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 over reliance 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
2:23 What is the “early
rain” and the “later rain” and what is the difference? What is the meaning of this metaphor?
2:24 I like this image of
agricultural abundance, an image which suggests life and freedom from hunger.
Might Christians also find in it a prefiguration of the Eucharist?
2:25 Can we thank the LORD
for agricultural abundance if we no longer equate agricultural disasters with
the LORD’s wrath?
2:26 Why is agricultural
scarcity equated with shame?
2:27 What does it mean for
God to be “in the midst of Israel”?
2:28 Is the pouring out of
the spirit anything like the giving of the early and the late rains of verse 2:23? Are prophecy, dreams and visions anything
like the agricultural abundance of 2:24?
2:29 Why would it be
unusual for slaves to be so gifted by God?
2:30 Are blood and fire and
columns of smoke, the darkening sun and blood moon the only portents?
2:31 During solar eclipses,
it appears that the sun is indeed turned into darkness. During lunar eclipses the moon can take on a
reddish color. Eclipses have been considered
portents in almost all religions. I usually consider “great” a positive
attribute. Does “great and terrible”
suggest a sort of yin-yang quality to the day of the LORD?
2:32 What does it mean to
call on the name of the LORD? How does
one call on the name of the LORD when the Lord’s name is not to be pronounced?
65:1 What is the
relationship between praise and vows?
What vows might the Psalmist have in mind?
65:2 I believe God does
indeed answer prayer but not always with the answer we want or expect. To whom
or what does “all flesh” refer?
65:3 What does it mean that
deeds of iniquity overwhelm us? Are we
ever overwhelmed by our own sin?
65:4 Reading this as a
Calvinists, I detect some predestination, or at least election, within this
verse. Did anyone actually live within the temple courts?
65:5 What awesome deeds
might the Psalmist have in mind? What is
the farthest sea from which you live?
65:6 What about plate
tectonics. Maybe this is metaphor and
not science?
65:7 Why are roaring seas
and waves coupled with tumultuous people?
How shall we read this verse during hurricane season?
65:8 Are those at the
earth’s center not equally awed? Why or
why not? What are the gateways of the
morning and the evening? How do they shout
for joy?
65:9-13 These verses seem
to express the same or similar theology as some of the verses in the Frist
Reading.
65:9 What river is the
river of God?
65:10 How can Christians in
urban and industrialized contexts relate to such agricultural imagery?
65:11 God has a wagon that
leaves wagon tracks? What is this imagery about?
65:12-13 Note that these
verses describe wild, not cultivated, abundance.
65:12 What is a wilderness
pasture?
65:13 I wonder if the
meadows are wearing wool clothes.
4:6 What is a libation and
how is Paul being poured out like one?
What departure is he referring to?
4:7 I love this verse and
have used it many times in Services of Witness to the Resurrection.
4:8 Can this crown be worn
only after physical death? Is there any
possible connection with this crown of righteousness and auras/halos?
4:16 What first defense is
Paul referring to? Is Paul expressing any
anger, disappointment, or resentment?
4:17 Is “lion’s mouth” a
metaphor or had Paul actually faced being thrown to the lions?
4:18 Is Paul thinking of
physical rescue and salvation or spiritual, or both?
18:9 How shall we read
“also”? Do you know of anyone who thinks
they are righteous and regard others with contempt?
18:10 How does the
juxtaposition of a Pharisee and a tax collector intensify the parable?
18:11 Have you ever heard
anyone pray like this?
18:12 Do such acts of
devotion and spiritual disciplines automatically make a person righteous?
18:13 I wonder why I am
once again, as I have once or twice in the past few weeks, thinking about the Philokelia
and The Jesus Prayer.
18:14 What does it mean to
be justified? Was it the words the tax
collector spoke that justified him or the sincerity behind and underneath the
words? The final juxtaposition suggests
the topsy-turvy nature of the New Testament vision of the Kingdom of God: the
rich shall be poor, the first last, etc.
ADDENDUM
I will begin serving as the ½ time Interim
Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, OH, beginning
November 1, 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment