“MIRROR, MIRROR”
James 1:17-27
So, how do I look? Do I look happy or sad, young or old, alert or tired, interested or apathetic? Is my tie crooked? Is my hair combed? Is there a smudge of Welch’s grape jelly on my chin? Yes, I could ask these questions of others. But to be certain of my appearance, I have to look at myself in a mirror.
And so human beings have looked into mirrors for millennia. Obsidian mirrors—obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass—were used in ancient Anatolia as early as 6,000 B.C. Polished copper mirrors were used in Mesopotamia by 4,000 B.C. and in Egypt by 3,000 B.C.
The Greek vase pictured on page 6 of today’s bulletin was crafted about 450 B.C., before the conquests of Alexander the Great. Yet, twenty-five centuries later, the scene on the vase is instantly recognizable: a woman sitting on a chair, holding a mirror, styling her hair.
Today, mirrors have a variety of applications: projection systems, telescopes, microscopes, lasers, satellites, architecture, interior design, cameras, industrial machinery. Yet, the basic purpose of mirrors has not changed since 6,000 B.C. Mirrors reflect. Mirrors show us how we look. How many mirrors are in your home or office? How often do you glance at a mirror each day?
Of course, not all mirrors are truthful. For example, the mirrors in a carnival funhouse may stretch and compress us, thin and widen us, distort and entertain us; but they do not accurately reflect us. Similarly, some mirrors make us look better than other mirrors. Have you experienced this phenomenon?
I don’t believe in magic mirrors like the one in Snow White, the fairytale by the Brothers Grimm. Nevertheless, I always appear ‘fairer’ in my bathroom mirror than in other mirrors in the parsonage. Why? I don’t know. It may be the lighting, angle, or setting. It may be wishful thinking or a trick of the mind. It may be that the bathroom mirror is simply showing me what I want to see. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
So. we gaze longingly into the mirrors that flatter us and hurry past the mirrors that criticize us. Or we criticize them. Like the woman in the clothing store, who angrily told the sales assistant, “I demand another fitting room.” “Why?” asked the assistant. “Is something wrong?” “Yes, something is wrong,” said the woman. “The mirror in my fitting room is wrong. I’ve never looked that bad a day in my life.”
In today’s text the apostle James likened the word of God to a mirror. To be more precise, he compared hearing and applying God’s word to looking into a mirror. He wrote: “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does,” James 1:23-25.
Mirror, mirror. How then is God’s word like a mirror? What does this divine mirror show us when we carefully and believingly see ourselves reflected in it? And how should our reflection impact our daily lives? These are the questions before us this morning. Let’s answer them.
The first question: How is God’s word like a mirror? The simple answer is: It reflects. But reflects what? Certainly not my outward appearance. When I open my Bible, I can’t see my face or features reflected in its pages and print. I can’t use my Bible to straighten my tie or style my hair or ensure the Welch’s grape jelly is gone from my chin. And rightly so. For these are all superficialities. And the Bible was never intended for superficial reflection.
Instead, when I look intently into God’s word, I see myself, my world, my relationships; my thoughts, words, desires, actions; indeed, my EVERYTHING, as the Almighty God sees them. And God’s assessment is what matters, not mine. The reflection I see of myself in His mirror is important, not the reflection I see in a carnival funhouse mirror or bathroom mirror.
Our homes, offices, and lives are filled with mirrors. There are mirrors in cars, mirrors in purses, and even mirrors in lakes and mudpuddles. Yet, without the reflective mirror of God’s word, we cannot properly see ourselves. For God’s mirror is a mirror like no other. Let me illustrate.
I purchased this mirror from the Dollar Store in Lemmon. It’s made of flimsy plastic and fragile glass, and is therefore easily broken. No matter how careful I am with this mirror, eventually, inevitably, it will break or tarnish; be lost, forgotten, or tossed into the trash. Furthermore, every reflection in this mirror is an external reflection and one-dimensional. I can use it to straighten my tie or style my hair. However, this mirror can never show me what’s on the inside; or for that matter, what’s missing from my life.
