Who’s That - Recognizing Your Transformation

by Pastor Gina Johnson

Imagine yourself in my mind as I look at myself in the mirror just before I begin my message on Sunday morning. If you’re listening in, you might hear something like this:

“Man, there's been a lot going on this morning. Let me pull this mirror in from out there so I could check myself ahead of time. Okay, everything looks like it's in place. Okay, mother, pastor, friend. I got all my labels on. Okay, doubt, insecurity. Yeah, just a little bit this morning, not too bad. Okay, strong message, confidence. I think you're in there somewhere.”

You know, we look in the mirror every morning before we take off into the world. And I don't know about you guys, but I've been on a heck of a journey of unfoldment ever since Lent season started. I can't just keep giving you all messages and not following my own words. I mean, what would that say, right? Because truly the messages that I believe I share with you come from that I Am Spirit living in me. So, who would I be to throw you all these messages?

I mean, you remember, right, that first week, let's come into the stillness. And then that second week, we were tuning in, right? We were finally getting that right frequency so we could tune into ourselves. And that third week, oh, the questions. Are you always going to be this insecure, Gina? I mean, you're going through transformation. Are you going to get, oh, what is that little bit of anger you got back there? Oh, oh, and the programming of the world.

Sometimes I get caught up looking at myself in the mirror, and I don't always recognize what I see because, you know, there's like bits of me in here, but there's all this other stuff. I don't know. What do you guys think? Do you guys have these problems that I have? I mean, gosh, the noise of the world, the distraction, the shame. And then we start this journey of transformation, and we hope things are changing, but I can hardly recognize myself in that mirror.

Well, good thing that I have a Bible because, our fellow companion on this path of life, his name is Paul. And in 2 Corinthians 3:18, he says, “and we all who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

So, when I hear that message, I have to think, “Okay, here we are. This is week four on this journey. And I can't help but look in the mirror and constantly ask, who is that? Is that really me in transformation? Or am I all those labels that the world has told me I am? Am I all those expectations? Am I all those past regrets and mistakes that even though I think I've dealt with them, they keep popping up? But what about this over here? What about all the reading I've been doing, the teachers I've been spending time with? What about the Wednesday group? And what about those mornings in meditation? Aren't I growing? Aren't I unfolding? Aren't I different than when I got here two years ago? I mean, I like to think so.”

But sometimes it's hard to see when we're looking at the mirror. Because the mirror has been covered up with all of the distractions and all of the noise, but in there, transformation is taking place, and certain things are starting to shine through.

However, all that other stuff on the mirror almost makes us think that it's not happening. It almost makes us think that we no longer know who we are. Are we that old version? Are we that new version? And we forget that we are an ever-changing version of us. That in this very moment, we are at the pinnacle. We are at the greatest moment that we're going to be at until that very next moment.

But Paul is speaking to these people, and they are faced with the same things that we've been faced with. They've already been so indoctrinated and programmed, and they're living in these paradigms that say, this is the law. Follow it to the T, or else you're not worthy. So maybe we don't hear those same things. Maybe we're not under the strict Jewish law as the Israelites were back then.

But was it really strict? Or was it people handing it out without any explanation, without any understanding? Have you ever been in church and someone says, you know, here's the Bible. I'm going to read you a scripture, and I'm going to tell you what it says, and you're going to believe what it says. Maybe that's what you've grown up in, and that seems easier than questioning. Now you know what the Bible says through me telling you, which is through my professor telling me, and my pastor telling me.

So, do you really know what you're reading? Do you really know what you're learning? Do you really know who you're becoming when you just keep listening to things being handed to you? And Paul says here, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory. See, Paul's words are so powerful because he is saying, “Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking at the world. Stop looking at God through veils of separation.” He's saying stop listening to the noise, the traditions, the laws, the layers of systems, and structures that have been piled on to us.

He's saying this isn't about how well you perform, or how perfect you're able to get people to perceive you to be. It's about recognizing that in presence the unveiling is taking place. That in transformation we start to be unveiled, and then it's no longer about shame. It's no longer about being too much, or not having enough, or being too late, or not being ready. Because now we've come, and we've recognized that there has been a film, a film of programming.

There has been dirt. There has been something thrown on that mirror that's supposed to reflect that light, which is Christ, which is us. So when we look in the mirror we might stop and think, “Wow, that can't be me. That's a distortion. That's a lie. That's not the truth.”

But the thing is, the person in the mirror is there, and what you see isn't false. It's just unclear. It's become clouded by things that we call trauma. It's become clouded by the expectations that we've placed on ourselves. It's become clouded by what the world tries to tell us that we are. And it's not that easy to just wipe it all away. But the more that we come into those places, the more that we allow the Spirit to work, the more that we do the reading, the listening, the seeking, the prayer, the quiet, things start to become a little more clear.

