A Prayer for National Unity During a Pandemic on Baptism of the Lord Sunday

 

Composed by the Reverend Dr. John Edward Harris © 2021
 
See Genesis 1:1-5 and Mark 1:4-11
 
God of creation,
you began your creating by separating,
separating light from darkness,
and separating the water under the expanse from the water above it,
and calling it good.
 
But we, your children,
especially your children in the United States of America,
are now also separated, too separated, and that separation is not good.
We pledge to be “One Nation under God,”
but we act like many nations.
We call ourselves “The United States of America,”
but we label ourselves as blue, and red, and purple states.
We aspire to be “out of many, one,”
but we are fractured, and we are hurting, and some of us are scared.
 
We have separated ourselves into fortified political camps we call
Republican, Democrat, and Independent.
Racism and a history of slavery and segregation
divides us between black and white.
Xenophobia splits us into an America of European heritage verses
Americans of Asian, Hispanic, and even Native American descent.
The growing inequality between rich and poor
divides us into the 1% of obscenely rich and the 99% of the rest of us.
 
God of the Incarnation,
you came among us as light and to show us the light,
as truth to show us the way, the truth, and the life,
and through your Apostle Paul
you called us to break down barriers,
and to live as one body with many parts.
 
Centuries after John the Baptizer proclaimed a baptism of repentance,
may we hear and answer his call,
remembering our own Baptism as just the beginning of a life of repentance.
 
May your Spirit once again sweep over the earth,
not to separate,
but to unite,
not to create,
but to re-create,
to lead us to our true selves,
created in the image of God.
 
During political uncertainty and deep soul searching,
we pray for both President Trump and President-Elect Biden.
We pray for a peaceful inauguration and transition of power on January 20^th.
We pray for Democratic, Republican, and Independent Members of Congress,
and all federal, state, and local elected office holders,
that they will uphold their oaths to defend the constitution.
We give thanks for,
and pray for,
the Judicial branch of our Government,
and the Judges who defended not only the Constitution but the truth.
 
In the middle of a pandemic that is stretching our healthcare system to the breaking point,
and testing the stamina of health care workers,
we pray not only that vaccines can quickly be produced for all who want them,
but also swiftly distributed to all who want them,
so that we can put Covid-19 behind us and regain some semblance of normalcy sooner than later.
 
We pray this,
and numerous unspoken but heartfelt prayers,
in the name of Jesus Christ or risen Lord.
And let all the people say … Amen.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the Baptism of the Lord (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.

ISAIAH 43:1-7

43:1 Who is initially speaking? To whom is the LORD speaking? What is the relationship, if any, between redemption and calling by name?

43:2 What waters are being referred to?  When Christians read this passage considering the Sacrament of baptism, are we misreading the Hebrew Scriptures, or simply exercising Hebrew Midrash from a Christian perspective?  I wonder how post Shoah Jews read and interpret this passage.

43:3 PC(USA) Presbyterians: Do not forget the opening lines of A Brief Statement of Faith!  How was Egypt given as a ransom?  Why the mention of Ethiopia and Seba?

43:4 I like the first part of this verse, but the second part rubs me the wrong way. If the LORD is giving away people and nations, to whom or what is the LORD giving them to?

43:5-6 Note that all four cardinal directions are named. These verses remind me of an invitation to the Lord’s Table: “They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.” It also reminds me of some Native American traditions relating to the four winds and/or four directions.

43:6 Note that sons and daughters are both mentioned, a rare inclusive verse!

43:7 Could this verse not be used to argue for universalism?  This verse could provide an interesting juxtaposition in relation to the exclusiveness of Christian Baptism.

PSALM 29

29:1 What does it mean to ascribe?  How do we ascribe?  What, or which, heavenly beings are addressed here?

29:2 Do you worship in holy splendor?  What does holy splendor look, smell, sound, feel, and taste like?

29:3 What does the voice of the LORD sound like?  Would you recognize it if you heard it?  Being a sailor and kayaker, I really like and relate to this verse.  How do people who are land locked and had never experienced the ocean or other large body of water understand this verse?

29:4 With a voice like this the LORD deserves a contract as an announcer and/or commercial spokesperson.

29:5-9 Think of the scene/passage in The Hobbit where Bilbo and the dwarves find themselves amidst giants “hurling rocks at one another for a game, and catching them and tossing them down into darkness where they are smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang.” This passage is not talking about a “April showers” God but rather a “summer thunderstorm” God.

29:6 Where is Sirion and why is it mentioned?

