textweek

Textweek/ATLAS September 6, 2015 Proper 18B Ordinary 23B Pentecost 15

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb18.htm

Proper 18B / Ordinary 23B / Pentecost 15
September 6, 2015

• Flesher, LeAnn Snow, "Mercy triumphs over judgment: James as social gospel," Review and Expositor, 2014.
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Abstract: 

"The community addressed by the book of James has some serious disagreements and conflicts. Not only is the community dishonoring the poorest among them, but some are coveting what they do not have and even murdering to get it (4:2). As a remedy, James lists the characteristics of the wisdom from above: pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without one trace of partiality and hypocrisy (3:17). James is calling for a righteous peace (3:18), and according to his understanding of the wisdom from above, that peace will come when e؟ u؛ty and e؟ ual؛ty become the norm. Ifthe poor covet and commit illegal acts to obtain what they desire, the answer for the people of faith is not violent retaliation, or physical punishment. The answer, according to James, is selfless service and honor given by the haves to the have nots. For although James does not ever condone breaking the law (2:١٠- 11), he does encourage mercy in place of judgment (2:13); and according to the wisdom from above, saving faith exhibits such mercy."

• Smith, Julien CH, "'The construction of identity in Mark 7:24-30: the Syrophoenician Woman and the problem of ethnicity," Biblical Interpretation, 2012.
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Abstract:

"This article explores the relationship between religious and ethnic identity in the NT by examining the way in which the interaction between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:24-30 defamiliarizes the reader s deficient norms regarding ethnicity. The pericopes narrative context and setting lead the reader to expect that Jesus will fulfill the Syrophoenician womans request and heal her daughter. The author s use of various stylistic and rhetorical elements within the pericope (type־scenes, stock characters, and two-step progressions) subtly suggest that these expectations may be frustrated. When Jesus rebuffs the woman, the reader must reexamine the assumptions that contributed to misplaced expectations. Through this process o f defamiliarization, the text exposes two deficient norms potentially held by the reader: the notion that the gospel obliterates ethnicity as a component o f social identity, and the competing notion that one’s particular ethnic identity must be rejected in order to respond faithfully to the gospel. "

• Sun, Poling, "Naming the dog: another Asian reading of Mark 7:24-30," Review and Expositor, 2010.
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Abstract: 

"The difficult episode involving the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30; par. Matt 15:21-28) presents an image of Jesus that is not only unwelcoming, but also offensive. After a survey of traditional interpretations designed to defend Jesus from charges of bias and an examination of the contributions of newer Asian, post-colonialist, and feminist approaches, this article suggests that neither the woman's gender nor race provide the hermeneutical key to understanding this passage. Instead, the incident represents Jesus' encounter with oppressive Gentile economic power." 

 Husted, Heidi, "When the Gospel Goes to the Dogs," The Christian Century, 2000.

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 “The day the gospel went to the dogs was the day it came to us. We are some of the ‘dogs’ who have received the good news of the gospel! When Jesus opened himself up to mission to the whole world, he opened his church to the world. Now we are to open ourselves to the whole world in mission.”

 Skinner, Matthew L., "'She Departed to Her House': Another Dimension of the Syrophoenician Mother's Faith in Mark 7:24-30," Word & World, 2006. 

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 “The Syrophoenician mother stands as an exemplar of faith not because she has so much of it, but because she enacts it so consistently and deeply. Hers is an insistent, perceptive, and trusting faith that provides insight into the faith we exhibit as well.”

 Reynolds, Carol Bechtel, "Between Text & Sermon: Psalm 125," Interpretation, 1994.

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 “It is that same Prince of Peace that makes possible the peace that radiates from the final verses of the hymn by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In them is evident the same sense of trust and benediction that we saw in Psalm 125…”

 Hughes, David M., "The Best Seat in the House: James 2:1-10, 14-17," Review and Expositor, 2000.

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 “In Christ's church, everybody, regardless of where he sleeps or how she dresses, is somebody. And from that fact flows another corollary: in Christ's church, nobody is better than anybody else. For that reason, favoritism in the church is forbidden. Partiality is prohibited.”

 

 

Textweek/ATLAS August 30, 2015 Proper 17B Ordinary 22B Pentecost+14

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb17.htm

Proper 17B / Ordinary 22B / Pentecost 14
August 30, 2015

 

Wink, Walter, "The Education of the Apostles: Mark's View of Human Transformation," Religious Education, 1988.

