Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, February 2, 2014, the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

First Reading - Micah 6:1-8

6:1 Rather than the usual and customary “This is the word that came to Micah” we have a call to “Hear”.  How much is this opening verse influenced by, an allusion to, and/or a midrash on Deuteronomy 6:4 and similar passages?  Does it make any difference that early Judaism tends to be an aural faith?  Why plead before the mountains and hills?

6:2 Are the mountains and foundations of the earth serving as witnesses?  Judges?  It is usually the people of Israel complaining to and about the LORD.  Now the LORD is complaining about the people.  Am I mistaken, or does this verse not seem to follow from the previous one?

6:3 What has the LORD done?  Has the LORD wearied the people?

6:4 It seems God is recounting Salvation history.  I like the fact that the LORD mentions Miriam along with Moses and Aaron.   Exactly what are “the saving acts of the LORD” and how does one “know” them?

6:5 What did King Balak devise?  What did Balam answer him?  What happened from Shittim to Gilgal?

6:6-7 This reads like a response to the indictment in 2-5, yet there is no narrative transition.  Are these at all rhetorical questions?

6:8 Who is speaking in this verse, Micah or the LORD?  According to my math, doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God is equal to or greater than all the genuflections, burnt offerings, or human sacrifices we could possibly render, but it does not pay the bills.

Psalm - Psalm 15

15:1 Are these also rhetorical questions?  What are the expected answers?

15:1-5 If taken literally, these verses seem to suggest that no one may abide in the LORD’s tent.  No one may dwell on the LORD’s holy hill.  Does bringing these verses into conversation with Micah 8 offer any additional insight?  Why are these virtues spelled out rather than appealing to the Ten Commandments?

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1:18 What is the message about the cross?  What is the meaning of “foolishness”

1:19 As an amateur philosopher, I find this verse a little disconcerting.  Maybe we need to deconstruct it and explore its deep structure.  By the way, where is this written?

1:20 Are these rhetorical questions?  Whom might Paul have in mind?

1:21 So while human wisdom will be destroyed, it is alright for God to be wise?

1:22 So “wisdom” is being used as a metaphor or code word for “Greeks”?  What about Christians who centuries later would refer to Plato as a proto-Christian?  What sort of “signs” do Jews demand?

1:23 How is the proclamation of Christ crucified a “stumbling block” to Jews?  How is the proclamation of Christ crucified “foolishness” to Gentiles?

1:24 Here we encounter call language again.  What does it mean to equate “the power of God” and “the wisdom of God” with Christ and vice versa?

1:26-29 This might have preached in Paul’s day, but what about white, upper middle class, Christian America?  This might preach in an economically distressed, immigrant, or even middle class congregation, but in Old First Church?  Why does Paul seem to equate wisdom with power and nobility?

1:30 Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption are not necessarily common everyday words.  How can a teacher or preacher unpack them?  While Paul started out in this passage as apparently antagonistic toward wisdom, he concludes by claiming that Christ Jesus is the wisdom from God.  What gives?    How might Paul’s “wisdom from God” compare and/or contrast with the Fourth Gospel’s “word/logos”?

1:31 Where is it so written and how does that writing’s context inform this passage?

Gospel - Matthew 5:1-12

5:1 Why is “crowds” plural?  What mountain did Jesus go up? This is such a familiar passage, how can we hear it again but as if for the first time? What do we call the large section of teaching which this begins?  How many sections of teaching material are there in Matthew?

5:3 In this and in the following eight verses, what does it mean to be ‘blessed”? What does it mean to be poor in spirit?  Who are the poor in spirit today? What is the kingdom of God?

5:5 What does it mean to be meek?

5:6 Might this at all inform our understanding of the Eucharist?

5:7 What does it mean to be merciful?

5:8 What does it mean to be pure in heart?  What about the prohibition about looking upon the face of God?

5:9 You may want to consider “Peacemaking: The Believer’s Calling” adopted by the 1980 UPCUSA GA.

5:10 Why might “the kingdom of heaven” appear twice (see 5:3)?

5:11 While 5:3-12 were indirect and hypothetical, this verse is direct and personal.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, January 26, 2014, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

First Reading - Isaiah 9:1-4

9:1 Who were in anguish?  When was the former time? Where is the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali and what is so special about it?  When might the latter time be? Who is “he”?  Why is the sea associated with Galilee?

9:2 Who walked in darkness and lived in a land of deep darkness? What is the nature of the great light that has shined?

9:3 What does it mean to multiply the nation?

9:4 Who is the “you” has has broken these things?  Who was the oppressor?  What happened “on the day of Midian”?

