Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, December 29, 2013, the First Sunday after Christmas (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK 

PREFACE:

I have usually taken the Sunday after Christmas as a vacation Sunday and therefore have rarely had to preach on these troubling texts.  How will you deal with the juxtaposition or so many themes: God’s steadfast love, praise of God, the suffering of God’s chosen, atonement, sacrifice,  death of innocent children, and linguistic and storytelling gymnastics to show the fulfillment

FIRST READING - ISAIAH 63:7-9
63:7 Can you recount all the gracious deeds and praiseworthy acts of the LORD? What are they?  What is the difference between mercy and steadfast love?

63:8 In verse 7 Isaiah speaks in the first person plural of “us”, but in verse 8 shifts to the third person “they” and “their”.  Why the shift?  What difference does it make?

63:9 I like that “It was no messenger or angel” but the LORD’S presence that saved them.  Remember, this is before Christ!  How was the LORD present if not through an intermediary?

PSALM- PSALM 148

Here is a Psalm that can be adapted for use as a Call to Worship if I ever saw one!

148:1 Is it stating the obvious to identify this as a “praise” psalm.

148:2 This is the second time (and the second reading) that angels are mentioned.  What is “all his host”?

148:3 How do the sun, moon and shining stars praise?

148:4 What waters are above the heavens?  Must we buy into this pre-Copernican cosmology to interpret this Psalm?

148:5 How is the name of the LORD to be praised when it is not pronounced?

148:6 What are the bounds of the highest heavens and the waters above the heavens?

148:7 Even though, or perhaps because, I am a kayaker and a sailor, I can more easily accept that the actual sun, moon and stars praise the Lord than I can accept “sea monsters” praising the Lord.

148:7-10 How can creation continue to praise the LORD if humans pollute and destroy it?  Does Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” have anything to say regarding these verses?

148:8 These verses might work for the First Sunday of Christmas in the northern hemisphere, but what about the southern hemisphere?

148:9 he hills are figuratively alive with the sound of music, praise music

148:11 Now we transition from the natural world to the political realm.

148:12 I like the gender and age inclusiveness of this verse.

148:13 What is “the name of the Lord”?  Dare we write it?  Dare we speak it?  If not, how do we praise and exalt it?

148:14 What is “a horn” and what does it symbolize?

SECOND READING - HEBREWS2:10-18

2:10 What a bummer! From the joy and celebration of Christmas a mere four days ago we now get sufferings.  The Christ child has just been born and already we are hearing about his sufferings.

2:11  What is the meaning of sanctification? Why would Jesus be ashamed? 

2:12-13 Where did these quotes come from?

2:14 Can we read/teach/preach this without personifying “the devil”?

2:15 Can we be freed from the fear of death without being freed from death?

2:16 In the context of this verse, who are the descendants of Abraham?

2:17 What was the function of the high priest? Is “sacrifice atonement” the only understanding of atonement?

2:14-18 A fairly theological exposition of the incarnation, which is probably why this passage was chosen for the First Sunday After Christmas, but we still end up with suffering.  The distance from the cradle to the cross, both in terms of geography and time, is not much at all.

GOSPEL- MATTHEW 2:13-23

2:13 In Matthew, how many times does an Angel appear to Joseph in a dream?  Has an angel of the Lord ever appeared to you in a dream?  Why Egypt? John Shelby Spong has an opinion about why Egypt?  Why would Herod want to destroy the child Jesus?

2:13-14 Could this story be an example of Midrash?  Spong thinks so.

2:15 Could there have been another theological reason for Jesus going to Egypt other than fulfilling of prophecy?  What verse is being quoted?

2:16 Death in the slaughter on the innocents intrudes into the otherwise bucolic narrative of Christmas.  Why did Herod kill all children as old as two years?

2:17-18 So all the infants were killed just so that prophecy could be fulfilled?  Could be another example of Midrash?

2:19  Another angel, another dream, same old Joseph!

2:20 Why the plural “those” when only Herod was seeking to kill Jesus.

2:22 How many Dreams has Joseph experienced now? With so many dreams mentioned in the Bible, why does the church say so little about dreams, dreaming, and dream interpretation (other than Jungians)?  Why would Joseph be told in one dream to go to Israel and in a subsequent be warned not to go to Israel?

