2 Corinthians 3:12 - 18: “Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Sprit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Verse 13: “We are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away.”

The setting is 3,500 years ago - the Exodus - the Hebrew people have just been released from slavery in Egypt. For 2½ months they’ve been traveling through the Negev desert.

For the past 40 days they’ve been camped at the foot of Mount Sinai waiting for Moses - Moses who called forth the 10 plagues - defeated the armies of Pharaoh - who led the people of Israel though the Red Sea and into the wilderness - and who’s now up on the mountain talking with God.

Finally Moses comes down from the mountain - holding God’s law - written on tablets of stone - by the very hand of God. As Moses comes down off of the mountain his face is shining - radiating with this great brilliance. The people - seeing that Moses’ face is glowing - know that he has been talking directly with God.

Moses gathers the people together and explains what God told him - God’s law - what God expects of His people. But while Moses is talking its hard to look at him - there’s this glow on his face. So, when Moses finishes talking he puts a veil over his face - to cover up the glow.

Now follow this - whenever Moses spoke with God - when he was in God’s presence - he would take off the veil - it wasn’t necessary. Whenever Moses spoke to the people - he would wear the veil. But, even after the glow had faded - when Moses spoke to the people - Moses still wore the veil. So after a while the veil - not the glow - began to symbolize Moses’ special relationship with God and his position before the people.

This is what Paul is talking about in verse 13: We are not to be “....as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of what was fading away.” Moses - who was a man like us - kept the veil on - to keep the people from seeing his inadequacy - the fading glory of God and the emptiness left behind.

We all wear veils - masks - of position and knowledge and appearance and family life - outward coverings. We pray that people will only see what we want them to see. We wear veils because we all struggle to be adequate - to measure up - to be sufficient - competent - acceptable.

The pressure comes from everywhere - family - friends - work - community - church - especially as Armenians. As an Armenian there’s no room for failure.

There’s this subtle message: “You’re an Armenian. Look what our people have gone through - their suffering - their sacrifice. You owe it to them to make something of yourself.”

Get married. Have 2.5 kids. Work in an approved profession - doctor - lawyer - teacher. Attend church. Don’t disgrace the family. Don’t fail. Don’t make mistakes.

What happens when we don’t measure up? There are a lot of lonely outcast people on the fringe of our “acceptable” society. And there are many more - who would like to get off the treadmill - and stop performing - but the fear of being judged inadequate is just too much.

So we cover ourselves with veils and pray that nobody will see underneath to who we really are. Have you ever wondered if people really care who we are and how we feel - or just what we appear to be?

I recently read a poem, entitled, “Please Hear What I’m Not Saying.” Listen to these words and see if you can identify with them.

Don’t be fooled by me.
Don’t be fooled by the face I wear.
For I wear a mask.
I wear a thousand masks,
Masks I’m afraid to take off.
And none of them are me.
Pretending is an art that’s second nature with me,
But don’t be fooled, for God’s sake don’t be fooled.
I give you the impression that I’m secure,
That all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well as without,
That confidence is my name and coolness my game,
That the water’s calm and I’m in command, and that I need no one.
But don’t believe me, Please.

Verse 14: “But their minds - the minds of the Jews - were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant - the law - the expectations of God - the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.”

The Jews had taken the law of God - the old covenant - and frozen it into a code of rigid requirements. “Do these things - act this way - and you’ll meet God’s expectations.” Even today - looking at Judaism - they’re still trying to make it to God based on how they behave.

Christians do this. We’ve all run across Christians who live by a set rules and regulations - do’s and don’ts - that they have to keep because they’re not going to please God or be a good Christian if they don’t. In college we had a saying, “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t go with girls who do.”

Have you ever been in a tall building and stood in front of a window - several stories up. Would you stand there if there wasn’t any glass? There’s a false sense that we’re less vulnerable standing behind our windows - our veils - of behavior. We think that as long as we act Christian and do the right things then we’ll be okay.

The Jews rejected Jesus Christ - their minds were hardened against Him - because He didn’t fit their carefully constructed rules and regulations. When we’re hiding behind our self-made veils we often miss what God has for us - because our minds are hardened against Him.

