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
1:20 This passage seems to
personify wisdom in the feminine, so why not use the original Greek “Sophia”
rather than the English translation “Wisdom”?
This verse also seems to display the Hebraic poetic device of
repetition.
1:21 This and the previous
verses reminds me of the classical Greek philosophers who taught in the agora
or walked around the city teaching as they walked.
1:22 Does this verse
contrast the simple with the wise? Are
the simple the same as scoffers and fools?
1:23 Who is speaking? Can all thoughts be expressed in words, or
must some thoughts be expressed through non-lingual representative arts? Does DaVinci’s Last Supper or Dali’s Last
Supper say something about the Last Supper that words cannot express?
1:24 Does Wisdom stand and
the door and knock?
1:25 How does Wisdom off
counsel and reproof?
1:26-27 I think Wisdom is
being personified in too human of a way.
1:28 Does Wisdom hide?
1:29 Is knowledge the same
as the fear of the LORD? Is knowledge
the same as wisdom?
1:30 Whom is being
described?
1:31 We reap what we sow?
1:32 Scary advice as the
United States moves into a presidential election cycle.
1:33 How does listening to
Wisdom help one not dread disaster?
19:1 The Astronomer’s
Bible/Gospel! Did you know that the
Vatican has both an observatory and an astronomer? I would love to have Neil deGrasse Tyson
reflect on this verse. What is a firmament? What is the difference between the
heavens and the firmament or is this just a Hebraic poetic device?
19:2. What is the
relationship between speech and knowledge?
19:3-4 How does a voice go
out through all the earth if it is not heard?
19:4b-6 How do you
interpret and apply a passage that assumes a pre-Copernican three-tiered
universe in a post-Copernican world?
19:7 How did we transition
from the heavens to the law? Is there some assumed natural/divine law
relationship? Watch for all the synonyms of law in this and the following
verses. You may want to juxtapose this verse as it talks about “making wise the
simple” with the First Reading.
19:8 What is the
relationship between the heart and the eyes?
19:9 What does the Psalmist
mean by “fear of the Lord”?
19:10 At the close of the
market on Friday, September 4, 2015, gold was selling for $1,121.80/ounce. I
think the price of honey as perhaps ten cents an ounce or less.
19:11 How does God’slaw
offer both warning and reward?
19:12 We all have our blind
spots and sometimes others, including God, know us better than we know
ourselves.
19:13 Can anyone really be
blameless?
19:14 One of my personal
pet peeves is that this verse should not be used as a public prayer by a
preacher before the preaching of a sermon, ESPECIALLY after a Prayer of
Illumination has already been prayed before the reading of Scripture.
3:1. Using PC(USA)
nomenclature, is James referring to “Teaching” Elders in particular, Sunday
School Teachers, or teachers of faith in general?
3:2 How true! Who, but Jesus, is perfect?
3:3 What is the equivalent
of a verbal bridle?
3:4 Ahhhhhh, sometimes the
will of the pilot is overcome by the wind, lack of piloting skill, poor
equipment, etc. A rudder on a sailboat
is of no use if there is no wind.
3:5a The tongue not only
boasts of great exploits but can take us places we never wished to go.
3:5b-6a I doubt the author
had in minds the tongues of fire associated with Pentecost.
3:6b But the same member
that curses can also bless. The same
tongue that expounds hate can also verbalize love.
3:7 I think this is not
true. This is hyperbole.
3:8 What do you think, true
or not true?
3:9-10 See my rumination
for verse 6b.
3:11 Not at the same time,
but perhaps alternately.
3:12 True, true, but what
about reverse osmosis and distillation?
3:1-12 In the age of social
media and the internet, is the tongue really the problem, or is it the mind
that not only tells the tongue what to say but the fingers to type and text?
8:27 Was Caesarea a village
and Philippi a village Like Minneapolis / St. Paul, or were there several
villages in the region of Caesarea Philippi?
Who do people in our culture say that Jesus is?
8:28 Why would people have
thought Jesus was any of these?
8:29 This is the question
Jesus asks each and every one of us. Who
do you say Jesus is? Does your answer
depend on who is asking the question? Did Peter answer correctly? You may want
to compare Peter’s answer here with his answer in Matthew and Luke.
8:30 Why the order not to
tell anyone about him? What do you know
about “the Messianic Secret”? Have we heard this before in this Gospel? Did we
hear Jesus say something like this this last week in Mark 7:36?
8:31 Note the verb “began”.,
suggesting an ongoing process. John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets, Messiah, the Son
of Man? So many identities, titles, and
names! Why did Jesus refer to himself as
the Son of Man, or was he referring to someone else?
8:32 Why did Peter take
Jesus aside and why did he rebuke Jesus?
8:33 Why did Jesus rebuke
Peter and call Peter “Satan”?
8:34 What does it mean to
take up one’s cross? What is your cross?
Had Peter earlier failed to deny himself and take up his cross when he rebuked
Jesus?
8:35 This reads like a
conundrum.
8:36 Does this matter at
all to a generation that once embracing YOLO?
8:37 Is there any answer to
this question? Is this the Faustian bargain?
8:38 I am not ashamed of
Jesus or the Gospel but I often ashamed of what some have said and done in his
name and in the name of the Gospel. How was Jesus’ generation adulterous and
sinful? How do you think Jesus’ generation compares to our own?
ADDENDUM
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