2:23 Why is the author of Matthew so eager to note the fulfillment of prophecy?  It seems that so far that is the purpose of this Gospel—to show the fulfillment of prophecy.

2:13-23 It seems odd that Mary and Jesus are never mentioned by name but are referred to as “the child and his mother”.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, December 22, 2013, the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

PREFACE:

With both Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 being among Readings, the Third Sunday of Advent is a good time to sing the O Antiphons.  Unfortunately the Presbyterian Hymnal (#9) offers only three rather than all seven verses.  Fortunately Glory to God: Hymns, Psalms, & Spiritual Songs (#88) offers all seven verses!  See the “Litany for Advent – O Antiphons” in the Book of Common Worship pages 166-167 and consider having the congregation sing the responses rather than say them.

FIRST READING - ISAIAH 7:10-16

7:10 Who is Ahaz and why is the LORD speaking to him?  Does the LORD ever speak to you?

7:11 What is the meaning of “sign”?  Do you ever ask for a sign?  How deep is Sheol?  How high is heaven?

7:12 Do you recall Massah and Meribah? How do we put the LORD to the test? 

7:13 How was the house of David wearing God?  How do we weary God?

7:14 Why does the Lord give this or any sign?  Isaiah says the sign shall be a “young woman” being with child, bearing a son, and naming him Immanuel.  Why do we now thin and speak of a virgin being with child, bearing a son, and naming him Immanuel. In what sense is any pregnancy and birth a sign, and what might it me a sign of?

7:15 What are curds and what does a diet of curds and wild honey symbolize?  At what age might this child know how to refuse the evil and choose the good?

7:16 What land?  What two kings?

PSALM - PSALM 80:1-7,17-19

80:1 Who is the Shepherd of Israel? What is a cherubim, where are they, and who sits enthroned upon them?

80:2 Why the mention of, and only of, Ephraim, and Benjamin and Manasseh?

80:3 What is the connection between God’s shining face and salvation?

80:4 Do you ever feel that God is angry with your prayers?

80:5 Perhaps we can juxtapose this imager with the bread of life and the sup of salvation.

80:6 Do your neighbors ever scorn you or laugh at you?  Is the Psalmist perhaps playing on God’s sense of self honor?

80:7 I am beginning to hear a refrain.  See 80:3.

80:17 What does the right hand of God symbolize and who is there?  How do we deal with such a anthropomorphic language when we know God has no physical body?

80:18 This is beginning to sound like a little “you scratch our back, we will scratch yours” proposition.

80:19 The third refrain (see 80:3, 7) but this time I am reminded of other passages of Scripture relating to God’s shining face. 

SECOND READING - ROMANS 1:1-7

1:1 What does it mean to be called?  What does it mean to be set apart?

1:2 Where, specifically, did God promise the gospel?

1:3 How do we deal with this “decended from David according to the flesh” when, especially at this time of year, people tend to focus on a miraculous birth by a virgin? (see my comments on Isaiah 7:14).

1:4 It seems that Paul is saying Jesus was declared “Son of God” by his resurrection, not his baptism or birth.

1:5 Who are the “we”?

1:6 Again, what does it mean to be called, and what does it mean to belong to Jesus Christ?

1:7 What is a saint?  How do we deal with a non-Trinitarian ascription in light of the Doctrine of the Trinity?

GOSPEL - MATTHEW1:18-25

1:18 In what way?  What does I mean to be with child “from the Holy Spirit”?

1:19 What is a righteous man?  How could Joseph have exposed Mary to public disgrace?  What does it mean to “dismiss her quietly”?  What would have happened to Mary and her child if Joseph had in fact dismissed her quietly?

1:20 It seems that angels appear to people in dreams more than in any other way.  Are you familiar with what John Sanford and Morton Kelsey have written about dream from a Christian perspective?  What might Carl Jung say about this passage?  Has an angel ever spoken to you in your dreams?

1:21 What is the meaning of the name “Jesus” and why name him that because he will save his people from their sins?

1:22 So the point of this narrative is not necessarily to establish Jesus’ divinity but rather to establish his birth as fulfillment of prophecy.

1:23 See Isaiah 7:4.  Why was Joseph instructed to name the child “Jesus” rather than “Immanuel”?

1:24 What does it mean to “take her as his wife”?

