Masks are very much in the news and in evidence. But what of the masks we have been wearing long before Covid19? In his last book, “Till We Have Faces,” C.S. Lewis retold the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche as a parable about humanity’s relationship to the Lord Jesus. The title came from a question posed in the book, “How shall they (the gods) meet us face to face till we have faces?” Have you ever considered the mask, the covering that you, that we all, put on every day? We hide from ourselves, our neighbor and God. Look at history. Think of the “Red Scare,” of 1917 that birthed the Espionage Act, so many innocents put into jail, so many citizens deported. Never heard of any of it? That’s no accident. We sweep things under the rug; hide from our own cruelties. Who remembers McCarthyism and the lives that it destroyed? What of the ways that we barred black people from farming in our region? These are just three examples of the way we cover up. We love our masks. And believe me, I don’t exclude pastors. On the contrary, we in ministry love to cover up our feelings and our failings. God is very patient but his patience has an end. His is not okay with our lies, our masks, our coverings, our burial shrouds. Is this now the time that God has chosen to rid us of our masks, “to destroy the face covering that is over all the nations,” (Isaiah 25:8)? We are the same as the disciples, deniers, betrayers and murderers, Christ-killers. This is us. But remember, it’s sinners that God saves. Let’s pray in accordance with his promise in Isaiah 25 that God destroys our masks, and now “we all with unveiled faces” look to the Lord and shine, looking at, seeing at last, our neighbor and “going from glory to glory.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
