How Do You See? | Sunday, February 1, 2026

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him." (Luke 8:16-18)

Jesus doesn't just hand us information—He rewires how we see reality itself.

The Black Box Problem

How many of you have used AI tools like ChatGPT? I've spent the last two and a half to three years deep in the weeds of the AI revolution, because my Ph.D. research is in artificial intelligence ethics. I'm researching how we govern these tools once they become autonomous—and we've hit a critical mass just in the last 72 hours that, from a research standpoint, is quite frightening.

Here's a fascinating fact: in a very real sense, we do not know what is happening inside these AI models when you ask a question. We don't know how it answers the way it answers. Within the AI field, this is called a black box. We know it answers, and that the answers are quite good, but how it arrived there we don't understand. Major companies like OpenAI, Google, and xAI have entire teams devoted to interpretability—trying to understand what's going on inside the system.

You Are a Black Box Too

You may wonder what this has to do with the Bible. More than you might realize. In the same way these systems are a black box, you are a black box. I don't actually know how your consciousness, perception, and intelligence work. I know that they work, because your perception of the world has kept you alive and navigating life to this point. Your mental model is predictive of reality—so far, it hasn't gotten you killed. Bravo, you've made it.

But ask how that mental model works, or why it produces the decisions it does, and you have a black box problem. Even neuroscientists don't know exactly where consciousness resides. We picture our brains like the Pixar movie Inside Out, with little characters running everything—but that's just a metaphor. In neuroscience this is called the hard problem of consciousness, and it's the same black box problem as AI.

What Color Is the Mug?

A good way to illustrate this: what color is this mug? Orange. And you'd be right—in normal lighting, with eyes perceiving properly, according to a category you've been taught. You have a category for orange.

Years ago a missionary friend who translated the Bible into a Philippine language told me they had trouble translating colors, because the people had no category for certain colors—all green was simply blue. How do you operate in that? Yet many of you operate quite well here, because every lady in this room has color categories I don't have. A category makes it possible to see something I can't see.

And here's the strange thing: I don't know that your perception of orange is the same as my perception of orange. We both have a category labeled "orange," so we both answer the same when we see it. But when I asked the question, something inside the large language model that is your consciousness returned an answer. How? I have no idea—neither do the researchers. Now dim the lights enough, and you'll still see the mug, but the color changes, and your answer changes. Is the mug still orange? That's a philosophical question people argue over.

Two Movies on One Screen

These things play into how we move through the world. We have labels for things based on conditions, and I'd call that condition a framework or a lens—the way you see reality. The question of how you see, and the answers you reach, is an issue of interpretability. And it's not abstract—it affects marriages, friendships, politics, and church life.

Every married couple here recognizes that the person next to you doesn't see the world the way you do. One teacher I listened to for years, who recently passed away, called this the "two movies on one screen" problem. We're hearing the same data, but you're seeing something entirely different than I am, because your perception is altered by your framing. Same facts, same events—two completely different realities. And the scary part is that when you're inside your framework, it doesn't feel like a framework. It feels like reality.

What Jesus Is Actually Doing

So what was Jesus doing when He taught? I want to suggest He wasn't merely dispensing information—not transplanting a file from His brain to yours. When Jesus teaches, He's trying to reform your perception, to reframe how you see reality.

It's similar to what AI researchers do. They train a model on terabytes of data, then use reinforcement learning by human feedback, directing the weighting of its answers so it answers better. Sometimes ChatGPT gives you two answers and asks which is better; when you click one, you've weighted the answer and changed its perception. In the same way, Jesus' teaching gives us the keys to unlock understanding—a lens to see in a way we didn't before.

Jesus, presented in Scripture as the Creator of all things, knows reality better than you do. After the fall in Genesis 3, our perception of reality was corrupted by sin. Every one of us comes into this world with a faulty perception. Through His teaching, Jesus gives us a new mental map, a new model so we understand reality as it actually is. I could be wrong, but I'm more convinced of this over time.

Why Speak in Parables?