1:25 Does the mention of Joseph not having marital relations with Mary serve to establish Jesus’ divinity, Mary’s Virginity, or the fulfillment of prophecy?  What if the author of Matthew had been familiar and/or worked with the Isaiah in the Hebrew rather than the Latin?

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, December 15, 2013, the Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.  All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.


FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

FIRST READING - ISAIAH 35:1-10

We see more of Isaiah this week, the third week in a row the First Reading has come to us from this prophet.  What is the connection between the health and productivity of the land and the well-being of the people of Israel?

35:1-2 Are wilderness and dry land to be taken literarily or are they metaphors?  What is so special about the crocus?  How can plants rejoice and sing? What glory belonged to Lebanon?  What was the majesty of Carmel and Sharon? 

35:3 This verse signals a shift from the land to people. Why do I appreciate this verse the older I get?

35:4 In Isaiah’s context, who were those with a fearful heart?  Who has a fearful heart in our context? The Scriptures usually admonish readers to fear God, but here they are called to not fear even though God will come with vengeance and terrible recompense – to save.

35:5 Is this blindness and deafness meant to be taken literally or metaphorically?

35:6 Here is another shift, this time from people back to the land, where we started.  In the case of humans, physical challnges are overcome.  In the case of the land, situations are reversed.

35:7 I like pools, springs, reeds and rushes, but not swamps.  What is this imagery communicating?

35:8 I find it amazing that Isaiah envisions a “highway”.  Where does this highway lead?  What does it connect? Apparently even some of God’s people can be fools.

35:9 This is not quite a vision of the peaceable kingdom but it is close.  It almost seems like a vision of paradise, or heaven.

35:10 Must we interpret this Hebrew Scripture mention of “the ransomed of the Lord” with regard to the Christian doctrine of the Atonement?  How can joy “be upon” anyone’s head?

PSALM - PSALM 146:5-10

146:5 In the context of this psalm and the Psalter, what does it mean to be “Happy”.  Is this the same “happiness” enumerated in the Declaration of Independence?   How are “help” and “hope” related?

146:6 How can we interpret and apply this imager without falling into the creationism-evolution debate? What does it mean to “keep faith”?

146:7-9 Is this an expression of the Bible’s preferential option for the poor and oppressed?  How shall we Americans read and interpret this in light of our current national political debates?

146:10 What would happen to God’s reign if humanity becomes extinct?  This verse could be used or adapted for use as a Call to Worship.

ALTERNATE READING - LUKE 1:47-55

How will you decide between Psalm 146:5-10 and Luke 1:47-55? I usually alternate between cycles, though people might associate Luke 1:4-55 with Advent and Christmas more than they do Psalm 146:5-10.  In favor of the alternate reading is that it is one of the few feminine voices in the Scriptures.  Mary’s psalm of praise, apparently following the template of Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, seems to move from the particular in verses 47-49 to the universal in verses 50-55.  What shall we learn from the theological and doxological trajectory of Mary’s song?  

1:47 Why is this passage often referred to as “The Magnificat”

1:48 Mary’s sentiment seems to reflect the same outlook as expressed in Psalm, 146:5-10

1:49 Is there any significance to the use of “the Mighty One”?  What great things has the Mighty One dome for Mary?

1:50 What does it mean to “fear” God, especially during Advent when we tend to emphasize feelings such as joy?

1:51 What does the arm of God symbolize?  What does “scattered the proud in the thouhts of their hearts” mean?

1:52-53 Note the reversal of fortunes and misfortunes.

1:54 How has God helped Israel?

1:55 What promise did God make to Abraham and his descendants?

SECOND READING - JAMES 5:7-10

5:7-8 This reads like an admonition to patiently wait even in the midst of apparently dashed expectations.  How near is near?  At least a farmer witnesses yearly reward for patience, not waiting nearly two-thousand years for a crop.  How do we strengthen our hearts?

5:9  Would anyone like to speculate what people were grumbling about?  I can’t imagine the author addressing a problem if it did not exist.

5: 10 Do suffering and patience necessarily go together?  When might we be called NOT to be patient in the midst of suffering?

GOSPEL - MATTHEW 11:2-11

11:2 Note that even though he was in prison, John was hearing “what the Messiah was doing.”  Also note that John had his own disciples and was apparently able to communicate with them.