Consider now this other mirror, the word of God. The words and reflections in this mirror are not from the Dollar Store but from God Himself; or, as James wrote, “from above”. The composition of this mirror, the actual words from God, is not flimsy plastic or fragile glass. No, this mirror was composed by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul wrote to Timothy: “All Scripture is God-breathed,” 2 Timothy 3:16. Or as Simon Peter explained in his Second Epistle: “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit,” 2 Peter 1:21.
And unlike the Dollar Store mirror, this mirror, the word of God, can never be broken; that is, it can never be proven untruthful or unreliable in any of its parts, chapters, verses, words, prophecies, or fulfillment. Jesus said plainly in John 10:35, “And the Scripture cannot be broken.”
This mirror, the word of God, will never fade or tarnish or lose its practical relevance for our daily lives. Jesus taught this too, saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away,” Matthew 24:35. And the usefulness of this mirror, God’s mirror, is not restricted to this life. No, its power and wisdom lead to true life and eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. As John wrote in his Gospel: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name,” John 20:31.
In addition, this mirror, the word of God, is eternally truthful. Jesus said in John 17:17, “Your word is truth.” In a world of moral relativism, where right is wrong and wrong is right, God’s word never reflects anything other than absolute truth. The entire foundation of the Bible is “Thus says the Lord.” This is why our text for today is from the Book of James and not from the Book of Unsolved Mysteries or the Egyptian Book of the Dead or the Book of Mormon.
And this mirror, God’s precious word, is complete; that is, it tells us everything we need to know to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ; and everything we need to know to overcome the hardships of this life and to obtain the glories of the next. “Every good and perfect gift is from above,” wrote James. And this includes the good and perfect gift of the Holy Scriptures. The Greek word for “perfect” in this verse, TELEIOS, has the sense of completeness and fullness. And so Paul wrote to Timothy: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
And so, to summarize, the one mirror is of the earth, manmade, breakable, transitory, relative, one-dimensional, and often untruthful. But the other mirror, God’s word, is from above; inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore unbreakable, absolute, complete, and unchangingly truthful. Which mirror provides our true reflection? The word of God, of course. Yet sadly, many choose the other mirror to gauge who they are. As a result, they fail to realize how lost they are without Christ, and how loved they are through Christ.
And this leads to the second question for today: What does the Bible show us when we carefully and believingly and honestly see ourselves reflected in it? Each day, countless numbers of people look at themselves in a mirror, thinking, Man, do I look good. I’m happy. I’ve got it made. I’m well dressed, well liked, well off, well connected, well positioned for advancement, and well on my way to personal success. I don’t need God. I don’t need His word. I don’t need Jesus Christ as my Savior. I can save myself. I mean, just look at me.” Sadly, what such people see in their earthly mirror is not God’s reality; rather, the distortion of a funhouse mirror.
Laodicea was the location of one of the seven churches of Revelation. When the Laodicean Christians looked into their mirrors, they were delighted with their reflections. They saw themselves as rich, prominent, powerful, and popular. They saw themselves as self-sufficient, having no need of anything from anyone, including Jesus Christ. But had they looked intently and believingly into the mirror of God’s word, they would have seen a different reflection. And Jesus described that reflection to them in Revelation 3:17, saying, “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”
God has said, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy,” Leviticus 19:2. God has said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Luke 10:27. God has said, ‘You shall have no other gods.’ ‘You shall not misuse My name.’ And so on through the remainder of the Ten Commandments—addressing the importance of worship and hearing the Scriptures; obedience to parents and those in authority; the sanctity of life and marriage; stealing, gossiping, and coveting.
Yet, as we look into the mirror of God’s law, can any of us truthfully say that we have never sinned against God; that we have never mistrusted God; that we have never misused His holy name; that we have never neglected the word of God or disobeyed parents or hated or lusted or gossiped or coveted? No, not if we see ourselves reflected in the mirror of God’s word.
