Red Letters 28 - "The Lamp of the Body"
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Deuteronomy 15:7-11 English Standard Version (ESV)
7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
2 Corinthians 9:6-15 English Standard Version (ESV)
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
Matthew 6:22-23 English Standard Version (ESV)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
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Over the last few weeks we have been going over and over again on this topic of the heart as we continue on our “Red Letter” series. Jesus keeps pointing to our hearts and telling us to pay special attention to what is in it and this has, hopefully, led us to re-examine our heart and hopefully brought us to repentance about the many things we have hidden away from the eyes of humanity… But that have always been in full view of our omniscient God. By this time some of us might be even thinking “Again with the heart? Ok, Ok I get it” And yet, we must realize that Christ draws our attention to the heart again and again, precisely because of how vitally important it is.
Last week we read the passage from Proverbs 4:23 which reads in the NIV “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” Jesus is in many many ways reiterating this crucial statement. Everything that you do comes from your heart. And while we may be quick to examine the actions of others and categorize them as noble, good, generous, and kind (or as rude, and stingy, and harsh.)… Or while we may look at our own actions and think to ourselves that I am not that bad of a person because I am pretty polite and kind, and I give my weekly offering and say my prayers and go to church (or watch church), etc… Jesus warns us that our actions, or the actions of others, are not sufficient evidence towards whether a person is faithful or not.
This is frightening. Because this means that even those amongst us who may seem to be the most faithful may indeed be the greatest hypocrites. And that those amongst us who may seem to be the most unfaithful, may in secret, be closer to the embrace of God. Jesus tells us, what truly matters is what is at the deepest most secret places in our hearts.
Today as we read the words of Christ we are told that:
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
On the surface level, it may seem that Jesus is warning us about what enters into our eyes and what we look at. It feels like a “see no evil” statement. And there is of course truth to this, especially in this day and age where we spend so much time consuming media. There is danger and risk in watching gratuitously sensual or violent shows and movies. It is toxic to marriages and relationships when a person watches pornography or lusts after others behind closed doors. What we see certainly impacts the way we think and has the risk of desensitizing us to things that are ungodly. But if we are following Jesus train of thought, and how he was just talking about the heart over and over again, we might feel that we’re not getting the whole picture, so to speak.
And so we need to understand the cultural idea behind the eye as the ancient Jewish person would have understood it. According to Biblical scholars, the eye was also thought to be directly linked with the heart, which was understood to be the organ of though, desire and emotion (Elliot) It was the eyes that expressed the innermost desires and feelings of the heart. And so when Jesus spoke about having healthy, good, clean, sound, depending on what translation you read…. The implication was deeper than what you are simply allowing yourself to look at.
When Jesus is speaking of the eye, He is talking about what it reveals about your heart. As we read, Jesus calls the eye the lamp of the body. And the purpose of a lamp is to shine outwards, not inwards. According to Jesus, what is therefore in your heart shines out of the lamps of your eyes, and fills your body with light.
A good eye is connected with living a life of morally good and generous intentions. Loyal in devotion to the Lord. While an evil or dark eye exposes a heart that is turned inwards, with wicked intentions of envy, greed and jealousy. When your eye is bad, unhealthy, or evil… It marks a heart that is filled with a deep darkness.
“If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
If we look to the teaching of Jesus, much of it focuses on how we treat others, but more importantly focus us on the intentions behind those acts of generosity and kindness. Healthy eyes then mark a healthy heart that is filled with the light of Christ. And while it does show before the people in our actions… It begins with the filling of light of the self in selflessness, moral integrity, generosity and graciousness… In love.
But a darkened heart will be revealed in the hidden attributes of selfishness, envy, greed and refusal to share one’s means with others. This attitude, though on the service could look to be of goodness and integrity, ultimately leads to the harm of others, and of our relationships. No darkness, and no sin, is hidden for long. As Christ calls forward our sin, so that we may be lead to repentance, one way or the other. Jesus here is not merely concerned with the actions of a person, whether good or bad but by the nature of a persons heart.
He calls the attentive listener to examine our inner lights… to determine whether, by the temptations and struggles of this world we have allowed our inner light to darken. Or whether we are by faith continuing to proclaim for ourselves the reality that Jesus says about us in Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” The light is meant to shine forth in, through and out of us.
As Paul writes to the church of Corinth,the generosity and compassion towards others that reveals the light within us does a two-fold work. In our good deeds, we know that “whoever sows bountifully, will also reap bountifully” and that it leads to our “being enriched in every way so that you can be generous in every way, which through us will reduce thanksgiving to God.”
And so by our living and serving and giving, we are given more so that we can continue to be generous in every way! And it is in this that others will come to glorify God “…because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others…”
There is then a direct correlation between our desire to give and serve and pour out of ourselves for others and the grasp that the Gospel of Christ has on our hearts. There is a direct correlation between how truly generous, humble, selfless, generous, and pious we are and how the gospel of Christ truly indwells us.
If you ask me… this causes me to seriously pause and re-examine my heart, and the intention between all that I do. For those of you who’ve had children, have you ever caught yourself being “better parents” when you have company? When no one is looking your tone is sharp, your voice is loud and your gaze can turn any brave soul into stone… But when you have visitors, all of a sudden your tone is soft, your voice is pleasant and your gaze can blossom and melt the harden heart… I ask because I know I do! It’s like a bad drug, hearing that you are such a good parent. And that is a terrible thing for me to say. Because as much as I absolutely love, love, love, my children… When it comes to the way I act in front of others, my heart and my eyes, as pleasant and gentle as they may look in front of others is darkened by my selfishness and pride.
As God, even way back in Deuteronomy, speaks to His people about being generous towards others and about not begrudging how we can give to help others, He says: “…Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart.”
Brother and sisters, who can judge the heart but God alone?
Perhaps at times we breath a sigh of relief over this, for we know that the Lord is gracious and kind towards us and our iniquities. But at the same time, is that not cause for a greater conviction towards taking care of our hearts? How is your heart today? Is it filled with the light of Christ? Or have we allowed fear and anxiousness creep in and darken our eyes…
In these times where it seems that its getting harder and harder to know the true motivation and nature behind the actions of people let us be kind towards others, and patient, while first considering how we can take care, lest there be an unworthy thought in our hearts. All while knowing that in Christ that there is a powerful reality promised to us:
1 Thessalonians 5: 4-10 reads: “4 …you are not in darkness, brothers and sisters…5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. … since we belong to the day, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
The joy of serving the Lord is that we know, that while His word will compel and convict us of all the ways we are so lacking and have fallen so short of His glory, we, not by our own doing, and not by our own efforts, but from the gift of free grace of God, are saved from the darkness, and have obtained salvation as children of the Light of Christ.
And so let us hold firmly to this truth and ask today that the Lord would fill us by His light. So that indeed we can live in a manner that honours Him and brings all the world to glorify Him.
In Jesus name.
Amen.