11:3 I know that this Sunday our Reading comes from Matthew rather than Luke, nevertheless, this verse seems out of place in light of last week’s Gospel reading which suggested that John knew Jesus was the Messiah.  Am I reading more into last week’s reading than was there?  Why is John questioning Jesus identity?

11:4 What ad John’s disciples heard and seen?

11:5 This the verse that seems to connect this Reading with the First Reading.

11:6 How does this verse relate to verse 5?  Who was taking offense at Jesus?

11:7 What is the meaning of “a reed shaken by the wind”?

11:8 What is the point?

11:9 From a Christian perspective, was John the last of the Hebrew Prophets?

11:10 What is Jesus quoting?  Does this quote say more about John or Jesus?

11:11 Was Jesus born of a woman?  Did Jesus think John was greater than he was?

11:7-11 I have become convinced that there was (and is) a theological, spiritual, and political connection between Jesus and John that is not fully expressed or explored in the Gospels, but is certainly hinted at.  Other than Jesus and John, is there anyone in the New Testament portrayed as the fulfillment of prophecy?

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, December 8, 2013, the Second Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Posted each Thursday, Lectionary Ruminations focuses on the Scripture Readings, taken from the New Revised Standard Version, for the following Sunday per the Revised Common Lectionary. Comments and questions are intended to encourage reflection for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead. (Other references may be linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.) 

FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

PREFACE:

If you did not read last week’s Preface, please to, as it serves as an introduction to both Year A in the New Revised Common Lectionary as well as to the season of Advent. 

FIRST READING – ISAIAH 11:1-10

11:1 Note that in the NRSV this text is formatted as poetry, not prose.  Does this affect how we interpret it?  This verse is a good example of parallelism as a feature of Hebrew Poetry. Who was Jesse?

11:2 Does this verse imply that the spirit of the LORD is the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and knowledge and fear of the LORD.  Is this spirit the same as The Holy Spirit?

11:3 What is “the fear of the LORD”?  Is justice both blind and deaf?

11:4 Does this verse express a prejudice toward/for the poor and meek? Note the power of voice/word.

11:5 Does “righteousness” equal “faithfulness”?  Are “loins” the same as the “waist”?

11:6-7 Images of the “peaceable kingdom”. What do you know about Edward Hicks?   What is a fatling?

11:8 Is there any significance to “asps” and “adders”?  Is this an allusion to any particular serpent or serpents?

11:9 Who will not hurt? What is “knowledge of the LORD”? Does “earth” refer to people or the planet and all its inhabitants, human and otherwise?

11:10 What does it mean for anyone to “stand as a signal”? Do “people” and “nations” suggest a universalism?

PSALM - PSALM 72:1-7, 18-19

Why do you think this Psalm, out of all of them, was chosen to pair with the Isaiah Reading?

72:1 Which king?  Which son?

72:2 Echoes of Isaiah 11:4?

72:3 Does this passage have any implication regarding mountain top removal mining?

72:4 More preference for the poor, needy and oppressed.  Who is the “He”?  Does this passage have any implication regarding the systemic weakening of our social safety net?

72:5 How can a king live so long?  Is this mere poetic hyperbole?

72:6 What is being asked for here?

72:7 When would the moon be no more?  What are we missing in verses 8-17?

72:18 What are the “wondrous things” the LORD does?
72:19 How can the LORD’s name be blessed when the LORD’s name is not spoken?  Why the double Amen?

SECOND READING - ROMANS 15:4-13

15:4 When were “the former days”?  What writings are included in and meant by “the Scriptures”?

15:5 What does living in harmony look like?  Is this another lectionary echo of Isaiah 11:6-9?

15:6 I hear echoes of Psalm 72:19.

15:7 How did Christ welcome us?

15:8 Was Christ a “a servant” of only the circumcised, or the uncircumcised as well? What promise was given to the patriarchs?  What about the matriarchs?

15:9-12 What is being quoted in this verse and in the following verses?

15:12 Is this a quote of Isaiah 11:1?

15:13 A verse often used liturgically as a blessing/benediction.  Is it Trinitarian?

GOSPEL - MATTHEW 3:1-12

3:1 When were “those days”?  I prefer to refer to “John the Baptizer” rather than “John the Baptist”.  What does it mean that John “appeared”?  What is the symbolic meaning of “wilderness”?

