We are told God created man “in his own image”. What do you suppose “in his own image” means? When you look in a mirror, what do you see? You see your own image.
Just maybe we were created to be mirrors for God, to see the goodness of God, the love of God reflected. We were created to reflect God back to God in worship, and to reflect God to others around us through blessing them and to reflect God into the rest of creation in stewardship.
We are told over and over that God is love; therefore, we were created to be mirrors, to reflect God’s love back to God, and reflect God’s love to all around us.
Jesus said in Matt 22:37-39: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’”
Jesus told us this is what we are supposed to do because that’s how God loves us, and we were created to be mirrors to reflect God’s love back to God. And we are also to reflect God’s goodness and love to those around us [Love your neighbour... ], and also reflect God’s goodness and love to ourselves [... as yourself].
Why haven’t we been doing that? Well for one thing, I think we have been following Adam and Eve’s example and gulping down the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We have made religion all about rules of what’s right and what’s wrong, who’s good and who’s bad, judging ourselves and judging others. After we have gorged ourselves on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we are so busy judging right and wrong, judging who’s good and who’s bad, that we get distracted from what we were created to do: reflect God’s love and goodness.
So reflecting the goodness of God and the love of God back to God is how we worship. Consider Hebrews 12:28, 29 (Wright’s translation): “Well, then: we are to receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken! This calls for gratitude! That’s how to offer God true and acceptable worship, reverently and with fear. Our God, you see, is a devouring fire.”
What about our God being a devouring fire? How does that reckon with the statement that God is love? How can we say “God is love” and also say “God is a devouring fire”?
Recently Pastor Jeff talked about trying to contain God’s love being like trying to hold Niagara Falls in a teacup. Could it be that God’s love is so huge, so all consuming, so intense, that we just can’t look at it directly?
Perhaps the writer of Hebrews imagines love so intense it is like a devouring fire, love so intense you can’t look at it directly, but worship reverently and with fear.
Do you like the warmth of the sun on a nice summer day? Have you tried staring at the sun? Imagine God’s love, like that, only a whole lot more so; God’s love showers us with warmth and goodness, but it is so intense and powerful that we humans just cannot bear to look at it directly.
So the writer of Hebrews tells us that being deeply thankful to God for his awesome and overwhelming love is “how to offer God true and acceptable worship, reverently and with fear”.
A deep, deep thankfulness cannot be contained; it just has to overflow to pour out blessings on others.
On this Thanksgiving weekend, take away this thought: Saying “thank you” is reflecting back a little of the goodness done for you. As humans, we have been created to be little mirrors to reflect the goodness of God, the love of God, back to God, to others and finally to ourselves.
And so finally, have a wonderful Thanksgiving Sunday; be the mirror you were created to be. And just go out and bless someone!
