This is a blog that has taken over 2000 years to write. Two thousand and twenty years, to be exact. Or maybe I should say, two thousand and twenty years to wait before it could be written. And why do I say that? Because we are on the verge of the year 2020, which happens to be the same number as the designation of good eyesight: 20/20.
When optometrists say someone’s eyesight is 20/20, they mean that the person can see a line of text at 20 feet that a “normal” person sees at 20 feet. If someone has 20/40 vision, that means that person has to be 20 feet from what a normal person sees at 40 feet: in other words, they only see half as well.* So the bigger the bottom number, the worse the person’s vision. Therefore the goal for vision correction (what we laypeople call “glasses”) is to help a person see with 20/20 acuity.
That was the goal when I was first given glasses at the age of nine. My school teacher suggested I see an eye doctor when she saw me not only squinting to see the chalkboard (yes, we used real chalk in those days); she also saw me curling my fingers in front of my eyes to make little pinholes: I had discovered that I could refract the light enough to see the board clearly by doing that. I still remember how weird everything looked when I first walked out of the doctor’s office with my new glasses!
Of course, the effect of my sudden clarity on me was nothing compared to what it must have been like for the blind people Jesus healed. Among those to whom Jesus gave sight were a blind beggar in Jericho named Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), a second blind man in Jericho (Matthew 20:29-34), two other men in Matthew 9:27-31, a man in Mark 8:22-26 (who required two touches to be healed), and a man who was born blind in John 9. Can you imagine what it must have been like, to suddenly see? For your brain to make sense of visual images when there had been none before?
The healing in John 9 was especially remarkable, in that an entire chapter was devoted to the miracle and its consequences. In no small measure that was due to the fact that, as the healed man said, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.” It was truly a miracle, one which could only have been done if the Healer were from God, as the healed man also proclaimed.
But the real importance of the John 9 healing is greater even than giving one man sight, as miraculous as it was. The resulting disbelief and challenges by the Pharisees who witnessed the results of Jesus’ act gave Jesus the basis for teaching about what true vision really means. For he spoke not of physical sight and blindness, but of spiritual. He said to the formerly blind man, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Then, when some of the Pharisees near him asked him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” To our Lord, true sight, no matter how we do on an eye chart, comes from the heart, that is, from our spirit rather than from our body.
Therefore, true sight has to do with recognizing God and his works, and with believing in his Son as our Savior, something which the blind man did, but the Pharisees could not. True 20/20 vision has to do with the eyes of faith which see reality for what it is, in spite of all the distortions and camouflage which the world throws up to disguise or obstruct the truth. As 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” And Hebrews 11:1 teaches, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” True sight, true perspective on the world, comes from faith in God.
So then, what does this have to do with the year, 2020? The connection could apply to any new year, or in fact, to any day of any year, but 2020 happens to be the year which confronts us now, and therefore is worthy of consideration. What I want us to think about is how we are going to view the coming year. What perspective will we have on its events? What is the lens through which we will “see” the world with 20/20 vision in 2020?
There are many lenses that people wear:
The economic lens. How is the economy doing? How are my investments doing? Will I have enough to pay my bills? Is GDP up, and is it up enough? What about trade, tariffs, sanctions, and taxes? What about inflation and income disparity? What are the jobs and unemployment numbers? To many people, and not just in the business world, the answers to these questions will determine whether they have a “good” year or not. Changes in their financial status, in their bottom line, determines their satisfaction and even happiness with life. A tenth of a point change in the stock market can elate or crush them, depending on how it affects them. But as Jesus told in the parable of a farmer who became rich, wealth is nothing when your soul is required of you at death (Luke 12:13-21). Even the extremely wealthy Solomon lamented that he was going to have to leave his wealth to someone else when he dies (Ecclesiastes 2:18). So seeing the world economically is temporary at best, and even then is subject to the daily vagaries of the news.
The political lens. Certainly, 2020 is starting off as one of the most politically tinged (or should I say, tainted) years in our lifetime. With our nation sharply divided in its vision for the future, with our political parties at war in the Congress, with judges disagreeing with each other’s rulings, with the President impeached (or was he?), and with primaries and the general election coming this year, it seems the world revolves around politics. Catch any national newscast and you’ll believe that the only thing happening in our country is politics (or any event that can be politicized). Even the magazine, Christianity Today, got into the fray by calling for the President’s ouster. But as heated and as all-encompassing as politics seem to be this coming year, we need to keep true perspective. Such questions were just as important in Jesus’ day: which Jewish party was the right one: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes, or the Zealots? Who was ruler: Pilate, Caesar, Herod, or the high priest? What about those tax collectors (always lumped with sinners by the people) and Roman soldiers walking around? And as for the Bill of Rights – forget about it! Politics will always play an important part in our lives, but are they what life is really about? Romans 13:1 states, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” But Jesus reminded us to put things in the right order: sure, we are to render to Caesar (our political leaders) what is Caesar’s, but more importantly, to God what is God’s. When we make that distinction, and realize that no one can rule without God’s permission, we can catch our breath and look to God for guidance in how we interact with the political situation in which we find ourselves.
The popularity lens. How many followers do I have on Twitter” How many Facebook friends? How big is my “posse”? Do people crowd around to talk to me, take my advice, and copy how I dress or wear my hair? (In my case, do people dye their hair gray to look like me? Sadly, I think not.) Is my professional image what I want to project, of confidence, competency and success? Does this dress/shirt/pair of pants make me look fat? While we all crave acceptance at some level, when we make it our priority, and judge our happiness based on our perception of how popular we are, we are making a huge mistake. Not only are our perceptions subject to misunderstanding (am I being emulated or mocked?), it turns out that what is popular is a temporary and fickle thing. Saddle shoes or high heels? (I had neither.) Pegged pants or bell-bottoms? Wide lapels or narrow; wide ties or narrow? Shaved head, butch, crew cut, Afro, Mohawk, duck-tail, or buzz cut? Or ringlets, curly perm, or page boy? It is so easy to copy what we think makes other people popular, and think it will work the same for us, only to be disappointed when the popular person moves on to something else and we become so “yesterday” (so 2019, in other words). But when we see with the spiritual lens, we know that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34, KJV). And we read Paul in 1 Corinthians who proclaimed, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” Our social popularity means nothing to God; its only purpose, when used rightly, is to witness to others about Christ and what is truly meaningful in life.
Other lenses: There are other ways to look at the world which people use, such as scientific, medical, corporate, tribal, etc. But time and space limit me from going into those. Maybe another time – like 2021.
But the key to remember is that the ability to have 20/20 vision for 2020 rests not with the forces around us, but in God’s Word, which gives us the true perspective, God’s perspective, on what is real and what is important. It tells us who God is, who we are, and what God has done for us: a joyful reality that transcends anything we would otherwise think important. Are we living in accord with God’s law? Do we accept his grace and forgiveness? do we forgive others who harm us? Do we help the unfortunate?
When the final reality for which God has saved us comes to pass, and we stand together in God’s presence before his throne, on that day we will see him face to face, and glorify the One who has given us true sight: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Read: John 9, Mark 8:22-26, Mark 10:46-52
*Interestingly, Chuck Yeager, the famous WWII fighter ace, had 20/10 vision, which allowed him to see enemy fighters long before they could see him, which in a less electronic era made all the difference.