Psalm - Psalm 27:1, 4-9

27:1 Who shall you fear and of whom shall you be afraid?  In my experience, fear can be a crippling and paralyzing experience for congregations facing an uncertain future and needing to change.  The “light” of this verse explains why this psalm was paired with the Isaiah reading.  When read together, how does this Psalm enter into dialogue with the First Reading and vice versa? Why does this verse remind me of Taize?

27:4 A worthy petition, don’t you think?  Does living in the house of the LORD mean living in the Jerusalem temple?

27:5 What might qualify as a “day of trouble”?  Being concealed under the cover of a tent and being set high on a rock (for all to see) seem like a mixed metaphor.  As a backpacker I really like the tent imagery, and as a rock climber I like the rock imagery.

27:6 Wht does it mean to have your head lifted up above your enemies? 

27:7 This verse could be used as a response in bidding prayer.

27:8-9  What can happen to people who see the face of God?  What does it mean to seek God’s face?  What does God’s face represent?

27:9 Why might God hide the divine face, turn the servant away and cast the servant off?

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

One problem with this passage might be that we are too familiar with it and our preconceived notions of what it says and means might get in the way of fresh interpretations.  On the other hand, readers may want to review Is Christ Divided: A Report Approved by the 200^th General Assembly (1988), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) http://www.pcusa.org/resource/christ-divided/ as a lens through which to view and interpret this passage.

1:10 How does Paul strengthen his appeal?  Would Paul be making these statements if there were not disagreements and divisions?

1:11 Who is Chloe and Chloe’s people?

1:12 Who was Apollos?  Who was Cephas? Have you ever heard talk in your particular church approximating what Paul is describing here?

1:13 Are these rhetorical questions presuming the answer “No”?

1:14-16 I think Paul, in another letter, claimed to never have baptized.  Even in this verse, Paul does not see to totally trust his own memory. Who were Crispis and Gaius?  Who was Stephanas?  What is the meaning of “household?”  Might this household have included children and infants?

1:17 On what basis is Paul arguing that eloquent wisdom might empty the cross of Christ of its power?  For generations after Paul, Philosophy was considered the handmaiden to Theology.  Where would the Gospel be without philosophical reflection?

1:18 what do you make of the juxtaposition of foolishness and the power of God?

Gospel - Matthew 4:12-23

After an excursion into the Gospel According to John we are now back to a somewhat lectio continua reading of Matthew.

4:12 Why did Jesus withdraw to Galilee upon learning that John had been arrested.  From where did Jesus withdraw?

4:13 Apparently, Jesus withdrew from Nazareth.  What, if any, is the significance of Capernaum?  Are Zebulun and Naphtali the only reasons why the Isaaiah 9:1-4 apeears in today’s Lectionary Readings? (See Isaiah 9:1)

4:14-16 Other than the fulfillment of prophecy (see today’s First Reading), is there any other significance to Capernaum?  Does it sometimes seem like Matthew goes out of the way to document fulfillment of prophecy?  Why Matthew 4:15-16 differ slightly from Isaiah 9:2 in the NRSV?  Does it matter?

4:17 Have fun unpacking Jesus’ proclamation.  How has the Kingdom of heaven come near?

4:18-20 How does this version of the call of Simon and Andrew differ from last week’s account in the reading from John, 1:29-42?  Why the difference?  Note the word “immediately”.  What is the meaning (or meanings) of “followed”?

4:21 Why might Jesus’ first four disciples have been two sets of brothers?

4:22 Note another appearance of “immediately”.  What more do John and James leave behind compared to what Simon and Peter left behind?  What are we called to leave behind when we follow Jesus?

4:23 Should we assume at Simon, Andrew, James and John were “following” Jesus as he went through Galilee. What is the “good news of the kingdom” and does it differ from “the Gospel”?

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, January 19, 2014, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO YO THIS LINK

First Reading - Isaiah 49:1-7

49:1 Who is speaking?  Why are the coastlands but not the mountains addressed?  Is this a statement about call, about when life begins, or both? What is significant about being named?

49:2 How shall we deal with the militaristic imagery?

49:3 Is Israel a person, a people, or a nation?

49:4 How has the author labored in vain?

49:5 Why am I hearing echoes of 49:1?  What is the relation between Jacob and Israel?

49:6 How could an entire nation/people be a light to the nations?  It only works in English (NRSV?), but the two occurrences of “light” in this verse might lend itself to a play on words.

49:7 How many ways is God identified here? Is this a reference to pre-Christian anti-Semitism?

Psalm - Psalm 40:1-11

40:1 Is this Job’s psalm?  Is the speaker an individual, a community, or both? 

40:2 How shal we interpret “rock” when we encounter it in pre-Christian Hebrew Scriptures?

40:3 What does the new song symbolize?  Why do so many worshipers seem to complain about learning and singing new and unfamiliar hymns?

40:4 What does it mean to make the LORD one’s trust?  What is the difference between trust and faith?

