…“for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” _{1 Samuel 16:7b (NRSVA)}

After a relaxing, week-long summer vacation in Florida with their 10-year-old son, Robert and Angela Barry of Grove City, Ohio, left for the airport to return home. Just before they left, a young girl staying at the Barry’s hotel showed up at their room and gave their son a teddy bear as a gift. As they went through security at Orlando International Airport, the teddy bear went through the x-ray machine like the rest of their luggage, and the Barry’s learned that appearances can fool you.

A Transportation Security Administration worker noticed the outline of a gun inside the bear. Opening up the bear, airport security workers found a loaded .22 caliber handgun stuffed inside. Later reports indicated the gun was stolen in California a few years prior to showing up inside the teddy bear.

Today the calendar marks the observance of Halloween. A time when youngsters old and young dress up and play make-believe for the evening. Each donning masks of their favorite cartoon character, super hero or perhaps a pirate, angel, princess, or witch. These little imposters roam through the streets of our towns knocking on doors and proclaiming trick or treat as they fill their sacks with candy and goodies looted from their willing neighbors and friends. Many spend a great deal of time transforming their appearance to match the character they are attempting to imitate. As these costumed clad youngsters meander to and fro it is custom to attempt to determine the true identities of these little actors and actresses.

Professional character actors get paid large sums of money to portray a certain hero or heroine in a film or TV program. Costume designers and make-up artists transform these otherwise normal people into villains, monsters, aliens or whatever the program requires. About a month ago I was privileged to attend an off Broadway production of “The Lion King”. I was completely amazed at the costumes and puppetry used to tell the now classic ‘Disney’ story. The pageantry was mesmerizing, the animal portrayals where amazing! It was well worth the money spent to attend this performance.

On the stage and screen and the streets of our towns during Halloween, one expects to see costumed characters pretending to be someone they are not, but in the houses of worship each week, it is not appropriate to attend wearing masks and costumes. For the Lord is seeking a people who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

Research psychologists have found there are at least three situations when we are not ourselves. First, the average person puts on airs when he visits the lobby of a fancy hotel. Next, the typical Jane Doe will try to hide her emotions and bamboozle the salesman when she enters the new-car showroom. And finally, as we take our seat in church or synagogue, we try to fake out the Almighty that we’ve really been good all week. _{Dr. Perry Buffington, licensed psychologist, author, columnist; "Playing Charades," Universal Press Syndicate (9-26-99)}

Religion is the best armor a man can have, but it is the worst cloak. _{John Bunyan}

The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a world War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. During the conversion, her three massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4-inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.

“When Jesus called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs," he meant they had no substance, only an exterior appearance.” _{See Matthew 23:27-28 Robert Wenz, Clifton Park, New York. Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 4}

The Lord said:

…these people draw near with their mouths

and honor me with their lips, while their hearts

are far from me, and their worship of me is a

human commandment learned by rote;

Isaiah 29:13

Let us take some time this month and examine our motives and actions to see if we too are putting on make-believe in an attempt to look righteous and good while inwardly we are decaying and harboring rotten bones, Does our worship extend beyond the church house doors? Do we cover ourselves in teddy bear fluff only to hide a loaded weapon buried deep inside? Are we like the old Queen Mary recalling that first salvation experience because we have lost any current encounters with God? Has the practice of religion taken the place of a real relationship with God? Are we masking our true self by putting on masks of religion only to hide a heart that is far from a real relationship with God?

“There are, in the end, only two ways open to us: to honestly and honorably make an admission of how far we are from the Christianity of the New Testament, or to perform skillful tricks to conceal the true situation.” _{Soren Kierkegaard, "What Madness," in Provocations: The Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard (Plough, 1999), p. 180}

Churches need to allow their outside appearances to reflect the realities of their inward dispositions. _{John S. Savage}