Reflections in the Mirror Part 1
Reflections in the Mirror • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Who is the Man in the Mirror
Who is the Man in the Mirror
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
The Apostle James says, this man “looks intently” into the mirror. That means he is looking at himself with intense consideration and thought. He is looking at the person in the mirror and having an intense internal conversation. But the question is, what is he focused on? What is the intent of his intense study of himself? Is he examining his hair, his wrinkles, his physical attributes? Is he saying to himself “What a handsome dude you are?” Is he looking into the mirror and condemning himself? Or is he evaluating the condition of his soul? Is he measuring the sum of his life? Is he looking at himself and comparing what others perceive him to be but in his heart he and God know what measure of a man he really is?
Many times I have taught on portions of this text. As such, a “hearer” comes from the Hithpael stem of shama שָׁמָע meaning to obey or to be obedient. So, to be a “hearer” is to be an obedient one to the Word of the Lord. Thus, to be a “hearer” and “not a doer” (po’al פֹּעַל how one behaves), is to profess to be an obedient follower of Christ but it is not reflected in your conduct.
Note that to the Apostle James, this type of person looks in the mirror and all they focus on is what is in the natural. Thus, they quickly forget the supernatural call to the transformative work of Christ in their life. How often we place our life’s focus on our physical well being neglecting the weightier things of the soul and spirit.
For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
When he walks away from the mirror he is content with what he has seen in the flesh and thinks no more of it. He does not consider beyond the natural to the depth of the soul of the man in the mirror. He does not look at the image and ask, “What sort of man are you really?”
Most of the books of the Prophets of the Old Testament are filled with prophetic words from Adonai to nations, kings and the tribes of Israel. Some of them are forthtelling of things to come and even seemingly apocalyptic. Even still, all of them in some way point to a revelation of the Messiah. But there are a few books, like that of Jonah, that have little prophetic utterance but focus more on a comparison and contrast between the character and nature of God and that of a Prophet of God who forgot who he was, even in the face of the Lord (Hayes, J. Daniel, The Message of the Prophets, 2010; Zondervan Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan).
Jonah was called to be a Prophet of Adonai. The people viewed him as a prophet. We even see him spoken of in 2 Kings 14:25
He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.
And in the book of Jonah, God has given this prophet one small, short specific prophetic word to deliver in Jonah 3:4
Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
That is it. Out of the entire book of Jonah, this is the central assignment to this prophet. Yet, he went extremely out of the way to disobey God. Jonah forgot the man in the mirror. He forgot what manner of man he was called to be. He was focused on his flesh not his Heavenly Father. Jonah failed to look in the mirror and see a Prophet of God rather than a prophet for personal profit. Jonah got up that morning, looked in the mirror and assumed the world revolved around himself. He looked in the mirror and said, “You da Man”. This is the danger of living a life primarily in pursuit of selfish gain. This is a danger in living a religious life or a compromising Christian life. This is a danger in living a prideful life. What a danger thing to be a prophet of God with a chip on your shoulder at God. To think you know better than even God is a dangerous place to live.
Often, we read this story and view Jonah and the city of Nineveh as the central characters. But in reality, the central characters are God and Jonah. The book compares and contrast Israel’s response to God’s mercy with that of a Gentile people.
Where Israel refuses to respond to God’s covenant in repentance, this Gentile people of no covenant, hear this short and simple word from God and immediately respond, even calling the cattle to be included in their acts of repentance.
And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
The response that the people of Nineveh had, should have been the response of the people of Israel. Thus, God uses Nineveh to become a mirror for Israel to look into and hopefully see what manner of people they were and call them to repentance.
The book of Jonah strongly reveals the nature of God’s compassion, love and mercy, not only to Israel, but to all people. It is a reflection of the mission of the Messiah to graft into covenant with God, by his great mercy, even the Gentile nations.
In this story, the captain and the king are the leaders; the sailors and the people are all lost; and the ship and the city are all about to go down by God’s judgment. But all repent, turn to Adonai and are shown the mercy of God (Hayes, J. Daniel, The Message of the Prophets, 2010; Zondervan Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan).
But instead, we see the prophet refusing to obey, he goes down to Joppa, he goes down into the lowest part of the ship, he goes down into the sea and down into the belly of a giant fish. As a result, he is hurled into the sea and hurled out of the fish. Going down and hurling up is the pattern of the life of the man or woman who refuses to look into the mirror and ask, “Who are you really and what are we going to allow God to do about it?” They are hearers only and not doers of the Word of God.
Here the words of the Lord in Isaiah 1:18-19
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
According to J. Daniel Hayes in his book, The Message of the Prophets, in the Ancient East, it was an idiom that when someone died, it took three days for them to reach Sheol or Hell. Therefore, the great fish, appointed by God, takes Jonah to the abode of death for three days. (Note that God appointed the fish. But God did not appoint Jonah’s rebellion or him being thrown into the sea. That was Jonah’s doing. Yet, God shows mercy to Jonah more than once.) And upon God having the fish hurl him up on dry land, Jonah is hereby resurrected from the place of death. We see a reference to this in Jonah 2:1-6
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
The word “Sheol” שְׁאוֹל is translated as “the grave”. This most likely was Jesus’ reference in Matthew 12:38-41
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus was calling the scribes and Pharisees to look into their mirrors (i.e. take a good look at their hearts and attitudes) and search themselves. God was about to graft in the Gentile nations to this Holy Covenant through the atoning work of a willing sacrifice bringing a message of restoration and hope.
Some scholars believe that for three days Jonah had died in the belly of that great fish because he forgot who God had called him to be. But God, in His great mercy, resurrected Jonah and allowed him to deliver the message to the Gentiles of Nineveh. In like manner, God sent the Christ to deliver His word of repentance and restoration to us that we might turn from our disobedience and be hearers of His word.
Your original image was found, not in a mirror but in the face of God according to Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
This world and this life of flesh have distorted that image. But Christ has made a way of restoration, a makeover if you will according to 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I do not know what you see in the mirror when you look into it. I don’t know if you get discouraged, afraid or if you are content with it. But I know that God has a purpose for your life. I know God has called you to a life of holiness and righteousness in Christ Jesus. I know that when you talk to the man in the mirror and ask, “Who are you?”, it ain’t Michael Jackson’s voice you should be hearing. It should be the voice of the Lord God calling you up higher to His purpose, calling you deeper into His great love and calling you to be like Christ. God is calling you to go to a “Nineveh near you” and share the mercies of God. Do not be a Jonah who looks into the face of God and forgets who God has called him to be because he is so focused on his flesh. Maybe you have had some spiritual setbacks. Let God give you a spiritual makeover today.
The next time you look into the mirror, you can remind yourself of who God has called you to be. Remind yourself of what God has done for you. Remind yourself of who and what God is seeking to mold and shape you into. Challenge yourself to be all God desires you to be. Challenge the man or woman in the mirror to pursue God and His righteousness everyday of your life.
