A triptych for Thomas G. Long
Epiphany | Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A)
Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12
To be a follower of the one who promised that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed is to expect a blessed in-breaking of peace.
March 4, 2015
If you happen to read the Message translation of Matthew’s beatitudes, you’ll notice that instead of saying “blessed” the word is “happy.”
October 27, 2014
According to the scholarship of the mid-20th century, Micah 6:1-8 is—like similar passages in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos—a “covenant lawsuit.” The name of the literary genre is taken from the Hebrew word rib (pronounced, “reev”), frequently translated “debate” or “controversy” or, in most of these passages, “complaint” or “case.” Such language conjures up the image of God as plaintiff and Israel as defendant, gathered before some court that would (imagine this) have authority over both. Personally, I think such a literal reading of the “lawsuit” form stretches the theology farther than it will go, but my point for the moment is that a rib is the sound of God complaining.
January 27, 2014
How can Paul navigate the choppy waters of a pagan environment, with its idols and temples? The obvious place to start is the Shema.
by N. T. Wright
November 18, 2013