The God Who Sees

Elder Robert began by talking to God, and his prayer was already a preview of the sermon. He asked that we would see Jesus in His glory, compassion and love. He asked that we would know we are never unseen when we are with Jesus, because Jesus sees us in every situation. And he asked that our trust and faith would grow. Then he ended with King David's prayer that the words of his mouth and the meditation of his heart would please God Psalm 19:14.

Elder Robert said it was good to be back in Ho Chi Minh City. He and Sojin had just come home from Toronto, and he thanked the church for its love, its prayers and the flowers it sent while they were in Canada. He also thanked Kirsty for reading the Bible passage. The church was walking through the Gospel of Luke, and this week it reached chapter 13.

Then he set the scene. Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath Luke 13:10–11.

Into that synagogue came a woman. We don't know her name, her age, or exactly what illness she had. But Luke was a doctor Colossians 4:14, and he tells us enough: a spirit had crippled her, her back was bent over, and she could not stand up straight. Not for a day, but for 18 years.

Try it yourself. To help us feel a little of what she went through, Elder Robert asked the whole church to try something from their seats. (Only if your back and neck are fine!)

1. Lean forward, a long way down.
2. Put your hands on your knees.
3. Bow your head so you can only see your feet.
4. Now, without lifting your head, talk to the person next to you for ten seconds.

It's hard, isn't it? Even making your voice reach the other person is tiring. Elder Robert said that ten seconds can't come close to what this woman lived with. For almost twenty years, every step was a struggle and every conversation was spent staring at the ground. She probably never looked a friend in the eyes, or saw a sunset or the stars. And yet, on that Sabbath, she was there, in the house of God, where Jesus was teaching.

The sermon is built on twelve verses Luke 13:10–21. Read them first in the panel.

In simple words: Jesus sees the bent-over woman, calls her over, tells her she is free, and touches her. She stands up straight and praises God. The synagogue leader is angry and tells the crowd to come for healing on the other six days. Jesus calls the leaders hypocrites: they untie their animals on the Sabbath to give them water, so why shouldn't this woman be untied from what has bound her for 18 years? Then Jesus says God's kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a tree, and like a little yeast that works through a huge batch of dough.

The passage has three parts, and Elder Robert's sermon follows them in order. Each part became one of his points.

Why people feel invisible. Elder Robert asked us to imagine 18 years of staring at the ground, in silent pain and loneliness. When life is hard, it's natural to pull away from people. He said the enemy loves that moment. That is when the devil whispers, “You are forgotten. God has forgotten you. The world has forgotten you.” He thought this woman must have heard that whisper many times.

How he used the Bible. Then he read how Jesus treated her Luke 13:12–13. He asked us to notice the order of what Jesus did. He called it the sequence of grace:

1. Jesus saw her
2. He called her forward
3. He spoke to her
4. He laid His hands on her
5. She was healed

Here is the surprising part. The woman probably couldn't even see Jesus coming, because she couldn't lift her head. But Jesus saw her. Elder Robert guessed the synagogue was packed that day. By now Jesus was like a celebrity: everyone wanted to see Him, hear Him, touch Him and watch a miracle. Yet out of that whole crowd, Jesus' eyes landed on this one bent-over woman. He saw her pain and knew her suffering.

A picture of grace. Elder Robert said this healing is a picture of how God treats all of us. God sees us in our troubles, in our needs, and even when we are stuck in sin. He calls out to us and offers forgiveness and a new life through Jesus. Not because we are good people. Not because we deserve it. Only because of His grace, which means kindness we did not earn.

Then he spoke straight to the church. Jesus sees you if you are struggling with family pressure, or torn apart by a relationship, or sick in your body, or hurting inside, or worried about money. When you reach such a low point that you wonder, “Does any of this even matter?”, it absolutely matters.

His second piece of evidence: Hagar. To show that God has always been like this, Elder Robert went back to an Old Testament story. Hagar was a young Egyptian servant girl. Sarah (called Sarai at the time) treated her so badly that she ran away into the desert. She was alone, pregnant and desperate, and she believed everyone had forgotten her. But God found her by a spring of water, spoke to her, and promised her a future Genesis 16:6–11.

Hagar was amazed that God knew her and knew exactly where she was. So she gave God a name Genesis 16:13: “You are the God who sees me.”

Elder Robert said maybe someone in church that morning needed to hear Hagar's story, and this woman's story too. Both say the same thing: no matter how hidden you feel, you are seen by El Roi.

Point 1 was about how Jesus sees. Point 2 is about someone who saw the same miracle and only got angry.

Joy in the room, except for one man. Elder Robert asked us to imagine being in that packed synagogue and watching the miracle. You would be thrilled, full of hope and joy! He thought the whole room must have been filled with joy, and Luke later says the crowd really did rejoice Luke 13:17. But not everyone.

How he used the Bible. He read the next verse Luke 13:14. The synagogue leader was indignant. Elder Robert explained that word: it means furious, enraged. Not one tear of joy, not an ounce of kindness. In other words, the leader said, “You healed her on the wrong day of the week.”

Why was he so angry? Elder Robert said Jesus had broken the leader's rules and, even more, had shaken his sense of control. He quoted the theologian William Willimon:

Elder Robert said that hits the nail on the head. The religious leaders didn't oppose Jesus because He broke God's commandments. They opposed Him because their grip on power was being challenged.

