Shining Faces

 "At this point everyone in the council stared at Stephen because his face had become as bright as an angel's." Acts 6:15....

"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand." Acts 7:55...."Those who have truly seen Christ in His glory have eyes for nothing else." A.W. Tozer

In telling of Moses' encounters with God, the Bible speaks of how he would emerge from these times with his face shining. In fact, so impacted was he with the glory of God that he had to cover his face, so brightly did it shine. When I remember that story, and the above account of Stephen's trial before the Jewish religious leaders for his testimony and faith in Christ, I'm impressed with several thoughts. First, I must ask of myself and His church, do our faces shine with the reflection of His glory? Glory that can only come as a result of spending intimate time in His Presence. Second, if we do not, why do we not?

I am not speaking so much of a literal shining, though certainly that can be so, such is His glory. I speak of a kind of shining that is not so much virtual as it is spiritual. One cannot deny the effect of being in the company of those who are intimate with Almighty God. They radiate that presence. They "shine" with His peace, joy, hope, and love. We are drawn to such people. Their words carry impact because those words are filled with His life. They shine so brightly that even unbelievers are drawn to them. They may not be able to identify why they are drawn, but they know there is something about this person that pulls upon their hearts and souls. Jesus, throughout His earthly ministry showed forth with this light because He was Himself Light. That same light is given unto and into all those who truly come to faith in Him. Why then, do so few of us shine with His light?

The reasons for this seem endless. Certainly we choke His light with the amount of darkness we permit into our lives. We live in a sin drenched world, and too often and too easily we compromise with it, diminishing the flame of His light within. We often allow ourselves to get caught up in the busyness, the pressures, the demands of living day to day in a fallen world. When these demands take the high place in our lives, His light begins to fade. If we give ourselves over entirely to them, His light can be snuffed out. We can give ourselves over to simply pursuing what it is we call "a good life." Having it, pursuing it wholeheartedly will slowly but surely quench the light. All of these and more will steal the shine from our lives, spirits, and witness. Where might this be taking place in us?

The followers of Christ ought to be known as "The People of the Shining Face." Perhaps not literally, but certainly it should be a primary identification of those who are His. Does it identify you and me? We cannot afford to miss the impact of such a witness. When the angry Jewish council members removed their outer coats in order to pick up stones to kill Stephen, they deposited those coats at the feet of Saul of Tarsus. Saul, who was heartily in agreement with what they were doing. This Saul was eventually confronted on the Damascus Road by the risen Christ, and there was converted and transformed. There can be no doubt that the seeds of his conversion were planted by what he saw that day on the shining face of Stephen. Saul the murderer, became Paul, the apostle of the heart. He too became a Shining Face for Christ.

Who needs to see our shining faces today, and who will see them? What is quenching His light in our lives today, and for how much longer will we allow it to be so? God is calling a lost world to Himself, and He will do it through the light He shines through His church, His people. Can His voice, light, and life be seen and heard through ours? Or will we fail, again today, to shine? Tozer says that if we have truly beheld His glory, we will have eyes for nothing else. What do you and I have eyes for? His face, His glory, His light.....or something else?

Blessings,

Pastor O