Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the 23rd 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.

PROVERBS 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 This Reading sounds like a collection of fortune cookie inserts.

22:1 What is the history and meaning of your name?  What is your name worth? What name is above every other name?  What is “favor?”

22:2 Is this all the rich and poor have in common?

22:8 Let all those running for office this November beware. While this seems true, it seems to take time for justice to work itself out.

22:9 How are the generous blessed? Are we called to share only bread? The poor often give a higher percentage of their income than the rich.

22:22 How are the poor often robbed? Is it alright to crush the afflicted if they are not at the gate? How do we today crush the afflicted?

22:22-23 This reads like a passage for the 99% and a nation obsessed with wealth over justice for the poor and oppressed.

PSALM 125

125:1 How do you define trust? If a person had enough faith, could they move even Mount Zion? If a person had enough trust, could they never be moved?

125:2 How do the mountains surround Jerusalem? What is it about being surrounded by mountains that is good news? I wonder how people who have lived all their life in a flat, mountain less land, might respond to this passage.

125:3 What is a scepter and what does it symbolize?

125:4-5a Is this a theology of reward and punishment? Is there a self-fulfilling prophecy at work here?

125:5b What would peace being upon Israel look like today?

JAMES 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17

21:1 What “acts of favoritism” are being referred to?

21:2-4 Have you ever witnessed any such thing? Do many congregations still consciously or unconsciously show such favoritism? I thought this went away with the phase out of rented pews.

21:5-7 Here is some more Scripture with good news for the 99% and a word of judgment for the 1%.

21:8 Why is this law referred to as “the royal law?” What scripture is being quoted?

21:9-10 This sounds like Paul rather than James.

(21:11) This verse seems to me to get it backwards.

(21:12) What is “law of liberty?”

(21:13) How do we as individuals fail to show mercy. How do we as a church sometimes fail to show mercy? How do we as a nation often fail to show mercy?

21:14 I am hearing a refrain from last Sunday? Can faith without works save you?

21:15-16 Does James distinguish between showing compassion for other Christians and non-Christians? Is the church to treat its members differently than nonmembers?

21:17 Faith, without works, might be dead.  But what are works without faith?

MARK 7:24-37

7:24 Who set out from where?  What do you know about Tyre?  Why did Jesus not want anyone to know he was in the house? Escaping notice does not seem to be the Church’s problem today.

7:25 How do post-modern, scientifically informed people of faith handle passages like this that speak of “unclean spirits?” Had this woman not heard about Jesus before?

7:26 What difference does it make that she was a Gentile?  What does it mean that she was of Syrophoenician origin and why is it mentioned?

7:27 How do you react to the fact that Jesus said this? Was Jesus quoting something?

7:28 Let’s hope the dogs don’t eat the children while they are under the children’s table. Might dog owners and dog lovers hear this passage differently than others?

7:29 Why was her response rewarded?

7:30 How could Jesus heal someone without that person even being present for laying on of hands or to touch his cloak?

7:31 What do you know of Sidon and the region of the Decapolis? Do these geographical references really matter?

7:32 What sort of impediment do you imagine this man might have been plagued by?

7:33 Why in private?  Why put fingers in ears and touch tongues instead of laying on hands?

7:34 Why did Jesus sigh? What language is “Ephphatha?”  Where else in Scripture do we hear a world like this? What was Jesus commanding to be opened?

7:35 Note Mark’s reliance on “immediately” as in this verse and 7:25

7:36 What do you know about “the Messianic secre?t” Who did Jesus order not to tell? Was Jesus employing reverse psychology?

7:37 When was the last time you or members of the congregation you are associated with were astounded? Why does this passage have people talking about Jesus healing the deaf and mute but not the possessed?

                                                                  

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.

A Prayer in memory of John McCain

Faithful God,

We remember and give thanks for the life and public service of John McCain.

We thank you for his service to his country

            as a Naval Aviator in the Viet Nam War who was shot down, captured,

            and suffered for five years as a prisoner of war.

Though we might not have always agreed with his politics,

            we thank you for his service to his country as a member of the House of Representatives,

            a United States Senator,

            and a candidate for President of the nation he served and loved.

We pray that his life of service and dedication to duty, honor, and country

            might serve as an example for all military officers and politicians.

We pray that the civility and truth telling he displayed in public office

            might influence Republicans as well as Democrats and Independents

            as our nation faces turbulent political times and upcoming mid-tern elections.

Amen.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the 22nd 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.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13

2:8 Regarding “beloved”, see James 1:19. Who leaps upon the mountains and bounds over the hills?