40:5 What are some of the LORD’s wondrous deeds?

40:6 Does this verse condemn or outlaw sacrifice and offering outright?  In light of this verse, why do we still collect or take up an offering during worship? What is an open ear?

40:7 Where have I heard “Here I am” before? What is the scroll/book? 

40:8 What biblical imagery does this verse remind you of? Jeremiah 31:33 perhaps?

40:9-10 What is “the great congregation”?

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1:1 Who was Sosthenes and what do we know about him?

1:2 Paul might be “called to be an apostle” but the church in Corinth is “called to be saints”.  What are you and your church called to be?  What do we know about Corinth and the church there?

1:3 A nice liturgical greeting that combines elements of both Greek and Hebrew letter writing, but how do we deal with the fact that it is not Trinitarian?

1:4 Why “my God” rather than “our God”?

1:5 What “speech and knowledge of every kind” does Paul have in mind?

1:6 What is the testimony of Christ and how is it strengthened?

1:7 What spiritual gifts might Paul be thinking of? What does Paul mean, or what is he referring to, when he writes about “the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ”?

1:8 What is “the day of our Lord”?

1:9 Here is another call (see Isaiah 49:1), this time “into the fellowship of his Son”.

Gospel - John 1:29-42

1:29 What happened the day before the “next day”?  Who saw Jesus coming? What is the theological significance of John’s proclamation “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”?  Try unpacking that!

1:30 When did John say this?

1:31 John the Evangelist seems to put John the Baptizer’s ministry into a broader theological context than the Synoptics.

1:32 What is significant about John’s testimony?  See verse 33. In at least one other Gospel it seems that only Jesus saw the Spirit decending.

1:33 Why does John the Baptizer go out of his way to deny that he knew Jesus(see 1:31)?

1:34 Is it enough to see but not testify?  Can one testify if one does not see?  How many titles/identities does John bestow upon Jesus?

1:35 Sometimes this Gospel can be redundant (see 1:29).  So what day now is it?  What do you make of the fact that John the Baptizer had his own disciples?

1:36 Speaking of redundancy, see 1:29.

1:37 What is the meaning (or what are the meanings) of “follow”?  Does this mean that some of Jesus’ s first disciples had earlier been disciples of John the Baptizer?

1:38 Jesus asks a direct question. Why don’t the two give him a direct answer?  What is the meaning (or what are the meanings) of “looking”?  Why does this Gospel translate “Rabbi”?  What are you looking for?  What are people in the pews looking for?

1:39 “Come and see”!  Is not the invitation all Christians and churches ought to be extending?  On the other hand, how can we invite people to “Come and see” if we ourselves have not “seen”?  Is there any significance to the time?

1:40 Is this not the first mention in John of the name of one of the disciples of Jesus?  Who was the other person?

1:41 Following up from the previous verse, who are the “we”, Andrew and who?  I think we can assume from the context that the other person with Andrew was not his brother Simon Peter.  Why is Messiah translated?  See 1:38.

1:42 Does this make Andrew the first successful evangelist, the first person to “bring” someone to Jesus?  Is it not a little rude to meet someone for the first time and immediately insist on calling them by another name?  As in verses 38 and 41, why is “Cephas” translated?  What language does the name “Peter” come from?  What language does the name “Cephas” come from?  Does it matter?  

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, January 12, 2014, the Baptism of the Lord (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

PREFACE:

Moving from an emphasis on Jesus’ birth during Advent, Christmas and Epiphany to the baptism of an adult Jesus three Sundays after Christmas always seems to jolt my sensibilities, but is there any way around it?  How might teachers and preachers smooth the transition?

FIRST READING - ISAIAH 42:1-9

42:1 In Isaiah’s original context, whom would Isaiah identify as the servant? Was the Spirit put on him because he was already a servant, or did he become a servant because the spirit was put upon him? In light of today’s Gospel Reading, who is the servant,  John the Baptizer or Jesus?

42:2 Why does this matter?

42:3 What is a “bruised reed”? Why would a dimly burning wick be quenched?

42:4 This is the third occurrence of the word “justice” (see verses 1 and 3).  What is the nature of this justice?

42:5 Now that we have the formulaic “Thus say God, the LORD”, might we ask who was speaking in verses 1-4?  I like the pairing of “breath” and “spirit”. Which creation account, if either, does Isaiah allude to?

42:6-7 To whom is the LORD speaking? Does this passage at all inform any doctrine of call? Note the plural “nations”!

42:8 What is the name of the LORD?

42:9 Change is difficult.  Are most people in the pews willing and ready to accept that “former things have come to pass”  What the “new things I now declare”?

PSALM - PSALM 29

29:1 Who are the “heavenly beings”?  Are there heavenly beings in additional to angels, cherubim and seraphim?

