Lectionary Ruminations: Scripture for Worship on May 31, 2009

Here are the passages for May 31st, 2009, Pentecost Sunday (Year B). All links are to the TNIV via BibleGateway.com, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead (either with your own Bible, or via the drop-down menu at BibleGateway.com).

Ezekiel 37:1-14

• Why is this story told on this particular Sunday?
• Why is this miracle done in stages? Why does God not just restore the bones to life all at once? Why does God have Ezekiel prophecy multiple times, and to different (inanimate?) audiences?
• When Ezekiel "prophesies" in this passage, what do you think he's saying? What does he actually tell the bones and the breath (or "wind" in the KJV)?
  

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

• One of the down-sides to BibleGateway.com is that the site doesn't really know how to handle partial verses, such as that called for with verse 35b here. The letter "b" indicates that only a part of the verse is to be read as part of the lectionary. In this case, the reading starts with the second part of the verse, which begins "Praise the LORD, my soul."
  
• Why does the lectionary leave out the first part of verse 35? It's just a few words.
  

Romans 8:22-27

• What do we learn about the Spirit in this passage?

Acts 2:1-21

• As Presbyterians, we probably have different interpretations of this passage than, say, Pentecostals might, and so I apologize in advance for my ignorance of how such traditions that practice active "speaking in tongues" might view this passage. But as I read this story, I am led to understand that if Peter (for example) was speaking, and two other people were in the room, each from a different part of the world, the person from (let's say) France would hear French while the person from England would hear English, even though Peter is speaking in Aramaic. Is this a commonly understood Presbyterian interpretation? Would a Pentecostal (for example) understand this passage differently? What other interpretations are there?
  
• Assuming that my interpretation of the Pentecost story is not widely different from someone else's, how might we account for the difference between this passage and current "charismatic" practice? What might we learn from them? What might they learn from us?
• Why might the Spirit have chosen to be revealed in this way?
  

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

• One of the down-sides to BibleGateway.com is that the site doesn't really know how to handle partial verses, such as that called for with verse 4b here. The letter "b" indicates that only a part of the verse is to be read as part of the lectionary. In this case, the reading starts with the second part of the verse, which begins "I did not tell you this from the beginning...".
• The word translated here as "Advocate" has been translated a number of different ways, including "Helper," "Comforter," and "Counselor" (I find it interesting that nearly all of the translations I consulted capitalize the word). What is Jesus trying to get at?
• Why is it necessary for Jesus to have gone before the "Advocate" can come? Why is it not better to have Jesus remain with them than to have the "Advocate" (which is, at best, not as undeniably present to outsiders as Jesus in the flesh was)?
• What can the Spirit do that Jesus can not (or, at least, does not) do on his own?