Scripture Passage
Sermon Text
The Light Of Your Eye
Luke 11:34-36. “Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with this phrase.” This is the word of the Lord.
I’m going to further explore the Inner Voice that I sent last Wednesday. There I said what we see controls our lives. What we see controls our lives. We are very much affected by what we see, we are very much affected by how we see things in life. We see that a lot in the Bible. Many stories actually show that. It was when Moses sent out twelve people to the land of Canaan, the promised land, before they actually entered the promised land. So these were spies, they went into the promised land. They saw the same reality, same situation. But ten people and two people had a totally different report. In other words it’s the same reality, but what they saw was very, very different.
Ten people said this, “There we saw the Nephilim. The Anakites come from the Nephilim. Anakites are giant, huge people and to ourselves, we seemed like grasshoppers. And so we seem to them.” So they saw giants. When they see giants, what happens is, “Oh, I’m just a grasshopper. I’m like dirt. I’m nobody compared to that giant.” That’s how 10 people saw it.
But two people said this, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land.” They didn’t see the giant. They saw the beautiful land. Do not fear the people of the land. For they are no more than bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us, and do not fear them. Same situation, same reality. They all saw, but one focused on giants and the other focused on God who gave them the beautiful land.
Don’t Look at The Wind
We see the same thing in the story of David and Goliath. All of the Israelites when they saw Goliath the giant, they were so scared and terrified. Nobody would dare to come out and fight against Goliath. They were all scared because they saw a giant. But David came along. He didn’t see a giant. David saw God. And then he saw Goliath as a kind of rude man who insulted God.
So depending on who you see, what you see, you’re very much affected. Jacob, he had to run away from home. He was in the middle of the wilderness and then he fell asleep. He was in the wilderness, but there he met God and all of a sudden that land became Bethel, House of God, the Holy Land. The same wilderness, but before he met God it was just a wilderness. But after he met God he saw it as the Holy Land.
Do you remember the story of Peter walking on the water, when Jesus called Peter to come? Peter focused on Jesus and he was able to walk on the water, but as soon as soon as his focus has changed from Jesus to the wind, when he saw the wave, he started falling. The same situation, but when he saw Jesus, he was able to walk, but when he saw the wind, he started falling into the water. And Matthew recorded the incident in this way. But when Peter looked, he saw the strong wind, he became frightened and began to sink. He cried out, Lord, save me. See, how important our eyesight is, how important what we see is, how much they affect us. You may be the same reality that you’re living, but depending on what you see, you can either walk on the water or fall into the water. I believe that this is a very, very important truth for you to remember. If you don’t understand this truth, then you won’t understand faith, you won’t understand how faith works. You won’t understand what the world of faith is like.
Everyone experiences the same reality, but the way everyone sees the reality is very different. So I’ll say, we don’t live the reality. We live the perceived reality. Let me say it again. We don’t live the reality, we live the perceived reality. The reality doesn’t kill us, the perceived reality kills us. We should not live oppressed by our reality. We are given the power to interpret our reality. We don’t just live the reality. We have power to interpret our reality, and we live with that power to interpret our own reality. I believe that that power comes when we have the eyes of faith. When we have the eyes of faith, we have the power to understand our reality in a new way. Otherwise, you will see as everybody else sees. But when you have the eyes of faith, you’ll see a deeper aspect, deeper dimension of your reality, and you will live that reality, the reality that you saw. You know, the eyes of faith always look for a ray of light in the most difficult and gloomy situations. In the pitch black darkness, the eyes of faith always search for a small ray of light, and when you follow that light, a whole new world opens up for you. Depending on what we see, our mood changes, our thinking changes, our life changes. If you see certain things over and over and over again, you are shaped by it, if our eyes only see the darkness of life, we will become gloomy, our thinking will become distorted and our lifestyle becomes dark. In that sense, your eye is the lamp of your body. If you’re constantly seeing only pleasure in your life, then what you see will shape you and be the kind of person you become. If you constantly see self-centeredness, only yourself, then you’ll be shaped by that self-centeredness.
Follow The Light
Our eyes are so important and what we see routinely and repetitively. That’s what’s important. What do you see repetitively? Not just once or twice, but continuously. What do you see everyday in your life? That will be what will shape you. When our eyes see the ray of light, then everything comes alive – the way we see the world, the way we see each other and the way we see our life. The eyes of faith actively search for the ray of light in the darkness and I realized that the eyes of faith never misses the opportunity. Doesn’t matter how small the opportunity may be, the eyes of faith always see that.
Sometimes we see no way out. Don’t you experience that? There is no way out, no solution in our problems… but when you carefully look at them – your problems and your situation – you’ll be able to see small potential for the answer, and God lets us see that small opening, and we have to have eyes of faith to see that. Discover a deeper perspective. Your life will change. Find the light in your life. The light will guide you. The light will open up the new world for you.
People only see death. Death is everything. Death is the end. But even in death, the eyes of faith looks for a ray of light, and that’s what Paul did. When he saw death and it found a ray of light, he saw the resurrection. Death may be the reality for everyone, but to Paul, he saw the ray of light and resurrection even in death. When we see only death, the death will control our life, but if we see a ray of light, even in the darkness of death, the light will lead us to resurrection. Don’t think that the reality you presently see is everything. That’s a fool, only fools do that. Don’t give what you see the absolute value and power. What you see may be a typical, superficial, mindless, and distorted interpretation of your reality. That is not everything.
Newton’s universe and Einstein’s universe are very different. It is the same universe, but the way Newton saw the universe was very different from the way Einstein saw the universe. Just last week, Time magazine chose Einstein and had a special, good magazine, go and buy it. I just bought it yesterday. I was reading through it and though the universe – it’s the same universe – but what Einstein saw opened up a whole new perspective, a whole new world for all of us. Cultivate your eyes so that you may see bigger things in your reality. With the eyes of faith, we can see new things in any circumstance.
Your Reality
That’s why St. Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Because in all circumstances, even in bad circumstances, Paul found something beautiful. That’s why he said, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” you’ll see hope in despair, God’s power in your suffering, resurrection, in death and light in darkness.
People fall not because of reality. People fall because of their distorted reality, distorted view of reality. As we experience hardships in life, failures in life, disappointments in life, our eyes have become distorted. Our eyes need to be restored in our Lord. We pray that God may touch our eyes and restore them, like the scale that fell from Paul’s eyes when he met Christ. I wish that the scales that blocked my vision may fall from my eyes so that I may be able to see the beautiful world of God. Beautiful life, I want to see. What is the sermon you listen to every week? What is the nature of sermon? Sermon is very much like an interpretation of your reality. You should see this reality in this way. That’s what sermon is all about.
Try to find the answer every day that opens up your life, not closes your life. Always find the answer that opens up your life. You will be able to see that answer and you’ll become a bigger person.
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