Today's Scripture Reading (January 23, 2022): Deuteronomy 22
When I was younger, there was a phenomenon present in some record album art. The phenomenon was that
musical artists who might have been somewhat critical of the church often represented their anger
by depicting Roman Catholic Priests in uncomfortable positions. One day, a friend
asked me an interesting question. What do these musicians have against the Roman Catholic Church? Of course, the answer was nothing, not really. Their
opposition was to Christianity, not Roman Catholics in particular. But depicting a Protestant Pastor didn't identify them well enough. Often, at least when I
was young, pastors looked more like business people than religious leaders. But Roman Catholic priests, and the
priests and pastors of a few other denominations, wore clothing that set them apart from the rest
of the people that you might meet on a local street.
I have never worn a clerical collar, although I have
thought about it. There was a time in my career when I considered wearing a
clerical collar when dealing with the community. I was there as a spiritual leader.
And again, it was the ready identification that was important. If I wore the
clerical collar, those I came in contact with would immediately understand the
role I was playing at the function. But there is also a danger in the
process. In being set apart, we can also become separated from the people and
those who see us begin to believe that our "set apartness" means that
we can't understand the problems they confront in their daily lives.
But in the end, I decided against the idea. Part of
my problem is that dressing differently put an additional barrier between me
and those to whom I was ministering. And often, there is enough of a wall there already. For me, the clerical collar was not a
good fit, although I recognized why some of my colleagues were choosing
to wear one.
Moses reminds the Israelites that they were to add tassels to the four corners of their cloak. There
was a practical purpose to the tassels. One obvious purpose was that the tassels would visually set Israel's people apart
from the other nations. If you came upon someone wearing a cloak with
tassels at the corners, you would know that this person was an Israelite and a
disciple of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
But a more important purpose was that the tassels
were intended to remind them to follow God's commands.
'Throughout the generations to
come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a
blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will
remember all the commands of the Lord, that you
may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of
your own hearts and eyes. Then you will
remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God
(Numbers 15:38-40).
Like most commands, we have managed to twist the instructions
of God into something that was never intended. Jesus condemned the Pharisees
for making the tassels more prominent to prove how spiritual they were or how "special"
and "set apart" they were. They believed that by wearing long tassels,
the people they met would understand that they were worthy of respect and
admiration. Jesus responded with these words.
"Everything they do is done for
people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on
their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats
in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with
respect in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others (Matthew
23:5-7).
They loved to be the most important people in the room. But
we are to choose a different path, characterized by humility and consider
others to be more important than ourselves.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 23
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