September 2, 2021 – Do You Have “Generous Eyes?”
Matthew 6:22-23, NIV - “The eye is the lamp of the
body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole
body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!
There is a lot to unpack in these two verses! First, many scholars believe a better
translation of “healthy” above would be “generous” and a better translation of
“unhealthy” would be “stingy.” I tend to agree because in the verses just
before these (our passage from yesterday), the topic is treasure and the in the
passage right after these verses (our passage for next time), the topic is
money. The flow of Jesus’s teaching
moves from not hoarding (vs 19-21) to “generous” eyes (vs 22-23) to loving God
over against wealth (v 24).
So what does it mean to have generous eyes? To understand this, we need to understand the
difference between the Jewish understanding of eyes versus our western
understanding. Generally, the western
world has the eyes as being “the window to the soul.” What we “fix our gaze upon” has an effect on
heart and soul. Our movie rating system
reflects this view. We need to be careful
what we allow children of various ages to see because it will have a lasting
effect on their precious and innocent souls.
There is obviously some truth to this.
I will forever be affected by seeing the movie “Cujo” at too young an
age!
However, what Jesus is trying to get at here reflects a more
Jewish understanding of the eyes.
Instead of being “windows to the soul,” the eyes reflect the condition
of the heart. If you ever gotten the
“evil eye” from someone, you know what I’m talking about. You can see the anger in their heart by
looking into their eyes. Likewise, we
often talk about people with “kind eyes,” meaning the kindness in their heart
emanates from their eyes. This is the
more Jewish understanding and probably closer to what Jesus is talking about in
this passage. That’s why Jesus refers to
the “light within you.” Whatever that
light is shows up in your eyes.
In vs. 19-21, Jesus taught us not to store up wealth. Here, he is saying the alternative to that
hoarding is to be generous with our material possessions. Let generosity be what others see in your
eyes, not stinginess. Stinginess
pollutes our whole body, but generosity brings light and life to our body. So all this begs the question; what are
others seeing in your eyes? As another
old saying goes, the eyes don’t lie.
Question: Do you have
“generous” or “stingy” eyes?
Prayer: God, help us
“see” the true condition of our heart and move us towards generosity and
kindness in a way that others see in our eyes. Amen
Prayer Focus: Pray
for 5 people that you are thankful for today.
Song: Sorry, I
couldn’t help myself on this one.
Eagles – Lyin’ Eyes
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