Sermon: Vision Problems

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.

Sermon video: Hard Truths

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.

Sermon: Hard Truths

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

Hard Truths

James Sledge                                                                  September 22, 2019

One would have to have been asleep for the last decade or so to be unaware of our nation’s epidemic of gun violence. While I was on sabbatical during July and August, I was often without internet or TV. Even so, I could not avoid reports on the carnage that took place during that brief time. In the span of barely more than a month, shootings in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and Odessa and Midland, Texas, left 44 people dead and 88 wounded.

The term “mass shooting” has no precise definition, but according to a Wikipedia article, there have been 297 mass shootings this year in America, killing 335 people and leaving 1219 more wounded. Seven occurred at a school or university and two in worship spaces, and I’m sure these statistics aren’t already out of date.

In, nearly 40,000 Americans died from gunshot wounds. About 24,000 of those were suicides, a number that is sickening all by itself. And of course that means that 16,000 people were killed by someone else. This last number alone amounts for more than forty people killed every single day.

Perhaps you are already familiar with these numbers, but I share them with you this morning to help explain why I reacted the way I did to our scripture reading. Before I ever did any of the things we preachers are supposed to do for writing a sermon – look at the original Greek or Hebrew, do word studies on important terms, consult various commentaries, and so on – I quickly glanced at the different passages listed for this Sunday. As I skimmed our passage from Jeremiah, I was suddenly caught up by the final verse. O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!

The slain of my poor people… Every night on the news, more people are added to the list. Of course the prophet Jeremiah is not talking about gun violence in America, but surely he would use the very same words if he were alive today.

Sermon video: Ready to Party

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.