Having never had to wear glasses, it was quite a shock when, shortly after turning forty, I was suddenly having to extend my arms away from me to see clearly what it was that I was reading. Before I knew it, I not only had to wear glasses to read but was prescribed progressive lenses, also known as trifocals. Fortunately, I adjusted to this new reality rather quickly. However, I know that for others, it can be quite challenging to determine where to focus their eyes and how to tilt their head in relation to what they are trying to see or read.
Beyond being able to read and navigate our daily lives with the assistance of physical glasses, we recognize that we all view the world through various cultural, religious, and political lenses. For better or worse, these lenses help us make sense of the world, guiding our values, assumptions, and affiliations. However, similar to the times when we are looking for our glasses while wearing them, we are often unaware of the nature of our sociological lenses and how they affect our interpretation of and interaction with the people and issues we encounter on a daily basis.
With my progressive lenses firmly in place, I recently began reading the novel, Don Quixote. Written in the early 17th century by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, the story features the harrowing and hilarious adventures of the self-proclaimed knight errant, Don Quixote, also known as the Man of La Mancha. As the novel begins, we find Quixote and his newly acquired squire, Sancho Panza, setting out in search of fame and fortune as a result of various acts of chivalry on behalf of the downtrodden and the oppressed, with a special emphasis on rescuing fair maidens in distress.
As Quixote and Panza set out on their quest, we quickly come to the famous scene in which Don Quixote lowers his lance and the visor on his helmet, spurs his faithful steed, Rocinante (actually a bedraggled nag of a horse), and attacks a windmill, thinking it to be a giant bent on destruction. Hilariously for the reader, not so much for Quixote and Rocinante, a gust of wind hits the windmill at that exact moment, causing the arms to rotate. The result is that in mid-charge, Quixote and Rocinante are picked up, carried into the air and then unceremoniously dropped to the ground from a great height.
With no little effort, Sancho Panza gathers Quixote up and gets him home, as they had not traveled far before the incident with the windmill. As Quixote regains consciousness and health, he immediately sets his mind on continuing his quest. The local priest, Sancho, and others, including the housekeeper, all desperately try to dissuade him, but Quixote is resolute. The housekeeper blames Quixote’s folly on his obsession with books about King Arthur-type figures, and urges the priest to burn the over two hundred volumes in Quixote’s library.
Some burning of books ensues, but the damage is done. As soon as he is able, Quixote, convinced of his chivalric status, sets out again (with Sancho Panza by his side, lured by the promise of riches and fame), only to be deluded again and again, thus wrecking havoc and undo mayhem on innocent people and great harm to himself and Sancho. When Sancho tries to convince Quixote of the reality of the varied people and places they encounter, Quixote blames unseen enchanters for clouding Sancho’s vision.
We laugh at the absurdity of Don Quixote’s delusions of grandeur and misguided escapades. Yet, how often do we fail to recognize the unexamined assumptions – the lenses – through which we navigate our daily lives, often to the emotional, relational, and even physical harm of ourselves and others?
The Man of La Mancha’s vision of reality was distorted by an undue focus on the chivalric tales of knights errant in legend and lore. What or who informs our worldview and thus the lens through which we navigate daily life?
In chapter six of his gospel, Matthew records these words of Jesus about how we see:
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!, (Matthew 6:22–23, NIV).
In the broader context of this passage, Jesus is discussing the love of money, but the principle applies beyond the issue of greed.
When my eyes are healthy, I can assess my surroundings and move through my day freely. However, as some of you know from personal experience, when our vision is impaired for various reasons, beyond simply having difficulty reading, we may struggle to position ourselves safely and accurately in relation to the people and places around us.
But Jesus isn’t talking about rods, cones and retinas; he’s talking about the spiritual and sociological lenses that inform our values and assumptions about the world and our place in it. His point is that if our insight is informed by the reality of God’s presence and purposes, then our worldview will be filled with the light of his life and love and will guide us successfully through the opportunities and challenges of each day.
However, if our view of life is clouded by greed, selfishness, insecurity, anger, or self-righteousness, or if we focus more on our news or social media feeds rather than on the word and purposes of God, then we will eventually find ourselves attacking windmills or worse.
Alternately, we may be approaching life simply relying on our own wit and wisdom, to which King Solomon cautions us;
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones, (Proverbs 3:5–8, NIV).
The psalmist concurs with Solomon when he affirms of God, Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Then, centuries later, the Apostle John boldly declares in the beginning of his gospel that Jesus himself is the Word of God and that, In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind, and that Jesus is The true light that gives light to everyone, (John 1:4, 6, NIV).
These are bold claims, but they are at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, Jesus himself declares in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. In other words, Jesus claims to be the unique path to peace with God and the key to our ability to live consistently in the reality of God’s created order, rather than the delusions of our own imaginations and passions.
Our vision can also be clouded by trauma or an undue focus on our own failures. In either case, we view the world through the distorted lenses of fear and insecurity, or a sense of failure and self-loathing that damage our relationships and stunt our personal development.
The words of Jesus and the reflections of John are once again instructive and healing. Jesus authoritatively asserts in the Gospel of John, If you hold to my teaching, you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, (John 8:31-32, NIV). Then, in his first letter, the Apostle John exhorts and encourages us with these words referring to Jesus:
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world, (1 John 2:1–2, NIV).
The Apostle Paul concurs with John’s claim about Jesus when he declares;
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:22–24, NIV).
Similar to those times that we don’t realize how dirty our glasses are until we put them back on after cleaning them, maybe it’s time for us to take a step back and assess our assumptions and habits in the light of the word of God and the work of Christ to see where we may be making mountains out of mole hills or giants out of windmills. Or, making windmills out of giants.
In this life, we may never have 20/20 vision or perfectly focused lenses, as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, for now we see through a glass darkly, we can grow in maturity, wisdom and insight, as we look more to Jesus and less to ourselves, our socials or the news cycle. And as we do, we gain clarity and confidence in working together in the name and way of Jesus for the Glory of God and the Good of Our Neighbors, Near and Far.
—Pastor Scott