Thursday Brew with Gwen: Masquerade

‘Masquerade’ the music and lyrics were written by Andrew Lloyd Weber for ‘The Phantom of the Opera.

I had never given much thought to the opera feeling I would never get to see it. I discovered that it was being shown on TV, alas, I still was unable to watch the production.  I was amazed to find the theme running through the opera was ‘tongue in cheek’, a ‘throw off’ at human nature and its tendency to hide from reality.

How subtle of Weber to create this beautiful magical music as a conduit to reveal our paper masks and the masquerades we indulge in all just for appearances, to make ourselves into saints.

We sit in church wearing our paper faces, the papier-mâché’s designed to give us an identity of our making. Our fellow worshippers accept our paper-faces as our true selves because they don’t know us and know no difference. We can fool them into thinking we are who we aren’t. We are masquerading as somebody else.

We can’t hide from God, he sees our true heart with all its weakness, grime and hurt yet our humanity didn’t turn God off from us, he didn’t run away from us instead he ran toward us and said, ‘I will destroy their illusions, their hidey-holes, their idols and make them true people.’ God sent Jesus to shoulder our crap, so when we believe him we will be free, guiltless, righteous people as he planned for us from the beginning.

I have to put my hand up and admit that I am guilty of hiding behind a paper-face. I showed the world a false face, because I had been hurt, criticised, thought of as a non-person who was a waste of space.  To live a safe life I created a paper-face for myself.

One day God said, ‘You’ve hidden long enough, it’s time to be your true self.  I want to use you, bless you but I can’t while you are wearing your paper face. 

"God reminded me that he made Jesus to be sin for me,

he who knew no sin that we might be the righteousness

of God in him." (2 Cor. 5: 21)

Jesus took our paper-face and tore it up and replaced it with his own beautiful face, be filled with his resurrection spirit, his heart, himself. I took the leap of faith, submitted to God and turned my true face to the world. So what if I’m not Mrs Popularity, or Queen of World Missions.

 I am the child of God, the apple of his eye and nothing can separate me from the love of God, not death, principalities, not angels.’ (Romans 8: 35 -39)