Shaking Out the Welcome Mat

Hello, all, I know it's been a long time!

I've been a little busy with the new baby, children home from school for summer vacation, travel, etc. But I have been checking in with the blog and noticed that it has been a long time since I've gotten a RingSurf request.

I decided to do a manual check, and . . . RingSurf is locked up. I can't seem to log in using our usual user name and password and the "reset password" button doesn't seem to be working, either. So we don't currently have access to the ring.

On the positive side, many of us use the blog roll more often than the web ring, anyway. So if you'd like your blog linked from here, please email PCUSAblog at gmail dotcom and send us your URL as well as a brief description of your blog. I'll add your link and welcome you here on a Monday morning.

Now on to introductions!

I'd like to introduce our newest member, Herb Swanson, who blogs at Rom Phra Khun: A Pastor's Blog.

"My name is Herb Swanson. I am the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Lowville, NY. Rom Phra Khun is my personal blog although FPC's website links to it. The church is, of course, in no way responsible for these contents.

Rom Phra Khun is Thai. It means, literally, “in the shade of goodness/blessing” and is used in the Thai Bible to translate “grace,” as in the grace of God. It is a beautiful metaphor for that grace rooted in a semi-tropical environment where shade is a blessing. To stand in the shade of God’s grace is to stand in a cool, sheltered, and safe place. It echoes the 25 years that my wife, Warunee ("Runee"), family, and I spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Rom Phra Khun is meant to be a mindful, reflective playground—serious & not so serious all at one time. So, whether you come once or often, peace & blessings on the journey, Herb"

Welcome, Rev. Swanson!

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, August 28, 2011, the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Posted each Thursday, Lectionary Ruminations focuses on the Scripture Readings, taken from the New Revised Standard Version, for the following Sunday per the Revised Common Lectionary. Comments and questions are intended to encourage reflection for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead. (Other references are linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.) Lectionary Ruminations is also cross-posted on my personal blog, Summit to Shore. 

Exodus 3:1-15
v. 1 The Moses saga continues with last week’s infant Moses now a married grown man. What other great figures from the Jewish Scriptures spent their early life as shepherd? Is the fact that Moses’ father-in-law was a priest a foreshadowing of Moses future role? Why would Moses lead his flock beyond the wilderness where there be dragons or deities? Did Moses know he was near Horeb, the mountain of God, or is this description hindsight?

v. 2 Note that in the NRSV it is “the”, not “an” angel of the LORD. Why do we usually refer to this as “the burning bush” rather than “the bush that was not consumed”?

v. 3 Turn aside? Where had Moses been looking before he looked at the bush.

v. 4 How often in the Jewish Scriptures does God call a person’s name twice? How many people in the Jewish Scriptures, and who, respond to God “Here I am.”

v. 5 Why do some people remove their shoes and socks when standing on holy ground? Why do Christians not worship barefooted?

v. 6 Who was Moses’ father? Abraham? Isaac? Jacob? Someone else? Why are only the men mentioned? Can we be faithful to Scripture and include Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel as well as Zilpah and Bilha? Why was Moses afraid to look at God?

v. 7 What took God so long to respond? How does God “know” their suffering?

v. 8 Where has God come down from and why did God need to come down at all? What is a land flowing with milk and honey like?

v. 10 So, God comes down (v. 7), but sends Moses!

v. 11 A perfectly good question.

v. 12 It sounds like the confirmation will be after the fact? It is like me telling you that you are a excellent Biblical scholar and you asking me how you can be sure that you are an excellent Biblical Scholar and me answering that you will know you are an excellent Biblical Scholar when you post a comment to this blog.

v. 13 Why does Moses refer to “your ancestors” rather than “our ancestors”? Why is knowing God’s name so important?

v. 14 “I AM WHO I AM”? Why, in NRSV, does this appear all in upper case letters?

v. 15 So, exactly what, is God’s name and title? Is God’s name and title the same?

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c
v. 1 Why, in the NRSV, does “LORD” appear all in uppercase? What is God’s name? What are God’s deeds?

v. 2 This is beginning to read like a couplet.

v. 4 How does one seek God’s presence?

vs. 23-26 Is this merely a retelling of salvation history, or something more going on here?

v. 45c A budding psalmist can never go wrong ending a psalm this way.

