Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for 14th 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.

2 SAMUEL 5:1-5, 9-10

5:1 All the tribes, or representatives of all the tribes?  Why Hebron?

5:2 Could someone be putting words into the tribes’ mouths?

5:3 Is this the only instance of a covenant not involving God, or does making a covenant between people before God count as involving God?

5:4 According to the US Constitution, David would have been five years too young to be President of the United States.

5:5 Why did David first rule from Hebron and later move to Jerusalem?

5:9 what was the condition and status of Jerusalem before David took up residence there? What and where is the Millo?

5:10 Did David become more powerful because God was with him or did people think God was with him because David was becoming more powerful?

PSALM 48

48:1 Where is the city of our God? What is God’s holy mountain?

48:2 What and where is Zion? Who is the great king?

48:3 Is there a difference between a citadel and a fortress? Does God need a defense?

48:4 What kings and what alliance is being referred to?

48:5 Could this verse be alluding to the siege of Tiglath-Pileser?

48:6 I would appreciate some women commenting on the simile.

48:7 Were ships of Tarshish ever shattered? What and where is Tarshish?

48:8 The United States has never really had a religious center or religious capital. What about other countries?

48:9 Do you ever ponder? Do you ever meditate in the sanctuary?

48:10 Another slight toward left-handedness?

48:11 Compared to Jerusalem, are all other habitations mere towns?

48:12 How many towers were around Zion?

48:13 What is the difference between a rampart and a citadel?

48:14 I would expect “defender” rather than “guide.”

2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-10

12:2 This must be one of the stranger and more bizarre verses in the New Testament.  Have you ever had an out of the body experience?  How many heavens are there? Could this be autobiographical?

12:3 Are you losing track of what Paul knows and does not know?

12:4 How does Paul know this? Is Paradise the same as heaven?

12:5 Why would Paul boast about the people he has just described? Why would Paul boast about his weaknesses?

12:6 Has Paul just tooted his own horn?

12:7 What revelations is he referring to? What do you make of this thorn?  Why did Paul think this thorn was a messenger of Satan?

12:8 Only three times? Did Paul not have faith that it would be taken away?

12:9 Paul will not boast about his greatness but rather about his weakness. I think he is still boasting.

12:10 Poor Paul. Is he asking for a pity party?

Mark 6:1-13

6:1 Jesus left where? Where was his hometown? What are the possible meanings of “followed?”

6:2 When was the last time anyone was astounded by your teaching?  How would YOU answer the questions asked in this verse?

6:3 You mean Jesus was not an only child?  That his brothers but not his sisters are named is an example of the patriarchy of the times. Why did his family take offense at him?

6:4 What prophets might Jesus have been referring to? Did Jesus consider himself a prophet?

6:5 As if laying your hands on a few people and healing them is something minor.

6:6 Whose lack of faith, his family’s or that of other hometown folk?

6:7 Why two by two?

6:8-9 Why these instructions?  How could they be expected to accomplish their mission without any provisions or a building and/or sanctuary? Was Jesus sending them out to be beggars? How might these instructions be related to the detachment of the contemplative tradition?

6:11 Enacting this verse can be quite cathartic. Believe me, I know!

6:12 Was this preaching any different than the preaching of John the Baptizer?

6:13 Why do Presbyterians not do more anointing with oil? Why do Presbyterians generally not drive out demons?

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 13th 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.

2 SAMUEL 1:1, 17-27

1:1 Why Ziklag and why two days?

1:17 What does “intoned” mean?

1:18 I envision an Indiana Jones sequel entitled “Searching for the Book of Jashar.”

1:19 Note that in the NRSV verses 19-27 are formatted as poetry, not prose. What does “high places” refer to?

1:20 Why not in Gath and Ashkelon?

1:21 Where is Gilboa?

1:22 Why did Jonathan have a bow when Saul had a sword?

1:23 Where else do we find eagle and lion imagery?

1:24 Who are the daughters of Zion?

1:25 Note the refrain of 1:19. Is David lamenting and praising Jonathan more than Saul?

1:26 What does David me when he says “passing the love of women?”

1:27 How many times have we now heard the refrain “How the mighty have fallen”?  Why is it repeated?

PSALM 130

130:1 Where are the depths and how deep are they?

130:2 How do we deal with Psalms that anthropomorphize God? Does God have physical ears?

130:3 Does God mark, or not mark, iniquities?

130:4 Keep in mind that this “forgiveness” proceeds the ministry of Jesus.