29:7 Is this a reference to lightening or a volcanic eruption?

29:8 Where is the wilderness of Kadesh?

29:9 Who say “Glory?”

29:10 How are people in flood ravaged areas hearing this?

29:10-11 How do we reconcile images of a storm god with peace?

29:1-11 There is no still small voice here, no safe, domesticated God. This Psalm is about the God of fierce landscapes, the God of raw power represented by severe and intense natural phenomena. I doubt many would be comfortable welcoming this God into their clean, climate controlled, predictable sanctuaries.

ACTS 8:14-17

8:14 Is the Jerusalem setting important?  What if the apostles had been someplace else other than Jerusalem when they heard this news? Was it surprising or problematic that Samaria (not Samaritans?) had accepted the word of God?  Why was James not sent?

8:15 Does this sound a little judgmental to you? How it is possible that someone accepts the word of God without receiving the Holy Spirit?

8:16 Who is this verse talking about?  Why, in the NRSV, is this verse in parenthesis? How does this verse challenge some who insist on baptizing “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?” or else it is not a Christian, Trinitarian, Baptism?

8:17 What is so special about the laying on of hands?  Is it possible for a person or a people to receive the Holy Spirit without being baptized? Is either prayer or the laying on of hands not enough? Must prayer and the laying on of hands be combined? What is the difference between “baptism in the name of Jesus” and “baptism in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?”

LUKE 3:15-17, 21-22

3:15 What people?  When was the last time people in the pews of churches you know were filled with expectation?  Why would people think John could be the Messiah?

3:16 What is so special about the thong of a sandal?  Is the doublet “Holy Spirit and fire” merely poetic, or something more?

3:17 What is a winnowing fork and what is it used for?  What is a threshing floor and what is it used for?  What is chaff?  How do we preach the Gospel in an urban environment where all people know about wheat is that it comes in five pound bags of ground flour and they probably have no idea what the imagery of this passage is communicating?  Why was chaff burned?  Does this passage require the existence of a fire filled hell? Is this unquenchable fire related to the Holy Spirit and fire of the previous verse?

3:21 Really?  All the people?  Do you think this is an exaggeration, a hyperbole?  What does it mean for heaven (singular, not plural) to be opened?

3:22 So the Holy Spirit was someplace over the Jordan River, on the other side of earth from people along a declination of plus or minus 180 degrees?  What is the meaning of “bodily form?”  If in some ways it was like a dove but not really a dove, how was it different? What might a dove symbolize? Whose voice came from heaven and what did it sound like?  Where and when might we hear these words again?

                                                                  

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 Baptism of the Lord (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.

GENESIS 1:1-5

1:1 There are several ways the verb can be translated.  Is it “when God created” or “when God began to create” or something else altogether?  What difference does it make?  Take a close look at the user notes in one or two study Bibles, or better yet, the gleanings and notes in The Torah.  Why is this passage paired with Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism?

1:2 What is the Hebrew word for “wind” and how else can the word be translated? Where did the waters come from?

1:3 What, if any, is the significance of light being the first thing created?

1:4 What if God saw that the light was not good? How did God separate the light from the darkness?

1:5 Can there be day without night, or night without day?

1:1-5 How does one preach/teach this passage in a post Copernican and postmodern world, especially considering there is at least one other Biblical (and different) account of creation?

PSALM 29

29:1 Who are the heavenly beings?

29:2 What is the name of the LORD? What is holy splendor?

29:3 What does the voice of the LORD sound like? Are these the waters of creation, the waters of the Exodus, or some other waters?

29:4 How are power and majesty related?

29:5 Is there anything special about the cedars of Lebanon?

29:6 What and where is Sirion?

29:7 How can a voice flash flames?

29:8 Where is Kadesh?

29:9 Has a storm ever compelled you to say “Glory!”?

29:10 How can anything sit enthroned over a flood?

29:11 How can the LORD, revealed in the storm, bless people with peace, when storms are anything but peaceful?

29:3-11 How can one teach/preach using storm god imagery while recognizing that storm god imagery is not the only imagery applied to the LORD?  Sleeping under a small tarp in the wilderness during a night time thunder and lightning storm and hiking on a high wilderness ridge during a daytime thunder and lightning storm has greatly influenced how I read this passage.  What are your experiences of storms and how do those experiences influence how you understand this passage? How might survivors of recent hurricanes read these passages?

ACTS 19:1-7

19:1 What do you know about Apollos?  Why does Paul mention him? Where is Ephesus? Was Paul surprised to find some disciples or was he expecting to find some disciples?