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 “When I study the Bible, alone or with others, my ultimate aim is not information, but transformation. I see no reason to trouble myself or others with Scripture unless in doing so we intend to approach as closely as we dare to the numinous majesty of the living God. Why open this explosive and shattering book unless we are willing, not just to be added to, but subtracted from?”

 Lamkin, James E., "'Of Sails and Sudders': Song of Songs 2:8-13; James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23," Review and Expositor, 2008. (Sermon)

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 “When does love throw prudence to the wind and love lavishly? And when does love wear the tough-love boots of reason with boundaries?

 "Homiletical Helps," Concordia Journal, 2009. (Section on this text begins on page 302)

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 “Our own hands are still defiled by our hypocrisies. And we're still hungry. The rest of the Gospel story then is the preacher's to tell: Jesus treats us—his twenty-first century disciples—in the same way he treated his first-century twelve. He still lets us eat and drink, defiled hands and all. But he does not let us (or even himself) off the hook.” 

Talbert, Charles H., "James: Teaching Outlines and Selected Sermon Seeds," Review and Expositor, 2000.

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 “James 1:19-27 is a Travelers' Advisory, advice from an early Christian teacher to travelers on their Christian walk. In it are three assumptions and three pieces of advice.”

Textweek/ATLAS August 23, 2015 Proper 16B Ordinary 21B Pentecost +13

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb16.htm

Proper 16B / Ordinary 21B / Pentecost 13
August 23, 2015

Tatarnic, Martha Smith, "Whoever comes to me: open table, missional church, and the body of Christ," Anglical Theological Review, 2014.
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"In focusing the question sacramental practice in identity wit- ness, and mission rather than inclusion and hospitality. Open Table congregations can lay claim to participating in and contributing to (rather than detracting from) missional renewal in our church’s worshiping life."

• Bracken, Joseph A., "The challenge of self-giving love," Theological Studies, 2013.
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Abstract: "Conventional wisdom sometimes holds that selfishness pays off and is even necessary for survival in a competitive world. Joseph Bracken here challenges that view, arguing instead that self-giving love for others is the mainspring of human life and even of the cosmic process as a whole. Basing his argument on texts from Scripture, church tradition, and philosophical reflection on the nature o f I-Thou relations, he concludes that the goal of self-transcendence is paradoxically located not in the self but in the well-being of the other."

• Werline, Rodney Alan, "Prayer, politics, and power in the Hebrew Bible," Interpretation, 2014.
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"This essay applies current anthropological methods to selected texts in the Hebrew Bible in order to investigate the place o؛ prayer within relationships 0؛ power.؛ Bower does not simply exist as an ideal, but in the ability of humans to influence the actions of other humans. Ritual theorists have recently argued that, in part, ritual functions as a way that people negotiate, mediate and enact power within these relationships. A reading of prayer texts from the Hebrew Bible from this perspective casts new light on the role of prayer in the micro-politics of everyday life and reveals the way in which biblical authors attempted to tie this to Israel’s larger story."

• Green, Yosef, "The reign of King Solomon: diplomatic and economic perspectives," Jewish Bible Quarterly, 2014.
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"It was indeed a unique chapter in toe economic history of ancient Israel, especially concerning its relations with Egypt, Phoenicia, and Sheba. According to A. Malamat, ’’It was toe only point in history that toe Holy Land ever attained primary status in ؛international politics . . . Solomon’s kingdom was toe major power of its day." 

Holt-Woehl, Hollie M., "Putting on the whole armor of God: preaching Ephesians 6:10-20 in a mullticultural congregation," Word & World, 2009.
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"The tensions and struggles present both in the world and in our congregations—perhaps especially in our multicultural and immigrant congregations —require us to put on the whole armor of God for our protection, our survival, and our thriving." 

 

Husted, Heidi, "Decisions," The Christian Century, 2000.

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 “What does a life reordered by God’s demands look like today?”

 Brueggemann, Walter, "At the Mercy of Babylon: A Subversive Rereading of the Empire," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1991.

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 “It is clear in the prayer that it is God and only God who gives mercy. God is the only subject of the verb ntn. God must grant mercy if any is to be given.” 

