Message - "Vision Check: Finding Focus for the Future" - 06/01/2025

“Vision Check: Finding Focus for the Future”

Luke 24:44–53; Ephesians 1:15–23
In the series “Rise Up: How to Start Living Again”

 

About 20 years ago, after having glasses since second grade to correct my nearsightedness, I noticed it was getting harder to read some things that I once could read easily. I had to move the book closer, or move closer to the computer screen, if I wanted to see things more clearly. But I also noticed I couldn’t clearly read street signs until I was almost upon them – too late to make a course correction if I needed to turn there. So, when I went to the eye doctor and told him what was happening, he said, “Let’s give you a vision check.” Turns out, I needed to take the plunge and get bifocals.

That phrase stuck with me. Because it turns out, I needed more than one kind of vision check. I wasn’t just losing clarity in my eyes—I was feeling a little foggy in my spirit too. You know the feeling? When life gets blurry, and you’re not sure what’s next… when the future seems uncertain, and the path isn’t obvious?

That’s exactly where the disciples are in today’s passage.

Think about it. These are the same people who walked with Jesus, who witnessed his miracles, and who saw the empty tomb with their own eyes. And yet—they’re still not sure what to do.

They’re stuck between the resurrection and the mission, trying to make sense of it all.

That’s often where we live, too.
We believe in Jesus. We trust God.
But sometimes… we lose our focus.
We get distracted, discouraged, or just spiritually nearsighted.

Maybe you’ve been there:

·                Wondering if your life really has purpose,

·                Struggling to understand what God is doing,

·                Asking, “Where am I going from here?”

You’re not alone. The disciples needed a vision check—and Jesus gave it to them.

In Luke 24, Jesus does something extraordinary.
He doesn’t give them marching orders right away.
Instead, he helps them see.

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (v. 45).

He shows them how his whole story—his suffering, his death, his resurrection—wasn’t a detour. It was the plan all along.
And once they see clearly, everything changes.

Then Jesus tells them, “You are witnesses of these things.”
Not, “You might be,” or “Try your best to be.”
You ARE.

But he also says, “Stay here until you’re clothed with power from on high.”

Why? Because God never calls without also empowering.
They needed more than just clear vision—they needed the power of the Holy Spirit to live it out.

In Ephesians 1, Paul prays a similar prayer for the church:

“I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸ so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”

“That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” (v. 18).

Paul knows that in a world filled with competing voices, spiritual clutter, and cultural confusion, we need divine help to see clearly.

He prays they would grasp:

·                The hope of God’s call,

·                The riches of God’s inheritance,

·                And the incomparable power available to them.

And then he drops this bombshell:

“That power is the same as the mighty strength God exerted when raising Christ from the dead…” (v. 19–20).

Can you imagine?
That same resurrection power is available to you.
Not just to make it through the week—but to live a life of purpose and impact.

Let me tell you about someone who experienced that transformation.

Christine Caine is a well-known author and speaker now, but her story didn’t start in the spotlight. She was born in Australia, to a mother named Panagiota and a father listed as “Unknown.” She was unnamed, labeled as “birth number 2508 in 1966,” unwanted, and left in a hospital. She grew up in a troubled home, suffered abuse from ages 3 to 15 at a time when nobody talked about it, and struggled to find her place, filled with shame, rejection, insecurity, fear, and anger.

But in her twenties, Christine began to encounter the truth of Scripture—particularly passages like Ephesians 1. She had to learn that Jesus is trustworthy. She says it was as if God gave her a new pair of glasses. She began to see herself not as abandoned, but chosen. Not as broken, but called. She renewed her mind and changed her thinking with God’s help through the truth of scripture.[i]

Today, Christine leads A21, a global anti-human trafficking organization that’s rescued thousands of victims and prosecuted traffickers worldwide.

She writes, “Over the years, I have been asked the same question time and time agaln. ‘Chris, there are millions of people enslaved all over the world, do you really think that you guys can make a difference?’ And every single time I am asked that question, my answer is exactly the same. I do, because I've seen it happen."

From her life experience, Caine writes, “What I’ve noticed is that with a bit of boldness and a little light, you don’t actually need enough light to illuminate everything; just enough light to illuminate the next step.”

She says, “I am living proof that it’s never too late to discover your God-given purpose. But you can’t fulfill a vision you don’t see.”[ii]

So what about you?

Where might God be inviting you to see your life through resurrection lenses?

Let me offer three action steps to help you refocus:

1. Pray for spiritual vision.

Each morning this week, pray Ephesians 1:17–18.

“God, give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation… open the eyes of my heart.”

2. Trust God’s power within you.

Whatever challenge you’re facing, don’t rely on your own strength.
Say: “God, I can’t—but You can.”

3. Live as a witness, not a spectator.

You don’t need a microphone or a mission trip to be a witness.
You just need to reflect the hope and love of Christ in your daily life.
Encourage someone. Forgive someone. Show up with grace.

And remember—vision isn’t just personal. It’s communal.

When Jesus told the disciples they were witnesses, he didn’t speak to just one person—he spoke to a group.
Because the mission of God is always bigger than any one of us.

Let me tell you about a church that caught that vision.

Tabernacle UMC in Binghamton, NY, was a declining church, aging and struggling with relevance. But a few years ago, they began asking, “What if we saw our neighborhood through God’s eyes?” They listened to their community, started a partnership with a local school, launched free community meals, and opened a drop-in space for teens. And things began to change—not just attendance, but impact.

Their pastor said, “We stopped asking what we could do with what we had and started asking, ‘What would resurrection power look like in our ZIP code?’”[iii]
Friends, that’s what it means to rise up—together.

Today, we bless our youth mission team not just as travelers, but as witnesses. They go as the hands and feet of this church—and of Christ.

And we’re sending them not in fear, but in faith—because we trust the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in them… and in us.

 

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[i] Bob Jones, et al. “Christine Caine’s Story,” https://revwords.com/christine-caines-story/. Accessed 05/30/2025.

[ii] Christine Caine, Undaunted (Zondervan, 2012), pp. 27–40

[iii] Rev. Beth Quick, Tabernacle UMC, featured in Upper New York Conference Spotlight, 2021.