19:2 How could someone be a disciple and never have heard about the Holy Spirit? Why would Paul be asking this question?

19:3 Were these disciples actually baptized by John? If one was baptized by John and later became a disciple of Jesus, would they have to be re-baptized in the name of Jesus?

19:4 How did John’s baptism differ from baptism in the name of Jesus?

19:5 Note that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, not in “the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

19:5-6 Did Paul baptize them with water or simply lay his hands on them?  What does it mean to speak in tongues?  What does it mean to prophesy?

19:7 “About” seems to be a relatively general term while “twelve” seems to be very specific and perhaps points to the twelve tribes of Israel and “the twelve” disciples of Jesus.

MARK 1:4-11

1:4 I much prefer the descriptive phrase “John the baptizer” rather than the more usual “John the Baptist.”   At least Mark agrees with Acts regarding a description of John’s baptism.

1:5 “All the people of Jerusalem” seems to be hyperbole.

1:6 Where does this imagery come from and what does it point to?  Might locusts refer to something other than bugs?

1:7 As I have asked in a previous rumination, what is so special about the thong of a sandal?

1:8 Might this be some literary foreshadowing, a reading of later developments back into the text?

1:9 When were those days?

1:10 What do the heavens being torn apart look like?  Is there a difference between the Spirit “descending like a dove” and “descending as a dove”?  Did anyone other than Jesus see these things?

1:11 Did anyone other than Jesus hear this voice? What did the voice sound like? Where and when will we read these or similar words again?

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

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for The Baptism of the Lord (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.

ISAIAH 42:1-9

42:1 In Isaiah’s original context, whom would Isaiah identify as the servant? Was the Spirit put on him because he was already a servant, or did he become a servant because the spirit was put upon him? In light of today’s Gospel Reading, who is the servant, John the Baptizer or Jesus?

42:2 Why does this matter?

42:3 What is a “bruised reed”? Why would a dimly burning wick be quenched?

42:4 This is the third occurrence of the word “justice” (42:1 and 42:3).  What is the nature of this justice?

42:5 Now that we have the formulaic “Thus say God, the LORD”, might we ask who was speaking in verses 1-4?  I like the pairing of “breath” and “spirit”. Which creation account, if either, does Isaiah allude to?

42:6-7 To whom is the LORD speaking? Does this passage at all inform any doctrine of call? Note the plural “nations”! Could the dark prison be a metaphor?

42:8 What is the name of the LORD?

42:9 Change is difficult.  Are most people in the pews willing and ready to accept that former things have come to pass?  What are the new things that the LORD now declares?

PSALM 29

29:1 Who are the “heavenly beings”?  Are there heavenly beings in addition to angels, cherubim and seraphim?

29:2 What is the LORD’s name (See Isaiah 42:8)? What is “holy splendor”?

29:3 Is the Psalmist alluding to the first creation account or simply alluding to the attributes and praise of the God of the storm?  Might we find some some baptismal imagery and language here? 

29:4-10 I love loud, crashing thunder and bright lightning streaking across the sky because it reminds me of the awesome grandeur of God.  What if we baptized from maelstroms rather than cute, little, calm, manageable fonts?  Perhaps a domesticated God is not worthy of praise. Consider this quote from Annie Dillard: “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does any-one have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” Teaching a Stone to Talk, Harper & Row, 1982

29:5 What is so special about the cedars of Lebanon?

29:6 Who or what is “Sirion”?

29:7 Is this a reference to lightning or to volcanic eruptions?

29:8 What and where is the wilderness of Kadesh?

29:9 What about the still, small voice of God in 1 Kings 19:11-13?

29:10 I thought the LORd sits enthroned above the cherubim.

29:11 After all the previous violent storm imagery, how shall we interpret this blessing of peace? One could adapt this as a blessing, for instance: “May the LORD give strength to you. May the LORD bless you with peace.”

ACTS 10:34-43

10:34 Who was Peter speaking to? It has been awhile since we have heard from Peter.  While it might be true that God shows no partiality, I think we cannot say the same of the institutional church.

10:35 Does “nation” refer to geographical realities or ethnic and religious groups? Does this verse point to any sort of universalism? What does it mean to “fear” God? Can someone fear God and not be a practicing Jew or Christian? How does this verse fly in the face of justification by faith through grace?

10:36 Why “peace” rather than salvation?

