What does James have in mind when he speaks about looking in the mirror (James 1:23)? Is he wanting us to see our sins and to come away from the mirror humbled and deflated?
In verse 22 James urges his readers to not simply listen to the word but to do what it says. He then says (v.23) that the person who doesn’t do what the word says is like the person who looks into the mirror and forgets what he sees (v.24). He’s saying that what they saw in the mirror is not repeated and worked-out in obedience to the word.
In verse 25, James then correlates 'looking into the mirror' with 'looking intently into the perfect law that gives freedom'. It seems to follow that looking into the perfect law of liberty/looking into the mirror is about seeing something other than just our own sinfulness - it is, after all, about gazing intently at liberty. I suggest that it’s seeing Jesus, the one who fulfils the law and brings it to its intended outcome, the one who has perfected it; and it’s seeing who and what you are in union with him.
No doubt we will see our imperfections, which are many and complex. But we will see them atoned for; we will see them as antithetical to who we now are in Christ. And in that liberty, we will go into the world not forgetting who we are and, thus, being equipped for keeping the words God has spoken to us.
(preliminary thoughts for a sermon to be preached Tuesday 11th Feb 2014)
