Chains of Love
A sermon by
Exodus 34:29
2 Corinthians 3:12 - 4:3
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SERMON: Chains of Love
It's Valentine’s Day, a day full of symbols of love. The usual ones, of course, include hearts and flowers, little cupids and those flirty candy hearts with sayings such as “U R Hot” on them.
But if you were in Rome today, you’d be doing your Valentine’s Day shopping at the hardware store, not the Hallmark store.
The New York Times recently ran an article about a new romantic ritual in Rome inspired by Federico Moccia’s recent book, Ho Voglio di Te (I Want You), and its extremely popular movie adaptation. In the book, a young man wins the heart of a woman by taking her to Rome’s Ponte Milvio (or Milvian Bridge), wrapping a lock and chain symbolic of their love around a light post, and throwing the key into the Tiber River.
The invented ritual quickly caught on and young people from across Italy flocked to one of Rome’s oldest bridges to memorialize their own love with a padlock and a thrown-away key. In fact, so many locks appeared on the Ponte Milvio, that their weight caused a light post to collapse, inducing city officials to install steel posts with chains on which locks can be attached without causing damage to the ancient bridge. Such is love in Rome these days!
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Over the weekend we learned about love in Iraq. Our guests were our new refugee friends from Iraq, Ziyad and Ghadah, who explained to us that their marriage was arranged by their parents. Ziyad is very much in favor of arranged marriages, explaining that parents love their children and want the very best for them, and sometimes the parents make better decisions that young lovers do. That's hard to argue with. Some of the parents in the room wanted to pick their children's spouses too.
It was a very traditional courtship. Ziyad did not speak to Ghadah alone until after they were engaged. And Ghadah wore a hijab, which is a headscarf worn by Muslim women, sometimes including a veil that covers the face except for the eyes. Some Muslim women wear a burqa, which is a loose, usually black or light blue robe that covers the body from head to toe. I think all of us were fascinated by these veils worn by the women.
The Muslim women quickly pointed out that veils were common in many societies. Catholic nuns wear a habit, which is not far different from the clothing worn by Muslim women. Brides in America frequently wear veils at their weddings. A few years ago, when American women wore hats more frequently, the hats often featured veils. Our friends suggested that back in the day when American women all wore hats to church, it was a matter of modesty and honor for them, just as it is for Muslim women to wear their particular kind of veils.
One of our Muslim guests said that she wore a hijab when she came to the states, and a woman came up to her and said, "Listen, honey, you don't have to wear that anymore because you are in America now!" But Ghadah and the other Muslim women explained to us that wearing these veils was not a dishonor, but rather an honor. It fulfilled the Islamic requirement of modesty, but it was also a way of saving their beauty for their husband. She said it was like having a beautiful diamond that you didn't show everybody, but saved it for only special people to see.
After all this talk about Muslim veils, I was surprised when I looked closely at our text for today and discovered that Paul mentions veils in this text five times! The idea of the veil is at the heart of our text.
But Paul is not referring to bridal veils, birdcage hat veils or a burqa. He is referring to the veil worn by Moses as mentioned in Exodus 34. Did you remember that Moses wore a veil?
According to Exodus, Moses served as a kind of go-between for God and the people of Israel. He would climb the mountain to speak to God. There he did not see God, but saw the glory of God. Exodus 34:29 says, "As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him."
Then verse 33 says, "When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face…"
Biblical scholars say that it is very difficult to determine the real purpose and function of this veil that Moses wore. The word translated "shine" derives from the word for "horn," and some say it may have been a shaft of light not unlike a horn. Of course, Michelangelo famously picked up on the word "horn" when he made the statue of Moses at the Basilica of St Peter in Chains in Rome. In Michelangelo's statue, Moses clearly has horns!
If there is confusion about the word "shine," there is also confusion about the word "veil," for it is not used anywhere else in the Old Testament.