2:9 Is it time for a stag party?  Whose wall? Is this stag a peeping Tom? To what would you compare your beloved?

2:10 Come away where?

2:11 What is so special about the springtime?

2:12 What are all these signs of? Whose land?

2:13 Look for “fragrance” in Psalm 45:8. I think we have a refrain at the end of this verse.

2:8-13 Can we classify this passage as spiritual erotica?

PSALM 45:1-2, 6-9

45:1 What is a goodly theme?  Why the king?   Sometimes it is easier to speak than write. See James 1:26 for more about tongues.

45:2 Who is speaking to the king?

45:6 The Psalmist was addressing the king but is now addressing God. What is the significance and symbolism of the royal scepter?

45:7 After addressing God, it seems the Psalmist is again addressing the king. What is the oil of gladness?

45:8 Do you recall the fragrance of Song of Solomon 2:13? If you wear a robe when you lead worship, is it fragrant?

45:9 What is a lady of honor? What is gold of Ophir?

JAMES 1:17-27

1:17 I am beginning to appreciate Luther wanting to omit James from the canon. I wonder where James got the “Father of lights” language.

1:18 Who gave us birth? What is the word of truth? How are we first fruits of God’s creatures?

1:19 Does the use of “beloved” in the NRSV justify pairing this reading with the First Reading? See Song of Solomon 2:8.

1:20 Do you recall any words about anger appearing in the lectionary the past few weeks? Does righteous indignation not produce righteousness?

1:21 How do you understand the reference to “the implanted word?”

1:22 While we can “hear” but never “do,” can we “do” without, in some sense, first, or at the same time, also “hearing”?

1:23 What are people who look at themselves in a mirror like? How might this relate to taking a selfie?

1:24 Is this true in your experience?

1:25 How does “the perfect law” function like a mirror? Does this verse point suggest a works righteousness?

1:26 Does this verse invite a comparison of religion to spirituality?

1:27 Is it possible to keep oneself unstained by the world without withdrawing from the world?

MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

7:1 If they came from Jerusalem, where did they come to? What is the difference between a Pharisee and a scribe?

7:2 What does it mean for something to be defiled? Were some of the disciples washing their hands before they ate and others not?

7:3-4 In the NRSV, these two verses are in parenthesis.  Why?

7:5 Was this an open ended question or one designed to trip up Jesus?

7:6 Was Jesus over reacting? Does this tie into James 1:23-26

7:7 Is any worship ever in vain?  Are not all doctrines nothing more than human precepts?

7:8 Which commandment?

7:5-11 These verses could raise an interesting dialectic between our understandings of and reliance on scripture and tradition.  While Protestants might point to the Roman Catholic reliance on tradition as something alien to Protestantism, as a protestant I readily confess that Protestants often appeal to their tradition, but it is a tradition that is not canonized and often not written down.

7:14 What is the difference between listening and understanding?

7:15 A young child once asked me if it were a sin to poop?  I did not appeal to this text when I answered “no.”

7:21-22 What is the difference between intentions and actions?  Another interesting dialect might be a comparison between ontological and teleological ethics.  Is everything in the list comparable to murder?

7:23 Juxtapose this verse with 7:15. If this is the case, can anyone be undefiled?

                                                                  

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.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the 21st Sunday of 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 KINGS 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43

8:(1, 6, 10-11) There are several optional verses that may or may not include. How will you decide to include them or not? What is your criteria for deciding.

8:(1) I wish someone would soon discover or disclose the whereabouts of the ark. Is it in Axum, or not? 8:(6) Where had the ark being kept before it was brought to the inner sanctuary?

This verse makes it sound like the cherubim were separate from the ark, but I thought the cherubim  were part of its lid.

8:(10) Why are clouds often associated with God’s glory?”  Maybe we ought to install fog generators in our sanctuaries that we can turn on to generate fog at liturgically appropriate times.

8:(11) Does the glory of the LORD ever fill your sanctuary? How would you know? How could you tell? Where is the most holy place of your sanctuary and what is the most holy item in it or there?

8:22 Was Solomon praying in the orans position? What body posture do you assume to pray? Was Solomon acting as a priest as well as a king?

8:23 This sounds like a confession of faith.

8:24 Is this a little self-serving?

8:25 So this is a conditional covenant! This is sounding a little like the divine right of kingship.

8:26 Again, this prayer could be heard as a little self-serving.

8:27 Is this not a theological conundrum, immanence vs. transcendence?

