Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

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.

1 SAMUEL 8:4-11 (12-15), 16-20 (11:14-15)

8:4-20, 11:14-15 This long reading if one includes all the verses. I do not see what is really added by including 8:12-15 and 11:14-15 and will not include them in the reading.

8:4 Who are the elders of Israel and why did they come to Samuel? Why was Samuel at Ramah?

8:5 I wonder how old Samuel was. What did the elders mean when saying “your sons do not follow in your ways”?  Were the elders experiencing Kingness envy?

8:6 Why did the elder’s request displease Samuel?

8:7 It sounds like the LORD is more comfortable with the elder’s request than Samuel is.

8:8 Some people do not change.

8:9 Some things do not change. Is this foresight or hindsight?

8:10 I wonder how Samuel did this. I wonder if the people listened to him.

8:11 The first military draft?

(8:12) This sounds like REALLY big government and the beginning of the military-industrial complex.

(8:13) Forget military conscription, this is sounding like slavery.

(8:14) This sounds like eminent domain.

(8:15) The first tax?

8:16 This is getting out of control.

8:17 Did the LORD lead the people out of slavery so that they could be slaves under their own king?

8:18 Why will the LORD not answer?

8:19 Of course the people did not listen to Samuel. People hardly ever listen to a prophet. But by not listening to Samuel, were they also not listening to God?

8:20 Why such a desire to be like other nations?

(11:14) Why do we shift from a desire for a king to renewing the kingship. Why go to Gilgal?

(11:15) Based on what came before in this reading, was Saul predestined for failure?

PSALM 138

138:1 What “gods?”

138:2 What direction do you face when you give thanks to the LORD? What is the relation between God’s name and God’s word?

138:3 I wonder what day that was. What does a soul with increased strength feel like?

138:4 All the kings of the earth shall praise the LORD?  Who is this psalmist kidding? In light of the First Reading, the Psalmist ought to be happy if the King of Israel praises the LORD.

138:5 What are the ways of the LORD?

138:6 Who are the lowly and who are the haughty?

138:7 What is the symbolic meaning of God’s right hand (other than discrimination against left handed people)?

138:8 To whom is this verse addressed?

2 CORINTHIANS 4:13-5:1

4:13 What is the spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture? What is meant by “scripture?” Where does “I believed, and so I spoke” come from?

4:14 How do know this?

4:15 Does this “your” refer to only Christians in Corinth or to a larger group?

4:16 What is the outer nature and what is the inner nature?

4:17 What is the “slight momentary affliction” to which Paul refers?

4:18 How do we look at things that cannot be seen?  I want to default to Plato’s forms here.

5:1 If Paul had been of a trade other than tentmaker, would he have employed a different metaphor? Is Paul alluding to the Tabernacle/Tent of Meeting?

Mark 3:20-35

3:20 When was the crowd together before now?  Who could not eat? It has been several Sunday’s since the Lectionary assigned a Reading from Mark. Do we need to be reminded of where we are in Mark’s narrative?

3:21 Whose family? Why would people be saying this?

3:22 Why did scribes come down from Jerusalem? Who, or what, is Beelzebul?

3:23 How did we get from Beelzebul in 3:22 to Satan in 3:23?

3:24-25 Who does Jesus think he is, Abraham Lincoln? Did President Lincoln take this verse out of context when he used it to critique the Civil War?

3:26 Can Satan be divided?

3:27 What is Jesus insinuating? What about waiting until the strong man is not around?

3:28 What is the difference between sins and blasphemies?

3:29 What is “blasphemy” against the Holy Spirit and why does Jesus say this? Theologically speaking, can there really be an unforgivable, eternal sin if God chooses to forgive it?

3:30 What is an unclean spirit?

3:31 What brothers?

3:32 What sisters? Roman Catholics may have more of an issue with 3:31-32 than Protestants will.

3:33 Is this a rhetorical question?

3:34-35 What sort of family values are being demonstrated here?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. My various blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and Appalachian Trials.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

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.

1 SAMUEL 3:1-10 (11-20)

3:1 I wonder how old Samuel was at this time. I am guessing about twelve years old. Is the word of the LORD rare in our day? How do you deal with visions, either your own or someone else’s?

3:2 Is this a comment about Eli’s physical, or spiritual sight?

3:3 Was Samuel sleeping in the Holy of Holies? What do you know about the spiritual discipline of incubation?