Second, Paul says, that when we hide behind veils our heart becomes closed to the life God offers us.

Verse 15: “But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart.”

Have you noticed the number of stations playing “oldies” music. There’s the real “oldies” stuff that goes back to the 40’s or so. There are stations playing music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. I’ve even heard 90’s music being played as “oldies.” There’s a whole industry devoted to nostalgia. Memories - remembering the way it used to be.

The Jews were reading Moses and they were nostalgic for the past - the good old days when God was doing something among His people - speaking to His people - giving his law through Moses - the days of David and Solomon - those were the good old days.

The heart is what engages us in life - what motivates our actions - keeps us alive. Veil the heart - cover it - bind it - and we hide in the security of the past.

Today is hard. Tomorrow is uncertain. We long for the security of the the familiar - the known. Life was better back then - the people we knew - the places we lived - the movement of God in our lives.

How alive is our relationship with Jesus today? Is the Bible more alive to us? Are we willing to risk the challenge of growing spiritually? Are we living on the edge - in the place where God uses us and blesses us? If our hearts are veiled we miss what God has for us.

Hear this - when we hide behind veils - we think we’re secure. But we’ve only removed ourselves from the work of God in our lives. If we’re really honest with ourselves - all we’ve done is cover what is fading away - the emptiness of our own inadequacy.

In verses 16 and 17 Paul writes, “But whenever a man turns to the Lord the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” - freedom - liberation from fear and insecurity - inadequacy - through turning to the Lord.

Years ago when Henry Ford was building his huge automobile assembly factory in Deerborn, Michigan - he hired a man named Charlie Steinmetz to design and build the generators that would supply power to the plant. Charlie was an electrical genius. If you’ve ever seen these generators - that Charlie built - they’re huge - the size and complexity is very impressive.

The automobile factory was built - the generators were put together - the switch was thrown - the factory began to operate. A while later - after the factory had been operating for some time - the generators stopped and the factory ground to a halt. Henry Ford’s repairmen worked and worked and couldn’t get the generators going again.

So Henry Ford called Charlie to come and fix the generators. Charlie came - puttered around for a few hours - threw the switch and the generators worked - and the factory went on producing cars. Charlie sent Henry Ford a bill for $10,000.

Henry Ford - who was rich and a tight wad - sent the bill back to Charlie with a note - which said something like, “Charlie, isn’t this bill just a little high for a few hours of tinkering around these motors?”

Charlie returned the bill with this note: “For tinkering around the motors $10.00. For knowing where to tinker around $9,990. The bill is still due.”

God knows where to tinker in our lives - where we need fixing to make us adequate - sufficient.

When Jesus went to the cross - He took with Him all of our sins - our inadequacy - our inability to measure up to God’s standard of holiness and righteousness and sinlessness. All of our failure was nailed to that cross with each nail that was driven through Jesus.

Through His death and resurrection - Jesus offers to us freedom from all this veildom and hiding - because God - through Jesus - has made us to be adequate.

Freedom comes - boldness and confidence in life comes - when we admit to ourselves that all this fear and hiding and striving by our own effort will never make us adequate. We need to receive what Jesus has done for us on the cross - to turn to Him and let Him be our adequacy.

Paul writes - verse 18: “But we all, with unveiled face - having given up trying achieve our own adequacy - trying to look good on our own - beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Looking in the mirror first thing in the morning is a moment of truth. What we see staring back is the real you. Scary. But, look in the spiritual mirror - when our lives are given to Jesus - who lives within us - who is transforming us - and changing us to be in His likeness - look in the mirror and instead of seeing our own inadequate selves - we see Him - who is adequate and makes us to be adequate.

When we’re most afraid of exposure - of people seeing us as the sinners we are - when the glow under the veil doesn’t exist - and we’re afraid - its because we’ve taken our eyes off of Jesus and put them on ourselves. The closer we get to God, the less we’re concerned about what others see. The more we’re willing to trust Him - the more we realize His power - His sufficiency - His security in our lives.