Monday, October 26, 2020

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for All Saints Day (Year A)

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.

REVELATION 7:9-17
17:9 After what?  How many is a great multitude?  Was anyone left out? Whose throne? Who or what is the Lamb? Why were they robed in white? Why were they holding palm branches?
17:10 What does it mean to proclaim hat salvation belongs to God and the the Lamb?
17:11 How many angels? We no angels missing? Who are the elders and how many were there? What or who are the four living creatures? What does it mean to fall on one's face and what does it symbolize?
17:12 How many attributes are ascribed to God? What does the number symbolize?
17:13 I wonder which elder. Maybe their name was Petros! Okay, where did they come from?
17:14 Why ask a question if you already know the answer? What is the great ordeal?  How can washing any clothing in blood make the clothing white?
17:15 I thought God did not need a temple. Were the elders constantly worshiping?
17:16 When did they hunger and thirst? When did the sun and scorching heat strike them?
17:17 How can the Lam be at the center of the throne if God is sitting on the throne? What is the water of life? Why and when were the elders crying?

PSALM 34:1-10, 22
34:1 Does "all times" mean all day and night? See Revelation 17:15. Is it possible to eat and drink while praising the Lord?
34:2 I sense a juxtaposition of boasting and humbleness. What was the Psalmist's soul boasting about? Who are the humble?
34:3 How can we exalt the Lord's name when we are not to pronounce the Lord's name?
34:4 What are your fear? What are you afraid of?
34:5 Do those who worship in the sanctuary where you worship look like they have radiant faces?
34:6 When has your soul cried? What troubles have you been saved from?
34:7 Which angel would this be? What does mean for an angel to encamp around someone?
34:8 How can we taste that the Lord is good? What does the Lord taste like?
34:9 What does it mean to fear the Lord. Are you familiar with Rudolph Otto's "mysterium tremendum et fascinans"   and concept of the numinous?
34:10 Who are the young lions? What does it mean to seek the Lord?
34:22 What does it mean to redeem a life? Who are the Lord's servants? WHat does it mean to take refuge in the Lord?

1 John 3:1-3
3:1 How do we see love? Are we just called the children of God or are we really the children of God? What does it mean to be a child of God. Whom is the writer calling children of God?
3:2 What were we before we were the children of God? Who will be revealed?
3:3 Is it hope that purifies? What does it mean to be pure?

MATTHEW 5:1-12
5:1 Why the plural crowds and not singular crowd? Why might have Jesus gone up the mountain? Would the disciples not come to him until after he sat?
5:2 What other ways are there to teach other than by speaking?
5:3 What are other ways to translate the Greek other than "Blessed?" Might "Happy" be an option? How do you pronounce "blessed?" What does it mean to be poor in spirit and who are they that are poor in spirit? Is it possible to be rich in spirit?
5:4 For what, do people mourn?
5:5 Who are the meek? How could they inherit the earth?
5:6 What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? What is righteousness?
5:7 What does it mean to be merciful?
5:8 What does it mean to be pure in heart?
5:9 What is a peacemaker and how does one make peace. Presbyterians in the PCUSA might wish to recall the 1980 report "Peacemaking: The Believer's Calling."
5:10 Who today are being persecuted for righteousness?
5:11 Have you ever been falsely reviled, persecuted, and/or been the object of evil talk because of Jesus? 
5:12 What prophets were persecuted?

ADDENDUM
I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Pastor of the Bethlehem United Presbyterian Church, Wheeling, WV. Sunday Worship at Bethlehem begins at 10:45 AM. Here is Bethlehem United's Facebook address: https://www.facebook.com/Bethlehem-United-Presbyterian-Church-102482088303980

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