Today's Readings and Stuff - Saturday, 01 February, 2014

another month has ended and a new one begun.  Another mile marker past en route to Spring.  Can't come soon enough.  Am told we'll have a high this weekend above 40 degrees.  And by midweek, highs in the teens once again.  Guess that next time the Old Farmer's Almanac predicts a bitter winter, people will pay attention, right?  I know that it flew in the face of the "we'll never again see snow" wails of the "Catastrophic Global Warming" flaks, which might be why the prediction was given so little attention on the cameras of the LameStream Media, the CNN-NBC-CBS-ABC-HLN-MSNBC or the pages of the New York Slimes, the Washington Post, the McClatchy papers, et al.  But given the very poor record of their predictions and models, perhaps just a bit of skepticism might have crept in.  No?  No.  Their groupthink continues.
Dear Wife has oral surgeon appointment Tuesday to plan major work.  As in, yank ALL the teeth in the upper jaw, all of which are diseased as is the jawbone itself, and most of the teeth in the lower jaw.  Which are no better.  But her insurance card, the one for the coverage that begins today, has not yet arrived and we will need to present it upon arrival.  Called the carrier and they assured us that "it's in the mail", which is a sort-of-funny line when you use it, less so when someone uses it on you.  If the card does not get here today or Monday, we'll have to reschedule, and the next opening is at the end of February.
While she was into making phone calls, decided to call the Social Security office to find where her Disability check is, the one we were promised back in early November.  After some head scratching at their end, they told us to go to the nearest SS office and work it out.  So we went on an un-budgeted run to the office, a 29 mile round trip, and sat in their waiting room for several hours.  Finally got to meet with one of their functionaries, a very nice lady, who had actually -- thank You Lord!! - been processing this very case yesterday morning.  It seems that when we did our relocation, we notified SS, but SS never bothered to notify this local office.  So everything got held up for several months apparently until we started making calls.  The good parts are that it is in the flow now, and also the monthly amount actually went up by about $30.  The bad news is that it's not going out to us until the end of February, fully four months after we were given to understand Real Soon Now.
Which makes money an issue.  Will be doing an intensive search through the couch cushions looking for change.  On the radar is a 32 mile trip for the oral surgeon appointment, plus co-pay for the visit.  An upcoming 8-mile trip to local physician for initial intake (and hopefully, scrips written to cover the meds she's running out of).  VERY low on dry cat food.  Low on coffee too, one of those basic food groups.  And barely a quarter tank of gas in a 14-year-old vehicle with over 200,000 miles on it.
And with $17 and loose change to cover it all.  Just not sure this works.  My check won't arrive until the 19th. a long way off.  Had her Disability arrived when promised, we'd be (and should be) in OK shape.  Now, not so much.
I know the Lord can do something, but do admit to some apprehension on my part.  Could get "interesting", along the lines of the Chinese curse.  a couple of miracles would be nice about now.

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The Old Testament passage today is chapters 27 and 28 of the Exodus.  The Lord is speaking, and giving some very explicit instructions.  Don't think that the little things don't matter.  He may have a very different opinion on what is important.  By the way, note that this work, these items of construction and cabinetry, of jeweler's work and weavers, of seamstresses and metalworkers and all the rest, these are not things to be done by a priestly clan.  This is to be done by the people, the people who work in those areas.  Doing what they know to do, but doing it for the Lord, and knowing it too.   A lesson, a good one, right there.  Are we just working for a payday, or are we carrying out the Lord's mission at the same time?

Exodus 27

1	“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
2	“And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
3	“You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze.
4	“You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.
5	“And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar.
6	“And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.
7	“And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.
8	“You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.
9	“You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side.
10	“Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11	“And likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
12	“And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases.
13	“The breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits.
14	“The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases.
15	“On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases.
16	“For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases.
17	“All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze.
18	“The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze.
19	“All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.
20	“You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn.
21	“In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

Exodus 28

1	“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests–Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
2	“And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
3	“You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.
4	“These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.
5	“They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.
6	“And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked.
7	“It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together.
8	“And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.
9	“You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,
10	“six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth.
11	“As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree.
12	“And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance.
13	“You shall make settings of gold filigree,
14	“and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.
15	“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it–of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it.
16	“It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth.
17	“You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row;
18	“and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;
19	“and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
20	“and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree.
21	“There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.
22	“You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold.
23	“And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece.
24	“And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece.
25	“The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod.
26	“You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.
27	“And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.
28	“And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod.
29	“So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord.
30	“And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.
31	“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
32	“It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear.
33	“On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them,
34	“a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.
35	“And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.
36	“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’
37	“And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban.
38	“It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
39	“You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.
40	“For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty.
41	“And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.
42	“You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs;
43	“and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

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The New Testament reading is verses 23-46 of Matthew 21.
Jesus has just had the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the event we call Palm Sunday.  And then goes into the temple and gets into a wrangle with the Jewish religious leaders.  Their blood pressure spiked on them in a major way I don't doubt.  Messing up their arrangement or something.

Matthew 21:23-46

23	And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
24	Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25	“The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26	“But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27	So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
28	“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29	“And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.
30	“And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.
31	“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
32	“For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
33	“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
34	“When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.
35	“And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36	“Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
37	“Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
38	“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’
39	“And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40	“When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41	They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42	Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43	“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
44	“And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
45	When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.
46	And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.