I was recently listening to a great sermon on tape that expressed the idea that the word sincere comes from the compounding of the words"Sine" and "Cera" meaning without wax.
In the time of the ancient Romans, devious dealers in marble and pottery would conceal defects in their products by filling the cracks and holes with wax.
Honest merchants, who did not doctor their products, proudly displayed their wares as being without wax; that is, they were sine cera.
He goes on to say, well, a lot actually, Lol, (hey, can I use that many commas?)
ANYWAY, one thing he says is that some people are like the cracked and broken pots with wax, trying to present a perfect picture until the spotlight hits them. Then the wax melts away and we have left but a scandal. Perfect image? Gone.
Broken vessels are only comfortable around broken vessels.
I find this to be true. I am a broken, cracked, tarnished, chipped vessel. I want to live an open, accessible life for all to see. Flaws too. Christians are flawed and to expect more than that, well, it just ain't gonna happen.
Christians should live open and genuine lives. Relaxed in the knowledge of who they are yet always reaching for the goal.
Without wax. Living vulnerably, admitting weakness. Live life in the open.
I am not advocating the idea of "if you can't hide it, paint it red", though I have been known to say that on an occasion or two, no- we should not proudly admit our sin and shortcomings with no follow up, but instead we should humbly confess and repent of them.
Otherwise we are fools.
So may we all be sine cera! Living our lives genuinely so that we may not appear perfect and therefore inaccessible to the lost. We live our lives without wax proving again and again that God loves us, cracks and all.
1 comment:
This was such a good message! And such a good word picture of sincerity. I was pretty good at keeping my wax on until my third was born--now forget it, I don't even try!
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