In typical rabbinical fashion, Paul picks up this obscure reference from Exodus to make a point about the superiority of Jesus. In doing so, Paul makes reference to a Jewish legend about Moses. The rabbis said that Moses may have kept wearing the veil long after his face quit shining. Perhaps Moses wanted the people to think he still reflected the glory of God, when that glory had in fact worn off. So Paul writes in verse 13, "…not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside."
Like many of the writers of the New Testament, Paul wanted to show in every way possible the superiority of Jesus Christ. In our passage today, he turns the veil imagery to make the point of the superiority of Christ.
He says that the people of Israel read the old covenant with a veil that keeps them from understanding Jesus. Verses 14 and 15 say, "But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there… Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds…"
Paul adds, "…since only in Christ is it set aside." And later he says, "but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed… And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
As we studied the Islamic faith last weekend, I could not help but stumble upon their doctrine of the superiority of Mohammed. They made clear to us that they revered the Bible. They accept Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus as prophets of God. They, of course, do not accept Jesus as God's son or even his death on the cross and resurrection.
But their clear teaching is that Mohammed was the final revelation of God, superseding the teachings of all who had gone before him. Their key word of affirmation is that Allah is God, and Mohammed is his prophet. I think it is fair to say they believe Jesus is a prophet, but Mohammed is THE prophet. For them, Mohammed and the Quran is the final revelation of God.
I could not help but be reminded of the similar doctrine of the Mormons. They believe that Joseph Smith received the final revelation of God. In a very similar way to Mohammed, they believe that God dictated to Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon.
This interfaith dialogue raises questions for Christians. Some people phrase the question in terms of who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Most Disciples of Christ that I know avoid that particular question by rightly saying that it is strictly God's decision about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Our opinions don't really count at the Last Judgment.
But I want to caution you against saying that all religions are the same. It may be true that we are all trying to get to the same place; we are trying to know the same God. But it is not true, that one way is just as good as another. It is not true that all religions are equal. We can believe that if we want to, but I want to argue that you will have to overlook or tear out whole pages in the New Testament if you want to believe that.
Our Sheikh friends, our Buddhist friends, our Muslim friends, our Jewish friends are fine people. They, no doubt, are sincere in their faith. We should respect them and their faith. There is much good in all their faiths. And we can learn some things from any of them. They are no doubt drawn to God in positive ways.
One of the verses that encourages me about people of other faiths is Acts 10:34 where Peter proclaims, "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." I am very hopeful that God is generous with people who fear God and do what is right. What God does is God's choice, and I don't particularly want to become an authority on who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.
But make no mistake about it. The Bible clearly teaches the superiority of Jesus Christ. For Paul, belief in Jesus was not one religion among equals. Paul makes clear that the people of Israel are a special people, but they see through a veil darkly. He says it is only in Jesus that the veil is lifted, that freedom really comes.
The Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
John 14:6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Peter in the book of Acts says,
Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’
In Colossians Paul writes, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. (1:15)
19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Colossians 2:9 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily...
The writer of Hebrews says, "Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4)
I think about those young couples on the bridge in Rome with their lock in hand. Though hardware imagery may not be as romantic as flowers and rings, there is a wonderful message there. Two people stand that to make an incredible commitment to one another. They are saying that they are locked together in love. They have no intention of there ever being another love like that. They lock themselves to one another and throw away the key.
I want to suggest to you that that is what Christians have done with Jesus. Christians by definition celebrate the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Like those romantic couples on the bridge in Rome, we have chosen to love God through the one person - Jesus. We have locked our faith to God through him and thrown away the key.
Jesus Christ is superior to Moses. Jesus is superior to angels. Jesus Christ is superior to Mohammed. Jesus Christ is superior to Buddha. Jesus Christ is superior to Joseph Smith. We are called Christians because we believe that Jesus Christ is the clearest, fullest and in many ways the final revelation of God. We have locked our faith in him and thrown away the key!
Copyright 2010, Mickey Anders. Used by permission.