Parker Palmer, an author that I had to read when I was in seminary, is a Quaker. He's got such great, great teachings. He knows how to present truth in a way where you don’t feel convicted or where you feel like his words are above you, but he's good at drawing you into the story of you, which is the story you need to remember. And one thing that he says is the soul doesn't need to be put together. It needs to be uncovered.

See, your soul is always whole. The person that you look at in the mirror is always going to be the fullest representation of you. However, you may not be able to recognize that.

Transformation is something we are all going through on a regular basis, and how much you transform depends on how much you're invested. Think about investing in transformation like investing money, the more you invest, the more return you receive. You need to trust in where you're making that investment and the time that you put into studying, how you're going to go about that. It may be a little shaky. There may be some unknowns, but usually the reward will show you that your investment was well made.

Investing the time into remembering who you are, may include attending church, but church can't be something that we just do on Sunday and step out and say, “There we go, check. I'm on the journey of remembrance because I went to church this morning.” There's so much more to it.

There are those times of prayer. There are those coffee chats when you sit with a trusted friend and you're vulnerable and you're transparent. There are Sunday schools and there are online studies and there are books and there are other churches offering other studies to go and visit. There's singing and listening to music. There's studying art.

There are so many ways that you can go on that journey of remembrance and continue in that path of transformation. I want to really encourage you to understand that it's okay to not be recognized by yourself and by others when you're on the path of transformation.

Some of you who may be older and more seasoned think, “You know, Gina, what transformation do I still have to go through? I've done my life. I've had this job. I've raised my family. Now I'm in that coasting mode of keeping up with my plays, chasing the grandchildren or the great-grandchildren, going to sleep hoping I don't wake up with any surprises or any aches and pains, greeting everyone with their return.” I might ask you, “How are you?” And you reply, “I got up this morning,” and that's where we're at.

Whether you are young and thinking, “I'm busy living my adolescent life, attending middle school, that's not for me,” or whether you are seasoned and thinking, “Nope, Gina, I do the same thing every day and the surprises that get me have to do with either finances, my aging body, or the loss of my friends around me that I need to navigate through,” I have news for you.

We have to be aware that age isn't a thing, that we are always on the path of transformation. And from the moment that we come into this journey, we have so many opportunities to remember more and more of who we are. To be resurrected into the fullness of Christ Jesus is to be able to remember who we are, that we’re created in his image.

And if you guys can remember in Luke 24, there was a journey that two were making on the road to Emmaus, and someone came along and began walking with them, and they had a wonderful conversation that started off a little rocky because the person with them didn't realize that there was this great tragedy that befell and that Jesus was crucified. So they continued on this walk, and it was time for them to go their separate ways, and they invited Jesus, who they did not recognize as Jesus, to sit and break bread with them. At the moment of breaking bread, he disappeared. And they looked at each other and said, “Were not our hearts burning within us?”

You see, they were walking with a transformed Jesus, and they did not recognize him. They too were transformed by all that they had encountered in those past weeks leading up to this moment. And it wasn't even recognizable in themselves.

But once Jesus came into focus, once they were able to be out of the noise and there in full presence, they recognized, weren't our hearts burning? And as they saw their transformed Savior, they recognized that there was more to be done, that there was still work to be done, and they had a place. It was no longer time to hang their heads in sorrow, but it was time for them to get on that road and continue their journey of transformation. It's amazing how the more and more we are willing to surrender to what we thought was who we're supposed to be, who we've been told that we have to be, who we have been expected to be, it's amazing when we surrender, we can start to see a little more of who we are.

We can start to recognize who we are created to be. And though there will still be some things that we have to work through, it becomes more and more evident that transformation was and is taking place. It becomes more and more evident that the transformation hasn't stopped, and we start to see even more clearly who we really are.

When Jesus was on that road to Emmaus with those individuals, he knew by the questions that they asked that they didn't recognize him, but he didn't stop and say, “Don't you know who I am? Don't you see that I just resurrected from the grave? I've transcended death. I've cleared a path for you all. How can you not recognize me? I've been doing ministry for these past few years, and you walk beside me. How do you not see me?” He didn't say any of that, because when we're going through transformation, the best thing that you can do is let it speak for itself.

I remember when I was younger and I was shopping for a church, I would sit through a church service, and I would watch everyone when I came in to see who was going to greet me, who was going to make me feel welcome, who was going to invite me into the church. I remember leaving, wanting to see how people reacted as they went through the door, and I remember I'd see some people who would leave happy, smiling, talking to their friends. I would see some people leave, and next thing you know, their face looked bitter, and they were upset, and they were rushing their kids to their car.

