Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 is a further revision and refinement
of my Lectionary Ruminations and Lectionary
Ruminations 2.0. Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings
for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 draws on over 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
sometimes pointed and sometimes snarky comments and Socratic like questions, to
encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to lead a Bible
study, draft liturgy, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and
encouraged.
3:1 What was the “word of the Lord” before the incarnation and how
did it come to people? How many times in the average person’s life does the
word of the Lord come to them?
3:2 What do you know about Nineveh and what would be a modern
equivalent? What made Nineveh at that time great or is great only a reference
to its size?
3:3 How large would a city have to be to take three days to walk
across it? Is this perhaps hyperbole?
3:4 What is so special about forty days? Who was about to overthrow
Nineveh?
3:5 Did the people believe God or did they believe Jonah? What is
the symbolic meaning of sackcloth and is there any symbolic equivalent today?
Nineveh engaged in rituals meant to suggest repentance, but was Nineveh really repentant?
Think about this in terms of the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday.
3:10 This verse must be a Process Theologian’s favorite verse. If
God is God, God must be free and powerful enough to change the divine mind.
PSALM 62:5-12
62:5 Who else or what else might your soul wait for in
silence? What does it mean to “wait in silence?” What do
you know about contemplative/meditative prayer?
62:6 Are rock, salvation and fortress merely poetic synonyms or does
each noun offer a unique nuance?
62:7 Are deliverance and honor related? In the previous verse God
was a rock. In this verse God is a mighty rock. How might National Wildlife Refuges
help us interpret this verse?
62:8 What times might we be tempted not to trust in God? How
does one pour out one’s heart before God? How do you deal, if at all, with
“Selah”?
62:9 What is the difference between a breath and a delusion? Who are
of low estate and who are of high estate? What are the “balances?” How light is
a breath?
62:10 Why would anyone put confidence in extortion? It is OK if
riches increase as long as you do not set your heart on them? How does
this verse counteract the prosperity gospel? Why does the Psalmist even mention
robbery, extortion, and riches?
62:11 What is the meaning of “once” and how is it related to “twice.”
62:11-12 Is God’s steadfast love the source of God’s power?
62:12 Note the shift from speaking of God in the third person to
direct address. This sounds like works righteousness.
1
CORINTHIANS 7:29-31
7:29 What is “the appointed time” being referred to? How does
any time grow short? What does it mean for those who have wives to
be as though they had none? How does this passage inform Christian family
values?
7:30 What does it mean to buy as though one had no possessions? Is
this verse speaking about detachment?
7:31 What is the present form of the world? How does it pass
away? Are Plato and/or C. S. Lewis any help here?
MARK
1:14-20
1:14 Is “after” a chronos or a kairos reference? From where did
Jesus come? What is “the good news of God?” Did Jesus not proclaim this before
John was arrested?
1:15 What time is fulfilled? What does Jesus mean “the kingdom of
God has come near?” Is Jesus himself the kingdom? Does he embody the kingdom?
Is the good news of God the news that the time is fulfilled and the
kingdom of God has come near or something else?
1:16, 19 It sounds like Jesus had a thing for brothers. I wonder
why.
1:17 What did Jesus mean by “follow me”? What does it mean to fish
for people?
1:18, 20 It sounds like Mark has a thing for “immediately”.
1:20 Why would Jesus call James and John but not their father or the
hired men?
ADDENDUM
I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Pastor of the Bethlehem United Presbyterian Church, Wheeling, WV. Sunday Worship at Bethlehem begins at 10:45 AM. Here is Bethlehem United's Facebook address: https://www.facebook.com/Bethlehem-United-Presbyterian-Church-102482088303980
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