Layers

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)

When Kirk and Jordan were younger, we had a Friday night tradition of pizza and movies. One of the films we watched more than once was the 2001 animated classic Shrek. There’s a moment when Shrek tries to explain to Donkey that there’s more to him than what others see.

Shrek: “Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers... You get it? We both have layers.”

Donkey: “Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. CAKE! 

Everybody loves cake! Cakes have layers!”

That line always makes me laugh, but it also points to something true about us. We all have layers — some visible, some hidden, some still forming.

In today’s verse, we see a different kind of layering. There is what people notice first — the “skin of the onion” — the charm and beauty that sit on the surface. We all have layers — even the ones we’d prefer to hide under a thick layer of frosting, because as Donkey said, everybody loves cake. But God sees through our layers — cake or onion — straight to the center. As we allow ourselves to be known, other layers begin to show. But at the very center, the innermost layer, is a deep awe of the Lord.

From that reverential center grows a life shaped by love: love for God, love for neighbor, and even love for ourselves as God’s beloved. As that love matures, another layer forms — a longing for justice, mercy, and compassion. And from that longing comes action: feeding, clothing, praying, showing up, standing with those who suffer. These layers are not accomplishments we stack up but graces God grows within us, each one revealing more of the life God intends.

There’s another way to think about layers: the way God sees them. God looks from the inside out. He sees not only what is but what can be. In an elderly couple named Abram and Sarai, God saw the beginnings of a great nation. In Rahab, a woman dismissed by her community, God saw courage that would save a city. In Peter, the one who denied Jesus, God saw the rock on which the church would stand. God looks past the outer skin and sees the holy possibility within each of us.

God, thank you for seeing us from the inside out and for calling forth the potential you’ve planted within. Humbled in your presence, we stand in awe. Form in us the layers of righteousness, compassion, and love that reflect your heart. Shape us into the people you envision. Use us as you will. In Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Tim