Sunday Sermon Starter 5-14-12

I have seen any number of looks in the eyes of people through the years.  Looks of pride, disappointment, indifference, joy, sorrow, etc.  These may be cast at us or toward others, but what we see in people’s eyes can often be an indication of how they perceive us.  If we were able to look into the eyes of God what kind of look would we see cast in our direction?  This was a question I discussed one night in consideration of David’s statement in Psalm 11:4 – “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.”  When his eyes behold us what does He see?  Through His life different people elicited different looks from Jesus.  We need to be careful in which of their examples we, too, will follow.

Title:  In the Eyes of Jesus

Text:  Psalm 11:4

Main Point:  If for no other reason than the desire to maintain a Christian influence, we worry about how we are viewed in the eyes of others.  Granted, we cannot please everyone, nor should we desire to; however, we recognize that our dress, habits, attitude, and words allow people to form an impression that is otherwise difficult to change.  For that reason we must be aware of David’s warning (refer to text).  More than anything else in life we should be concerned with what we look like in the eyes of God.  How have some been seen before?

§        The Look of Rejection – Mark 3:1-6 – Jesus was angered by the hardness of the Pharisees’ hearts and looked upon them as rejected men.  Such persistent rejection characterized them throughout Jesus’ work.  Consider what it feels like to be rejected; we all have at some point.  We have been rejected from a ball team, by a boy or girl, from a job, a social club, etc.  Such rejection takes its toll on our emotions, particularly when you have several rejections hit you at once.  The degree of hurt had to be magnified with Jesus because of who He was and what He was trying to accomplish.  One instance in which such a look of rejection is seen is in Luke 22:61.  After being warned by Jesus that he would deny the Lord three times, Peter scoffed at the thought.  However, being tempted he did deny the Lord those three times, after which Jesus looked upon him.  Knowing Jesus was in the midst of being tried under false pretenses this final denial must have caused a terrible look of rejection in His eyes.  We must be careful in our lives to not see such rejection in Jesus’ eyes because of our own lives.

§        The Look of Reproof – Mark 8:31-33 – Jesus was in the midst of teaching the people concerning His pending death and resurrection.  Such a topic confused and upset Peter so much that he openly rebuked Jesus.  That public chastisement caused Jesus to look upon Peter and reprove him for his attitude.  At the heart of the matter was that Peter was questioning Jesus’ judgment.  But do we not do the same when we ignore His law, refuse His sacrifice, and reject His identity?  Numbers 20:2-13 – Moses undermined the authority of God by striking the rock when told to speak to it.  For his insolence Moses was reproved by God and sentenced to death prior to their entrance to Canaan.  Numbers 20:12 indicates, though, that it was all a matter of faith.  The lack of faith was true of Moses and it was true of Peter – but it is true of us at times, for that Jesus looks upon us with eyes of reproof.

§        The Look of Reward – Mark 5:24-34 – Just after raising Jairus’ daughter from death Jesus walked among a crowd of people.  Among that crowd was a woman who reasoned that if she could simply touch His garments she would be healed.  Jesus recognized that someone had touched Him and been blessed so He asked about it.  Upon her confession Jesus looked upon the woman and commended her for her faith.  There is little as rewarding as looking into the eyes of someone who is proud of us.  Nothing, though, will be as satisfying as seeing the face of Jesus looking on us with pride at the end.  Matthew 25:31-40 – such a look of pride will be followed by a look of reward, the righteous into eternal life.  Such a blessing shall be the reward of true faith – obedient faith.

Things look much different in the eyes of Jesus compared to how they look in our eyes.  To prepare for that eternal state we must make His mind ours’, His will ours’, and His vision ours’.  Then we can and will know how we look in the eyes of Jesus!