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.
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