A Sermon by Sydney V. (Skip) Jackson — September 26, 2010
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio
Texts:  Deuteronomy 15:7-11;  Luke 16:19-31

Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land. — Deuteronomy 15:11b

…between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us. — Luke 16:26

 

 

A great chasm stands between the unnamed rich man and the poor man Lazarus.  What a fine descriptive word that is, “chasm.”  It comes directly from the original Greek word in the parable, khasma.  The dictionary uses words like “gap,” “abyss,” and “gorge” to define “chasm,” hence the photo of Royal Gorge in Colorado on the bulletin.  You don’t see many chasms in Ohio—in the Hocking Hills perhaps or places along the Little Miami River like Clifton Mill or the I-71 bridge on the way to Cincinnati… or the metaphorical “chasm” in football between OSU and Mid-American Conference schools like OU and Eastern Michigan.

But for me, that word “chasm” brings to mind a certain canyon in New Mexico.  It was the middle of my first summer there in 1976, and I’d decided to spend the day hiking in the back-country of Bandelier National Monument.  I wanted to see Stone Lions—an ancient Pueblo Indian shrine of two mountain lions carved into the rock of a mesa top.  First I had to hike the trail that climbed up the west wall of Frijoles Canyon.  Then after an hour or so hiking on the mesa top, I came to the east rim of Alamo Canyon, with its warning sign about the 7000-foot elevation, the intense sun, and the need to carry plenty of water.  

Alamo Canyon looked daunting—a narrow slash in the earth 500 feet deep.  In the 1930s the WPA had cut switchbacks down the sheer canyon wall to the dry wash at the bottom and then back up to the west rim.  It took me well over an hour to get to the other side.  Five hundred feet is just short of the height of the Leveque Tower or, by another measurement, like climbing from ground level to the top of C-deck at the Horseshoe four times in a row.  Once I finally made it to the top, I was dreading the return trip later in the afternoon heat, and looking back I found I could see that warning sign on the other rim less than a hundred yards east of where I was standing.  That’s my picture of a chasm—Alamo Canyon—impassable without the trail, yet you could easily see and call out to someone on the far side.

 

A Sermon by Sydney V. (Skip) Jackson — September 19, 2010
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio
Texts: Psalm 98; Lamentations 3:21-24

 

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, [God’s] mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning… — Lamentations 3:22-23

O sing to the Lord a new song… Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. —Psalm 98:1a, 4

I love the image in Psalm 98—every last thing singing.  I wonder if the maker of this video had that image in mind? 

Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYI_aOyCn9Y)
We, too, are to be singing songs of joy in God’s presence.

The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber tells a story of the students of a beloved Hasidic rabbi who had gathered after his death.  One of them asks, “Do any of you know why our master went to the pond each day at dawn and stayed a while before coming home again?”  None of the others know why, so the one who asked the question tells them, “He was learning the song the frogs sing to praise God.  It takes a very long time to learn that song.”  Just think how many songs there are to learn in God’s creation!  Or have we become so distracted in our busy lives… or so accustomed to and bored with the world around us… that we’ve stopped listening?

 

A Sermon by Sydney V. (Skip) Jackson — September 12, 2010
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio
Texts:  Proverbs 28:5-18;  Luke 16:1-8   —   COMMUNION

 

An mp3 of the sermon can be downloaded HERE  

 

It's better to be poor and direct than rich and crooked.
                         — Proverbs 28:6 [The Message]

And his master commended the dishonest manager
because he had acted shrewdly. — Luke 16:8a

I am shocked!  Are you shocked?  Well, I am.  In fact I’m beyond shocked.  I’m outraged!  This story’s about a cheat… right here in the Good Book.  I can’t believe Jesus would tell such a story… making a crook out to be a hero… even commending him for acting shrewdly—like he’s a good example for us or our kids.  What happened to valuing integrity and justice like in the Proverbs?  What happened to being “poor and direct” rather than “rich and crooked”?

This manager is in deep trouble right from the start.  Oh, at first we’re not sure if he’s dishonest or not.  Yes, charges were brought to the rich master, but that doesn’t mean he’s guilty.  Yet he can see the handwriting on the wall.  He’s as good as gone.  So what to do?  He admits his options are limited—too weak for hard labor and too honorable to beg.  But he’s a manager, so how can he manage things to land on his feet?  Well, some friends would help… lots of friends, with places where he could go stay, where he would be welcome.

 

A Sermon by Sydney V. (Skip) Jackson — September 5, 2010
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio
Text:  Genesis 1:1-2:4a

(The full text from The Message is HERE .)

 

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. —Genesis 1:1 [The Message]

God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning—Day Six. — Genesis 1:31 [The Message]

I suspect many of you have seen the “Family Circus” comic that’s on the bulletin cover this morning.  I cut it out and added it to my collection of “theology comics” sixteen years ago because I loved both the play on words and the simple truth when the big sister patiently shares her wisdom with her little brother, telling him just how things are:  “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a GIFT.  That’s why it’s called the present.”  The sense that all things—creation, life itself, even this present moment—are divine gifts is a theme I return to over and over in my preaching and pastoral prayers as well as in my own personal devotions.  Every Sunday we sing:  “All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above; so thank you, Lord, thank you. Lord, for all your love.”  Indeed the present is a present, as is the eternal presence of the Living God who is the Giver of all good gifts—good gifts beyond measure.

Another thing I like about that comic is how it reminds me of the wondrous mysteries of time.  Do you remember trying as a child to grasp all the ins and outs of yesterday, today, and tomorrow?  Tomorrow, today will be yesterday.  Perhaps you still do so as an adult.  I know I do.  Yesterday is gone; tomorrow never comes.  And I find myself struggling to live, not in the past, nor in the future, but in the here and now—in this fleeting moment that is the present.  It’s hard to do.