Romans 12:9-21
v. 9 How can love not be genuine? Is “hating evil” the opposite of “holding fast to what is good”?

v. 14 What does Paul mean by “bless”and”curse”?

v. 16 What if we extended the admonition to “live in harmony with one another” to extend to other species? I think Socrates would have liked this verse.

v. 18 And what if by “all” we meant all living creation, not just other humans?

v. 19 What is the “wrath of God”? While Paul advises us to not avenge ourselves, what about state sanctioned punishment for crime? How many times is “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” quoted out of context and misapplied?

v. 20 Since when is food and water the same as burning coals? Is this good statecraft and foreign policy? What would H. Richard Niebuhr say about this?

v. 21 Paul is sounding like Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Or maybe King and Gandhi learned their non-violent civil resistance from Paul! Or Jesus?

Matthew 16:21-28
v. 21 From what time on?

v. 22 Why did Peter take Jesus aside? Why did Peter rebuke Jesus?

v. 23 Did Jesus just refer to Peter as Satan? What is the pun in referring to Peter as a stumbling block? What is the human thing Peter was setting his mind on? What was the divine thing Jesus wanted Peter to set his mind on?

v. 24 What does it mean to “deny” oneself? Is there a difference between taking up Jesus’ cross versus taking up our own cross?

v. 25 What is the meaning of this? Is this a paradox?

v. 27 Who is “the Son of Man”? Why this shift from moral admonition to apocalyptic language?

v. 28 How shall we interpret this passage nearly two centuries after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ? What does it mean to “see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom”? Can we read this as a reference to the Christian Pentecost of Acts rather than a second coming of Christ?

ADDENDUM
Many Christians along the east coast of the United States may be reading and hearing these passages following, or anticipating, the affects of hurricane Irene. Is there anything in any of these Readings to address this situation?

In addition to serving as the half time Designated Pastor of North Church Queens and writing Lectionary Ruminations, I also tutor part time. If you or someone you know needs a tutor, or if you would like to be a tutor, check our my WyzAnt page and follow the appropriate links.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, August 21, 2011, the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Posted each Thursday, Lectionary Ruminations focuses on the Scripture Readings, taken from the New Revised Standard Version, for the following Sunday per the Revised Common Lectionary. Comments and questions are intended to encourage reflection for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead. (Other references are linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.) Lectionary Ruminations is also cross-posted on my personal blog, Summit to Shore.

Exodus 1:8-2:10
v. 8 The beginning of the Moses cycle/narrative. How might this verse describe the current nature of United States Politics?

vs. 9-11 Egyptian immigration policy?

v. 12 And the lesson is?

v. 15 Were Shiphrah and Puah the only two midwives? Were they Israelite of Egyptian?

v. 16 Why not the other way around?

v. 17 In thisw context, what does “fear God” mean?

v. 2 And if she saw that he was not a FINE baby?

v. 3 What else was once plastered with bitumen and pitch?

v. 6 How did she know?

v. 8 This sounds like a strange construction since this is the boys sister and thus his mother is also her mother.

v.10 Yes, this explains the name Moses, bit is there also some foreshadowing going on here?

Psalm 124:1-8
vs. 1-2a Sometimes when I begin a responsive reading and the response sounds shallow, hollow, and barely audible, I will repeat the call phrase of the call and repeat response. Might something similar be happening here?

vs. 2b-6 Why is a Psalm reflecting the Exodus paired with a First Reading about the birth of Moses?

v. 8 A familiar refrain.

Romans 12:1-8
v. 1 What is a “living” sacrifice? What is “spiritual” worship? Is there such a thing as unspiritual or spiritless worship?

v. 2 What is the difference between “conformed” and” transformed”? How are our minds renewed? Why does Paul write about the renewing of our minds rather than the renewing of our hearts?

v. 3 How do we measure our faith?

vs. 5-6 I understand the logic with the exception of the last phrase. How are weindividually members one of another?

v. 6 “We have gifts that differ” in the NRSV is “We have gifts differing” in the KJV, and the biblical phrase that inspired Myers and Briggs to title their book applying Jung’s type theory “Gifts Differing”. You may want to also look at 1 Corinthians 12.

