You’ll need:
· My Best Friend’s Wedding
· Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
· Powder
· A masks
· The Truman Show
Taking off Your Mask
What is the purpose of a mask?
Eugene Peterson said that many of us go through life impersonating ourselves. He was shining a flashlight on the natural tendency that we all have to wear masks, to put forth an image of ourselves that isn’t truthful.
The Opening Act:
Have any of you ever had a time when you felt a certain way inside but acted differently on the outside?
Well, in that instance, you were putting on a mask. At this time, allow me to show you a video clip form the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding. Watch this clip, and then we will talk about it.
- Movie clip: My Best Friend’s Wedding
Well, Julianne Potter, played by Julia Roberts, has just flown to Chicago to help her best friend Michael, with wedding preparations. But what she really wants is to tell him that she’s in love with him and that he is marrying the wrong person. By the time she gets the courage to tell him the truth, she has already done every despicable thing she can to break up his engagement.
Why didn’t Julianne tell Michael how she felt in the first place?
Why do you thing she put on a front or a mask?
Go ahead and turn with me to Luke 18:9-14. In this passage, you find the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Or course the tax collector understands his need for God and cries out for God to have mercy on him. the Pharisee, on the other hand, thinks that he is perfect and he has no awareness of his messed up and judgmental attitudes. Listen to this parable. In Luke 18:9-14 it says, “1”
Why would the Pharisee be considered hypocritical?
What can we do to keep from falling into that same kind of trap?
In Matthew 23:25-26 it says, “2”
You see, God cares deeply about our “insides” and has no tolerance for hypocrisy, as evidenced by Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees. Lots of people get turned off toward Christ because they see Christians who act like hypocrites.
They see Christians living one way at church and then acting differently in school or on the job. Most people don’t want anything to do with this false religion, and who can blame them? This counterfeit religion drove Jesus crazy too. Let’s take a closer look at how we can avoid playing the pretend game. How do we take these masks off, and begin living the life that God wants us to live.
The Main Event:
1. Be honest with yourself.
If you’re pretending to be a goody-goody Christian but you ignore the sin in your life, you need to start by telling yourself the truth about your condition. I want to read for you what it says in Jeremiah 2:22-23 from the New American Standard Bible. It says, “Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign Lord. “How can you say, “I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals”? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there…”
So what does the prophet Jeremiah want us to understand? Well, author Kathleen Norris says, “It’s so much easier to live not knowing what we’ve done.” In other words, it is very easy to deny who we are, even to ourselves.
At this time, I want you to watch a short clip from the movie Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. Take a look at this clip.
- Movie clip: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Well, while on yet another adventure, Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, has to quickly pick the Holy Grail from a room full of chalices. It is suppose to be the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper, presumed to have healing powers. There are many fancy cups in the room, which look great on the outside, but Indiana correctly chooses the plain looking cup. What we learn from this is that things are not always the way they seem on the outside. So with this, we have a challenge to be honest with who we are both on the inside, and on the outside.
Can anyone tell me what the purpose of yeast is?
Well, yeast is an active fungus that causes bread to rise. If you leave some bread dough mixed with east in a warm place, it will continue to expand. In Luke 12:1 Jesus compared hypocrisy with yeast. He said it only takes a small amount of yeast to seep into your recipe and affect the whole loaf of bread. And it is the same, Jesus says, with our spiritual lives. Hypocrisy starts when we lie to ourselves about what we are really like. And it spreads like a cancer from there as we begin to deceive others into thinking that we are something that we really are not. So we need to learn how to be honest with ourselves.
2. Be transparent with others.
Being transparent means letting people see the real you, faults and all. This transparency feels risky and uncomfortable at times. But it allows you to live in freedom and it makes it easier for you to affirm your dependence on God.
At this time, I want t show you a brief clip from the movie Powder. Powder is a boy with an unusual ability to look inside a person’s soul and understand the feelings within. In this clip the tables are turned when Powder must attempt t express his own feelings and emotions to Lindsey who cares deeply about him. This clip illustrates the importance of being transparent. The ability to share our thoughts and emotions helps us build security and safety into our relationships. Watch this clip.
Mask:
Put the mask on during the Powder video clip, so people are a bit surprised to see
you. Talk for a few moments about how we all wear masks on a regular basis, trying
to get people to think we’re different than we really are.
What kind of masks do people wear today?
Why do we put on masks from time to time?
If you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn with me to Ephesians 5:8-14. In this passage, it is telling us to live as children of light. Listen to this passage. Ephesians 5:8-14 says, “3”
God’s desire that we be honest and transparent with each other isn’t only because of His obsession with honesty. It’s also because He loves us and wants what is in our best interest. So we need to be honest and transparent with others.
3. Be honest with God.
This means admitting to God how much you need Him every day, in every area of your life. In Hebrews 10:22 it says, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” God wants you to come to Him with a sincere heart. You don’t have to clean up your act before coming to God. He’ll take us the way we are. It’s a waste of time to try to fake out God by trying to wear masks.
The word sincere comes from a Latin work meaning, without wax. Long ago when potters would craft certain pottery out of clay and allow it to dry and harden in the sun, the heat would produce small cracks, barely visible with the naked eye. To still sell their creations, the craftsman would use melted wax and run it into the cracks to make the surface appear smooth. When you bought a sincere pot you were buying a pot without wax, no cracks and no masks to cover them up.
In Psalm 139:1-8 David is being honest with God. Listen to these verses. Psalm 139:1-8 says, “4”
The Grand Finale:
As we begin to wrap things up, allow me to share one last movie clip with you. This clip comes form the movie The Truman Show. In this clip, Jim Carrey is just beginning to realize that he has been watched his entire life. This scene follows him around town as this realization makes him increasingly more paranoid and anxious. Take a look at this clip.
- Movie clip: The Truman Show
How would it affect your honest and your transparency if you knew that you were constantly being watched?
Encore:
Get It?
· What’s hypocrisy, or how would Jesus define it?
· You already know yourself, so how can you be honest with yourself?
· If God knows everything already, what is the point of being honest?
· What would happen if we all had TV monitors on our heads showing all of our thoughts? How would that change your behavior?
What If? The Big Picture:
· We’re all hypocritical from time to time. Why is it so tempting to act this way?
· What can we gain from acting hypocritically?
· What can we loose from acting hypocritically?
· Why do you think so many people believe they have to clean up their lives before God will accept them?
· Why is it so difficult to allow people to see who we really are?
· How does it affect you to know God sees inside you and knows your motives?
So What? It’s Your Life:
· Character is who you are when no one is watching you. What do you think about that statement?
· What can a person do to remove the masks that they wear?
Before we close this evening, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?
Well, if there is nothing else, just remember that in order to take off the masts that we are wearing, we need to begin being honest with ourselves, being transparent with others, and be honest with God.
Let’s Pray!
|
