Finally Some Good News: God always recognizes us

By DR. MARK ROSS/Columnist

I like the story of a man who heard God speak before a serious surgery. God promised him 30 more years of life. Encouraged, the man decided also to have major plastic surgery while he was still a patient. However, as he left the hospital, sporting his younger look, a bus hit the man. In heaven, he asked why the accident occurred despite God’s promise. The divine answer came, “I did not recognize you!”
We often associate celebrities and plastic surgery. However, cosmetic surgery is no longer strictly for the rich and famous. Now, it is occasionally about the rich and famous. Both CNN and MTV report that plastic surgeons regularly see patients who want to look like a celebrity. The surgeons differentiate between patients who want someone else’s nose or lips from those who want to be duplicates. The one may be vain but the latter is unhealthy. Still, much plastic surgery is for good reason.
Oscar is not his real name. The 31-year-old Spanish farmer prefers as much anonymity as possible. No one can blame him. In 1985, Oscar had a bizarre hunting accident. He recovered without a face, at least not a face anyone would want to look at. Plastic surgeons attempts to repair the damage left Oscar with a hole where his mouth and nose had once been. He could not walk down the street without people gasping and gawking at his misshapen face.
Today, Oscar has a new face. While in a variety of countries surgeons have performed partial face transplants, Barcelona, Spain, can now boast of the first complete face transplant, Oscar. This week, the public had a chance to see Oscar’s new face. Admittedly, Oscar’s new look still draws attention. His face has a lot of swelling. He cannot close his eyes nor feel anything in his lips. However, he can now drink liquids and eat soft food. Oscar can speak and breathe normally. He is even shaving.
In the Bible, “the face” is incredibly important. Scripture expresses humility as “falling on one’s face.” To be ashamed is to “hide one’s face.” In mourning, a person “covers his or her face.” To have one’s face covered by another person is a picture of complete and absolute doom. “In thy face” is to be in the presence of the divine. In fact, rather than use a personal pronoun such as “me or I” the Bible will often read, “My face.”
For better or worse, in the Bible a person’s face reflects a person’s identity. In that respect, looks may not mean everything but they certainly mean something.
Most truths are not black or white. Fixating on our looks or wanting to look like someone else is not healthy. However, thank God, for ways to correct what accidents and nature does to people. Yes, in the Bible, our looks and our identity are related, but the order is important. The identity does not represent the face but the face represents the identity. The good news is God always recognizes us, no matter how we look. He sees not only our face but also our heart. Yes, God sees us, and occasionally he also allows us see him.
“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”

Dr. Mark Ross is the pastor of Marion Baptist Church. To learn more about MBC, visit http://www.marionbaptistchurchva.com/.