Free To Live Unmasked
Free To Live Unmasked
Reformation Day
October 31, 1999
Romans 3:19-28
Goal: That the hearer grow in living an unmasked life, free from pretense before God and others.
Introduction: In the movie The Mask, Jim Carey’s mild-mannered character becomes pretentious and extreme behind an ancient wooden mask. In The Elephant Man, a cloth hood protects the horribly disfigured title character from the beastly prejudice of others. Generally, we all use masks at one time or another. They assist us in pretending to be who and what we are not, like in The Mask. They also hide the shame of who and what we are, like in The Elephant Man.
We celebrate this Reformation Day by recalling what God has done for us so that we no longer need to hide behind masks. For God has covered our sin and freed us to live unmasked lives in Jesus. In Jesus Christ we are unmasked that we might be free from pretense; free from shame; and free to live unmasked.
1. Free from pretense.
The Jews hid behind masks of righteousness on the pretense of doing works of Law. Supposing they were keeping God’s Law they trusted these works to merit favor with a holy and righteous God. If we imagine ourselves in their shoes for a moment, it might have been like this. We would pray three times a day, give an offering for the temple, and obey the written Jewish code. By doing these things we would not be like sinners. We would be better, and consequently, more pleasing to God. So, we could even boast in our good deeds.
The mask is a good one. It makes a person look religious and good on the outside, but on the inside, where God is to dwell, their is only the self. By proclaiming the Law, Paul seeks to reveal this sin and unmask their self-righteousness. The power in God’s Word is that it is truth. Self-righteousness is a lie and a farce. So, after pointing out that everybody is accountable to God under the law, Paul explains that under law, no one is right with God: “no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (v 20). The work of God’s law is to make sin utterly sinful to me the sinner.
Whenever Scripture speaks a word of law saying, you must do this or you must not do that, God is wanting us to see that we are far from being right with Him. He gives us His word so we too are unmasked and left standing naked before God in the judgment of sin. “all have sinned and fall short of [lack] the glory of God” (v23).
Illustration: As Adam and Eve, once clothed with God’s glory and likeness, found themselves naked and ashamed because of their sin, so we also are stripped of all pretense when we hear the voice of God in his Law. Our efforts to cover up our shame are useless. The truth is, we are all sinners. We are all fallen creatures. There is not one of us righteous by God’s Holy and Perfect standard, no, not one, not even the baby in the womb escapes from the guilt of sin.
Transition: The Law has the goods on us. But the Law is not the only thing we hear from God. Another word covers our sin, not with a mask, but with the very blood of the Savior. While the Law works to uncover who we are by nature, the Gospel works to show us who and what we are in Christ. While the Law unmasks our ugliness, the Gospel cleanses us with the righteous blood of Jesus. Being unmasked is a good thing. It not only sets us free from the pretense of our own righteousness, it also …
2. Free from shame.
How can this be? Paul brings the clarity of the good news to light when he proclaims what the Old Testament Law and the Prophets have said all along. “… now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, … This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ.” You see, because of what God Himself has done for us in the person and work of His own Son, Jesus Christ, repentant sinners stand bold and unashamed before a gracious God.
This new righteousness is not a function of Law and obedience, but according to verse 24, comes “freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Believers do not have to be inhibited by doubt about how much they need to do to make God happy. God, Himself has done what is necessary. He even gives us the faith to believe in Jesus.
Transition: Look at it this way. God also uses a mask that He might be approachable. He has clothed himself in our humanity that we poor sinners might receive the benefits of a gracious God. In Jesus, God puts on flesh and blood, and even wore our shame and died for it on a cross. Now, in Word and Sacrament, he comes to us that we might know the God who daily covers up our shame and frees us from pretense.
3. Free to live unmasked.
God always knows who and what we are, but because of His Son Jesus, He knows us as His own children. He knows us as people of faith who know and trust His goodness. It’s as though God is making His plea to us from the Cross of Jesus to be unmasked and to let Him dress us with true righteousness and holiness that only comes through Jesus Christ. We might ask, “What about all my sins?” But, as quickly as we ask, God says, “What sins?” We are free to live unmasked.
You might be asking yourself about now what your neighbor might think if you told them about this freedom in Christ Jesus. You might wonder if they would think you had gone mad or that you were condoning a sinful lifestyle. Neither, of course, is true. The words, “Your sins are forgiven.” Give us a whole new perspective on what life is really all about. It isn’t about us at all. It’s about Jesus Christ and what He continues to do in the life of sinful human beings like you and me.
Conclusion: Reformation Day is for rejoicing in the person God has made and for celebrating all we have been given freely in Christ Jesus. Reformation is about the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ being restored to people so that they too might be Free to Live Unmasked.
There is a story about a little girl at the time of the Reformation that makes the point well. This girl thought God was like a vulture sitting in heaven watching and waiting to see what wrong she would do, and then pounce on her. Her father worked in the print shop where they were printing Luther’s new translation of the Bible. One day the little girl found a scrap of paper her father dropped. After she read it, there was a noticeable change in her attitude and actions. She was kind to everyone, courteous, and obedient to her mother. One day her mother asked why she was different. She showed her mother the paper, which she kept in her pocket. It read: “God so loved the world that he gave…” That was all. Mother asked, “How could that change your life?” The girl replied, “If God loves me so much that he wants to give me something, then I don’t have to be afraid of him. And I want to be giving as God is giving.” Her image of God had changed. Now God was more like a caring mother hen than a cruel vulture.
That we all might share His glory, God raised up a man who understood the message, and shared it with a world that wore the mask of self-righteousness. That man . . . was Jesus Christ. Amen.
