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: 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 seminary say that the Doctrine of the
Trinity is not Biblical but it is essential. In the Roman’s Reading one can
fond 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?
6:1 In what year did King
Uzziah die and why does it matter? Should Isaiah’s vision be literalized?
6:2 What are seraphs? Consider Numbers 21:4-9. And “feet might be a
euphemism for what?
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 is the danger of seeing the LORD of hosts?
6:6 How can a figurative/symbolic
live coal blot out sin?
6:8 “us”? Why am I thinking
of Dan Schutte?
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?
29:6 What, or where, is
Sirion?
29:8 Where is Kadesh? Is
there anything special or significant about its wilderness?
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?
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”?
3:1 Were not all Pharisees
leaders?
3:2 Consider John 4:6-7 as
juxtaposition. We? For whom, or of whom, is Nic speaking? What signs?
3:3, 5 Is being born from
above the same as being born of water and Spirit?
3:4 What are “re-birthing” therapies?
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?
3:8 I think Jesus was not
referring to direction. So we 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.
ADDENDUM
A group of ministers/preachers
were sitting together at a table and discussing the Doctrine of the Trinity.
Unexpectedly, Christ appeared, pulled up a chair and sat down with them. One of the ministers/preachers explained to
Jesus how the group had been discussing the Doctrine of the Trinity, trying to
understand it, but were still perplexed, so asked Jesus “How can these things
be?” Jesus responded “Are you Christian ministers/preachers of the Word and
Sacrament and yet you do not understand these things?
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