8:28 Is Solomon praying just for himself or also for the people? Is he praying that is prayer will be heard?

8:29 God has eyes?

8:30 What does Solomon mean “pray toward this place”? Should Christians pray facing Jerusalem? Which way do you face when you pray?  East, toward the sunrise,  toward Jerusalem, or any old direction?  Does it matter?

8:41-43 Do you discern any hint of universalism in these verses?

8:41 I wonder how often foreigners/non-Jews came to Jerusalem for religious/spiritual reasons.

8:42 Was this prophecy or hindsight?

8:43 Yes, to this day we refer to this structure as Solomon’s Temple, not God’s Temple. Prayers are still prayed at the Wailing Wall. Temple serve as a sort of “phone booth” connected to God? Can some places amplify our prayers and others mute them?

PSALM 84

84:1 Does this psalm praise God or God’s house?  Is there a difference?  Does it matter? Must sanctuaries be lovely even if not practical?

84:2 I will trade you a Christian Cloister Walk for a Jewish Court any day.  What do you make of “heart and flesh”?

84:3 I once heard of a church where a BB gun was used to shoot and kill a bird that had found its way into the sanctuary!

84:4 In our present context, what does it mean to “live” in God’s house?  When I hear people say that someone “lives at the church” it is usually meant in a disparaging way.

84:5 How can highways be in the heart?

84:6 What do you know about the valley of Baca? Where is it?

84:7 What does the psalmist mean by “strength?”

84:8 This could be used as a refrain or conclusion to almost any prayer.

84:9 What shield?

84:10 I would rather be a servant in heaven than a ruler in hell.

84:11 How does this verse illuminate verse 84:9?  How is God a sun?  How is God a shield? What does it mean to walk uprightly?

84:12 Are those who do not trust the LORD of hosts unhappy?

EPHESIANS 6:10-20

6:10 Why “finally?”  What has come before this?

6:11 How does this verse illuminate Psalm 84:9 and 11?  Could this imagery be too militaristic for some?  How do you deal with the assumption that we are engaged in a struggle with the devil? Note that armor is generally a protective suit. It is defensive. It is not offensive.

6:12 What is your take on Spiritual warfare?  You might find some guidance from the writings of Walter Wink, or even Carl Jung.

6:13 What is the whole armor of God?  Where can I buy it?  Does it come with a money back guarantee? What does it mean to “Stand firm?”

6:14-17 Of all the armor mentioned, the sword is the only offensive weapon, and it is really not armor.  All the rest is defensive. I wonder how was this passaged used or misused during The Crusades.

6:14 How is a belt armor?

6:15 in the midst of this militaristic imagery we find the mention of peace!

6:16 Is the evil one the devil?

6:17 Is the sword of the Spirit a two edged sword?

6:18 What other way is there to pray?

6:19 Do you pray for the preacher when you are in the pews?  Do the people in the pews pray for you when you preach?  What is the “mystery of the Gospel” and why is it a “mystery?”

6:20 Have you ever thought of yourself as an ambassador? Have you ever felt like you were in chains?

JOHN 6:56-69

6:56 Are you and the people you teach and/or preach for getting tired of all this eating flesh and drinking blood stuff, which we have been reading and hearing for several weeks, or do you and they find it fascinating?  Do not forget the etymological meaning of “ruminations?”

6:57 In our contemporary context, imagine Jesus standing before his followers and saying “Eat me!”

6:58 What other bread came down from heaven?

6:59 Does the original context/setting matter?  What if Jesus had said these things in the Athens Agora, or standing outside Le Pain Quotidian, Au Ban Pain, or Outback Steak House?

6:60 Many, but not all?  Is this still not another theological conundrum (Sorry, I like that word.  See my rumination on 1 Kings 8:27)? Do many Christians still find Jesus’ words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood difficult?

6:61 Struggling with new ideas and wrestling with tough concepts is not the same as complaining, or is that what it usually boils down to in most religious settings?  Maybe we ought and need to be offended more often by the raw, uncooked, unprocessed Gospel and intoxicating worship and preaching!

6:62 Prescient?  Reading something back into the text? Where was Jesus before?

6:63 Is Jesus backpedaling?  Is he flesh or spirit?  Is he the Word incarnate or the Word spiritualized? Why eat his flesh if flesh if flesh is useless and it is the spirit that gives life?

6:64 Okay, I know who betrayed Jesus.  But who were the ones (yes, it is plural) that did not believe? Did any of the twelve believe at this point or did they all have doubts. Did any of the twelve have doubts even after the resurrection and ascension?

