Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, December 2, 2012, the First Sunday of Advent (Year C)

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 may be linked to the NRSV via the oremus Bible Browser.)  Lectionary Ruminations is also cross-posted on my personal blog, Summit to Shore. 

First Reading - Jeremiah33:14-16

33:14 The author of Jeremiah surely had Advent in mind when he wrote about the days that are surely coming.  What promise did the LORD make with Israel and Judah?

33:15 what is the difference between “in those days” and “at that time”?  Is this a mere literary device, or is something else going on here?  In the NRSV, why is “Branch” capitalized?  What is the difference between justice and righteousness?

33:16 Is salvation synonymous with safety?  What is the “it” that will be called “The LORD is our righteousness” and is there one word that is translated “The LORD is our righteousness”.

Psalm - Psalm 25:1-10

25:1 How do you lift up your soul to the LORD?

25:2 What is the difference, if any, between trust and faith?

25:3 Is the Psalmist appealing to the LORD’s sense of justice?  The LORD’s vanity?

25:4 Is this a prayer of supplication or surrender?

25:6 Can the LORD ever forget?

25:7 Apparently  the LORD can forget.

25:8 As if there were any doubt that the LORD is good and upright.

25:9 Does the LORD lead the humble, or do the humble follow?

25:10 How many paths of the LORD are there?  What is the difference between covenant and decrees?

Second Reading - 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

3:9 Who is the “you”?

3:10 Is it possible to pray a prayer that is not earnest?  What is lacking in your faith?  How 

can it be restored?

3:11 What are the possible meanings of “our way”?

3:12 In other words, be like us?

3:13 What is the grammatical relationship between “the coming of our Lord Jesus” and “with all his saints”?

Gospel - Luke 21:25-36

21:25 This sounds like reason enough for an interest in astronomy, but how do we interpret this pre-modern and pre-Copernican text in a postmodern, post-Copernican world?  How show residents of coastal New York and New Jersey interpret this passage in a post-Sandy state of disaster?

21:25 There will be no fear and foreboding if people in general, and politicians in particular, ignore or even deny the signs of global climate change.

21:27 Who ius the “Son of Man” and what kind of cloud will accompany his return?  Cirrus?  Cumulus? Mushroom?  How can we interpret this imagery when some want to take it literally, some want to take it metaphorically, and some discount it all together?

21:29 I have recently learned from a new awareness of fig trees, the ripe fruit will not last long before it falls off the branch and rots.

21:32 How did early Christians cope with disappointment when this prophecy was not (apparently) realized?

21:33 Heaven will pass away?

21:34 Dissipation?

21:36 How can one escape these things?

ADDENDUM

In addition to serving as the half time 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 out my WyzAnt page and follow the appropriate links.

I have been posting Lectionary Ruminations to Presbyterian Bloggers for nearly three years.  I will attempt to continue posting through the Scripture Readings for February 10, 2013, Transfiguration of the Lord.   I may continue posting Lectionary Ruminations to my personal blog,   Summitto Shore  but not here.  If you have been following these posts, please migrate over to my personal blog.