And so we rightly confess in our liturgy, as we did this morning: “Merciful Father in heaven, I am altogether sinful from birth. In countless ways I have sinned against You and do not deserve to be called Your child. But trusting in Jesus, my Savior, I pray: Have mercy upon me according to Your unfailing love. Cleanse me from my sin and take away my guilt.
But oh, how different our reflection looks when we see ourselves reflected in the Gospel of Christ; when we see ourselves in Christ and through Christ and with Christ. For this too is how Almighty God sees us when He brings us to faith in Jesus as our Savior. He no longer sees us as wretched, poor, blind, deaf, naked, lost, condemned, and dead; but rather as redeemed, saved, rich, healed, forgiven, and gloriously dressed in the robes of Christ’s righteousness. This is the reality of every believer’s reflection in the mirror of God’s word. And what every believer sees in the mirror of God’s word, let him learn to see in his bathroom mirror too. What do I mean?
I’ve known many people who’ve struggled with poor self-image. I’ve heard such people repeatedly say, “I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror any more. I hate the way I look. I feel so useless, worthless, unattractive, undesirable, without purpose.” Friends, how many people do you know who feel the same and say the same when they look into a mirror?
At such times, stop worrying, stop fretting, stop thinking and overthinking. And as our text states, look intently into the “perfect law that gives freedom,” James 1:25. The word “law” in this verse does not mean Law versus Gospel, but the broader sense of the entire Bible. Look into God’s word and find freedom. As Jesus said in John 8:32, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” John 8:31-32.
The Greek word translated as “looks intently” in James 1:25, PARAKUPTO, is striking and powerful. It literally means to kneel down and look closely, to inspect. This is the same Greek word used to describe the manner in which Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene stopped, stooped, knelt down, and looked carefully into Christ’s empty tomb on the First Easter.
Do you have that picture? This is the way we should look intently into God’s word. When feeling worried and worthless, kneel down before the word of God; look intently into it; inspect it closely, the way Peter, John, and Mary inspected the empty tomb. See what God’s word says about your salvation: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1. See what God’s word says about your glorious position: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,” 1 Peter 2:9.
And when you have carefully looked into the mirror of God’s word, then go to the bathroom mirror and look at yourself. Say, “I’m not unwanted. God wanted me.” Because the text states this too, explaining that God “chose to give us birth through the word of truth,” James 1:18. If God chose you, God wanted you.
After seeing your reflection in God’s mirror, the Bible, go to the bathroom mirror and say, “I’m not a nobody. I am a somebody for whom the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died. I am a somebody whom God set apart for Himself. I belong to Him.” For today’s text says this too, saying that God “chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all He created,” James 1:18.
After looking at your reflection in God’s mirror, the Bible, go to the bathroom mirror and say, “I’m not unloved. To the contrary, God loved me enough to sacrifice His only Son for me, Jesus Christ.” Because this is the clear, unambiguous testimony of the Scriptures. “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” God declares in Jeremiah 31:3. “I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” And again in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Yes, see yourself as God sees you in Christ. For if you do…what will happen? How will your reflection in God’s word impact your daily life? This was our third question for today. And the answer is short and simple.
If you and I look at ourselves carefully in God’s word; if we truly see what we were by nature—lost and condemned; and if we truly see what God has declared us to be through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, namely, redeemed, restored, and forgiven; how can we leave that divine mirror of Scripture without reflecting its power and message in our daily lives?
If we see ourselves as forgiven, how can we refuse to forgive? If we see ourselves as loved by God, how can we refuse to love others, and to express our love in practical, tangible ways: in what we do, in what we say, in the way we treat our spouses, children, fellow Christians, and for that matter, complete strangers?
Conversely, if we don’t see the need to forgive, love, help, and show mercy to others, perhaps we’ve forgotten what we look like. Perhaps we need to look more closely at ourselves in God’s mirror.
Mirror, mirror.