There is a story of a beggar who was sitting across the street from an artist’s studio. The artist saw him and thought he would make an interesting portrait study, so from a distance, he painted the defeated man, whose shoulders drooped and whose eyes were downcast and sad. When he was finished, he took the portrait over to the beggar so he could look at it.
“Who is that?” the beggar questioned. The painting bore a slight resemblance to himself, but in the painting before him, he saw a person of dignity with squared shoulders and bright, uplifted eyes, almost handsome! He asked the artist, “Is that me? I don’t look like that.” But the artist replied, “But that is the person I see in you.” (Adapted from New Vision in Christ, by Rev. Michael J. Fish).
What does God really see? In the midst of our Lenten journey, God does not see us as everyone else sees us. People around us may see us as cool, successful, unattractive, popular, old, whatever. It does not matter at all how others may see us. God sees our hearts, sees us as we really are. Perhaps we wish we had him fooled, like those we have led to believe that we are less frightened, more confident, happier than we really are. Or perhaps we are deeply grateful that God sees through all the shallow, negative judgments that so many people have placed on us. Probably, it is both.
Our Lord, to our joy and to our sorrow, looks into our hearts and sees us as we really are. In Lent, that’s a call for introspection: to confess that we have not loved our Lord with our whole hearts, nor loved our neighbors as ourselves.
In the season of Lent, it is especially important that we confess our sinfulness as specifically as we are able. In what ways have we failed God and ourselves? Because we cannot hide from God, we dare not use all our usual ways to avoid our sinfulness. We are used to denying our sins, minimizing them, excusing them, blaming them on others. This Lent, let’s examine ourselves, asking God to search our hearts. We benefit from naming our sins, our needs, and losses and failings. And we admit to God that only by his grace and guidance, can we find healing and help. (G. Edward Whetstone, Caught in the Acts, CSS Publishing)
Pastor Mark