Brueggemann, Walter, "The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity," The Christian Century, 2008.

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 “Consumerism has become a demonic spiritual force. Does the gospel have the power to help us withstand it?”

 Fitzgerald, Matt, "Living by the Word: Ephesians 6:10-20," The Christian Century, 2009.

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  “If we cannot be protected from an enemy as obvious as ourselves, can we ever hope to find protection strong enough to thwart the ‘cosmic powers’ that cause us to turn on one another in the first place?”

 

Textweek/ATLAS August 16, 2015 Proper 15B Ordinary 20B/Pentecost +12

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb15.htm

Proper 15B / Ordinary 20B/ Pentecost +12
August 16, 2015

Vasholz, Robert I., "The Wisdom of Bathsheba in 1 Kings 2:13-25," Presbyterion, 2007.
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“Bathsheba's request, then, on Adonijah's behalf, exposed
him as still being a serious threat to Solomon and one that needed to be dealt
with. Here was a very wise woman (and mother) whose acumen not only helped her
son to secure his reign, but who also demonstrates wisdom as a virtue of God's
kingdom.”

 

"Homiletical Helps," Concordia Journal, 2009. (Section on
this text begins on page 298)
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 “Since the text is an excerpt, it will be necessary to set
out its context, even if the sermons on the three connected pericopes are
similarly connected as a series. How much discussion of this context is needed
will depend in part on the previous and subsequent sermons. In any case, it
will be important for this text to speak about Jesus' claims to be the bread of
life from heaven.”

 

Fitzgerald, Matt, "Living by the Word: John 6:51-58," The Christian Century, 2009.
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 “Jesus is not content to live only inside our minds.”

 

Gosnell, Peter W., "Ephesians 5:18-20 and Mealtime Propriety," Tyndale Bulletin, 1993.
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Summary: “Ephesians 5:18 startlingly contrasts drunkenness
with fulness with the Spirit. Previous attempts to relate this contrast to
excessive behaviour within Christian gatherings have not convinced many.
Instead of suggesting alternative improprieties, the present study expolores
behavioural patterns followed at various Graeco-Roman convivial gatherings.
These patterns indicate that some people who regularly met for special meals commonly
chose abstention from drunkenness in favour of stimulating, even religious,
discussion. Accordingly, the present study suggests that the statements of
5:18-20, and ultimately others made throughout the moral teaching in Ephesians,
simply reflect the writer's assumption that his readers regularly gathered in a
mealtime context.”

Textweek/ATLAS August 2, 2015 Proper 14B / Ordinary 19B / Pentecost+11

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb14.htm

Proper 14B / Ordinary 19B/ Pentecost +11
August 9, 2015

Calian, Carnegie Samuel, "Theologizing in a Win/Lose
Culture," The Christian Century, 1979.
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Abstract: “Ours is a win/lose culture: the ethos of our
society invites, motivates and encourages us - especially if we are
middle-class - to be winners in life. The prevailing attitude of our culture
raises some questions: 1) Is winning really everything? 2) Is there a positive
or redemptive side to failure? 3) What does the cross offer to a win/lose
culture? only as we acknowledge and confess our sense of incompleteness are we
able to be free from the entrapments of a win/lose culture. God accepts us
despite our failings. Accepted and forgiven, we are liberated to celebrate
life. We are released to care for others. These affirmations point to the
redemptive side of failure, to the god who accepts losers.”

Herrmann, Erik H., "Homiletical Helps on LW Series B," Concordia
Journal, 2006. (Section on this text begins on p. 319)
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“…our love can never replace but only reflect God's love for
us. As C. S. Lewis concludes, we must never mistake ‘Like for Same.’”

Rusch, Frederick A., "The Signs and the Discourse - The Rich Theology of John
6," Currents in Theology and Mission, 1978.
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“In this discourse several fascinating sub-themes emerge:
none should be lost; faith is not based on seeing with one's eyes but it is a
product of the spirit; coming to Jesus is due only to the Father, a contrast is
drawn between flesh and spirit, there are suggestive overtones of a sacramental
meal involving the person of Jesus. These ingredients all function to alter the
traditional feeding and walking accounts.”

Ramshaw, Gail, "Living by the Word: 1 Kings 19:4-8, John
6:35, 41-51," The Christian Century, 2009.
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“Living deeply into the metaphors of the faith is not for
the fainthearted.”

