Here are some starting places for study at ATLA this week. If you are the graduate of an accredited U.S. theological school, you may have free access to these articles through your school. Check ATLAS access options. You can find full lists of ATLAS recommended articles for this week at The Text This Week's page for this week's texts.
Matthew 6:24-34
- Carlston, Charles E., "Matthew 6:24-34, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1987.
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“The righteousness demanded of disciples is a demand of God, the exemplar of such righteousness; and the verbal/conceptual connections with 5:20 (also Matthean!) seem close enough to require the ethical interpretation in our passage as well. In other words, the demand is rooted in the character and activity of God, but the ethical demand itself is central.”
- Cooper-White, Pamela, "Forgiveness: Grace, not Work," Journal for Preachers, 2009.
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“[Forgiveness] is a charisma, a gift of the Holy Spirit. It enables a person to let go of the person who wounded him/her, and perhaps, in time, to be less preoccupied with both the perpetrator and the wound. Moreover, as New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl pointed out, the modern church's emphasis on sin and forgiveness is not a correct interpretation of Paul. From a post-Freudian perspective, we tend to psychologize biblical texts in ways that were unknown in the ancient world. Therefore, to assign a modern emotional understanding to the texts about forgiveness is anachronistic and probably says more about our preoccupation with guilt and anxiety than the Bible actually says about God, Christ, or the early Christian community.”
- Patton, John, "Preaching on Forgiveness," Journal for Preachers, 2009.
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“In thinking about preaching on forgiveness there are many issues to take into account. This article is designed to touch on a number of them. Although I make use of a number of psychological sources in this article, I am convinced that the most important way to interpret forgiveness is theological. The Lord's Prayer reminds us that human forgiveness and God's forgiveness are inseparable. Thus it is important for the preacher to deal with forgiveness theologically and not get side-tracked onto views that are simply psychological or behavioral.”
Isaiah 49:8-16
- Roberts, Kathryn L., "Between Text and Sermon: Isaiah 49:14-18," Interpretation, 2003.
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“Second Isaiah's use of positive feminine imagery provides a welcome relief and counterbalance to the earlier prophetic condemnation of Zion and Israel as the unfaithful wife and lover. In these oracles of comfort and restoration, God speaks tenderly and approvingly of the city as a grieving mother and honored spouse. The passage before us may have found its way into the lectionary readings for Year A, the 8th Sunday in Epiphany, precisely because of the positive nature and clarity of this comparison between maternal and divine love.”
Psalm 131
- Shoemaker, H. Stephen, "Psalm 131," Review and Expositor, 1988.
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How do you preach a lullaby? That is what this psalm is a lullaby. It is a tender and intimate nightsong. It is the song of a troubled heart being given the peace that passes understanding. If we could pray it as our own, perhaps we would sleep better at night.
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