6:65 So no one can come to Jesus on their own?

6:66 Can we assume that the ones who turned back are not mentioned?  No longer mentioned?  Not among “the twelve?” If they turned back, were they ever really disciples?

6:67 This is not quite a request for the strongest affirmation of faith, or affirmation of the strongest faith.

6:68 Note that Peter asks “to whom” not “where” we can go.  Are the words of eternal life the sole possession of Jesus? In other words, “Jesus, you are the best thing going.”

6:69 At least this is a better affirmation than “I do not wish to go away.”  What is the difference, if any, between belief and knowledge?  You might find Calvin’s definition of “faith” insightful as you wrestle with that last question. Does the original Greek suggest a process of coming to faith?

                                                                  

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.

Musings on Merton: Techniques Associated with Contemplation

            In chapter 29 of New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton discusses “Mental Prayer,” but I have struggled to understand what he means by that. He seems to talk about the same subject using apparent synonyms such as active forms of prayer, meditation, and systematic meditation, without ever defining his terms. By searching the internet I learned that “Mental prayer is a form of prayer recommended in the Catholic Church whereby one loves God through dialogue, meditating on God's words, and contemplation of Christ's face.”[1]

Praying in the garden!

            Merton distinguishes active forms of prayer from “infused contemplation” which he says “begins when the direct intervention of God raises this whole process of development above the level of our nature ; … But before this begins, we ordinarily have to labor to prepare ourselves … by deepening our knowledge and love of God in meditation and active forms of prayer.”[2]

            While not offering a definition of infused meditation, Merton at least notes that “meditation is a twofold discipline that has a twofold function. First it is supposed to give you sufficient control over your mind and memory and will to enable you to recollect yourself and withdrawal from exterior things and business activities and thoughts and concerns of temporal existence.”[3] This sounds to me very much like my understanding and experience of mindfulness meditation.

            Secondly, “this is the real end of meditation – it teaches you how to become aware of the presence of God.” Based on my experience and understanding, this is exactly where Christian meditation or contemplative prayer departs and goes a step beyond mindfulness mediation. It moves beyond withdrawal from exterior things to find union with God in the inner being.

            “The real purpose of meditation is this:’ writes Merton, “to teach a man how to make himself free of created things and temporal concerns, in which he finds only confusion and sorrow, and enter into a conscious and loving contact with God in which he is disposed to receive from God the help he knows he needs so badly, and to pay to God the praise and honor and thanksgiving and love which it has now become his joy to give.”[4]

            Like many other Christian writers who have written about Christian meditation, contemplation, and centering prayer, Merton has more to say about its theological foundation and benefits than he has to say about the practical “how to” nuts and bolts of actually practicing it. I have found that many secular and Buddhist authors writing about meditation offer more practical advice than Merton and other Christian writers have offered.

            About the only practical advice I found in New Seeds of Contemplation was in chapter 33, where Merton writes about the “Journey through the Wilderness.” There is in that chapter an off handed remark referring to “your half-hour of meditation”[5] and what appears to me to be a paragraph about what I consider a form of Lectio Divina.[6]

            While Merton offers little practical guidance here, (and I wished he offered much more), he does provide in this chapter what I consider the clearest and most succinct definition of Contemplative prayer. It “is a deep and simplified activity in which the mind and will rest in a unified and simple concentration upon God, turned to Him, intent upon Him and absorbed in His own light, with a simple gaze which is perfect adoration because it silently tells God that we have left everything else and desire even to leave our own selves for His sake, and that He alone

is important to us, He alone is our desire and our life, and nothing else can give us any Joy.”[7] I say “Amen” to that.

            Even if you resonate with the above definition of contemplative prayer, as I do, you may still be seeking some practical “how to” advice from Merton. For that, I send you to Jim Forest’s fine Merton biography, Living With Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton. There you will find brief description of Merton’s daily rhythm of life in his hermitage, including a description of Merton’s “method of meditation” and reference to Merton’s writing about “the Jesus Prayer.” [8] I found in those few pages some of the most practical and down to earth descriptions of monastic life, prayer, meditation, and contemplation I have ever read, whether by Merton or anyone else.

              Here is the link to the introductory post in the series.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_prayer.

[2] New Seeds of Contemplation, 214.

[3] Ibid., 217.

[4] Ibid., 218.

[5] Ibid., 242.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid., 243.

[8] Jium Forest, Living With Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991, 2008) , 190-192.