3:2 Note that John proclaims “the kingdom of heaven has come near”, not will or is coming near.  What is “the kingdom of heaven” and what does it mean that it “has come near”?

3:3 Where in Isaiah would you find this quote?  Did John’s appearing in the wilderness lend itself to referring to this passage from Isaiah, or did this passage from Isaiah suggest, after the fact, that the wilderness is where John had to appear?  Must “locusts” refer to insects?

3:4 What is the significance of John’s wardrobe?

3:5 It sounds like John’s preaching station was a popular destination. 

3:6 How do we reconcile John’s act of baptizing with later Christian understandings of the sacrament?

3:7 Are you surprised that “many Pharisees and Sadducees” were coming to John for baptism? Could John’s invective perhaps be more a reflection of Matthew’s perspective than John’s?

3:8 Good advice, regardless of who is being addressed.  What fruit is worthy of repentance?

3:9 How do we reconcile this verse with Romans 15:8?  I recall that both John and Jesus had some interesting things to say about stones.

3:10 Note that “ax” is singular while “trees” is plural.  What is the metaphorical fire?  When the tree is cut down at the root, will a shoot come out from the remaining stump? (see Isaiah 11:1-10)

3:8-10 Is John still talking to only the Pharisees and Sadducees, or also to the people of Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region along the Jordan?

3:11 What is the difference between water on the one hand and the Holy Spirit and fire on the other hand?  In light of this verse, what reasons can you think of to explain why Christians still baptize with water?

3:12 What is a winnowing fork and what is it used for?  What is a threshing floor?  What is chaff? Does the imagery of this verse in any way follow the imagery of verse 8 and verse 10?  Does the imagery of verse 8 and 10 foreshadow this verse?

3:11-12 while in verse 2 we learn that “the kingdom of heaven has come near”, in this verse we shift to the present and future tense:  one is coming, he will baptize, he will clear, he will gather, he will burn. Why the shift in tense?

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, December 1, 2013, the First Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations. Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience. Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website.


FOR AN UPDATED AND REVISED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK

PREFACE:
Today’s Readings are for the First Sunday of Advent, which means this is the first Sunday of a new Liturgical year and the beginning of a new lectionary cycle, “Year A” or the year of Matthew. Preachers and Teachers new to the Revised Common Lectionary and Lectionary based preaching, teaching and Bible study may not be aware that each cycle in the three-year Lectionary cycle focuses on a different Synoptic Gospel. Year A is the year of Matthew. Year B is the year of Mark. Year C is the year of Luke. Passages from John appear in all three cycles, especially during Lent and Easter. Thus, preachers and teachers, for their own edification, preparation and as a spiritual discipline, might read the entire Gospel of Matthew as soon as practical. They might also read a brief and broad theological commentary on Matthew, all in preparation for a year of preaching, teaching and liturgy.

I used to think of Advent as a bi-focal season. On the one hand, we look back and prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, or his first coming. On the other hand we, we look forward and prepare to welcome Christ at his return, or his second coming. I have recently come to think of Advent as a tri-focal season. With the Hebrews we see a longing for the first coming of the Messiah. With Christians throughout the centuries we also rejoice and celebrate the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth, but we also prepare to welcome him when he returns, whatever that return means and looks like to you.

How do these three foci influence our interpretations of Advent Readings? Can we focus on each reading using all three lenses or do some readings lend themselves to one lens more than the others? Are we perhaps missing anything by consciously or unconsciously limiting ourselves to only one or two viewpoints? What other viewpoints might there be that we have not considered?

Speaking of celebrations, this blog post marks the second time for me to ruminate on the first readings in the three years cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary, thus the name change from Lectionary Ruminations to Lectionary Ruminations 2.0! About the day and hour when I will no longer write and post my ruminations, no one knows. Until that unexpected hour, I am glad to begin Year A with this First Sunday of Advent post and to initiate the new Liturgical Year with Lectionary Ruminations 2.0.

FIRST READING - ISAIAH 2:1-5
2:1 I find it interesting that biblical prophecies are introduced in a variety of ways. Some prophets receive a word, some hear a word, and others see a vision. How does Amos “see” “the word”? Does it make any difference that Isaiah was the son of Amoz?

