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.
15:1 After what things? Why is LORD in all uppercase letters in the
NRSV and many other translations? Why are we reading about Abram rather than
Abraham? Have you ever experienced such a vision? How many people in the pews have ever
experienced such a vision? What is the
difference between a vision and an actual historical event? Why did Abram need
a shield?
15:2 Was an heir, someone
to bequeath his reward, the only thing Abram was hoping for?
15:3 What is the name of
this slave and who bore him?
15:4 Is This time the word
of the LORD came to Abram but there is no mention of a vision. Was this man not
Abram’s biological issue? Was the problem biology or legality?
15:5 How many stars have
been mapped and/or cataloged? People who have never been out of light polluted
urban centers may not be able to conceptualize what Abram saw when he looked up
into the night sky.
15:6 Where will we hear
this again? What prompted Abram to believe the Lord?
15:7 What land is the LORD
referring to? Did Abram not know the identity of the Lord GOD?
15:8 What is the difference
between believing (15:6) and knowing?
15:9 Is there anything
special about these animals? Is there
any significance to some of the animals being three years old?
15:10 Is this what means to
“cut a covenant”? Why were the birds not cut in two?
15:11 Why did Abram drive
the birds away?
15:12 Is there a difference
between a vision and a dream, especially a “big” or “numinous” dream? Have you
ever felt anything like “a deep and terrifying darkness” descend upon you?
15:17 What do the fire pot
and flaming torch represent? Is this a description of an historical event or a
description of what Abram saw during his deep sleep?
15:18 Did Abram’s descendants ever inhabit all of
this land?
27:1 Do you hear an echo of
Genesis 15:1? This verse reminds me of a
Taize chant. Are these rhetorical questions?
27:2 What evildoers devour
human flesh? Or is “devour” a figure of speech?
27:3 Are these the words of
an individual or a community?
27:4 What is and where is
the house of the Lord? Who among us
today desires to “live in the house of the LORD all the days” of our life? Most folk grow antsy and are ready to go home
after just one hour or more.
27:5 I can understand how
being concealed under a tent is a shelter, but being set up high on a rock?
27:6 Does this psalm mix
imagery from before the Temple period with references to the Temple (27:4)?
27:7 I think this makes a
good first prayer petition. What if the psalmist cries in silence?
27:8 What is so special
about the face of the LORD?
27:9 What does it mean when
the LORD hides the divine face?
27:7-9 Verses 1-6 speak of
the LORD in the third person but with verse 7 the Psalmist shifts to direct
address. Verse 10 and 13-14 also speak
of the LORD in the third person while verses 11-12 return to direct
address. How does this pattern inform
our understanding of corporate and personal prayer?
27:10 Who are my mother and
father? So faith is thicker than family?
27:11 What is the LORD’s
way? Sometimes a level path is even better than one leading downhill.
27:12 False witnesses are
one thing but violent adversaries are another. Sticks and stones can break my
bones but names and false accusations can never harm me.
27:13 Is this more a
statement about the LORD or about the psalmist?
27:14 What does it mean to
wait for the LORD? Is waiting for the LORD preferable to waiting for Godot?
3:17 Imitate who, how? What example was the author thinking of? Who
are the “us”?
3:18 What does it mean to be
an “enemy of the cross of Christ”? Who does Paul have in mind when he writes
about these enemies of the cross?
3:19 Is this a condemnation
of gluttony?
3:20 In the context of that
era, what did it mean to be a citizen?
In this era of partisanship and a deadlocked congress, in the midst of a
presidential election cycle, what does it mean that “our citizenship is in
heaven”?
3:21 How is the body our
humiliation? What is the nature of this
power?
4:1 What does it mean to
“stand firm in the Lord” and how do we do it?
Might we ever confuse standing firm with stubbornness and intransigence?
13:31 What hour? Why would some Pharisees warn Jesus? Why did Herod want to kill Jesus?
13:32 What did it mean to
call someone a fox? What does Jesus mean when he refers to “the third day”? Is
there some foreshadowing here?
13:33 Is “the next day” the
same day as “the third day”? Where was Jesus when he spoke these words?
13:34 Is this still Jesus
speaking? Where did this hen and brood
imagery come from? Take a glance at Ruth
2:12 and Psalm 17:8, but especially at the Apocryphal book of e Esdras, where
God is “animalized” as a mother hen.
13:35 What is the meaning
of “you house is left to you”? Where
have he heard “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” before? See Psalm 118:26.
ADDENDUM
I am currently a Member at Large of Upper Ohio
Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I am a trained and
experienced Interim Pastor currently available to supply as a fill-in
occasional guest preacher and worship leader or serve in a half-time to
full-time position.
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