10:37 Did John “practice” or “preach” baptism? Does this verse justify this Reading being selected for “Baptism of the Lord”? This verse almost makes it sound like the Gospel began to be preached even before Jesus was baptized by John and began his public ministry.

10:38 What is the difference between being anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power? Does this verse suggest that all illness is a result of oppression by the devil? What does it mean for God to “be with” someone?

10:39 Why a “tree” rather than a cross?

10:40 Note that Jesus was “raised”. He did not rise on his own.

10:41 How does this verse impact our theology of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist?

10:42 How does this verse inform our understanding of ordination?

10:43 “All the prophets”?  Really?  I think Peter is prone to a little hyperbole.

MATTHEW 3:13-17

3:13 When was “Then”? How will you answer people when they ask “if Jesus was sinless, why did he seek to be baptized?”?

3:14 Was John asking the above question?

3:15 How does Jesus being baptized by John “fulfill all righteousness”?

3:16 Jesus “saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him,” but did anyone else see it? How do dove’s descend?

3:17 Whose voice is heard? Who heard this voice?  Might this verse prefigure anything similar in Matthew?

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 2.0 for Sunday, January 10, 2016, the Baptism of the Lord (Year C)

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 43:1-7

43:1 Who is initially speaking? To whom is the LORD speaking? What is the relationship, if any, between redemption and calling by name?

43:2 What waters are being referred to?  When Christians read this passage in light of the Sacrament of baptism, are we misreading the Hebrew Scriptures, or simply exercising Hebrew Midrash from a Christian perspective?  I wonder how post Shoah Jews read and interpret this passage.

43:3 PC(USA) Presbyterians: Do not forget the opening lines of A Brief Statement of Faith!  How was Egypt given as a ransom?  Why the mention of Ethiopia and Seba?

43:4 I like the first part of this verse, but the second part rubs me the wrong way. If the LORD is giving away people and nations, to whom or what is the LORD giving them to?

43:5-6 Note that all four cardinal directions are named. These verses remind me of an invitation to the Lord’s Table: “They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.”

43:6 Note that sons and daughters are both mentioned, a rare inclusive verse!

43:7 Could this verse not be used to argue for universalism?  This verse could provide for an interesting juxtaposition in relation to the exclusiveness of Christian Baptism.

Psalm - Psalm 29

29:1 What does it mean to ascribe?  How do we ascribe?  What, or which, heavenly beings are addressed here?

29:2 Do you worship in holy splendor?  What does holy splendor look, smell, sound, feel, and taste like?

29:3 What does the voice of the LORD sound like?  Would you recognize it if you heard it?  Being a sailor and kayaker, I really like and relate to this verse.  How do people who are land locked and had never experienced the ocean or other large body of water understand this verse?

29:4 With a voice like this the LORD deserves a contract as an announcer and/or commercial spokesperson.

29:5-9 Think of the scene/passage in The Hobbit where Bilbo and the dwarves find themselves amidst giants “hurling rocks at one another for a game, and catching them and tossing them down into darkness where they are smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang.”

29:6 Where is Sirion and why is it mentioned?

29:8 Where is the wilderness of Kadesh?

29:9 Who say “Glory”?

29:10 How are people in flood ravaged Missouri hearing this?

29:10-11 How do we reconcile images of a storm god with peace?

29:1-11 There is no still small voice here, no safe, domesticated God. This Psalm is about the God of fierce landscapes, the God of raw power represented by severe and intense natural phenomena. I doubt many would be comfortable welcoming this God into their clean, climate controlled, predictable sanctuaries.

Second Reading - Acts 8:14-17

8:14 Is the Jerusalem setting important?  What if the apostles had been someplace else, other than Jerusalem, when they heard this news? Was it surprising, or problematic, that Samaria (not Samaritans?) had accepted the word of God?  Why was James not sent?

8:15 Does this sound a little judgmental to you? How it is possible that someone accepts the word of God without receiving the Holy Spirit?

8:16 Who is this verse talking about?  Why, in the NRSV, is this verse in parenthesis? How does this verse challenge some who insist on baptizing “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?” or else it is not a Christian, Trinitarian, Baptism?

8:17 What is so special about the laying on of hands?  Is it possible for a person or a people to receive the Holy Spirit without being baptized? Is either prayer or the laying on of hands not enough? Must prayer and the laying on of hands be combined?

Gospel - Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

3:15 What people?  When was the last time people in the pews of churches you know were filled with expectation?  Why would people think John could be the Messiah?

3:16 What is so special about the thong of a sandal?  Is the doublet “Holy Spirit and fire” merely poetic, or something more?