130:5-6 What does it mean to “wait for the LORD”?  I am inclined to think of contemplative prayer.

130:7 This psalm already introduced forgiveness in 130:4.  Now it introduces love and redemption.  This sounds like New Testament Christian theology to me.

130:8 What were Israel’s iniquities?

2 CORINTHIANS 8:7-15

8:7 What generous undertaking would that be?

8:8 In other words, I do not have the power to command you, but I can embarrass you. This sounds a little like a televangelist.

8:9 Let’s pour on the guilt.  Is this Paul’s idea of a Stewardship sermon? How was Jesus rich?

8:10-11 Is Paul reminding the Corinthians of a previous but unfulfilled financial pledge?

8:13-14 This is beginning to sound like a sermon to the 1% about helping the 99%.

8:15 Some inequality is ok, but not extreme wealth in the midst of extreme poverty? Where is this written? How much to too much?

Mark 5:21-43

5:21 When had Jesus crossed before? The other side of what?

5:22 Why would Jairus fall at the feet of Jesus? I wonder which synagogue Jairus was a ruler of?

5:23 What is so special about the laying on of hands?  Why do Presbyterians not usually associate prayer for healing with the laying on of hands when it is so biblical?

5:24 When does a crowd become large? Note that it was great crowd in 5:21 but now it is a large crowd.

5:25-34 Why does this account interrupt the story?

5:25 Is there anything special about “twelve years”?

5:26 It seems medical care for the poor has not progressed much. When portrayed as a healer, is Jesus also portrayed as a physician?

5:27 What had she heard?  Why did she touch his cloak? IS there anything special about cloaks?

5:28 What would lead the women to think and believe this?

5:29 What do you make of “immediately?”

5:30 What might power going forth from oneself feel like?

5:31 There is touching and there is “touching.”

5:32 Why did Jesus want to know who touched him?

5:33 Why fear and trembling?

5:34 Is this not an after the fact proclamation? Who or what was the agent of healing? Was it Jesus? Whas it Jesus’ clothes? Was it the woman’s faith?

5:35 As I was saying … back to the main story.

5:36 Are the words “Do not fear, only believe” meant for Jairus or for someone else? Had the woman of 5:25-34 conquered fear and embraced belief?

5:37 An example of the inner three being given an inside track. Why are we told who John’s brother was?

5:38 The people are in mourning. Why do westerners, especially we Presbyterians, not mourn like this?

5:39 What is the difference between death and sleep?  I hate the euphemism putting pets “to sleep” and prefer the verb “euthanize.”

5:40 Weeping and wailing turn to laughter but for all the wrong reasons. Why does Jesus send away all but a few?

5:41 Why take her by the hand?  Why might the gospel preserve the original Aramaic?

5:42 When was the last time you, or anyone you know, were overcome with amazement?

5:43 Why would Jesus order that “no one should know this?”  Know what?

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 12th 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 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49

(17:1a, 4-11, 19-23) These optional verses provide good background, but do they add anything theologically? Including them makes for a very long reading.

(17:1a) How many armies did the Philistines have?

(17:4) How tall is six cubits and a span?

(17:5) How much does five thousand shekels of bronze way? Was this during the Bronz Age?

(17:6) What were the dates of The Bronze Age?

(17:7) Did the shield bearer carry more than the shield? Where was the ring bearer? (Sorry, wrong story.)

(17:8) Was Goliath just taunting, or did armies actually settle things by just two people engaging in combat?

(17:9) Does this sound reasonable?

(17:10) Is this any more than trash talk and boasting?

(17:11) Was Saul a wimp a coward, or what?

(17:19) Who are “they”? Where is the valley of Elah?

(17:20) Why was David taking provisions to the army? Why was David not serving in the army? What might “the war cry” have sounded like?

(17:21) To quote the Admiral Josh Painter character played by former Senator Fred Thompson in the movie The Hunt For Red October, “This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it.”

(17:22) He did this just as the battle was about to start? What does this say about David’s sense of timing?

(17:23) Apparently Goliath issued his taunts more than once. Maybe this went on day after day.

17:32 What is the relationship between David and Saul at this point?  Why does David refer to himself in the second person?

17:33 Might this be typical advice the older Pastor, perhaps even the “Head of Staff” or “Senior Pastor” would give to a young Pastor or Associate Pastor going up against entrenched interests of an older generation?

17:34-35 Lions, (but no tigers), and bears, Oh my!

17:36 Is the reference to “this uncircumcised Philistine” a racial slur or just trash talk before the big battle?

