God's Mirror

“…For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in  mirror; for they look at themselves and, and on going away, immediately forget what they were like.” –James 17:24

If you’re anything like me, you have a love-hate relationship with mirrors. They are everywhere, in our cars, our bathrooms, our bedrooms, and in public places. We have all seen things we never knew existed in those crazy high-magnification mirrors at cosmetics counters in department stores! Our mirror-image looks different than one in a photo or painting. A mirror leaves no room for Photoshop, or the sympathetic interpretation of a gifted artist. Mirrors simply reflect the raw image of who we are in any given moment. They ask us to look at ourselves unedited. The beauty of mirrors is that they give us important information. If we have food in our teeth or stray hairs out of place before a job interview or meeting, the mirror can save us from embarrassment. It can give us a chance to adjust or fix things.  The most profound thing about a mirror, though, is that it forces us to see ourselves—to examine ourselves—for better or for worse. How we judge what we see depends more on what is inside of us than what is on the outside. All those messages we have received about what we should look like, dress like, and smile like, and act like form the lens through which we see ourselves.

In this epistle reading from James, James uses the analogy of a mirror to talk about our spiritual image and identity. He wants the early Christians to whom he writes to examine themselves through the lens of God’s Word. He wants Jesus’ disciples to be doers of their faith, not just hearers. James knows that they have received lots of different messages about who God is and who they are, from their government, Jewish High Priests, their families, and their brothers and sisters from neighboring religions. So he decides to give them a picture of who God really is. He wants to give them the only lens that matters, so that they see an image of wholeness to which to aspire. For James, God is generosity, light without shadow, life-giving truthfulness, and fruitfulness. This life-giving, generous God sees us, His creation, as beloved ones. In God’s mirror, we look like saints who are slow to anger, quick to listen, and slow to speak. He calls us to live into the image of one who cares for orphans and widows in their distress, and keeps himself unstained by the world. This might sound like too tall an order if God were asking us to do it on our own. But we’re not on our own. We only have to do two things: “welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls;” and “persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act.” James is imploring us to throw out those earthly mirrors that magnify our flaws or allow us to become absorbed with ourselves. Instead, we are invited to come to the Lord’s table to find our true image in Christ; to continue to become the ones who received the name Beloved in our baptism. He sends us from His table out into the world to reflect for others the generous, light-filled, shadow-less, life-giving God of abundant love and grace. So look into God’s mirror! See yourself as God sees you. Then go in peace to love and serve the Lord!