Matthew 16:13-20
v. 13 Where did Jesus enter from? Is there anything special about the district of Caesarea Philippi? Why would Jesus ask his disciples this question? Does the average person in the pew or Bible Study have a clue about the baggage associated with “Son of Man” imagery?

v. 14 Apparently there were various views of who Jesus was. I guess times have not changed.

v. 15 The quintessential question. What is your answer?

v. 16 As usual, Peter is the first to speak up. Did he get it right, however, or did he stick his foot into his mouth?

v. 19 What are “the keys to the kingdom”? What does it mean to “bind” and “loosed”?

v. 20 Why would Jesus order his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah? Has this passage just equated “the Son of Man” with “the Messiah”?

ADDENDUM
In addition to serving as the half time Designated Pastor of North Church Queens and writing Lectionary Ruminations, I also tutor part time. If you or someone you know needs a tutor, or if you would like to be a tutor, check our my WyzAnt  page and follow the appropriate links.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, August 14, 2011, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Posted each Thursday, Lectionary Ruminations focuses on the Scripture Readings, taken from the New Revised Standard Version, for the following Sunday per the Revised Common Lectionary. Comments and questions are intended to encourage reflection for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead. (Other references are linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.) Lectionary Ruminations is also cross-posted on my personal blog, Summit to Shore.

Genesis 45:1-15
v. 1 Much has transpired between this week’s First Reading and this week’s First Reading. Does any of what transpired between the two readings matter?

v. 3 Why were the brother’s dismayed by Joseph’s presence?

v. 4 Why does Joseph repeat himself?

v. 5 Is this an example of Joseph engaging in some theological reflection?

v. 6 This is beginning to sound like a description of the U.S. economy!

v.12 Why is Benjamin singled out?

Psalm 133:1-3
v. 1 Is this supposed to be a description of Jacob’s family? Before or after the reunion narrated in the First Reading?

v. 2 I have always appreciated the sensual nature of this verse.

v. 3 What and where is Hermon? What is significant about Hermon’s dew? What is the Lord’s blessing, life for evermore?

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
v. 1 Might have answered this rhetorical question differently after the shoah? Even though we are currently reading the Joseph narrative and the Pauline corpus lectio continua, the “Benjamin” connection between this Second Reading and the First Reading is a nice one.

v. 2 Foreknew?

v. 29 Christians in particular ought to remember this verse when engaging in dialogue with religious Jews.

vs. 30-31 Who are “they”?

Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28
v. 10 I think every time Jesus says something like “listen and understand” that we can expect some enigmatic saying to follow.

v. 11 What comes out of the mouth?

v. 12 What did the disciples think?

v. 13 Does this verse reflect a negative view of the Pharisees?

v. 14 Leave them alone even though they are blind? Or “because” they are blind?

v. 15 What parable?

v. 16 Me thinks the answer is “YES”!

vs. 17-18 Oh, that parable!

v. 19 All these come from the heart? This is an impressive list. Is anything not mentioned that you might have expected to be here?

v. 20 Is this a comment about religion or hygiene?

v. 21 Is there anything significant about Tyre and Sidon?

v. 22 What makes a “Canaanite” woman different than any other woman, or a Jewish woman? What do you know about “the Jesus prayer” and Hesychasm and the Philokalia?

v. 23 Why does Jesus ignore this woman? Why do the disciples want to send her away?

v. 25 This is the second time this woman calls Jesus “Lord”!

v. 26 Did Jesus just call this woman a bitch?

v. 27 Did this woman just accept the insult of being labeled a bitch by Jesus yet still refer to him as “master”? Must “crumbs” refer to bread crumbs, or just any ole leftover?

v. 28 Now Jesus refers to her as “woman”! What makes her faith “great”? Instantly? Really? How would anyone know?

ADDENDUM
Can we draw any parallels between Joseph in the First Reading and the woman in the Gospel reading? How might the Second Reading enlighten our understanding of both the First Reading as well as the Gospel Reading?

In addition to serving as the half time Designated Pastor of North Church Queens and writing Lectionary Ruminations, I also tutor part time. If you or someone you know needs a tutor, or if you would like to be a tutor, check our my WyzAnt page and follow the appropriate links.

A Leap of Truth

When I began writing this monthly post, I promised to, from time to time, share helpful resources with you. And so…

The folks at Biologos are featuring short video clips from the forthcoming documentary “A Leap of Truth”. These short 5-6 minute clips are designed for use in small groups or high school and adult education classes. Here is the link to the first one, “Evolutionary Creation”. Subsequent video clips (to date) are “The Book of Genesis”, “The Fall”, “Paul’s Adam”, and “Framing the Debate”.

