I want to begin by showing you a short YouTube clip.
I recognise that video is not the easiest thing to bring into this space, and
apologise to those who will find it hard to see the screen; but nonetheless I
think it matters enough to try. The film in question, seen by over
nine-and-a-half million people, was made by Shea Glover, and is titled ‘People
react to being called beautiful’…
…So, there it is. People reacting to being called
beautiful. One way or another, almost all of them were overwhelmed. For many,
perhaps most, their face lit up [and for the benefit of the viewer that was
given some help by tilting the camera; but I don’t think that was necessary].
For quite a few, their initial response was confusion: for some, that
confusion was overtaken and disarmed by joy; for others, confusion took a step
back, regrouped, and simply deflected the complement. And then for a few being called
beautiful was just too painful to receive.
How do you react to being told that you are
beautiful?
The word I want to focus on today is ‘glory’.
In our readings, Moses and Jesus both shine, reflecting the glory of God; but
then we are told that this radiant halo isn’t just for a few very special holy
people, but that all of us can come into the presence of the Lord and that our
faces too reflect his glory. When we stand in front of God he holds our gaze
and says, ‘I find you beautiful’ – and our faces light up.
And being overwhelmed, and confused, and even
finding that too painful to receive for now, is part of that too; for this is a
life-long process of transformation, from one degree of glory to another.
Ireneaus of Lyons (130-202 AD) wrote that ‘the glory
of God is man fully alive; and the life of man is the vision of [or, consists
in beholding] God.’ That is, we have a God-given and God-dependent glory. Just
as the face of moon reflects the light of the sun, and so is bestowed a beauty
of its own, so as we gaze on the face of God revealed in Jesus our faces shine.
So come, and in the gift of this space, these
scriptures, the bread and wine, look upon the face of Christ. And then go, go
out into the world, this city of Sunderland, with faces shining from the
encounter.
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