"Earth's crammed with heaven. . ."

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Mon, Mar 16: Whose descendents live in Seir? (Dt 2)
Deuteronomy 2:4 4 Give the people these orders: 'You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.

And here's the question of the day:
Tues, Mar 17: Who spoke out of the fire on the mountain? (Dt 4)

And here's the reflection of the day:
Moses gives quite a speech here in Deuteronomy 4. It's a "rally the troops" kind of speech, meant to stir the emotions and to touch the heart.

The purpose of the speech is to a) remind the Israelites of who they are, b) remind the whose they are, and c) remind them of the kind of danger they are facing.

The speech comes in two parts: vv 1-20 and vv 21-40. The first part declares that the Lord has made a covenant with the Israelites in the form of the 10 Commandments. Covenants, however, are conditional, and the second part of the speech highlights the conditions of the covenant. This condition specifically surrounds the second commandment, a theme the whole way through the chapter.

Generally, when the Bible talks about "idolatry," it generally means crafting an object and worshiping it as though it were divine, like God. Now, it's not terribly clear why exactly there's such a problem about this. Some scholars suggest, as Clements points out, creating images of God were closely linked to the use of imagery in certain cultic fertility rituals. Apparently, it was too close for comfort for the Isrealites to create images of God because it was too much like the "world" around them.

Besides, what picture of God is going to truly do justice to the Lord Almighty? Moses reminds the Israelites that God, in all of his awe-full glory, had been revealed in the fire and smoke on Mt. Sinai. Clements says, "an image made out of stone or wood could convey nothing of the true majesty of God. It was more appropriate and meaningful to recall the unimaginable glory of fire and smoke filling the heavens than to suppose that a man-made artifact could conjure up divine power."

We certainly think of idolatry a little differently today, don't we? Like Paul, we tend to think of idolatry more as worshiping someone or something instead of God. It's more like the tenth commandment because we "idolize" or COVET things.

I would guess one of the biggest forms of idolatry is actually, as Clements says, "to believe that God can be kept 'in one's pocket.'" When we lose sight of God's transcendence and mystery, God becomes flat and ordinary. Each day, we should be searching, even in the midst of the ordinary, for the sight of God, present with us.

It all reminds me of a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. . .
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes of his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

If we could just see "every common bush afire with God," I don't think we would EVER forget God's transcendance and mystery.

Keep your eyes peeled for God at work in your life!
Allison

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!!

Hypocrites

I'm a little slow out of the gate today. Sorry!!

Here's yesterday's question and answer of the day:
Mon, Jan. 19: Joseph found favor in one of the Pharaoh’s official’s eyes. What was his name and what did he put Joseph in charge of? (Gen 39)
Genesis 39:4 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

And here's the question of the day:
Tues, Jan. 20: Who does Jesus quote in Matthew 15?


And here's the reflection of the day:
Hypocrite
Matthew 15:8-9 8 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

I suspect that this part of Matthew 15 (quoted above) is why Christians have a reputation for being hypocrites. From the time sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, people (believers and non-believers) choose time and time again to be the god of their lives, to allow their peers to be the gods over their lives--or, as Matthew says, ". . . their teachings are but rules taught by men."

Isaiah said it first, back in Isaiah 29, and denounced the religious leaders of his day who were taking the credit--or the glory--for themselves, instead of properly passing it along to God. Isaiah continues on to say, "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder. . ." God's methods of persuasion do not include force. He will just prove himself with more wonders and more grace.

And God does continue to prove himself. Jesus makes the radical declaration that it's not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him unclean "but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'" Horton the Elephant gets it right about saying what he means and meaning what he says. To aspire to following God's commandments and expectations and to admit sinfulness when we fail--that is how we can prove ourselves not to be hypocrites, but fellow sinners struggling to live faithful lives.

And it seems to me that this is the exact method Christians need to adopt to combat the "hypocrite" label. Let what comes out of our mouths be the kinds of things we should be thinking on: "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think (AND LET THESE THINGS COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH) about such things" (Phil 4:8).

Have a splendid day!
Allison