Taking Off Our Masks

College had a very different Communion Service on Tuesday evening which, unfortunately, was not streamed live on the Internet as they normally are.  The service involved a lot of clowning around, quite literally, as we had a clown performing at various points during the service, which was based on the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  The sermon was excellent and the actual Eucharist very moving and meaningful; but what got me thinking was the prayers of intercession.

The prayers were all about the masks we wear in everyday life and were dramatically illustrated by students wearing blank face masks.

We all wear masks in life in that we are different people in different situations.  You can be one person at home, another at work, another at church and still another for a night out with your mates.  Don’t believe me?  Ask somebody if your voice is different when you answer the telephone.  Most people have a ‘telephone voice’, another form of mask.

As Christian people we need to take off our masks and be authentic.  God made us as we are, with all our quirks and idiosyncrasies and he loves the people he created.  True we have our faults because we are a fallen race constantly in need of God’s mercy and grace, but we still have to have the courage to be who we truly are because we are all a special and unique creation.

We put on the masks because we are afraid people will not like who we truly are.  If they don’t like the mask we present, then we can just put on a fresh one; whereas if we present our true selves we run the risk that people will not like who we are.  It is a risk, but do we truly want people to like us for something we are not?

Jesus spent his life being authentic and running the risk of rejection.  Some loved and followed him, others indeed rejected him.  As Christians we are called to be like Jesus; and that means being authentic and open about who we truly are even though we too may face rejection from some, but we will receive love from others and, of course, we are already loved far more than we can ever know by our loving God.