And just for completeness sake, here is a link to the trailer. It doesn’t appear that the documentary has been released yet. And of course these clips on the Biologos site are great marketing. Never the less, these clips are well done, and feature well know participants in the science and religion dialogue.

That’s all I have to say this month- short and to the point. I would prefer you spent some time watching these clips. Then come on back, and tell us what you think and how you might use them in your church or ministry.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, August 7, 2011, the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Posted each Thursday, Lectionary Ruminations focuses on the Scripture Readings, taken from the New Revised Standard Version, for the following Sunday per the Revised Common Lectionary. Comments and questions are intended to encourage reflection for readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged. All lectionary links are to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible via the PC(USA) Devotions and Readings website, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead. (Other references are linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.) Lectionary Ruminations is also cross-posted on my personal blog, Summit to Shore.

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
v. 1 What about Jacob’s grandfather? Were not both his father and grandfather aliens?

v. 2 The beginning of the Joseph narrative. Is there anything significant about Joseph being seventeen years old? Why are Bilhah and Zilpah referred to a “His father’s wives”?

v. 3 Note in verse 1 that Joseph’s father is referred to as “Jacob” but in this verse he is referred to a “Israel”. This is beginning to read like the story of yet another dysfunctional family.

v. 13 What usually happens when people respond “Here I am”?

v. 15 Do you think this was an ordinary “man”?

v. 18 Note: Play ominous music here!

v. 19 Why do his brothers refer to Joseph as “this dreamer”?

v. 20 A conspiracy is hatched.

v. 21 What might have been Reuben’s motive for saving his brother?

v. 24 Why is this important information?

v. 25 Who are “Ishmaelites” and is their presence her at allsignificant?

vs. 26-27 Might as well make some money from our bother’s demise!

v. 28 Who drew Joseph up out of the pit, his brother’s or the Midianite traders? What is the difference between Midianites and Ishmaelites? I recommend you read up on both.

Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b
v. 1 In the NRSV, “LORD” is ”all upper case. Thereefore, what would be the “name” to call on? What are the LORD’s deeds?

v. 2 Are Hymns in worship sung “about” God or “to” God?

v. 4 How can we continuously seek God’s presence?

v. 5 So both “miracles” and “judgements” are among God’s deeds?

v. 6 Why is Isaac omitted?

v. 17 Now we learn why this psalm is paired with the First Reading.

Romans 10:5-15
v.5 From what does Paul quote?

vs.6-7 Is Paul quoting or composing?

v.9 So public confession as well as an interior faith are essential?

v. 10 What us the relationship between justification and salvation?

v. 11 What is being quoted?

vs. 14-15 The old “Can someone who has never heard of Christ be saved?” question?

v. 15 So all candidates for the ministry of proclamation should have their feet examined? It is no wonder Paul was once confused with Hermes.

Matthew 14:22-33
v. 22 I am always surprised when read “Immediately” in a Gospel other than According to Mark. Why might Jesus have sent the disciples off without him?

vs. 23-25 A “Summit to Shore” narrative! Thanks, Matt.

v. 23 Yes, this is why some of us go to the Mountains, not because they are there, but to find peace and solitude.

v. 24 meanwhile, back on the boat . . .

v. 25 So the disciples spent the entire night on a boat battered about by winds on the open water?

v. 26 Exactly what were the disciples afraid of?

v. 17 Another “immediately”. Is this the heart of the passage?

v.25 If? Peter did not know or was not sure? Why did Peter need to be commanded?

v. 31 Jesus should have remembered “Throw, Row, Tow, Then Go!” Was Peter’s faith really “little” None of the other disciples set out to walk on the water. What was it Peter doubted?

v. 32 Why might the wind have ceased when Jesus and Peter got into the boat?

v. 33 What convinced these disciples that Jesus was the Son of God, that he walked on water? That he “saved” Peter? That the wind stopped when Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat?

ADDENDUM
In addition to serving as the half time Designated Pastor of North Church Queens and writing Lectionary Ruminations, I also tutor part time. If you or someone you know needs a tutor, or if you would like to be a tutor, check our my WyzAnt page and follow the appropriate links. Beginning August 8, 2011, I will begin working three hours a day, five days a week, also teaching a GED preparation class to young adults. How the increased workload will affect my writing Lectionary Ruminations remains to be seen.