Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Friday, 31 October 2014 - Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Friday, 31 October 2014 - Scripture: Matthew 23: Religious Fashion Shows
1-3 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.
4-7 “Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’
8-10 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.
11-12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.(The Message)
Ford Crouch, CFO of the Sioux Line Railroad, was a surprise. For about five years I worked every weekend and holiday as a day-guard at the First National Bank/Sioux Line Building. Criminals did not fear me, for I ran the freight elevator, opened and locked up and did minor janitorial duties. I had no official uniform.
I was often reminded of my status on the food chain by fashionably dressed young women and men who would stop in front of me and grind out their cigarettes on the terrazzo floor. They never said a word, but the message was clear, "Clean it up, boy!" They were on their way up and I was one of the stepping-stones.
This is why I was so surprised by Mr. Ford Crouch. He greeted me like his son, and he told me that I could skip the Mister and just call him, "Ford." When he would come in on Sunday afternoons, he would stop by my desk in the lobby and just chat. He asked how school was going and my plans for the future. He would often give me tips about the management of people. An interesting side-line is that years later I became his son's pastor at Bethlehem in south Minneapolis.
Ford was one of the most important people I have known, and he was also one of the most humble and down-to-earth people I have known. He modeled Jesus' words when he said, "All who humble themselves will be exalted." They will be exalted as one of God's saints.
Father, this Sunday we will be celebrating All Saints Sunday. When we kneel at your Son's Table, we will be remembering those saints who have finished their journey and surround us at the Table. But, we also will be feeling the embrace of many brothers and sisters who are a part of the communion of saints. Thank you! Amen.
Hub Nelson
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 
Edina, Minn. (Retired) 
Master of Divinity , 1962
Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat;
3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.
6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.
9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.(The New Revised Standard Version)
____________________________