I see some people leave, and before they’re out the door, they're already on their phone, they're already rushing to make a phone call or check a message, and I remember thinking to myself, isn't it so interesting how we can be one way in one setting, especially when it comes to church, but as soon as we leave, it's like we didn't do anything in here, but sit and kill an hour. It's like as soon as we get through that door, “Check, that's done. Now I can go back to being busy and distracted and running around with all kinds of facades on.”

You see, the best way to see transformation is when you walk out of that church and you're like, “Hey, he used to always leave being on his phone and looking angry. I notice now he leaves and stops and takes a breath and then walks slowly to his car.” It's amazing, but transformation speaks the best for itself when it's ready.

A lot of times people will learn new things, and they'll get excited. In our sanctuary we have two candles on the communion table and if you watch those two flames, one will get a little more exuberant and start going up and down. There are metaphors there. Sometimes our life is like the more exuberant flame, and other times it's more calm and even.

But what those flames reminded me of more was when people would first get saved, as they use the phrase. “I just got saved, and I'm on fire for Christ,” and that flame, it was going. It was, I just got saved, and they were in the moment, but then something changed, and the next thing you knew, you no longer saw that fire.

Well, real transformation doesn't go up here and go down here. Real transformation will be revealed, and you'll see it over time. And yes, it will feel unfamiliar, and you won't always recognize who you're transforming into right away, but just know that the Spirit is revealing to you who you are and who you've always been. Transformation is the remembering and the revealing.

You see, Paul says we are being transformed into God’s image. What Paul is saying is, as we continue into that ever-increasing glory of recognizing who we are, we're not becoming someone else. We are becoming transformed into the fullness of who we've already been, who we've always been. The mirror has always had that light to show us who we are, but when we let the noise and we let the distractions of the world come upon the mirror, it gets harder and harder to see the truth of who we are.

And I don't know about you guys, but when I'm at home and I clean the bathroom mirror and I'm thrilled and I'm happy because I see more clearly now and there's so much there, it doesn't take very much. Just allow one kid to come and brush their teeth, allow one person to come and stand in front of the mirror for something, and little spots start to show back up.

When we look into the mirror, sometimes it gets really hard to see the truth of who we are. And even as that transformation continues, there's still going to be some work to be done. There's still going to be some places that we're still stuck, where we still have to get off some of the expectations, where we still have to let go of some of that busyness of doing, of trying to prove ourselves.

There may be some things that have been rooted and programmed in there since we were little. You had that traumatic event, so now carry it around the rest of your life and let it define who you are. Those are the spaces that sometimes need a little extra scrubbing, a little extra work to get them away. But the truth is that transformation is there for all of us.

The transformation that we're going through, this journey of remembrance, this is what you call resurrection in real time. This is what you call awakening those things in you that have been dead, the life of the spirit that isn't dead. It's just been silenced by all the noise of life. It's just been silenced by those lies that you put on the broken record and just keep playing over and over again.

But now you can have a new image. You can look in the mirror and say, “This is the real one. This is who I'm being transformed into. I've been whole this whole time, and underneath all these layers, now with unveiled eyes, I can see who I am. I can see who I am becoming, and I'm going to embrace this transformation.”

My challenge for you this week is to look into a mirror, whether you take the time to go actually look into the mirror physically at home or whether you find yourself a spot to sit and turn inward and recognize those places. Where do you still have smudges and streaks? What are the things that are keeping you from seeing the fullness and the glory of who you are? Isn't it time that we take down the veils that have been covering our faces and we look proudly upon who Jesus is creating us to be, who we have been blessed to create ourselves to be? Know that as you look into this mirror and everything starts to clear away and the light shines through and you have a more vivid and bright image of who you are, you're not going to disappear. You're going to be revealed.

The light of you that has been shining will shine all along, will be there not only made to you but made to the world around you. So, I challenge you this week to clean off that mirror, to take off those veils and to allow the light of your reflection, the reflection of the great I Am to shine through.

Please join me in prayer. Our most gracious and loving God, we are so humbled by the abundance that you've given us, the knowledge, the empowerment, the resources, the gifts. God let us use those gifts to remind us of who we are. Let us throw off the veils.

Let us let go of all the tethers. Let us Windex away the things that have been distorting our image. And God we know that as we continue this transformation, we will see more and more clearly the Christ that lives with us, the Christ that lives within us, and the Christ that is us.

And for that we give you thanks. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.