3-D Living

“For We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”

2 Corinthians 5: 6-17

Jim Gilman

Introduction

The apostle Paul says, “For we walk by faith and not by sight.” So, what does it mean for Christians to walk by faith and not by sight? What is the difference between the two?

Some commentators say that sight and faith in this passage are opposites; that faith means to walk sightless, in blind trust. One even says he blindfolded himself and walked around his yard in order to try to understand what it might be like to walk by blind faith and not by sight. Not surprisingly, almost immediately he felt disoriented and stumbled around. Now, being “disoriented” and “stumbling around” is not what I think of when I think of faith and someone who walks by faith. In fact, when I think of those who walk by faith, I think of those with extraordinary vision, with vision that enables them to pursue God’s will single-mindedly and confidently, just as Paul says. To “walk by faith” is not to be “sightless;” rather, it is to have extraordinary “insight”, to be able to see another dimension, to see what the seeing cannot see, if you know what I mean.

Perhaps you’ve had occasion to go to a 3-D IMAX film at the Smithsonian. You put on 3-D glasses and voila, those images on the screen, that otherwise are flat, distant, and two dimensional, are spectacularly transformed. Now they have depth and presence and substance. You are no longer a mere spectator but now an actor, surrounded by images and drawn into the midst of a drama. Similarly, it’s as if those who walk by faith are given by God spiritual 3-D glasses that allow them to see a dimension of reality that is opaque to those who walk only by profane sight. That’s the mystery and magnificence of faith; God gives us power to see the unseeable, to live in a parallel dimension of reality that those who walk by sight, ironically, cannot see.

Bible Lessons

Each Bible lessons for today has to do with walking by faith instead of by sight; each has to do in part with wearing spiritual 3-D glasses. Recall the lesson from I Samuel. The Lord tells the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, and there, among Jesse’s sons he will find God’s replacement for King Saul. Each of Jesse’s older sons passes before Samuel; and each one seems to Samuel to be ideally suited to be King. Samuel sees that they are all impressive specimens; handsome and strong in appearance; any of them would command respect and make magnificent visuals on the evening news. But the Lord rejects all of them, and instructs Samuel: Do not value them according to what your eyes see. “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature; …for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Walk by faith not by sight, the Lord says; wear 3-D glasses; see and value the world as the Lord sees it, not as the sighted see it.

Similarly, in our lesson from Psalm 20, the author points out that those who are victorious in battle are those who walk by faith and not by sight. Those who “put their trust in chariots” and “horses”, in military might, are defeated. But the Lord gives victory to those who “call upon the name of the Lord,” who put on the 3-D lens and see that any victory that is of the Lord depends not on military strength but on walking by faith.

The Lens of Faith

So, how does wearing spiritual 3-D glasses affect how we live our daily lives? What difference does it make if we walk by the lens of faith and not by profane sight?

Well, when we walk by faith we interpret the world differently than when we walk by sight; we value the world differently; we value events and people differently. A simple biblical example. When confronted with an adulteress, even religious leaders sometimes walk by profane sight, and see only as mortals see. All they see, in this case, is what is tangible, a transgression of the law; all they can see to do is something tangible: physical punishment,death by stoning. In contrast, Jesus walk's by faith; he looks at the woman through the lens of faith, looks on her heart; values her, asks her to repent, offers her mercy and forgiveness. The results are entirely different; instead seeing only tangible, physical punishment, Jesus' sees her heart and reconciles her with God and her community. Similarly, when we walk with the lens of faith, we learn to value people and to offer them the same love and mercy and forgiveness.

Another example. All of us suffer adversities and afflictions in our lives. Some are minor, some are major; some are life threatening. Sometimes the pain and anguish is almost more than we can bear. In the face of such affliction Christians are confronted with a choice: we may walk by faith or by profane sight. Walking by profane sight, we become preoccupied with our adversities. We want to know“Why me?“ “What did I do to deserve this?” We see only tangible reality! Despair and bitterness sets in. In saying this, I don’t want to minimize the horrors and tragedies that some suffer; pain and suffering are real and sometimes relentless. But still, as Christians we face a choice: walk by the lens of faith or by profane sight. Those who walk by faith face up to their afflictions and value them differently. Instead of occasions for perpetual anguish and bitterness and despair, their 3-D glasses permit them to see adversities as occasions for healing and hope and even as occasions for helping others. We know we shall all be healed and whole, as Jesus promises, either in this life or the next. There are those in this church, walking among us, who know this, and who by God’s grace treat their afflictions as occasions to help and redeem others who are afflicted. I am amazed and astounded by them; by their faith; by their power of insight to value life and people as God values them. They should market their 3-D glasses to the rest of us.

Or think of the blessing of material possessions. Those who walk by profane sight see this blessing as an affirmation of their righteousness, and believe accumulating them will bring fulfillment, comfort, security, and social status. In contrast, those who walk by the insight of faith value material possessions differently. They value material resources as stewards do, and not as masters. They understand Jesus’ instructions to the rich young ruler (to “sell all that you have and give to the poor)” not as a burden but as a blessing, as an opportunity to distribute to those in need from a storehouse of abundance that God has granted, as an opportunity for a mustard seed to grow into a flourishing tree, as Mark’s gospel puts it.

Conclusion

So Paul challenges us today to put on the lens of faith and see what the seeing cannot see. But, how is this possible? How can we walk by faith and not by sight? How can we receive God's gift of 3-D glasses?

The answer, in a word, is "HUMILITY." Our human tendency is to want to assert our own selvesand our own limited view of things; our fallen tendency is to be self-reliant, to depend on our own ability to reason and see things for ourselves; our natural tendency is be satisfied to walk in two-dimensional reality. But as long as we insist on relying only on our selves and sight, we will never walk by faith.

We can only walk by faith and insight when we walk in Humility. Indeed, humility is what God requires of Samuel. "Humble yourself," the Lord is saying to Samuel; let go of your way of seeing Jesse's sons; give up on "seeing as mortals see", and see as the Lord sees: three-dimensionally; look on the heart. Likewise, our lesson from Ezekiel metaphorically suggests humility as the key to walking by faith. Through Ezekiel the Lord says, "I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree. I dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. Likewise, the parable in Mark's gospel portrays humilty: the smallest, most insignificant seed (the mustard seed) when planted grows into "the greatest of all shrubs." By walking humbly we receive the gift of insight, the 3-D lens of faith; we begin to see and walk in a parallel, spiritual dimension of reality; we begin to see and value the world and people as God does; we begin to participate in a drama of love and mercy and forgiveness that profane sight simply cannot see.

Think of someone in your life; someone at home, school, work, or play. The lens of faith allows us to see them three dimensionally, and calls us to value them as Jesus does. We Christians may be their only chance for them to know how deeply God loves and cares for them. May God help us!