In any given situation, what you are determines what you see; what you see determines what you do.

   Today we are going to begin our message with an ink blot test.  I have included some ink blot images in your bulletins.  Let’s take a look at the side designated with the letter "A."  As soon as you see an image emerge from staring at this picture, raise your hand. What do you see?  A couple dancing?  Very good.  Who does not see a couple dancing?  If you are sitting next to someone who is having trouble seeing the image, perhaps you can point it out.

   Let’s turn the picture over to the ink blot labeled "B."  As soon as a picture emerges raise your hand.  What do you see?  A cowboy on a horse?  Very good.  Who cannot see a cowboy on a horse?  Again, perhaps someone close by can help you out.  Now that you have seen the image, can you look at the ink blots and not see it?  You cannot see the meaningless image again once you know what it is.  This indicates the importance of previous experience in your visual system.

   Sometimes different people see different images in the same ink blot.  There is one ink blot that I could not reproduce for you because grownups tend to see an erotic image in it while children almost always see several dolphins instead.  As Haddon Robinson puts it in the quote at the top of this page, "…what you are determines what you see."  We do not all see things the same way, both literally and figuratively speaking.  Sometimes what looks like meaningless ink blots to us looks like a coherent picture to others.

   When some people look at the Bible, all they see is meaningless words in black and white all jumbled together.  For others a very coherent picture emerges.  The latter can often be useful in helping the former to see what they have been missing, perhaps in a group Bible study.  There it is not uncommon for a newbie to have an "aha moment."  After seeing the Bible as no more than a big ink blot, a picture begins to emerge and the newbie says, "Now I get it.  I had no idea the Bible was about this!"  They had no idea that the Bible was a living source of wisdom for issues they were facing in their lives right then and there.

   Today we are observing Epiphany, which is actually the day after tomorrow (it is always January 6).  Epiphany recalls the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, which is why we read that text responsively a few moments ago.  The dictionary defines epiphany as: "A revelatory manifestation of a divine being."  "A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something."  "A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization."  In other words, an "aha moment" when we see something very clearly that we previously did not see, and that others may still not see.

   The Magi saw in Jesus the Son of God.  King Herod did not.  "To See or Not to See," that is the question.  That is also the title of our message for this morning.  The Magi followed a guiding light in the heavens.  Do we follow any heaven-sent guiding lights in our day?  The psalmist has said of God’s Word, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).  Do we follow God’s Word as a heaven-sent guiding light for us today?  Do we gain epiphanies from God’s Word?  Do we receive flashes of insight during worship that relate directly to the issues we are facing in our lives?

   The assigned text for this morning is about seeing God in the picture of Jesus painted for us in the Bible.  It is not a picture of a physical likeness.  You would think that some biblical writer would have recorded a description of Jesus’ appearance for us, but there is none—absolutely none.  Perhaps God, in his wisdom, planned it that way so that we would not get distracted from the spiritual picture he wanted us to see and emulate and proclaim.

   According to our text, John the Baptist was the first to "see the light" in Jesus.  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light (verses 6-8).  John took great pains to clarify that he was not the long-awaited messiah lest he distract people’s attention away from where it rightfully belonged, and preachers of the gospel today would do well to remember that.  John was the prophesied forerunner who prepared the way for the Lord who was soon coming into the world.

   The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (verses 9-11).  "He" was the God of creation, who was coming into the world he created in the form of a human being named Jesus.  But, the world did not recognize—did not see--Jesus as God in human form.

   You would have thought that God’s Chosen People, the Jews, would have seen him for who he was.  After all, he was born into their world while they were ostensibly waiting for the coming of God’s messiah.  But even they did not receive him as such when he actually came as he did.  And they did not simply ignore him, but actively sought to rid the world of him beginning with King Herod shortly after our Savior’s birth and continuing on until the religious leaders successfully had him crucified.  Why?

   Jesus answers that question in the text we used for our Call to Worship this morning: This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:19-20).  I just installed two obnoxious (but energy efficient) Brinks flood lights on the peak of my garage roof because evildoers hate the light for fear that their nefarious deeds will be exposed by it.