Jesus' answer. Then he read how Jesus replied Luke 13:15–16. Elder Robert explained that the leaders' own rules allowed people to untie their farm animals on the Sabbath and lead them to water. So their system showed more kindness to a thirsty donkey than to a suffering human being. Look at the words Jesus chose:

His main argument: the Sabbath was a gift. Next he showed what the Sabbath was really for. In Deuteronomy, God gave the Sabbath to Israel to remember that He had freed them from slavery in Egypt Deuteronomy 5:12–15. So every Sabbath was meant to celebrate freedom, and it was never a reason to hold back mercy. Jesus said it plainly in another Gospel: the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath Mark 2:27.

Think about it like this. If someone gives you a birthday present, it's meant to make you glad. It would be strange to use the present as an excuse to stop someone else from being helped. The leader had turned God's gift of freedom into a rule that kept a woman tied up.

The bigger truth underneath. Elder Robert said this argument about the Sabbath points to something bigger. Our deepest need is not just a day off to rest our bodies. Our deepest need is peace with God, a real relationship with Him. And we can't get that by religious performance, by trying to prove we're good enough.

That's why Jesus gives a simple invitation Matthew 11:28–30: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Elder Robert pointed out what Jesus does not say. He doesn't say “Clean yourself up first” or “Get your act together, then come.” He just says, “Come.”

Then he asked a gentle question. Do some of us live as if God's love depends on how well we behave? We feel safe with God on good days, and rejected on the days we sin and fall? The gospel gives a better foundation. Our hope rests completely on what Jesus has already done for us. There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor. When we trust Christ, we can stop the tiring race to prove our worth and measure up to an impossible checklist.

He added that this is why Christians gather to worship on Sunday. Sunday is the day Jesus rose from the grave Luke 24:1–6, beating sin and death. It was the dawn of a new creation, won by Jesus' resurrection.

Right after this argument, Jesus asked a new question: what is God's kingdom like? That is Point 3.

How he used the Bible. He read Jesus' two short pictures. First, the kingdom is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his garden. It grew into a tree, and birds came to rest in its branches Luke 13:18–19. Second, it's like yeast that a woman mixed into a huge amount of flour, until it worked all through the dough Luke 13:20–21.

Elder Robert pointed out something interesting. Jesus could have compared His kingdom to a great empire or a mighty army. Instead He chose two very ordinary things you could find in any kitchen or garden.

Together, he said, these two pictures challenge the way we measure God's work. We tend to judge by size and speed. But God's kingdom can look small at first, and its progress can stay hidden for a long time. Its finish is still certain.

He added two more lines worth remembering. God is never in a rush. And just because He is silent, it doesn't mean He is absent.

His main evidence: the cross and the empty tomb. To prove that God's quiet work can't be stopped, Elder Robert took us to the cross. When Jesus was crucified, the world thought it was all over. Just another small religious movement crushed by Rome. They put His body in a tomb. He was buried like a seed in the soil and hidden like yeast in the flour, and for three days there was only silence. It looked like total defeat.

But the quiet tomb did not stay quiet. God was at work the whole time, and on the third morning Jesus burst out of the tomb alive Luke 24:1–6, victorious over sin, hell and death. Jesus Himself had used the same picture of a seed that must fall into the ground before it can bear fruit John 12:24. What started as a buried seed became, in Elder Robert's words, the eternal tree of life that shelters people from every nation, every language and every tribe across the world today. Just like the birds resting in the mustard tree.

What this means for you. Then he made it personal. If God can take a cold, silent tomb and turn it into the dawn of a new creation, He can take the quiet, hidden, small place in your life and bring resurrection life out of it.

With his three points made, Elder Robert brought it all back to the God who sees.

Elder Robert hoped we would go back to this passage during the week and remember that we serve a Savior who never forgets us and always sees us, in every moment of our lives. He was honest that this can feel two ways. For some people, being always seen feels scary. For others, it's a huge comfort: we are never alone, and He is always with us.

After the closing prayer and song, he invited anyone looking for a church family to talk to the leaders, and anyone who felt called to be baptized to come and speak with them too.

His last words to the church. Then he gave a short review of the whole sermon, as a send-off for the week:

• Go with confidence, knowing you are seen by El Roi, the God who knows your name and carries your burdens. (Point 1)
• You don't have to wear yourself out trying to earn God's favor. He has already given Himself to you through Jesus. (Point 2)
• When your faith feels as small as a mustard seed, or God's work seems hidden under the surface, don't lose heart. The same God who transformed a dark, silent tomb is at work in all of us today. (Point 3)

And what He begins, He is faithful to complete Philippians 1:6.

As the worship team came forward, Elder Robert prayed. He thanked Jesus for being the God who sees us and sets us free. He asked that we would never mistake God's quietness for His absence, that our trust would keep growing, and that we would start the new week knowing God is always there for us.

He sent everyone out with a blessing woven from four passages: a prayer for peace 2 Thessalonians 3:16, the great Shepherd who equips us Hebrews 13:20–21, the God who keeps us blameless and is faithful to do it 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24, and the ancient priestly blessing from the time of Moses Numbers 6:24–26.

Elder Robert's message was simple: trust the King. In a crowded synagogue, Jesus saw a bent-over woman that nobody else noticed, just as God saw Hagar in the desert (Point 1). He set her free on the Sabbath, showing that God's rest was always a gift of freedom, and that we come to Him by grace, not by performance (Point 2). And He showed that His kingdom grows like a tiny seed and hidden yeast: small, quiet, and unstoppable, just like the silent tomb that burst open on the third day (Point 3). So the question for each of us is whether we will trust the King, even when His work looks small, slow or hidden.

Memory verse: Genesis 16:13