Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, February 3, 2013, the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (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.) 

I have been posting Lectionary Ruminations to Presbyterian Bloggers for nearly three years.  I will attempt to continue posting through the 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 my Lectionary Ruminations on Presbyterian Bloggers, please migrate over to my personal blog.

FirstReading - Jeremiah 1:4-10
1:4 Has the word of the LORD ever come to you, and if so, how?

1:5 I doubt this could be used as an argument for life beginning at conception as this sounds like life, or personhood, begins even before conception.  What do you know about the philosophy of George Berkeley?  Is this God talking to Jeremiah?

1:5 The “I do not know how to speak” and “I am only a boy” defense.  It never seems to work.

1:8 Do not be afraid of who, the nations?

1:8 Does this remind you of any other perhaps similar accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures?  Is this a call narrative?

1:10 Note two pairs of destructive activities and one pair of creative activities.

Psalm- Psalm 71:1-6

71:1 What comes to your mind when you hear the word “refuge”?  What is so bad about shame?

71:2 How does the LORD incline the divine ear?

71:3 How is a rock of refuge like a fortress?  Do any particular rocks to your mind when you hear “rock of refuge”?

71:5 “Help me Obi Wan Yahweh, you're my only hope.”

71:6 Does this verse justify the Lectionary pairing this Psalm with the First Reading from Jeremiah?  Does this verse justify referring to the LORD as a midwife?

SecondReading - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

13:1-13 Why read this in Sunday worship if there is no wedding to follow?  What can be said about passage that has not already been said?  Why do we tend to read this at weddings when we really need to read it at divorce proceedings and in the midst of church conflict?

13:1 What do angels sound like?

13:4-7 Anything missing in this definition?  How about Jenny (Ali McGraw) telling Oliver (Ryan O'Neal) “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” as written by Erich Segal?

13:11 Is there a difference between being childish and childlike?

13:12 It is a little enigmatic, nevertheless, this is one of my favorite verses.  Is there any play on the idea of “icon” here?  What is the difference between a thing reflected and its reflection?

13:13 Where did faith and hope come from?

Gospel - Luke 4:21-30

4:21 Who is speaking?  To whom is he speaking?  What is the setting?  What scripture?

4:22 All?  Is this hyperbole?  When was the last time you were amazed by anyone’s words?  I think it is interesting that the speaker is identified as Joseph’s son rather than Mary’s son.

4:23 Where did this proverb come from?  What were people saying about his time in Capernaum?

4:24 What do you think about this?

4:25 What does this have to do with anthing?

4:28 Why were they filled with rage?  I thought they were all amazed.  What happened between  verse 22 and verse 28?

4:29 Why am I thinking about swine?

4:30 How did he do this?

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.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, January 27, 2013, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (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. 

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

First Reading - Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6,8-10

8:1  Is “all” hyperbole? What people gathered?  How many Americans will think of Richard Nixon when they hear this?  Geographically, where is the Eater Gate?  What does it mean that Ezra was a scribe?  What is the book of the law of Moses?

8:2 Was Ezra a priest, a scribe, or both?   Or were there two people named Ezra?  What about people who could not hear with understanding?  How do we hear or not hear with understanding?  Is there anything special about this date?

8:3 This was not a twenty minute reading of Scripture.

8:5Why did the people stand up when Ezra opened the book?

8:6 What does it mean to bless the LORD?  I thought God usually blessed individuals and communities, not the other way around.  What is the meaning of first raising hands and then bowing heads?

8:8 Who was reading, Ezra, or others as well?  Note that they were not onlky reading but also interpreting.  This is beginning to sound like the reading of Scripture and the ex[position of a sermon.

8:9 So Ezra was both a priest and a scribe!  Who were the Levites, what did they teach, and how did they teach it?  Why would people weep when they hear the words of the law?

8:10 Who is speaking? Note the sending of portions to those for whom nothing is prepared.

Psalm - Psalm 19

19:1 Are these spiritual heavens or astronomical heavens?  What is the difference?  What is a firmament?

19:2 Is there any significance to the day being paired with speech and the night being paired with knowledge?

19:3-4a What is this, a conundrum?

19:4b-6 How can we apply pre-Copernican poetry in a post-Copernican world?

19:7 So that is why the Lectiionary pairs this Psalm with the First Reading!

19:7-9 How many synonyms of Law can you identify in these verses?

19:10 Id one is familiar only with a tradition of hellfire and damnation preaching; and an image of a vengeful, wrathful, punishing God, how would these verses sound?

19:12 Is this a rhetorical question?

19:13 Keep jerks away from me and I will not be a jerk?