Textweek ATLAS August 2, 2015 Proper 13B Ordinary 18B Pentecost +10

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb13.htm

Proper 13B / Ordinary 18B / Pentecost +10
August 2, 2015

Coats, George W., "Expository Article: II Samuel 12:1-7a," Interpretation, 1986.
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“The absence of life in the face of death corresponds to the
absence of healing for the stricken child despite David's intercession. The new
creation, the prospect for new life from the compassion of God comes for this
world. New creation here is not creation of a new world. New creation is a
discovery of new hope for this world.” 

"Homiletical Helps," Concordia Journal, 2010. (Section on this text begins on page 171)
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“In our text, King David stands out as a type. He typifies
the human predicament Christians know as sin with all its predictable
dimensions and consequences.”

Smith, Carol, "Biblical Perspectives on Power," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2001.
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Abstract: ‘Images of power and powerlessness pervade the Old
Testament. While the predominant picture is of men who are more powerful than
women, kings who are more powerful than their subjects, and Yahweh who is more
powerful than other gods, a more ambivalent picture of power emerges in many
passages. This article discusses a number of such cases, with particular
attention given to Genesis 19 and 38, 2 Samuel 11,1 Kings 1, and 2 Kings 3. In
each case the depicted power relationships mutate and develop, with the result
that the Bible can be seen to be frequently undermining its own assumptions of
where power should and does lie. There are enough 'temporary challenges' to the
standard viewpoint to be significant, and scholars who seek to discover 'the
biblical view of power' may well be unsuccessful.”

Ballenger, Isam E., "Between Text and Sermon: Ephesians 4:1-16," Interpretation, 1997.
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“The called have not reached perfection. The church does not
represent itself as an ideal community. It is a community in process. The
called should be those who are growing up into the one Lord, who is the Head.
Participating in the body is not static and not passive; it is not a
once-for-all experience. It is neither habit nor mere tradition. It has to do
with life and growth, being the body of Christ in place and in time, in
changing places and in changing times.”

Fowl, Stephen, "John 6:25-35, Between Text and Sermon," Interpretation, 2007.
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“The words of Jesus are also signs. The ways in which we and
others engage these words often reflect our own engagements with Jesus.”

Textweek ATLAS July 26, 2015 Proper 12B Ordinary 17B Pentecost +9

Studying lectionary texts? 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: 

http://www.textweek.com/yearb/properb12.htm

Proper 12B / Ordinary 17B / Pentecost +9
July 26, 2015

Brueggemann, Walter, "Life and Death in Tenth Century Israel," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1972.
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Chankin-Gould, J D'ror, Derek Hutchinson, David Hilton Jackson, Tyler D Mayfield, Leah Rediger Schulte, Tammi J Schneider, E. Winkelman, "The Sanctified 'Adulteress' and Her Circumstantial Clause: Bathsheba's Bath and Self-Consecration in 2 Samuel 11," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2008.
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“The author of Kings ultimately proves Bathsheba's status as a clean, sanctified, legitimate mother of Israel (see 1 Kgs 1.15-40); it is she, at the instigation of Nathan, who successfully enthrones her son, the next Israelite king.”

Harrell, Daniel M., "Living by the Word: 2 Samuel 11:1-15, John 6:1-21," The Christian Century, 2009.
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“If Jesus had given in to fame, he could have gotten around the cross.”

Yee, Gale A., "'Fraught with Background,' Literary Ambiguity in II Samuel 11," Interpretation, 1988.
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“Narrative ambiguity is a deliberate stylistic device which engages the reader, seizes the imaginative processes, and creates an interaction with the characters of the story that a more explicitly detailed account does not allow to happen.”

Jarvis, Cynthia A., "Ephesians 3:14-21, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1991.
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“In this time when wars and rumors of war abound, when hostilities are deepened because the economy is depressed, when the facts of our lives would lead us to conclude that there are irreconcilable differences among those who call upon the same God, when little minds continue to claim that they alone know the dimensions and limits of Christ's compassion, a preacher would do well to attend to this text, tracing Paul's reason back to the foundation of the world when, without distinction, God destined, in love, every family in heaven and on earth to be God's children through Jesus Christ.”