God

            C. Moses' Totally Focused on God

                        1. Left behind everything: No I-phones, I-Pads, nothing

                        2. Even left his KJT Bible to focus on God (tongue-in-cheek)

                        "Nothing in my hands I bring,

                                    Simply to Thy Cross I cling. . ."

            D. Moses' Countenance was Completely Changed

            "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the                     Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just                    as by the Spirit of the Lord."  2 Corinthians 3:18

                        1. Gradual Process: Moses probably wasn't changed instantly

                        2. Day by Day for 40 miraculous days on the Mountain

            E. Moses' Listened and Obeyed what God said

                        1. His obedience led to the Ten Commandments

                        2. He no longer needed his brother Aaron

            F. Moses came down from the Mountain to Serve

                        1. Can we do any less?

                        2. We serve God through acts of kindness to His people

                        3. Who and what are you serving?

                        4. Clue: It's what and who you're looking at

 

 

A GODLY FACELIFT

Exodus 34:27-35 (NKJV)
27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."
28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.
30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them.
32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded.
35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.

 

 

 

A GODLY FACELIFT

ILLUSTRATION:

One day a little girl asked her mother a question, “Is God big?” “Oh yes”, said the mother. “Well how big is God?” “Well, He’s bigger than the world.” Then the little girl said, “Well, does God live in my heart?” “Yes, He does.” “Well, then if He’s bigger than the world and He lives in my heart, wouldn’t He show through?”

Good question.

 

CLOSING ILLUSTRATION:

In New York City, well I wouldn’t want to be there today, there’s too much snow and ice there, all the flights are cancelled. But in New York city in a tenement district there was a small boy in ragged clothes that was seen with a small piece of a broken mirror. And he was out there shining, reflecting the sun, way up at the top of a tenement house at a window. Just there doing that. And a man came by and says, “ah-ha, you’re one of those bad kids. You’re up to mischief aren’t you?” The man took the youngster by the shoulder and said, “I don’t really know you but like most boys in this neighborhood, you're probably one of those bad ones.” And the boy looked up into the stern face of his accuser and said, “Mister, do you see that window up there? That’s my brother’s room. He's a cripple. And the only sunlight he ever sees is what I can shine up there with this little piece of mirror.” The only Jesus that some people will ever see is the Jesus that they see in your face.