Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

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.

JEREMIAH 17:5-10

17:5 The LORD curses? Who trusts in mere mortals?

17:6 The cursed may be like shrubs in the parched desert but they still live.

17:7 Is there a difference between trusting in the LORD and the LORD being one’s trust?

17:8 What do you know about riparian zones? I am also thinking of several passages that speak of streams, water, living water, and wells.
17:9 Is the human heart depraved?

17:10 Does the LORD also search the mind and test the heart? Does the LORD know our heart and mind better than we ourselves know them?

PSALM 1

1:1 What advice do the wicked give? Are “the wicked,” “sinners,” and “scoffers” synonyms?

1:2 What does it mean to meditate on the law of the LORD?

1:3 See Jeremiah 17:8. Does this verse justify Psalm 1 being chosen for today’s Lectionary?

1:4 What is chaff?

1:5 It seems that “the wicked” and “sinners” are indeed synonyms.

1:6 Why am I thinking of Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken? Which way have you chosen to follow?

1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-20

15:12 Who were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? The resurrection is a central doctrine of the Christian faith.

15:13 I can find no fault with Paul’s logic.

15:14 Again, I can find no fault with Paul’s logic. On the other hand, I think we need to reflect on what we mean by “resurrection from the dead.”

15:15 Why is Paul engaging in this mental exercise?

15:16 Does this say anything different than 15:13?

15:17 Does this say anything different than 15:14? Is Paul repeating himself?

15:18 Well, yea!

15:19 Even though Christianity looks beyond this life and this world, does that mean we abandon this world and life?

15:20 Could Paul claim this if it had not been for his Damascus Road experience and encounter with the risen Christ? What is a first fruit.

LUKE 6:17-26

6:17 Why the distinction between “a great crowd of his disciple”: and “ great multitude of people?” What might the numbers have been? Is there any significance to the geographical identifiers?

6:18 How are hearing and being healed related? Is being troubled with unclean spirits different than being diseased?

6:19 What sort of power came out from Jesus? Is there a difference between touching Jesus and being touched by Jesus?

6:20 What does it mean to be blessed?

6:21 Are hunger and weeping related?

6:22 Was Jesus speaking to the multitude of people, to the great crowd of his disciples, or both?

6:23 What day?

6:24 This is a 99% verse!

6:25 The antithesis of 6:21

6:26 The antithesis of 6:22-23

                                                                  

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. Some of my other blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and The Trek.