Lord, When Did We See You?

By Rev. John Dreyer

When asking someone what is "sin," they usually respond, "it is missing the mark" or "breaking God's will." These definitions are true, but if we stop there we can run into troubles. For sin is not just about us, or the do's and the don'ts, or some moral religion like many other religions. It has all to do with a blind and broken communion with the true God, and that means death. To understand the character of sin is to look to the beginning, to Adam and Eve who wanted to be like God. Eve saw three fundamental attributes of sin that come from the perception of egotistic pride and not seeing life as from God alone. Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desired to make one wise.

These three characteristics could encompass how we attempt to see life through our sinful nature. Note the words "saw" and "eyes"; these words reflect how Eve perceived the world when the world is defined and centered upon us. This world is so willing to interpret life for us as we watch TV and all its commercials, hear the news, look at the Internet, listen to the radio, and hear gossip and people's interpretation of life. This all shapes our perception of life. For Lent I gave up the Internet (except for work), TV, and the news in order to allow me to read the Holy Scriptures, to contemplate what life is, and personally hear how others see life.

If we want to view life and this world for what they really mean, we do so not with our eyes but through the eyes of God. Jesus is the Word made flesh through whom all things that were made were made. Since we are blinded in sin, it is only in and through Christ who is the light, through whom all of creation visible and invisible came into existence, are we able to see and know what true life is (John 17:3). This is why our Lord says, "If you look at a woman in lust, you have committed adultery."

So on Judgment Day, when our life is examined by Christ, we may ask, "Lord, when did we see You?" We will be like those of whom our Lord says can see but are blind (Is. 6:9; Mt. 13:13). When you look at yourself and your relationship with the world, look through Christ and His love for you and others.

The Rev. John Dreyer is an Admission Couselor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.