   Apparently the religious and political powers-that-be of Jesus’ day were not so virtuous as they would have had others believe.  Like the Governor of Illinois allegedly did, they used their power and position for personal gain.  Jesus was the "real deal" and people could not help comparing the example of his life with that of their leaders.  The light of his life exposed the shadowy deeds of others who sought to extinguish it because without light no shadows can be cast.

   Fortunately God has a stubborn history of coming into our world even when he is not welcomed.  In the Old Testament period he sent the Prophet Isaiah to speak for him to a people who did not want to hear what he had to say.  He said, "Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’  Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:9-10).

   Wow, what a tough assignment.  No wonder Isaiah asks next, "For how long, O Lord?"  And God answers, "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken" (Verses 11-12).  Why would God want such a thing?  God never wants such a thing.  It is the wicked who want to ignore God and God is just parental enough to get in their face and case if for no other reason than to plant a seed in their thick skulls and hard hearts that might germinate when the time is right.

   Sometimes it takes a good exile from the Land of Promise for the time to be right for people to turn back to God, to recall his Word and to let those righteous seeds germinate.  Sometimes it takes a good economic crisis to shock the world out of a culture of greed and excess and the kind of privilege that elevates Paris Hilton as an icon while breeding terrorism in the shadows.  Sometimes it takes a good dose of God’s tough love to recognize who he is and what we are and how much we need him.

   Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (Verses 12-13).  God is not ignored and rejected by everyone all the time.  Occasionally some actually search him out and, when found, actually receive him into their lives (translation: make his will and way their own).  We are all God’s children in the sense that he created us all.  But while some of us are rebellious children who incur his righteous wrath, others are obedient children who see clearly his grace and truth and glory.

   The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (Verse14).  To see or not to see, that is the question.  According to the Gospel writer of our text some did not recognize God when he came in Jesus while others clearly saw his glory.  His coming brought blindness to some, and an epiphany to others.  Many, like Peter and Paul, could say: "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."

   It is interesting being a pastor because I encounter all kinds of people in various stages of faith.  I welcome opportunities to speak with intelligent people even when they see no reason for believing in God.  Some things they see very clearly, such as the weird side of religion.  But it is almost as if the weird side of religion becomes a convenient distraction from taking a good look at the profound side of religion which Jesus represented.  At any rate, I would prefer their company over those weird religious know-it-alls Jesus called "Blind Guides."  As he asked rhetorically, "Can a blind man lead a blind man?  Will they not both fall into a pit?" (Luke 6:39).

   Perhaps the most well-balanced of all are those who, regarding the weird side of religion with a wary eye, look to the profound side of religion for insight and the light of understanding.  They are the living testimonies whose witness is not so much with words as it is with a life well lived.  It is not that their lives are charmed and without the challenges common to us all.  It is the secret source of wisdom that enables them to avoid costly mistakes and to make the most of the hand they have been dealt.

   Sometimes people come to me when they have had an "aha moment"—an epiphany.  Maybe they have recognized the error of their ways for the first time.  Maybe the Bible makes sense for the first time.  Maybe they feel God leading them to a new life and they are taking the first tentative (but exciting) steps in the path of his choosing.  Maybe they have been handed a serious health scare and, all of a sudden, what had been of consuming importance was no longer so important.  Other things were important—things like seeking and offering forgiveness, and saying "I love you."

   Yes, it is interesting being a pastor. It unlocks the door into the deep parts of people’s lives.  There are some folks in absolute denial about an alcohol problem they have.  They do not see themselves drinking until they pass out on the floor.  They do not see the strange person they become when they drink.  They do not see how alcohol is negatively affecting their primary relationships or their work.  Others may see those things, but not them.  They are blind to those things…

   …Until they are not blind to them anymore.  Sometimes they get slammed with yet another exceedingly expensive DWI citation.  Sometimes they hit rock bottom, sometimes their loved ones love them enough to ambush them with an intervention.  In one way or another they recognize their need for help, and help is what they get.  Many times they become living victories—recovering alcoholics who once were lost but now are found, were blind but now they see.