When the lightbulb comes on

Okay, so the lightbulb of an idea came on this afternoon about my sermon for Sunday. The lectionary readings center around Paul's interpretation of Abraham's call from God to be the father of many nations (Romans 4:13-25). The other lectionary texts are Genesis 12:1-9 (Abraham's call) and Matthew 9 (both Matthew's call and Jesus healing a little girl).

As I worked up a liturgy for Sunday, I wondered aloud how Paul went about interpreting Abraham's call. It got me to thinking how sometimes Matthew would interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament (e.g., finding proof-texts for the coming Messiah in places where the original authors weren't writing about it when they wrote it). As this conversation was going over in my head, I remembered something I heard from a friend: "It is the responsibility of every Christian in each generation to re-interpret what it means to be a Christian in their time and place."

So, I am thinking I'll examine how it is we go about re-interpreting Scripture, what it means to do it, what dangers/benefits occurs when we do it, and to suggest other texts we might consider reinterpreting. I know it sounds like a lot but I think I am on to something. I'll let you know how it turns out.