When it comes to God we have mixed feelings about being watched. When we are doing something we shouldn’t we hope God doesn’t see us. When we are doing something righteous and good we want to shout, “Watch me, God!” But when we are suffering or going through a trial or some sort of difficult time our question is often, “God, why aren’t you watching me?” This is our last part in our sermon series entitled “Seen.” We have been looking at men and women in the Bible who were seen by God in a unique way and how that changed their life. We have been focusing on specific men and women but this morning we are going to look at one more person who is seen by God in the Bible. And that is each of us. And if you ever doubt that, God’s Word says, “The Lord looks down from heaven;
 He sees all the children of mankind.” What does it mean for us that God looks at us? Sees us. All of us?

What do we take for granted being able to see each day? Or are there things we are still blind to even though we are able to clearly see the world around us? Having eyesight but no insight. Famous author and educator Helen Keller who was both deaf and blind her whole life said: “The most pitiable person in the world is one who has sight but no vision. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” And I would add: “seen with eyes of faith.” We are in a sermon series called “Seen” looking at people in the Bible who were seen by God in unique ways and how that changed their life. This morning we will meet a man blind from birth and hopefully get to see what he was able to see with eyes of faith.

Everyone likes to be seen, to be found and noticed. And when we feel lost, we have the haunting feeling that perhaps no one is looking for us. That no one sees us. We are in a series called “Seen” looking at men and women throughout Scripture who were seen or found by God in a special way and how that changed their life. And the hope is that WE would also know that we are seen by God and that WE can begin to seek for others and see others around us as well just like God does.

Nobody likes to be unseen, nobody likes to be overlooked. Unchosen. We are in a series called “Seen” looking at men and women throughout Scripture who were seen or found by God in a special way and how that changed their life. Today we are looking at the life of a man who encountered Jesus named Zaccheus, a man of small stature overlooked because he was considered a sinner. And hopefully we can learn from Luke 19 about the God who sees and the God who saw Zaccheus’ life.

No one likes to be unseen. We are starting a new series as a church called “Seen.” We will be looking at men and women in the Bible who were seen by God, who had an encounter with Him in a special way that changed their life. And I hope by the end of the series we will all know that we are seen by God. And that we will begin to see others whom God sees who might be feeling unseen. So we start out with one of my favorite people in the Bible. And I hope she will become one of your favorite people too. She was a foreigner and a slave, used and mistreated, with no one to see her or defend her. No one to plead her case. But she was the first person recorded in Scripture to be visited by the Angel of the Lord. And she is the first person in Scripture to ascribe a personal name to God. Her name is Hagar. And she names God ‘El-Roi’ in Hebrew, which means, “The God Who Sees Me.”