3:4 Once again I am thinking of Dan Schutte. Do you remember Isaiah 6:8 from Trinity Sunday?

3:5 I think Eli was not very spiritually astute at this point.

3:6 Why does the LORD speak Samuel’s name twice?

3:7 Why would the LORD call someone not familiar with the LORD?

3:8 Eli finally figures out what must be going on.

3:9 How would you advise someone who was hearing voices?

3:10 Samuel did not quite give the verbatim response advised by Eli. The reading could end here unless you choose to include the optional verses.

(3:11) When did your ears last tingle. The sense mentioned in 3:2 wass sight. Now it is hearing.

(3:12) What has the LORD spoken?

(3:13) For ever? Poor Eli. What is the lesson here?

(3:14) Can the LORD not forgive?

(3:15) Why might Samuel be afraid to tell Eli his vision?

(3:16) Note that Eli calss Samuel his son! Here is yet more “Here I am.”

(3:17) Do Priests and/or ministers and/or spiritual directors need to know everything going on in a person’s inner spiritual life?

(3:18) It seems that Samuel was a totally honest boy.

(3:19) What does it mean for the LORD to be with someone? Is the LORD with you?

(3:20) How far is from Dan to Beer-sheba? Does this story account for Samuel’s trustworthiness? Is it reporting or establishing his trustworthiness?

PSALM 139:1-6, 13-18

139:1 How does the LORD search us? Does the LORD know us better than we know ourselves?

139:2 I do not care if anyone knows when I sit down or stand up, but I would rather keep som of my thoughts to myself.

139:3 It does indeed sound like the LORD knows us better than we know ourlseves. What is the implication of that?

139:4 I wonder if the LORD is even aware of our Freudian slips before we make them.

139:5 I am not sure I like the imagery of being hemmed in. What does it mean for the LORD to lay his hand upon us?

139:6 This is beginning to sound like the way of negation: describing God by what God is not rather than by what God is.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:5-12

4:5 Whom is Paul speaking about and for as he uses the plural “we?” Do you know of any Christian preacher, evangelist, or church that proclaims themselves rather than Christ?

4:6 When and where did God say this? I think there is a lot you could unpack in this verse as I also think Paul might be alluding to or thinking about several stories from the Jewish Scriptures.

4:7 What are the clay jars Paul is referring to? What extraordinary power is Paul writing about?

4:8 How was Paul and his companions afflicted? Are you afflicted? How was Paul perplexed? Are you ever driven to despair?

4:9 How was Paul persecuted?  How was he struck down?

4:10 How did Paul and his companions carry the death of Jesus in their bodies? How is the life of Jesus made visible in your body?

4:11 How were Paul and his companions always being given up to death? Are we always being up toward death?

4:12 Was life not at work in Paul and his companions?

Mark 2:23-3:6

2:23 Why do we need to know that it was the Sabbath? Who are “they?”

2:24 What were Jesus’ disciples doing that was not lawful on the Sabbath?

2:25 What did David and his companions do when they were hungry and in need of food, and where can we read about it?

2:26 What is the bread of the presence?

2:27 Might we extend the meaning of this verse to other institutions other than the sabbath?  What rules, regulations, and laws other than those having to do with the sabbath?

2:28 What do you make of “even?” Were some thinking or suggesting that the Son of Man was lord only six days a week?

3:1 When had Jesus before entered the synagogue? Was it always the same synagogue?

3:2 Who watched? What did they want to accuse Jesus of?

3:3 What sort of statement is “Come Forward” and how might we interpret it?

3:4 What sort of question is this? Is Jesus catching the Pharisees in the trap they had set out for Jesus? Their silence convicts them!

3:5 How are anger and grief related? How do hearts become hardened?

3:6 This (3:1-6) and perhaps the previous encounter (2:23-28) must have really ticked off the Pharisees. Who were the Herodians and why would the Pharisees make common cause with them to destroy Jesus?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. My various blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and Appalachian Trials.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for Trinity Sunday (Year B)

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.

PREFACE: What do we do with Trinity Sunday, one of only two Sundays (also Christ the King) with a special theme not specifically related to an event in the life and ministry of Christ? I once heard a professor in a Doctor of Ministry seminar say that the Doctrine of the Trinity is not Biblical but it is essential. In the Roman’s Reading one can find reference to the Spirit of God; Abba, Father; and Christ. Is that the Trinity? In your mind, is the Trinity a conundrum, an enigma, a paradox, or simply a mystery we must ponder?