17:37 While David makes it sound in verses 34-36 that he deserved all the credit for defeating lions and bears, he now gives credit to God.  In this regard, you may want to take another look at last week’s Psalm, Psalm 20. Did David just call Goliath an animal?

17:38 What is the irony that Saul clothes David with his (Saul’s) armor?

17:39 Is this really a comment about armor or a veiled comment about political reality?

17:40 Is there any symbolism in David choosing “five” smooth stones?  You may want to take a look at Eugene Peterson’s book Five Smooth Stones.

17:41 David had no shield-bearer, nor did he need one since he had no shield. Is this an example of a swift, agile, lightly armed guerrilla taking on a slow infantryman burdened by his gear?

17:42 Déjà vu. Where have we heard this before?

17:43 Goliath wasn’t a dog. He was a lion or bear. Whose gods?

17:44 Is this a real threat or just more trash talking?

17:45 Look again at last week’s Psalm, Psalm 20.

17:46 David expands upon the Philistine’s threat. This is pre-battle trash talking extrapolated to the divine degree.

17:47 What might this verse say about the military doctrine of “Shock and Awe?” not to mention about the military–industrial complex?

17:48 Do you think the Philistine was running to meet David?

17:49 Since David ends up felling this Philistine with one smooth stone, why did David pick put five smooth stones to put in his bag?

PSALM 9:9-20

9:9 How does this verse fit or not fit the circumstances of the First Reading?

9:10 In 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49, who put their trust in the LORD?

9:11 What are the LORD’s deeds? Who are the peoples?

9:12 Who avenges blood and what does that mean? Who are the afflicted?

9:13 What does it mean for the LORD to be gracious?

9:14 What does it mean to recount praises? What, and where, are the gates of daughter Zion?

9:15 What “nations” might the Psalmist have in mind? Can you think of any nation caught in the very trap it set for others?

9:16 Is the LORD known only in the execution of judgement?

9:17 What, and where, is Shoel?

9:18 Will the needy sometimes be forgotten? Will the hope of the poor perish for a time being?

9:19 Is this a request or a demand?

9:20 Good advice, even, or especially, for Americans.

(1 SAMUEL 17:57-18:5)

(17:57) Who was Abner? Who held the head of the Philistine, Abner, David, or Saul?

(17:58) Why does Saul want to know?

(18:1) Why was Jonathan even present?

(18:2) Why might Saul not have let David return to Jesse?

(18:3) What were the details of the covenant?

(18:4) What does this symbolize?

(18:5) What risk was Saul taking in doing this?

(18:10) What is the meaning of “an evil spirit from God?”

(18:11) What other explanation for Saul’s behavior might there be other than appealing to an evil spirit from God?

(18:12) Is this the answer to my question above?

(18:13) Why might Saul have made David a commander?

(18:14) Do you feel like the Lord is with you? Who is the Lord with today?

(18:15) Who do you stand in awe of?

(18:16) Note that both Israel and Judah are mentioned.

(PSALM 133)

(133:1) Does this “alternative” offer the antithesis to the war imagery of both the First Reading and the Alternate First Reading?

(133:2) I love this sensual imagery but cannot imagine Presbyterians ever using so much oil to anoint that it run down a man’s face and unto his beard.

(133:3) What is the dew of Hermon? What and where is Hermon? Did the LORD ordain a blessing on Herman, or Zion, or both?

2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-13

6:1 Who are “we?” Who is “him?”

6:2 Is this a quote from Scripture? If so, where from?

6:3 What accusations is Paul defending his ministry against?

6:4-5 Poor Paul! Is Paul pleading the martyr?

6:6-10 Did anyone ever argue that Paul was humble?

6:11 What does it mean to have a heart wide open?

6:12 Ouch! I think the Corinthians were just insulted.

6:13 Perhaps they were just insulted again. Or was Paul simply expressing his affection?

MARK 4:35-41

4:35 What day? Who are “them?” Let us go across what?

4:36 What does the comment “just as he was” mean?  What does it add to the text and its meaning? I wonder who were in the other boats.

4:37 I understand this can really happen to small boats on the Sea of Galilee.

4:38 How could Jesus know they were perishing if he was sleeping through the storm?  How could Jesus sleep through a storm? Even though this is Mark and not John, is there more than one level of meaning here?

4:39 What point is being made?

4:40 Again, is there more than one level of meaning here? What did Jesus mean by faith? Faith in what or whom?

4:41 When was the last time you were filled with great awe?  Is their question rhetorical?

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.