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.
7:1 Who deserves
credit for the Peace of David’s later reign?
7:2 What does the ark
of God symbolize? Is there anything wrong with the ark staying in a tent? Is
there any reason why the ark should stay in a tent?
7:3 What does David
have in mind?
7:4 What does it mean
when “the word of the LORD” comes to a person? Why does this mostly
happen at night? Why had a word of the LORD about this not come to Nathan
earlier, or to David? Has the word of the Lord ever come to you?
7:5 What was the LORD
asking?
7:6 Is the LORD
protesting against David’s plans? Is a tent and a tabernacle the same thing?
7:7 Why is the LORD
asking such questions?
7:8 So?
7:9 So?
7:10 Has the LORD not
already done this?
7:11 What is the play
on words the Lord is making?
7:12 Why does the LORD
use euphemisms to talk about death?
7:5-12 What political,
theological, or other reason can you think of to justify the LORD not
permitting David to build a house for the ark? How many organizing
pastors are not around when a congregation builds its first physical plant?
Could God not have wanted to be boxed in and domesticated?
7:13-14a Of whom is the
LORD talking? Christians may interpret these verses in light of Christ but how
would Israel have heard them at the time this was written? How do Jews
interpret them today?
7:13 No earthly kingdom
has ever lasted forever. Even the throne of Middle Earth’s Gondor was
temporarily vacant.
7:14 Was David not also
considered the LORD’s son?
PSALM 89:20-37
89:20-37 I think this is
the longest Psalm in the lectionary that we have seen in some time. In the NRSV
there are no natural breaks.
89:20 What is the difference
between ordinary, common oil and holy oil? If you anoint with oil, what sort of
oil do you use?
89:21 I am surprised
this is not the right hand and the right arm.
89:22 I think sometimes
a national leader needs to be humbled.
89:23 This is pretty graphic
imagery.
89:24 What is a horn and
how is it exalted?
89:25 What does this
mean?
89:26 Is this a familiar
cry? Is this why this Psalm was chosen to accompany 2 Samuel 7:1-14a?
89:27 The firstborn of
what?
89:28 This almost sounds
like a restatement of 89:24.
89:29 From an historical
perspective, has the LORD kept these promises?
89:30 Children in the
biological, or the metaphorical sense?
89:31 Is there any
difference between an ordinance and a statute?
89:32 What is a
scourge?
89:33 How can the LORD discipline
the King’s children while also promising that one of those children will
inherit the throne?
89:34 Otherwise it would
not be a covenant.
89:35 I hope the LORD
would not lie to anyone.
89:36 See 89:29.
89:36-37 I like the astronomical
imagery.
89:20-37 How can a faithful
Jew or Christian read these verses in light of the destruction of the
second temple, the Shoah, etc., and not think the LORD has not lived
up to divine promises?
EPHESIANS
2:11-22
2:11 Who calls Gentiles
“the uncircumcision?” Who calls “the circumcision” by that name? Is
Paul coining these phrases or quoting others?
2:12 Did Jews have
Christ even before the incarnation?
2:13 How has the blood
of Christ brought Gentiles near?
2:12-13 Why only “Christ”
in verse 12 but “Christ Jesus” in verse 13?
2:14 How has Christ
broken down the dividing wall of hostility? What was the
dividing wall of hostility? I cannot but help read this verse in light of
the walls Israel has erected between Jewish and Palestinian
neighborhoods. How has the institutional church erected its own dividing
walls? You might want to consider Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall.”
2:15 Are commandments
and ordinances part of the law but not the same as the law? Was the law the
wall between Jews and Gentiles?
2:15-16 Is there a
difference between one new humanity and one humanity being engrafted into
another?
2:16 How was hostility
put to death on the cross?
2:17-18 If there is now a
new humanity, why does Paul write as if there were still two?
2:19 Does Paul’s Roman
citizenship influence his use of “citizens” language and imagery?
2:20 Is there any
theological or rhetorical connection between the “household” in this verse and
the “house” imagery in 2 Samuel 7:1-14a? Paul’s imagery suggests a foundation resting
on one stone.
2:21 I like this
imagery. Note that in the NRSV it is “a holy temple in the Lord” not “of the
Lord”.
2:22 I am really
beginning to think we ought to interpret this passage through the interpretive
lens of the 2 Samuel 7:1-14a. Does God dwell in us individually or corporately?
Mark
6:30-34, 53-56
6:30 What do you think
they had done and taught? What have you done and taught?
6:31 The first Leaders’
Retreat! When was the last time you went on a real, restful, retreat; not a
vacation but a retreat?
6:32 Was the boat the
deserted place or did they travel by boat to a deserted place? A few
years ago I become a sailor and purchased a used twenty-four foot sailboat. I
regularly sailed for up to five to seven hours at a time. Although I did not sail
alone, these sails were often retreat like in nature. I did not need to
sail to a deserted place. The sailboat was my deserted place.
6:33 Sailing is often a
slow way to travel, especially in a light wind or against a wind and/or
current. It is not hard for me to envision a group of people walking to a
place faster than one could sail to it if it were along the same coast.
6:34 What are sheep
like without a shepherd? It could have been worse. The great crowd could have
been like cats without a shepherd. Why did the people have no shepherd?
6:53 Is “crossed over”
merely a geographical reference or a metaphor for something else? Where is
Gennessaret and is it of any significance?
6:54 Is this a
statement meant to comment on the popularity of Jesus?
6:55 Only the sick, or
also the lame, blind and possessed?
6:56 There are
marketplaces in/on farms? Is there anything special about the fringe of a
cloak? What other Gospel story does this remind you of? Can you
recall any hymn employing “fringe” imagery? Maybe we can repeal
The Affordable Care Act, along with Medicare, Medicaid and private health
insurance, and just issue sick people some fringe to touch.
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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