ISAIAH 6:1-8

6:1 In what year did King Uzziah die and why does it matter? Should Isaiah’s vision be literalized? What do we do with this anthropomorphization of God?

6:2 What are seraphs?  Consider Numbers 21:4-9. Might “feet” be a euphemism for some other body part?

6:3 Does the threefold “Holy” justify this passage being used on Trinity Sunday? What or who are “hosts?”

6:4 What are pivots and thresholds?  What sort of smoke filled the house and why?

6:5 Why does Isaiah express woe? What danger lies in seeing the LORD of hosts?

6:6 Why might there have been live coals at the altar?

6:7 How can a figurative/symbolic live coal blot out sin?

6:8 Why the plural“us?” Why am I thinking of Dan Schutte?

PSALM 29

29:1 Who and what are the heavenly beings?  Are there more types of heavenly beings than angels and/or seraphs?

29:2 What is holy splendor?

29:3 What does the voice of the LORD sound like? What and where are the mighty waters?

29:4 Is anyone else thinking of James Earl Jones?

29:5 How could a voice break trees?

29:6 What, or where, is Sirion? How might countries or regions skip like an animal?

29:7 I am thinking of recent images from the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii.

29:8 Where is Kadesh? Is there anything special or significant about this wilderness?

29:9 What is the meaning of “Glory?”

29:10 What flood might the Psalmist have had in mind?

29:3-10  So much for “still small voice” imagery.  How does an establishment church of the middle class status quo come to terms with a storm God?

29:11 God’s people will certainly need strength to survive a storm.  When was the last time a storm brought  peace? Or is this peace the peace of a calm after a storm?

ROMANS 8:12-17

8:12 If we are not debtors to the flesh, what then are we debtors to?  I doubt Paul had MasterCard or Visa in mind.

8:13 What does Paul mean by “flesh” and “Spirit?” Must there be a dichotomy between Spirit and flesh?

8:14 How are we led by the Spirit of God?

8:15 Theologically speaking, why does Paul contrast a spirit of slavery with a spirit of adoption?  When did you last cry “Abba! Father!?”

8:16  How many spirits are being mentioned in this passage?

8:17 Is that a pretty big “if” as in “if, in fact we suffer?”

John 3:1-17

3:1 Were not all Pharisees leaders? Might Nicodemus have been a Pharisee among Pharisees, a leader of the Pharisees?

3:2 Consider John 4:6-7 as juxtaposition.  We?  For whom, or of whom, is Nic speaking?  What signs was he referring to?

3:3, 5 Is being born from above the same as being born of water and Spirit?

3:4 What are “re-birthing” therapies? Was Nicodemus too much of a literalist?

3:6 Must we read and interpret this through a Pauline lens? See Romans 8:13.

3:7 Are we still astonished by this statement of Jesus? What still astonishes you?

3:8 I think Jesus was not referring to direction.  I can usually tell from what direction the wind is blowing and I understand the meteorological mechanics, yet wind can still be a mystery an somewhat unpredictable. Do not know where people born of the Spirit come from or are going to?

3:9 Is this not still our question?

3:10 I think professional Church types are all a little like Nic at night at one time or another.  We really do not fully understand of what we speak, teach and preach. Sometimes we are groping for answers in the dark.

3:11 We?  Our? For whom, or of whom, is Jesus speaking?

3:12 Of what earthly things did Jesus talk about that Nic did not believe? Now it seems that we have two dichotomies, flesh/spirit and earth/heaven.

3:13 Ascension day has passed, but in the context of this passage, it has not yet happened. Is this an anachronism – a Post Ascension Theology being read back into a Pre Ascension event – the Evangelist putting words into the mouth of Jesus? Or is this an example of Jesus being prescient?

3:14 I refer you back to Isaiah 6:2 and again suggest you read and ponder Numbers 21:4-9.  Perhaps Numbers 21:4-9 would have been a better First Reading to pair with this Gospel than the passage from Isaiah.

3:16-17 Maybe too much has already been read and said about this passage. Then again, maybe not enough has been preached about this passage in its literary context. How do these two verses flow from what precedes them?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. My various blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and Appalachian Trials.