29:2 What is the LORD’s name (see Isaiah 42:8)? What is “holy splendor”?

29:3 Is the Psalmist alluding to the first creation account or simply alluding to the attributes and praise of God of the Storm?  Might we find some some baptismal imagery and language here? 

29:4-10 When I have been backpacking, I have loved loud, crashing thunder and lightning because wilderness storms remind me of the awesome grandeur of God.  What if we baptized from maelstroms rather than cute, little, calm, manageable fonts?  Perhaps a domesticated God is not worthy of praise.

29:5 What is so special about the cedars of Lebanon?

29:6 Who or what is “Sirion”?

29:8 What and where is the wilderness of Kadesh?

29:11 After all the previous violent storm imagery, how shall we interpret this blessing of peace?

SECOND READING - ACTS 10:34-43

10:34 Who was Peter speaking to? It has been awhile since we have heard from Peter.  While it might be true that God shows no partiality, I think we cannot say the same of the institutional church.

10:35 Does “nation” refer to geographical realities or ethnic and religious groups? Does this verse point to any sort of universalism? What does it mean to “fear” God? Can someone fear God and not be a practicing Jew or Christian? How does this verse fly in the face of justification by faith through grace?

10:36 Why “peace” rather than salvation?

10:37 Did John practice or preach baptism? Does this verse justify this Reading being selected for “Baptism of the Lord”?

10:38 What is the difference between being anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power? Does this verse suggest that all illness is a result of oppression by the devil?

10:39 Why a “tree” rather than a cross?

10:41 How does this verse impact our theology of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist?

10:42 How does this verse inform our understanding of ordination?

10:43 “All the prophets”?  Really?  I think Peter is prone to a little hyperbole.

GOSPEL - MATTHEW3:13-17

3:13 When was “Then”? How will you answer people when they ask “if Jesus was sinless, why did he seek to be baptized?”?

3:14 Was John asking the above question?

3:15 How does Jesus being baptized by John “fulfill all righteousness”?

3:16 Jesus “saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him,” but did anyone else see it? How do dove’s descend?

3:17 Whose voice is heard? Who heard this voice?  Might this verse prefigure anything similar in Matthew?

Celebrating Five Years

It seems many blogs do not last more than a few months and most do not make it past a year or more, yet today marks the beginning of SUMMIT TO SHORE’s sixth year!

My first post, “ex nihillo”,  went live January 5, 2009.  I have written over six hundred blog posts to SUMMMIT TO SHORE since then.  In addition I also posted to PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS  and SEBAGO CANOE CLUB.  Some of those cross posts were identical to the one’s I posted to SUMMIT TO SHORE and some were adapted.

While my frequency of posting has declined over the years, my posting has levelled off over the past two years to an average of 68.5.  During 2009, SUMMIT TO SHORES first year, I wrote 213 posts.  In 2010 I wrote 161 posts.  Posts declined to 90 during 2011, to 70 in 20012, and to 67 in 2013.  The most active month was July 2010 with 34 posts.  I have written over 600 posts to SUMMIT TO SHORE since its inception, an average of 120 posts per year, nearly double last year’s output.

In late 2010 I took over the authorship of the “Lectionary Ruminations” column on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and eventually started cross posting my “LECTIONARY RUMINATIONS” to SUMMIT TO SHORE.  After all the other contributors to PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS eventually stopped contributing, I too stopped posting to PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS but kept posting “Lectionary Ruminations” to SUMMIT TO SHORE.  Now that I have written posts for every Sunday in the three year lectionary I have renamed my column “LECTIONARY RUMINATIONS 2.0” as I revise and expand previous ruminations.

The most viewed post has been “We Sailed”, a post consisting of a photograph taken from the cockpit of “Mischief”, my 1983 C&C 24 sailboat, and a short poem I wrote about and after a day of sailing on New York City’s Jamaica Bay and lower New York Harbor.   That post has attracted nearly 2,000 hits, almost twice as many as the second most popular post, and I have yet to learn why.

While there have been fewer “summit” posts than “shore” posts these past few years, I expect the ratio to soon invert.  Over the past several months I have experienced major transitions in my life that have taken me from the shores of New York City and back to the mountains of West Virginia.  While I have no intention of abandoning sailing or coastal kayaking, I expect to be spending much more of my time over the next three or four years hiking and backpacking rather than sailing or paddling. I expect my posts to SUMMIT TO SHORE to reflect this change.

Happy New Year

A new day, a new year, and a new life.  The final months of 2013 were months of change and transition, as will most likely be the first several months of 2014.  SUMMIT TO SHORE will soon be celebrating the beginning of its sixth year.  In the year ahead I expect to continue writing weekly posts of LECTIONARY RUMINATIONS 2.0 and more "summit" posts" than "shore" posts.  Happy New Year from SUMMIT TO SHORE.