2:2 Does “in the days to come” set this Reading in the Apocalyptic genre? From our perspective, have these days yet arrived and passed? The mountain of the Lord house being established as the highest of the mountains is probably a comment about the mountain’s political and religious stature, not its geographical height, which is around 2,500 feet above sea level. What does it mean that “all the nations” shall stream to the mountain of the Lord?

2:3 In that that Jerusalem is sacred to three faiths and people make pilgrimages there, this prophecy seems to have been fulfilled. How does this vision inform the teaching ministry of the church and the church’s involvement in higher education?

2:4 What is a plowshare? What is a pruning hook? How can Christians in an urbanized setting far removed from any agriculture find meaning in implements of war being transformed into agricultural tools? Perhaps a modern image might be “They shall transform their nuclear weapons programs into building nuclear reactors for producing electricity!

2:5 What does it mean to “walk in the light of the LORD”? How does the image of “walking in the light” add to our observance and celebration of Advent?

PSALM - PSALM 122:1-9
122:1 This verse seems to echo Isaiah 2:3. Does this first verse establish this Psalm as a Psalm of Ascents? As worship attendance declines it seems that more and more people are not glad to be invited to go to the house of the LORD.

122:2 Is this an allusion to standing on holy ground or within a protected environment?

122:3 What is the meaning of “firmly bound together”?

122:4 Note that here “the tribes go up” whereas in Isaiah 2:2 “all the nations shall stream” to the mountain of the Lord. The Psalmist may have envisioned only Jews going up to Jerusalem, yet today adherents of three faiths, and non-adherents as well, go up to Jerusalem. How does one give thanks to the name of the LORD when the name of the LORD is not to be pronounced?

122:5 Why is “thrones” plural? Who sits on these thrones?

122:6-7 Jerusalem certainly needs our prayers today. Do you ever pray for the Peace of Jerusalem? How do the very recent conversations with Iran inform our prayers for the peace of Jerusalem? What is the meaning of “Jerusalem”? Think “salem” and “shalom”.

122:8 Are the Psalmist’s relatives and friends living in Jerusalem? Do you know anyone presently living in Jerusalem?

122:9 How does one seek good for Jerusalem? As we pray for Jerusalem and seek its good, does it matter that the Temple still lies in ruins?

SECOND READING - ROMANS 13:11-14
13:11 The phrase “Besides this” suggests we are missing the previous point. Can we properly interpret this passage without reading what came before? The salvation alarm clock is ringing. While the final clause is true, how much closer is a mere two thousand years compared to an unknown timeline?

13:12 “The day is near” points me back to Psalm 112:9. What are “works of darkness”? What is the “armor of light”? Why am I thinking of the Dead Sea “Ear Scroll”?

13:13 While “drunkenness” stands alone, note the pairing of “debauchery and licentiousness” and “quarreling and jealousy”. What is debauchery? What is licentiousness?

 13:14 Is the admonition to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” a reference to baptism, or something else? Is putting “on the Lord Jesus Christ” an illusion to baptism? How can we realistically “make no provision for the flesh”? Is this a call to asceticism? Is there a difference between maintaining health of the flesh and gratifying its desires? Why am I hungry for a Graham Cracker and a bowl of Kellogg corn flakes?

GOSPEL - MATTHEW24:36-44
24:36 “that day and hour” certainly places us in the Apocalyptic genre. There is an interesting juxtaposition between not knowing “that day and hour” within the context of the liturgical and secular calendar. While no one knows “that day and hour” we all know that Christmas is now only twenty-four days away, and still most of us will not be fully prepared when that day finally arrives. Is “the Son” that does not know the day and hour the “Son of Man”?

24:37 How will the “days of Noah” be like “the coming of the Son of Man”? Those with a theological education will undoubtedly understand the “Son of Man” reference but I wonder how most people in the pews and in the Church School Class will hear and understand it. How much do teachers and preachers need to translate theological terms and phrases and theological baggage such as “Son of Man” when we encounter them in Scripture or can we simply gloss over them? See Daniel 7:13.

24:38-39 These verse answer, somewhat, the question about the “days of Noah” and “the coming of the Son of Man” comparison, but what do they teach us?