3:17 What is a winnowing fork and what is it used for?  What is a threshing floor and what is it used for?  What is chaff?  How do we preach the Gospel in an urban environment where all people know about wheat is that comes in five pound bags of ground flour and they probably have no idea what the imagery of this passage is communicating?  Why was chaff burned?  Does this passage require the existence of a fire filled hell? Is this unquenchable fire at related to the Holy Spirit and fire of the previous verse?

3:21 Really?  All the people?  Do you think this is an exaggeration, an hyperbole?  What does it mean for heaven (singular, not plural) to be opened?

3:22 So the Holy Spirit was someplace over the Jordan River, on the other side of earth from people along a declination of plus or minus 180 degrees?  What is the meaning of “bodily form”?  If in some ways it was like a dove but not really a dove, how was it different? What might a dove symbolize? Whose voice came from heaven and what did it sound like?  Where and when might we hear these words again?

ADDENDUM

I am currently serving at the Interim Pastor of The Presbyterian Church of Cadiz, Ohio but will be available to supply preach or serve in a part-time of full-time position beginning late February or early March, 2016.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.0 for Sunday, January 11, 2015, the Baptism of the Lord (Year B)

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 - Genesis 1:1-5

1:1 There are several ways the verb can be translated.  Is it “when God created” or “when God began to create” or something else altogether?  What difference does it make?  Take a close look at the user notes in one or two study Bibles, or better yet, the gleanings and notes in The Torah.  Why is this passage paired with Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism?

1:2 What is the Hebrew word for “wind” and how else can the word be translated?

1:3 What, if any, is the significance of light being the first thing created?

1:4 What if God saw that the light was not good? How did God separate the light from the darkness?

1:5 Can there be day without night, or night without day?

1:1-5 How does one preach/teach this passage in a post Copernican and postmodern world, especially considering there is at least one other Biblical (and different) account of creation?

Psalm - Psalm 29:1-11

29:1 Who are the heavenly beings?

29:2 What is the name of the LORD? What is holy splendor?

29:3 What does the voice of the LORD sound like?

29:11 How can the LORD, revealed in the storm, bless people with peace, when storms are anything but peaceful?

29:3-11 How can one teach/preach using storm god imagery while recognizing that storm god imagery is not the only imagery applied to the LORD?  Sleeping under a small tarp in the wilderness during a nighttime thunder and lightning storm and hiking on a high wilderness ridge during a daytime thunder and lightning storm has greatly influenced how I read this passage.  What are your experiences of storms and how do those experiences influence how you understand this passage?

Second Reading - Acts 19:1-7

19:1 What do you know about Apollos?  Why does Paul mention him? Where is Ephesus? Was Paul surprised to find some disciples or was he expecting to find some disciples?

19:2 How could someone be a disciple and never have heard about the Holy Spirit? Why would Paul be asking this question?

19:3 Were these disciples actually baptized by John? If one was baptized by John and later became a disciple of Jesus, would they have to be baptized in the name of Jesus?

19:4 How did John’s baptism differ from baptism in the name of Jesus?

19:5-6 Did Paul baptize them with water or simply lay his hands on them?  What is the difference between being baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus” and being baptized “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”?  What does it mean to speak in tongues?  What does it mean to prophesy?

19:7 “About” seems to be a relatively general term while “twelve” seems to be very specific and perhaps points to the twelve tribes of Israel and “the twelve” disciples of Jesus.

Gospel - Mark 1:4-11

1:4 I much prefer the descriptive phrase “John the baptizer” rather than the more usual “John the Baptist.”   At least Mark agrees with Acts regarding a description of John’s baptism.

1:5 “All the people of Jerusalem” seems to be hyperbole.

1:6 Where does this imagery come from and what does it point to?  Might locusts refer to something other than bugs?

1:7 As I have asked in a previous rumination, what is so special about the thong of a sandal?

1:8 Might this be some literary foreshadowing, a reading developments back into the text?

1:9 When were those days?

1:10 What do the heavens being torn apart look like?  Is there a difference between the Spirit “descending like a dove” and “descending as a dove”?  Did anyone other than Jesus see these things?

1:11 Did anyone other than Jesus hear this voice? What did the voice sound like? Where and when will we read these or similar words again?

ADDENDUM

I am currently serving at the Interim Pastor of The Presbyterian Church of Cadiz, worshiping at 154 West Market Street, Cadiz, Ohio, every Sunday at 11:00 AM.