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
For once, the lectionary
prescribes that the First Reading of the Day begins where the Bible begins, “In
the beginning” at Genesis 1:1. This is
also, perhaps, one of the longest Readings in the lectionary outside of Lent
and the Passion narrative. Am I stating
the obvious when I note that this is the “first” creation account? I take the Bible too seriously to take it
literally. Thus, I read Genesis 1:1-2:4a
as a mythopoeic reflection on human origins rather than a scientific
explanation of them. Can we read and
interpret this passage without reference to Genesis 2:4b and following? How does reading this on Trinity Sunday
influence our understanding and interpretation of the passage and how does this
passage inform our understanding of the Trinity?
1:1 What translation do you
prefer, “when God created” or “when God began to create”? What difference does
the translation make?
1:2 What is a “wind from
God”? How else might we translate the Hebrew word sometimes translated “wind”?
1:3 This is more or less Creation
ex nihilo! Can we read this without also
thinking of the prologue of John? Did God create a wave, a particle, or a
string? Not that God creates simply by saying. What does this suggest about the
creative word as well as later the power of naming?
1:4 What would have
happened if God saw that the light was not good?
1:5 Note that God is the
one who names.
1:6 Are you familiar with
this three tiered cosmology? What and where is this dome?
1:7 God seems to like
separating things. See 1:4.
1:8 Again God names. See 1:5.
1:9 If I understand the
most recent scientific thinking about the beginnings of the earth, there was
once just one large land mass or supercontinent before it broke apart, but one
should not use science to “prove” Scripture, otherwise we will end up defending
scripture against science if the science changes.
1:10 I wonder what criteria
God used to determine “good”?
1:11-12 Note that vegetation
precedes animal life.
1:14-15 According to the
three tiered cosmology, these lights are under the waters above them. Here we
have the roots of both astrology and astronomy.
1:16 So where did the light
come from in day one if God did not create the Sun until day four? Does it make
a difference that we now know that the moon is not a light but reflects the
light of the sun?
1:17-19 These verses seem somewhat
redundant following 1:9-13.
1:20 Creatures appear after
vegetation in this account. How is this
different compared to the second account of creation beginning in Genesis 2:4b?
1:21 I wonder what is meant
by “great sea monster”? Could this verse
have referred to whales, Leviathan, or The Kraken?
1:22 Who, or what, are told
to be fruitful and multiply?
1:24 Living creatures on
land appear after living creatures in the water and the air.
1:24-25 Note that sea
creatures and birds are told to be fruitful and multiply in verse 22, but here,
animals of the earth are NOT told that.
1:26 Where did this “us”
come from and how do we deal with it? There
is that “dominion” word that has caused us so many environmental problems and
which we will encounter again in Psalm 8:6.
1:27 What does it mean to
be created Imago Dei, male and female?
1:28 Note that we are not
told that God blessed any other creatures or parts of creation other than
humans. In light of how we have
historically interpreted and applied the admonition to “be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion,” I think this
has been more of a curse than a blessing as far as we “exploit neighbor and
nature, and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.” How shall we
deal with the “be fruitful and multiply” admonition in light of the threat of
overpopulation and right to life issues?
1:29-30 It sounds like we
have been given plants to eat, but not animals. Maybe God is a vegan!
1:31 Note that we progress
from god to very good!
2:1 Scientifically
speaking, are the heaven and the earth ever finished?
2:2-3 Why does God need to
rest? Does God tire? What did God do on
the eighth day?
2:4 How does this verse add
anything to what proceeded? What is the
meaning of “generations”?
8:1 “O LORD” = Tetragrammaton. Even
though I do not always point it out, be aware that when LORD appears in all
upper case letters, it is really the name of God that appears in the text. Are
Christians bound by the Hebrew tradition of not pronouncing the majestic name
of God? How shall we interpret this verse when we now know there is no above”
the heavens but rather a “beyond” the heavens; no up there but rather an out
there?
8:2 What do babes and
infants speak other than gibberish? What is a bulwark?
8:3-4 Is there a difference
between “creating” and “establishing”? There is no finger of God in the first
creation account, only the voice of God. Why am I thinking of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam? I will never forget my
sense of awe and wonder the first time I looked through a telescope and saw for
myself the rings of Saturn. I think I
have heard it said that the Hubble telescope enables us to look back through
time to the first moments after creation.
Do images from the Hubble telescope in any sense show us the face of
God?
8:5 What does it mean for
humans to be a little lower than God? How are human crowned with glory and
honor?
8:6 Need I say anything
more about “dominion” other than that an ecological awareness forces us to
abandon outdated understandings? See my
comments regarding Genesis 1:26 and 27.
8:7 Why are sheep and oxen,
out of all the animals, named?
8:9 Is this simply a
refrain?
This short Second Reading
and the short Gospel Reading compensates for the long First Reading.
13:11 What does Paul mean
when he writes put things in order? What
was his appeal? Why are we often inclined to not agree? What does it mean to
live in peace?
13:12 What is a “holy
kiss”? Who are the saints?
13:13 Is this verse, a
Trinitarian blessing, the only reason this Reading appears on this day, Trinity
Sunday?
This short Gospel Reading
and the preceding short Second Reading compensates for the long First Reading.
28:16 Why are there only
eleven disciples? Which mountain had Jesus directed them to?
28:17 Some of the eleven
doubted? I wonder which ones doubted and
which ones did not. What or who did they doubt? Can one worship even when one
doubts?
28:18 Who gave this
authority to Jesus and when?
28:19 How does verse
proceed from 28:17? Is this Trinitarian baptismal formula the only verse that
commends this reading as appropriate for Trinity Sunday?
13:20 What had Jesus
commanded the disciples? What and when is the end of the age? What is an age? When did the age begin?
ADDENDUM
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