24:40-41 More agrarian imagery that we may need to translate into the postindustrial and more urban context. At one time these verses seemed to be some of the favorite among apocalyptically minded evangelicals employing “the rapture” as an evangelism tool. Since I have lost touch with that segment of the church, I wonder if they are still popular passages. It seems that in both verses people are still going about their daily routines in spite of Christ’s assumed imminent return.

24:42 This is good advice regardless of one’s position on the theological spectrum. On the other hand, I am also familiar with Aesop’s fable about the boy who cried wolf.

24:43 How does this follow from what proceeds it? The Lord might come like a thief but he is not a thief. The emphasis is on being spiritually awake. We want the Lord to break into our homes and lives.

24:44 The phrase “be ready” seems synonymous with “keep awake”. Consider again the question I raised regarding verse 37. There seems to be a tension between being told that the “Son of Man is coming” but not knowing when he will come. It sounds a little like making an appointment for repair service in the home on a certain day but not knowing what time the repair person will arrive, or knowing that UPS or Fed-Ex will deliver a package on a certain day but not knowing what time. What is a healthy balance between certainty and ambiguity?

Revisiting Rocky Point in West Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness

            One of my favorite summits is not a summit at all.  It is a barren rocky outcrop projecting more than a hundred feet from a ridge, its farthest edge offering a magnificent view of the valley over a thousand feet below.  One guidebook describes it as offering “spectacular views from a huge flat (but heavily dissected) rock outcrop … an impressive outcrop of Pottsville sandstone that offers the most spectacular views in the S (forested) portion of Dolly Sods Wilderness.  Magnificent view of Red Creek Canyon makes the scramble to the top of the rocks worth the effort.”  (Monongahela National Forest Hiking Guide, 8^th Edition, p. 183)

            I first hiked to and fell in love with this pseudo summit and the wooded campsite located less than a hundred yards away during a late December backpacking trip in 1976.  It is one of my favorite places in the whole world and one of the places I go in my mind when I want to relax and reconnect with nature.  I recently hiked there again after not having been there for over six years.

            When I remember my recent trek I recall standing in the nearby campsite amidst a grove of tall pine trees.  Having been planted in rows decades ago, the trees ascend forty to sixty feet into an almost cloudless November blue sky, their trunks three to five feet apart.  With no branches on the bottom third of their trunks, I walk easily amongst them.  The trunks remind me of columns in a cathedral, columns supporting a ceiling of green pine boughs.

            Decades of dead and decaying fallen pine needles form a soft spongy pad underneath a carpet of day old snow an inch or two deep.  The scent of fresh pine above and around me as well as the decaying matter below my feet speak of a rich vibrancy—life amidst death. At an elevation of nearly 3,700 feet, this evergreen grove is an ethereal sanctuary.

            On the nearby exposed Rocky Point, perched above the valley floor from which I had hiked the 3 ¾ miles, prevailing westerly winds sometimes whistle and sometimes howl as it flows through the needles, branches and trunks of wind stunted one sided pine trees, their branches pointing east with the wind.  Hawks and other birds occasionally soar overhead.  At times I can hear their call.  I notice a jet’s vapor trail in the distance to the east, its u-shaped curve suggesting it was left by a military jet on maneuvers.

            There were no cars in the parking area when I hit the trail three hours earlier.  I have not seen a human since I left the car.  The only evidence of civilization is a few fire scorched rocks and logs, unnecessary remains and reminders of campfires in the camping area, a couple communication towers off in the distance, and jet trails high in the sky.  The jet trails and communication towers cannot be helped.  Adherence to Leave No Trace principles could have prevented the camp fire scars.

            I experience this peaceful wilderness setting high in the Alleghany Mountains as a thin place where the veil between the worlds is as thin as gossamer.  It is a liminal place where earth meets sky and I find renewal and communion with the sublime.

            On the hike back down to the car, following fresh bear tracks in the day old snow still covering the trail, tracks that had not been there four hours earlier, heightens my awareness but does not diminish from my sense of having been one with the wilderness.  I will undoubtedly return to Rocky Point many times in my active imagination, and hopefully in reality sooner than later.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, November 24, 2013, Christ the King (Reign of Christ) Sunday (Year C)

Posted each Thursday, Lectionary Ruminations focuses on the Scripture Readings, taken from the New Revised Standard Version, for the following Sunday per the Revised Common Lectionary. Comments and questions are intended to encourage reflection for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead. (Other references may be linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.) 