We're in the parable section of Luke, paralleled in Matthew and Mark. A parable is a short, easy-to-understand story that unlocks a deeper spiritual truth. When Jesus told these stories, His disciples asked why He taught this way. His answer in Matthew 13:11:

"Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given... For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."

Notice there's a "you" and a "them"—two categories. Two movies on one screen. Some people hear the story and think, "That was a nice story about a farmer," and move on. Others perceive something more and come to Jesus to ask. The parables are meant to reveal mysteries to one group while hiding them from another. How can the same story bring clarity to one and befuddle the next? It's an issue of interpretability.

A Simple Reframe

We don't all have the same map. There's a whole field of study in psychology called cultural perception—people who live in rural communities in the African outback literally don't perceive certain things you perceive, having grown up in a built world of right angles. Because we don't share the same map, sometimes we need an update to our mental models so we can comprehend reality better.

Look at Luke 8:19. Jesus' mother and brothers come, unable to reach Him because of the crowd. Someone tells Him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." How would you expect Him to answer? Did Jesus love His mother? Of course. You'd think He'd say, "Time out, I need to go talk to Mom." Instead He answered:

"My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." (Luke 8:21)

In one sentence He reframed your conception of reality. We have a deep idea of family—blood relatives, our nearest of kin. And Jesus reframed it: your family changes when you become a follower of God. Many of you who've walked with Christ a long time know you're closer to your Christian family than to some of your blood relatives. That's a new reality.

Seeing Differently

You've probably had this experience: you're watching everything happening in the world and processing it a certain way, and a coworker comes to you in a panic—"Did you see what happened? I can't believe it!"—and you stand there thinking, "I don't see what you see. I think he's crazy." It would be like me swearing this mug is pink. You'd think something's wrong with me. (John would say it's salmon—he has more color categories.) But the only thing you could be certain of is that my perception differs from yours. Two movies on one screen.

Why do you see as you see? Reinforcement learning by world feedback. As you've moved through life, your model has been weighted to perceive and understand in a particular way. The challenge is that your framework might not be right. Jesus wants to reframe our mental model so we see reality properly, so we understand what's actually going on. It's all a question of interpretability, and it matters more than we realize.

My Strange Approach to Scripture

Over time I've realized I don't see the Bible the way many of my peers do. I come at it from a different angle, and I want you to see it differently too—not just for its own sake, but because seeing Scripture differently changes how you understand reality, the world, and your place in it.

I'm not convinced that, born under sin, we perceive reality as it truly is. Our framework is corrupted; it needs to be reformed, transformed, rebooted. As Romans 12 says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." That part of you that processes everything needs to be reframed. I think that's exactly what Jesus is doing with many of His parables.

Mixing Metaphors

Luke 8:16-18 is a bit weird. Jesus has just told one of His most famous stories—the sower, the seed, the soils—where the same seed falls on different soils and produces different outcomes. Then He immediately pivots and mixes metaphors. He'd been talking about seed, soil, and fruit; now suddenly He's talking about lamps and light. Are we talking about farmers or lamps? Our brains get confused.

That was my own question on Monday. I'd taught the soils last week, opened my Bible to this week's text, and thought, "How do these go together?" Here's the key, point one: Jesus wants you to see differently than you did before. That's exactly what verse 16 says—"that those who enter may see the light." He's not changing subjects; He's changing images to unlock understanding.

Why I Don't Mind If You Forget

Now something strange that may change how you see church—and once you see it, you can't unsee it: It doesn't bother me if you don't remember anything from this teaching by Monday afternoon. Most of the time I don't remember what I preached by Monday afternoon. People ask, "What did you preach on?" and I genuinely can't recall, even after preparing for hours and preaching it three times.

If my goal were transmitting information for retention, I'd always be sad. But that's not my goal. Jesus says, "Take heed how you hear." My hope is that as you hear, this reframes your world and where you stand in it. It's reinforcement learning by biblical feedback, changing your mental model.

Here's a reframe that's transformed many Christians: Romans 8:28—"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." That reframes how you see bad things. A non-Christian hears you say it and thinks you're dumb, but for you it has become true—not just something you tell yourself, but reality. Point two: Jesus' message reforms reality, helping us see reality as it really is. He's after illumination, not merely information.

