Fields United Methodist Church

Side by Side with Jesus.                                                    Pastor Tom Joyce

February 19, 2021

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”        Matthew 6:22

In Jesus’ time, the eye was thought to have acted as a projector; it “projected” the inner light that was inside for everybody to see.  If a person is full of hate, animosity, jealousy, or just the darkness of sin, then all that they do or say will “project” these feelings to those around them.  Part of the Christian season of Lent is to think about what we have consumed around us and whether it is “healthy” to our souls and to the witness we project. Jesus calls each of us to orient ourselves first and foremost towards God, to rid ourselves of those things that hinder the working of the Holy Spirit within us, impacting our relationship not only with each other but most importantly with God.  Jesus offers to you a simple spiritual diet with two main ingredients; loving God and loving neighbor.  Think about it this way; in order to buy the healthiest foods at the store, the first place we need to look is at the list of ingredients, and the amount of such things as sodium and sugar. If an item’s ingredients are healthy, then it should be healthy for our bodies. The same is true of feeding our soul; is what we are watching or reading filled with what is healthy to our soul or do they lead away from living a grace-filled, holy life Jesus is offering to us? Are we filling our minds with judgment, gossip, ego, pride, or the ugliness of hatred when we strongly disagree with someone? Are we filling ourselves with things that make us look right while not living in the righteousness of God?  These ingredients all have the same impact; they each cause us to live in the “darkness” of sin making it impossible to celebrate all people let alone Jesus. Faith in Jesus Christ is all about filling every aspect of our lives with the light of Christ that will overcome darkness no matter how great. That is the truth, and that is the truth that “will make you free.”

Rev. Tom Joyce