Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday! And happy day before the Super Bowl! I am one of those obnoxious Steeler fans but I'll try to keep the obnoxiousness to a minimum. (However, if you're coming to Frankfort Church tomorrow, it's a dress down day--wear your black and gold! I am, and if the minister does it, that means it's OK for everyone else, right?)

At any rate, back to the task at hand. . . .

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Fri, Jan. 30: What is the last plague God sends on Egypt? (Ex 11)
Exodus 11:5 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.

And here's the question of the day:
Fill in the blanks: "Woe to you, teachers of the _________ and _________, you ___________!” (Mt 23)

And here's the reflection of the day:
Moses' Seat
As I read through Matthew 23, I found myself turning to another handy-dandy minister type books. In verse 1, it says, "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 'The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.'" And I wanted to know what the "Moses' seat" was.

So, according to Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible, Moses' seat is "both a figurative office of interpreting the law and a literal stone chair in the front of many synagogues, allotted to an elder, presumably a scholar of distinction" (p. 1177). (And you thought ministers just magically knew everything--why do you think we have lots of books?!)

I'll probably be thinking about this verse tomorrow morning as I sit on my fancy chair in the front of the church. And, if I have a spare moment of thought, I might just wonder to myself, rather guiltily, whether I make my "phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long." (Phylacteries=a pair of small black leather boxes containing parchment slips inscribed with biblical commandments strapped either to the left arm or hanging down over the forehead; tassel=a pendant ornament for clothing or other articles made by fastening a bunch of cords or threads of even length at one end)

Jesus' point is that the religious leaders, with their wide phylacteries and long tassels, LOVE the attention they get from the everyday religious people. Everything they do is for others to see.

This is a passage that always brings with it a little (or A LOT of!) conviction for me. It always makes me think twice about what my attitude is like when I am in church. It is easy for pastors to get drunk on power in the church. And that always has disastrous results for both the pastor and the congregation. And keeping the proper perspective seems to be the key. Pastors are merely instruments of God--gifted by God for the glory of God, and not for the glory of the pastor.

I imagine this is not just a struggle for pastors. I imagine this could be a struggle for anyone. Idolatry is one of our favorite sins--and anytime we take the glory for ourselves instead of passing it along God, we are indulging in idolatry. God has given us everything we have and has made us who we are; to God alone belongs all the credit for the good things we manage to do!

Well, I'm off the shorten my tassels and make my phylacteries a little more narrow! Hope you are too!
Allison

PS Huh. . . I can't believe "phylacteries" was in the spell check for this blog!!