19:14 Pet Peeve Alert! Why must so many preachers employ this as an exercise in personal piety before preaching?  Does not a more communal Prayer for Illumination serve better?

SecondReading - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

12:12 How can we hear old, tired metaphors in new ways?

12:13 What does it mean to “drink” of one Spirit?  Is Paul already thinking of the Lord’s Supper or does this imagery suggest his later comments about it?

12:26 Perhaps Congress needs to hear this more than Sunday worshipers.

12:28-31 Is this meant to be all inclusive or in any way hierarchical based on the order of those things mentioned?

12:31 What are the greater gifts (note that it is plural)?

Gospel- Luke 4:14-21

4:14 Was Jesus earlier not filled with the power of the Spirit?  Note that “a report” is singular, not plural.  I wonder what the report was.

4:15 Praised by everyone?  Is this hyperbole?

4:16 Note that he had been brought up in Nazareth but not necessarily born there.

4:18-19 What if Jesus had been handed a different scroll?  Who is speaking within the context of Isaiah?

4:20-21 Would Jesus not have spoken if the eyes of all had not been fixed on him?

4:21 What did Jesus mean by this?

ADDENDUM

In addition to serving as the half time Pastor of North Church Queens  www.northchurchqueens.org  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 http://www.wyzant.com/Tutors/RidgewoodTutor page and follow the appropriate links.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, January 20, 2013, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (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. 

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

First Reading - Isaiah 62:1-5

62:1 Who is speaking?

62:2 What is the significance of a new name?

62:3 What is a diadem?

62:4 What is the meaning of married land?  Does this metaphor justify this passage being paired with John 2:1-11?

62:5 Does this verse inform any New Testament metaphors?

Psalm - Psalm 36:5-10

36:5  Where does the LORD’s love extend from?

36:6 Is this just a poetic way of saying height and depth?  Do dogs and cats and other animals and pets have to be baptized or born again to be saved?

36:7 What sort of avian creature is God being likened to?

36:9 Does this lead to myths and legends about the fountain of youth?  How do we see light in light?  Do we see light, or what light illuminates? Is light a wave or a particle?

36:10 So God’s steadfast love does not extend to strangers?

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians12:1-11

12:1 Are most Christians today informed or uninformed about spiritual gifts.

12:2 Is this a valid portrayal of paganism?  What is the difference between Paganism and Atheism? Agnosticism?

12:3 Really?

12:4 Why am I thinking about Isabel Briggs Myers?

12:4-6 Is there any scheme at work here: gifts-Spirit, services-Lord, activities-God?

12:8 What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?

12:8-10 Was this list meant to be exhaustive or just suggestive?

Gospel - John 2:1-11

2:1 How does this passage foreshadow the resurrection?  Why is the mother of Jesus not named?  Who do you think was being married?

2:3 Is she stating the obvious?  Why tell Jesus?  Did he not already know?

2:4 Why does Jesus address his mother as “Woman”?  What “hour” is he referring to?

2:5 What gave the mother of Jesus the right and authority to tell the servants what to do?  Maybe she was catering the reception.  Is “servants” a play on words?  Do the disciples always do what Jesus tells them?

2:6 Is there any significance in the number of jars?  Does the number of jars matter?  What are the jewish rites of purification?

2:7 Does this assume that the jars were empty?  Does it make a difference?  Is there any significance that the jars were filled to the brim?

2:8 Did the servants draw out water or wine?  Who and what was the chief steward?

2:9 This reads as if the servants drew water out of the jars but that the water turned to wine as the servants were taking it to the steward.

2:10 Why serve good wine first and then inferior wine?

2:11 If this was the “first” of his signs, how many were there and what were they?  Is there any significance to “Cana if Galilee” being mentioned twice?  What do you know about Tabgha?  Was his glory hidden before this?  Did his disciples not believe in him before this?

2:1-11 This is one of my favorite passages in my favorite Gospel.  I think it could several sermons to unpack, interpret, and apply it. 

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.

How to be a good Sheep Herder

How to be a good Sheep Herder

Ever wonder why there are no real good “how to” books on how to be a good farmer.  It’s because farming has been handed down generation to generation, without a need for a manual or instruction book on just how to be a good one.  The shepherding trade is just another example of how the tricks to the trade have been handed down throughout the ages.  Peter uses this trade to teach the elders of the church to “shepherd” their flock.

“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”  1 Peter 5:2-4(NKJV)  When Peter spoke these words he was addressing those chosen to be elders in the church.  These were the people selected to be the leaders of those believers who wanted a life in Christ.  Peter stressed the idea of “leading by example.”

