A sermon preached by the Reverend Scott D. Nowack
 on January 1, 2006
at Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, PA.

Do You See What I See?

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Luke 2:22-40

“Do you see what I see?”, said my 9th art teacher Mrs. Perillo.

“No, what do you see?” I responded.

“I see a handsome young man in the fight of his life ready to pack it in, with the circumstances and the odds against him, about to give up. But there is a fire still burning deep inside him that won’t let him quit.”

“Really, I don’t see that at all. I see a man who’s been hit, punched, scratched and beat too much. He’s obviously overmatched.”

Mrs. Perillo and I were examining a painting by Thomas Eakins entitled Between Rounds. It’s of a boxer, sitting in his corner, head back, hands on the ropes, referee waving a white towel at him, with spectators looking bored and uninterested ready to head to the exit doors. And it’s only the second round!

I’ve discovered that what makes paintings, sculptures and art works so amazing and powerful is that two people could look at the same piece of art and “see” different things. Mrs. Perillo saw a dire yet hopeful situation, while I saw a man ready to throw in the towel.

Do you see what I see? I have heard it said that, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Thrift stores, yard sales and rummage sales thrive on this idea. Where I may see a twelve place-setting formal china collection missing only one saucer, someone else sees the set of formal china they’ve always wanted but could never afford. Where you may see an old framed oil painting collecting dust in your attic, I see a priceless work of art suitable for hanging in the world’s finest museum. We often see ordinary things and circumstances very differently.

In our scripture lesson this morning, we the reader begin to learn about the background and life of Jesus of Nazareth. The author Luke believes it is important to know that Jesus Christ was not an outsider to the Jewish faith, but rather he was steeped in it his whole life. Mary and Joseph were devout and righteous Jews. They didn’t just worship God on the high holy days or when it was convenient for them or whether or not the Eagles were home or away. They didn’t miss services and observances for anything. So Jesus, from the day he is born, is saturated in Judaism, the Hebrew scriptures, and the traditions of his faith. So it should be no surprise to see them following the Law of Moses. They come to the Temple in Jerusalem for two important rituals: the purification of the mother after childbirth and the dedication of the firstborn son to God. Mary and Joseph put God first in their lives.

The author Luke wants to us to focus on one point of view: God’s point of view; the point of view given to Simeon and Ana, two devout and righteous believers. They see Jesus for who he truly is. Where most bystanders see an ordinary boy, the son of two humble parents, following the Law of Moses as was customary, Simeon and Ana recognize Jesus as the salvation of Israel and the world. Each of us can see the same situations and people in very different ways. Do you see what I see?

I believe that it is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to see the world around us and everything in it as God sees it. We need to be in tune with the Spirit of God through study and prayer, participation in the life of our community, so we can know the truth of who we are. And the truth will set us free, free to see and know each other and our world through God’s eyes. Who doesn’t want that?

Simeon and Ana saw Jesus in a way nobody else did or could. They understood who Jesus REALLY was and what he was all about: the salvation of Israel, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one who would cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, the one who would turn the world upside down. Simeon and Ana were faithful, devout and righteous followers of God who committed their entire lives to worship and service to God. They were in tune with the God, in sync with the vision God has for redemption of all creation. Because of their faithfulness and devotion, they saw God’s vision of what the future would be.

Like Simeon and Ana, you and I need to develop our faith and service to God in Christ Jesus by committing our whole selves to God’s vision for the world. We can’t just give money. We can’t just give our time. We can’t try to be a good person or be perfect. We need to seek God’s vision for our community life and our individual life as well, so that we may live in truth and victory in Christ Jesus.

This is no easy task. I read a short poem many years that had been transcribed from the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews hid from Nazis. It reads, “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining; I believe in love when feeling it not; I believe in God even when He is silent.” Despite the living hell they found themselves in where all hope seemed lost, they did not lose their God-given vision. They did not lose faith. They saw the world through the eyes of God.

Senator Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask why not.” That’s where vision begins! Through reflection and looking beyond the immediate, beyond the end of our nose, to see the forest from the trees, this is where vision begins. What vision has God given you?

