Luke 16:19-31
Vision Problems
James Sledge September
29, 2019
Early
on during the sabbatical I took over the summer, I camped at Big Bend National
Park, in west Texas, for several days. One afternoon, I decided to check out a
hiking trail right by my campsite. As I walked along I came around a curve with
a five-foot-high, rock, retaining wall. And there, stretched out on the rocks,
was a rattlesnake.
He
seemed oblivious to me. I got quite close to take some pictures, but he
remained motionless. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t shake his
rattle, but I didn’t want to provoke or bother him too much, so I went on my
way.
As
I continued on, I wondered about someone on the trail who was not paying much
attention. How easy might it be to put a hand on that wall for support, right
where my rattlesnake friend was sunning himself? And so I alerted any hikers I
met along the way.
Have you ever thought about the things we see
and the things we miss? As a motorcyclist, I’m keenly aware of other
motorcycles. I can scarcely recall a time when I was suddenly startled or
surprised by the presence of a motorcycle I had not previously noticed.
Yet
all too often, motorcyclists are injured or killed by a driver who never saw
them. I’ve read of accidents where the driver says over and over to the police,
“I never saw him. I never saw him.” For some people, motorcycles seem to be
nearly invisible.
What
things do you see or notice? What things do you miss? Are there things that are
invisible to you?
Being
poor can make someone nearly invisible. Or maybe that has it backwards. Perhaps
it’s that having wealth can make one blind. Back when David Letterman was still
hosting the Late Show on CBS, a prominent politician who’d grown up in a
wealthy family was a guest. During a commercial break, a woman who worked for
the show came out to go over something with Letterman. As she leaned over his
desk, this politician reached out, grabbed the hem of her long sweater, and
proceeded to clean his glasses with it. It was such an odd scene that Letterman
showed a clip of it the next night.
I
doubt there was any malice or ill intent by this politician. He simply did not
see a person. He saw something he could use to clean his glasses. Perhaps this
is why Jesus so often speaks of money as a curse rather than a blessing. It can
cause such blindness.