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NOW IN A MIRROR DIMLY; THEN FACE TO FACE
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face
I Cor. 13:12
It is by now commonplace that wisdom and humility go hand in hand. The wise of earth are modest, as a rule. The newly smart confuse a little knowledge with omniscience. The wise are less impressed with what they know than with the more there is to know.
Our text today could not have been authored by a novice. Only a veteran seeker on the trail of truth could have written it: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."
The words belong to Paul. They are encased in his Hymn to Love, a scripture we often hear at weddings, a piece that stands alone in the anthologies of devotion. Here is the apostle, this time not uttering a prayer, or defining a doctrine, not arbitrating a church dispute or rallying the loyalties of believers, but pondering the mystery that enfolds us. "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."
The controlling figure here is the mirror. The silvering of glass was an invention of the 13th century. In Paul's day, mirrors were made of burnished metal. Their production, by the way, was a specialty of Corinth. At best, these mirrors reflected but poorly, giving back a hazy and ill-defined representation of reality.
So it is, says Paul, with human comprehension. Our perceptions are faulty and incomplete. We know, but only in part. We see as in a mirror DIMLY, that is "enigmatically," which would be a proper rendering of the word. Existence is a riddle. "Now we see in a mirror dimly."
NOWHERE IS THIS JUDGMENT MORE APPLICABLE THAN IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT AWAITS US ON THE OTHER SIDE OF DEATH. We head irreversibly in its direction, yet death remains the ultimate enigma. Gabriel Marcel, the French Roman Catholic existentialist tried to wrap his brilliant mind around the subject. Among other things, he said, "If death is a silence, we cannot mark its boundaries, for we neither know what it is veiling, what it is protecting, nor what it is preparing."
Details on death, even for the faithful, are skimpy, and the specifications few. A minister is asked by a grieving young boy whether he will meet his dog again in heaven. The pastor replies to the effect that if on that other shore his pet is necessary to his happiness, the animal will be there. Not a bad answer, but it rests on conjecture and is built on inference.
The questions are many, even for believers. Will sexual distinctions continue? Jesus said, "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven." If we believe in the resurrection of the body, why has cremation become so popular, and how will God put it all together again? To what extent do the believing dead await the consummation of the age before their joy is full? How does the individual experience of eternal life merge with the promised kingdom of God on a new earth under a new heaven?
These are questions that tease and tax the mind. I have long thought that John Calvin was right in eschewing speculation on the subject. Said the Reformer in his commentary on this passage: "Paul does not enter into any close discussion as to the state of the dead, because the knowledge of that is not particularly serviceable to piety." "For now we see in a mirror dimly…"
But, dimly though it be, WE NEVERTHELESS DO SEE. This is the positive side of Paul's observation. We may know only in part, BUT IT IS A KNOWING JUST THE SAME! We have enough to go on, if not enough to satisfy our curiosity.
We know that Christ is a living and life-giving Lord! We know that he took on the powers of death, voluntarily gave himself to them, and in his resurrection triumphed over them. We know the triumphant bottom line message of the Christian faith, that love is stronger than death. We know that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!
"Some morning, you will read in the papers," said Dwight L. Moody, the evangelist once to a group of friends, "that D.L. Moody is dead. Don't believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I was born of the flesh in 1837, I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh will die; that which is born of the Spirit shall live forever." "Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."
"Then, face to face." Our life at present under instructing grace is a waiting. But then shall we know even as we have been known. Just as an adult outgrows the childish wisdom of youth, so some day our partial vision shall give way to perfect sight!
Wasn't it C.S. Lewis who said that one of the words that would be often used in that coming kingdom is the exclamation, "Ah ha!" "Ah ha, so that's what that meant! Ah ha, so that's why that happened! Ah ha, so that's how those events were connected! Ah ha, so that's where that piece belongs!"
Meaning, we are all part of a community, a communion, a family of God, on this shore or the next, even though we don't know how it all fits together, how one event is related to another, why strange and often difficult things happen. Nevertheless, we affirm this community and grand communion, and even celebrate it and affirm it. On this Sunday in particular we affirm that we believe in the Communion of the Saints. I love how the Heidelberg Catechism responds to the question, "What do you understand by 'The Communion of Saints?'" There are two brief affirmations. One is that we all shall, one day, as partakers of the Lord Jesus Christ, share in all his treasures and gifts, in one grand fellowship. The other is that each one of us, right now, ought to know that we should share our gifts freely and with joy for the benefit and welfare of other members.
I very seldom share from the pulpit mail which I receive in the office. But this past week Sam Bryan shared with me a letter written by our own Linda Van Gombos, and I have never read anything so succinct which spells out what is meant by "sharing our gifts freely and with joy for the benefit and welfare of other members. Linda has given me permission to share her letter with you.
I have had an experience that I would like to share with the church. It seems especially appropriate given the name of the campaign this year, "We are the church." I had an experience recently that moved me deeply and made me realize what church is really all about. It changed the very way I thought about church.
I was visiting with my friend's mother. She is an 80-year-old woman getting ready for a serious surgery, and she is afraid she will not survive. She grew up Catholic, but her daughter has become somewhat anti-Catholic and so they don't talk about or "do" church. After spending the day with her, I thought about her fear and that she wouldn't be able to comfortably contact the church. She hadn't been in a church for 15 years. So I took it upon myself to call and get information.
I spoke to her local Catholic church. I told them about the 15 years and about her fear, and they listened. And then they said the most astonishing thing to me. "What does she want? We can come to the house or pick her up and bring her to church. Tell us what she needs and we will help." They did not ask for money or credentials. They said that to me, the Presbyterian friend, asking questions for the lapsed Catholic. The very first words were, "What does she want? We will help."
I stood in my kitchen with tears in my eyes, my very being humbled, and my mind shockingly clear. It occurred to me that had I called the Presbyterians, or the Baptists, or the Methodists, they would all have said, "How can we help? We're on the way." I realized in a moment of clarity, that this is what the church does. This is what MY church does. This is what church IS. This is the "rock" at our backs.
We don't give money to the church for ourselves, or because it makes us feel good. We give so that we can help our neighbors and our community. Without questions or forms, we help. We offer up our church to help, and we count on that without even thinking much about it. We are at work knowing our church is there. Or we are at the movies, or the hockey game, or safe at home, and our church is there. The church helps the least of us. We help the people who don't practice faith. We help those who cannot help themselves. We help our community. That's why we pledge our money. We give to Westminster because it is not about what the church means to us, but about what the church means to those who do not know the difference in what church life can bring. We give because we are the church and that's our job.
WOW! I don't know of any better stewardship message than that. And I don't know of anything better that defines, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, what it means to part of the Communion of the Saints, now or later.
"Now in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." So, who cares if now we see only in a mirror dimly. That's why we have our symbols, metaphors, parables, and figures. To convey the sheer joy of what it is to be part of this grand communion of the saints.
So, when we think of the church triumphant, we think of a father's house with many rooms, a Holy City with streets of gold, a centering throne with angels and archangels 'round about; we think of robes of white, of eternal day, of a lamb in the midst, standing as though slain; we think of the Hallelujahs of the saints before One whom they gladly hail as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last!
Thinking thus, we are not wrong. Only incomplete. For no language yet invented can capture the glory that awaits us when faith gives way to sight, and what a gift that will be!