I am grateful for the many influential teachers I had through my childhood and teenage years. I think each of us can name at least one or two teachers who were extremely influential. In a newspaper interview many years ago, The Reverend Jesse Jackson recalled this childhood memory. “First day in the sixth grade, I’ll never forget it,” recalled Jackson, who if you remember ran for president of the United States in 1988. “My teacher was Miss Shelton, and she began writing these long words on the blackboard we couldn’t understand, never even heard of before. We all looked around and started whispering to each other, ‘She got the wrong class. She thinks we the eighth-grade class.’

“Somebody finally called out, ‘Uh, Miss Shelton? Those are eighth-grade words. We only the sixth grade here.’

“She turned around. ‘I know what grade you are. I work here. And you’ll learn every one of these words, and a lot more like them, before this year is over. I will not teach down to you. One of you little brats just might be mayor or governor, or even president, some day, and I’m gonna make sure you’ll be ready.’

“And she turned back and went right on writing.” At that time, Jackson says, her proposition prompted no glow of possibility in him. “Aim to be governor? Even aim to be mayor, when in Greenville then there wasn’t a single African-American on the Board of Education, in the police department, the fire department? And aim to be president?!”

Before any great accomplishment, someone must have a vision. Before dealing a hand, someone must cut the cards. In order for God to redeem and save creation and humanity, God has a vision. That vision is Jesus Christ. And when we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, when we place God in Christ as the number one priority in our lives, I believe we become a part of this God-given vision. We encounter the truth and the truth sets us free from ourselves and leads us to our loving and graceful creator.

It’s not a trouble-free journey. It’s not easy to put our own wants and desires in the background and God in the foreground. Pride and selfishness do not give up their power easily. Doubts and uncertainties come to us all. With Christ as our vision, we have a beacon of light to which we may orient ourselves and get our bearings.

We as a church community must discern the call of Christ on our lives and what it means to be Christ in our time. We must dream things that never were and ask why not while praying and discerning the vision GOD has for our lives as individuals and as a community. God asks us, “Do you see what I see? For I see the marvelous, beautiful creatures I made in my image. I love each you no matter what. Why is that so hard to understand?”

We stand today on the edge of a new year in the life of our church family and life as a whole. Today begins the 292^nd year of ministry in the name of Jesus Christ in this community. As our community and our world continue to evolve and change, how shall we respond? As we imagine how we may refurbish our facilities to have a greater impact on the ministry of this place, as the cultural fabric of our town becomes more diverse, what vision will drive us forward and lead us into this new year, this new exciting, uncertain, wondrous and scary era in the life of our congregation?

Will our actions speak louder than our words? Will we put our money where our mouths are? Will we see the glass half empty or half full? Will we continue to seek the small, still voice of the sovereign God of the universe in all that we say and do?

In the book, More than You and Me, Kevin and Karen Miller write of the power of a God-given vision:

One couple lived in London 130 years ago. For the first ten years of their marriage, William Booth, especially, was in a quandary: What was God calling him to do?

Then his wife, Catherine, a skillful Bible teacher, was invited to preach in London. While they were there, William took a late-night walk through the slums of London’s East End. Every fifth building was a pub. Most had steps at the counter so little children could climb up and order gin. That night he told Catherine, “I seemed to hear a voice sounding in my ears, ‘Where can you go and find such heathen as these, and where is there so great a need for your labors?’ Darling, I have found my destiny!”

Later that year, 1865, the couple opened the “Christian Mission” in London’s slums. Their life vision: to reach the “down-and-outers” that other Christians ignored. That simple vision of two people grew into the Salvation Army, which now ministers through millions of members all around the world.

My friends, vision has power, especially a God-given vision. So let us forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal, the God-given vision, for the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us work together, through our committees and councils and other ministries of APC, seeing the world and each other through one vision, one set of eyes, God’s eyes. And when we do this, when we are of one mind and one vision, we are able to be Christ in our time.

Thanks be to God for this marvelous gift! Amen.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org