FIRST READING - JEREMIAH 23:1-6

23:1 Who are these shepherds?  Why would any shepherd destroy and scatter sheep they are responsible for?

23:2 How have the shepherds scattered the flock?  How have the shepherds driven sheep away?  How do we read this passage after nearly a half century of membership decline in the mainline church?

23:4 It sounds that in the midst of the failure of the old order shepherds that God will raise up new shepherds in their place.  What might this mean in a mainline church where many Teaching Elders (Ministers) are younger than the governing body of Ruling Elders?

23:5 Will this righteous branch be like a new shepherd, replacing the old shepherds?  From a Christian perspective, have these coming days already been fulfilled? 

23:6 How else might we translate “The LORD is our righteousness”?

PSALM - LUKE 1:68-79

The PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website identifies this as a Gospel reading but it functions as a Psalm or Canticle.  Does it make a difference how we label or identify it?

1:68 Who is speaking? Why does this sound so familiar?

1:69 Does it make a difference that this mighty savior has been raised up “in” the house of David rather than “from” the house of David?

1:70 All the prophets or just some of the prophets?

1:71 So this savior saves from enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.  Note that sin is not mentioned.

1:72 Which covenant is being remembered?

1:73 What oath did God swear?  Why would God swear an oath?  What would be our recourse if God did not keep this oath?

1:74 Does this mean that we are saved for service?

1:75 How do we serve in holiness and righteousness?

1:76 What child?  Is the profit going to prepare the way for the LORD God, or for the mighty savior?

1:77 What is salvation if we are not aware of it?  How does forgiveness of sins save from enemies and from the hand of all that hate us? (see 1:71)

1:78 Is there a difference between mercy and tender mercy?  Is tender mercy different from stern mercy?  I love the poetic and metaphorical “dawn from on high” because it leaves so much to the creative imagination.

1:79 How do we handle the image of sitting in darkness with racial sensitivity?  How does the image of giving light to those who sit in darkness naturally flow from the image of the dawn from on high?  Can we be guided in the way of peace without light?

SECOND READING - COLOSSIANS 1:11-20

1:11 This verse reminds me of a modern Celtic caim by David Adam which includes the petition “Keep strength within, keep weakness out.”

1:12 is this the same light as in Luke 1:79?  Who re the saints in the light and what is their inheritance?

1:13 Why do I keep being drawn back to Luke 1:79.  I am also being drawn to the John’s Prologue.

1:14 Is redemption synonymous with salvation?

1:15 How can anything serve as an image of something, or someone that is invisible?  What is the difference between being the firstborn and pre-existence?

1:16 Does this verse justify equating Christ with the Sophia of Proverbs?  What does it mean that “in him” all things were created, and created “through him and for him”?

1:17 I would love for a theoretical astro-physicist to reflect and expound on this image, especially as it relates to cosmology and cosmogony.  Perhaps this could be worked into a future episode of The Big Bang Theory.

1:18 Where else have we encountered this body metaphor? Does being the firstborn of the dead have anything to do with being the firstborn of all creation? (see 1:15)

1:19 What is the meaning of “dwell”?  Does this suggest anything less than permanent?  How does this relate to essence?

1:20 Why do all things need to be reconciled to God?  How can peace be made through the blood of Christ’s cross?

GOSPEL - LUKE23:33-43

23:33 When who came?  What place is called “The Skull”?  Who crucified Jesus? 

23:34 For who was Jesus praying?  What does it mean to cast lots?

23:35 How had Jesus saved others?  Why did Jesus not save himself?

23:36 Is “mocking” the same as the “scoffed” of the previous verse? How is offering sour wine a type of mocking?

23:37 Is this a mere re-phrasing of 23:35?

23:38 How does this inscription negate the questions raised in verses 35 and 37?

23:39 Once again, this sounds like an echo of verses 35 as well as verse 37.

23:40 What are we to make of the juxtaposition of these two criminals and their statements and attitudes?

23:41 How did this criminal now that Jesus had done nothing wrong?

23:42 Why am I once again thinking of The Jesus Prayer and The Philokelia?

23:43 What are we to make of the “today”?  What is paradise?