I take this advice personally, and try to live a life not only pleasing to the sight of our God, but that serves as an example to those around me.  This can be very difficult to do when we have a society that wants to make its own rules, its own standards and its own way of doing things.  When we choose to live according to the gospel, we are challenged in every aspect because the world simply does not work that way.  Our example becomes a little strange because everyone watching knows how the world works, and sees our behavior as being different, not worldly or acceptable.  It’s difficult to “oversee” a flock that feels like they have every right to wander aimlessly through the pasture feeding on whatever strikes their fancy, but this is just how the world sees itself.  How do we shepherd a flock that wants no part of being “shepherded.” 

One of the things I can recommend in this particular situation is that, as Christians, we merely stand our ground, we create a boundary that we will not cross.  We make sure that our beliefs stand as a fence to the pasture.  No one is allowed to move, damage or change our fence unless we make the change.  The only way this can happen is if God has a different pasture in mind.  Otherwise, we continue to mend our fences, we stand tall and strong in our beliefs, and we do not allow the world to break down our boundaries.  It’s when we have the gaping hole in our fence that evil makes a run for the opening.  We simply need to be good shepherds and keep mending our “de” fences against evil, allowing for nothing to get past our beliefs in the one true God.  In doing this, we are becoming a great example for others to follow.  Like lost sheep, they will move towards the leader, towards the good shepherd who cares for them and provides them with all the things they need. 

How’s your “herding” skills today?

“in the world, not of the world”

Patience is a virtue, or is it?

Patience is a virtue, or is it?

We manage to be confronted with so many decisions, so many dilemmas and so many situations that we are programmed as problem solvers.  We are set to automatically search for the answer, provide the solution and move on that simply waiting something out is foreign to our being.  Patience has become a word no one likes because our world does not have time for it.  Patience is no longer a virtue, but a burden to a world that is rushing to solve everything, even if the solution is not the right one.  What about if we just simply stepped back and asked our God for His opinion, and just merely waited for the answer?  This particular option seems so distant, so foreign to our innermost being.    Even typing this right now, imagining myself actually doing this is contrary to my usual response, my normal way of doing things.  But our God wants us to “wait.” 

James gives this advice.  “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:4(NKJV) When God speaks to us, it may not be what we want to hear.  He may not be giving us the response we anticipated so we simply ignore Him.  We feel that we cannot wait, or that the solution does not fit our lifestyle, so we move on.  A.W. Tozer says this about it; “We respond: ‘No Lord, please excuse me.  That sounds like fanaticism—and I would have to give up some things!’  So we refuse His desire, even though we want all the benefits of His cross.”  I can speak from personal experience with this one, because I have often refused God’s blessings simply because I was not willing to make the changes required of them.  Trust me, you do not want to refuse a blessing because you feel it will mean making a change.  I have since learned to listen when and where God speaks, and I wait.  I wait for Him to make it so.  The waiting can be the toughest part, having to suffer through things because you know that any solution you have is not God’s way of fixing it.  God will fix things, but in God’s time, and on His schedule.  The world operates on a different schedule, a different calendar. 

James goes on to say this; “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.  Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

When we lose patience with our God, evil steps in and takes over.  We are “drawn away” by our own desires and led down the path of resistance, resistance to the cross.  I would rather wait an extra minute, day, week or even years so that God’s blessings can take the place of this resistance. 

“in the world, not of the world”

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, January 13, 2013, the Baptism of the Lord (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 - Isaiah 43:1-7
43:1 To whom is the LORD speaking?

 43:2 What waters is 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.

43:5-6 Note that all four cardinal directions are named.

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 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. What if I was land locked and had never experienced the ocean or other large body of water?

 29:4 I think 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 smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang.”

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

Second Reading - Acts 8:14-17
8:14 Is the setting important? What if the apostles had been someplace else, other than Jerusalem, when they heard this news? Should it be 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?

8:16 Who is this verse talking about? Why, in the NRSV, is this verse in parenthesis?

8:17 What is so special about the laying on of hands? Even though this is the Epistle for Baptism of the Lord, Baptism is not mentioned in this verse. Is it possible for a person or a people to receive the Holy Spirit without being baptized?

Gospel - Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
3:15 What people? When was the last time people in the pews of churches you know 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 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?

 3:21 Really? All the people? Do you think this is an exaggeration? What does it mean for heaven (singular, not plural) to be opened? 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”? Whose voice came from heaven and what did it sound like? Where and when might we hear this again?

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, Summit to Shore but not here. If you have been following these posts, please migrate over to my personal blog.