Seed In, Light Out

So Jesus pivots from the word as seed implanted in the heart, producing a harvest, to the word as a lamp producing light. He's not switching topics; He's tightening the same point from a different angle.

In the soils, He showed why people hear the word yet don't receive it—different soils, same seed, different reception. That's why He says, "Take heed how you hear." Now, with the lamp, He shows what happens when the word is received: it produces light. The seed is the word going in; the lamp is the word going out. They're the same reality from two angles.

When the seed of the word is implanted in the heart, the desire is that it takes root and produces fruit. As a preacher scattering seed, I want it to germinate and spring forth. So what is the fruit?

What Fruit Does Jesus Mean?

Many of you immediately say, "the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience..." Not so fast. Paul wrote Galatians 5 about twenty years after Jesus said this. I want to suggest the fruit Paul describes is different from the fruit Jesus is talking about here. And Jesus actually told us what He means. From Luke 8:12-13:

"Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away."

So the fruit Jesus speaks of here is faith unto life—belief unto salvation. Point three: the fruit of Jesus' message is faith unto life. The earliest, most fundamental fruit in a hearer's life is the germinating seed unto belief. That's how it happened in many of you: you heard the word, and at some point you thought, "I think I believe this." Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That faith ignited life by the Holy Spirit, and suddenly your perception of reality changed—the light went on. Love, joy, and peace come later, downstream of the new life.

Don't Hide the Light

Once the word brings forth faith, it ignites light. What then? Look at Luke 8:16: "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light."

So you've got this light. What will you do? "Oh, this is important—I'd better hide it under a bush." No! Sunday school taught you the answer: let it shine. That's exactly what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:14:

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Jesus is consistent. Real faith doesn't stay covered—it shines. And not so you'd be applauded for being enlightened, but so that God who gives light is glorified.

Enlightened in Order to Shine

Point four: the fruit of faith in Christ enlightens in order to shine. Why did Jesus enlighten you? Not so you could be one of the proud, arrogant "enlightened ones," and not so you could put the light under a bed, but so everyone could see. Faith is not only something God does in you; it's something God does through you.

Years later, Jesus' half-brother James wrote, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). And according to Jesus, faith is the first work: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29). From faith, light shines into the dark. Peter, who heard Jesus say these things, wrote in 1 Peter 2:9:

"You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

That's your job: to shine forth, out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

Putting It All Together

I opened with AI interpretability, and you wondered what it had to do with anything. Here it is: we don't always know what's going on inside the system—it's a black box. We don't know why it perceives reality the way it does. But that's not just an AI problem; it's a human problem.

When Jesus taught, He wasn't mainly concerned that you'd remember everything or every verse number. He was seeking to remap your perception so you'd understand reality as it really is—because your perception has been corrupted by sin. He's opening your eyes that you might see. That's why He says, "Take heed how you hear." The how determines everything—whether the word gets stolen, or takes root, grows, and produces the fruit of faith turning into light.

Once God has lit the lamp by faith in you, Jesus gives a simple exhortation: don't cover it up. The temptation is to hold it, hide it, hoard it—"I have the light, the precious." But He says, hold it forth, put it where it can be seen. Why? Because to him who has and holds it forth, more will be given. The light will spread and shine better in the darkness. So don't hide it because you're afraid of what others might think.

The whole point of this message isn't that you remember the points. If you throw your notes in the trash today, I don't care. Here's what I hope happens: that you'll see God enlightened your heart so that you would shine. Let your light so shine. Proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Closing Prayer

God, I pray that You would take the massive words I just said and sort them out in a way that brings light. We thank You for Your word, which is living and powerful and enlightens us, that we might be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we might comprehend and understand what is really real and really true—and that in knowing the truth, we shall be set free. Lord, enlighten us so that we would shine, because we live in a dark place at a dark time. There are many people groping about in the darkness for hope and answers. Help us to shine brightly to proclaim Your praises. If You have enlightened us and given us understanding that transforms us, continue to transform us by Your renewing and transforming light and life, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.