More Than Hearing

Greetings!! We decided to do a show that’s just a bit different this week. We are using only one passage for Easter 7 and adding to the show the Acts passage assigned for the Ascension. These passages are the assigned readings for Easter 7, Year A which was almost a year ago, so if this all sounds a bit familiar, that’s likely why! We managed to find fresh illustrations and special effects, though. Obviously, the Spirit was at work, bringing new ideas to mind – or we just simply forgot what we did last year. A little from column A and column B, perhaps. At any rate, we are grateful to the movement of the Spirit every time we set to work on this project. We pray the Spirit will inspire your creativity and imagination, as well! Let’s go discover what we might be able to do together with these verses. 

We’re starting out with EYE smart informed by commentary linked below. Jesus has mirrored the Father’s image to his disciples; now, he expects them to mirror his image to the world. So, what better illustration AND special effect than a mirror? Play with this idea and see where it may lead you. Jesus is aware that those for whom he is praying have been given to him by God and that anyone who comes later will be added by that same grace. This got us to thinking about how water droplets accumulate until they don’t and the expanding geometry of concentric circles for MATH smart. Going back to the mirror, try playing a drama game for a BODY smart special effect. In NATURE smart, Jesus exhibits the qualities of a parent in nature that must go out and hunt or forage leaving young’uns behind. We wonder, do animals pray for protection for their offspring? And in PEOPLE smart, we look at a couple ways this prayer functions; Jesus prays for protection for his disciples and acts as High Priest, bridging the gap between them and God.

The ascension of Jesus is a hinge connecting the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. It finishes the story of Jesus on earth and begins the story of Jesus’ disciples stepping into the role he assigned for them – to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. Demonstrate this hinge effect with a special effect like the one we suggest. We also have links that show things going up. For MATH smart, we looked at verse seven, where the disciples reveal their location in time and place. We sometimes scoff at their shortsightedness, but are they really being narrow minded or simply applying the awe of resurrection to real life? This made me think of algebra and using mathematical formulae for everyday situations. David had an interesting way to use MUSIC smart as this passage is read. And in SELF smart, maybe we can find ways to put the time until God brings the fulfillment of all things to good use for the kingdom.

Overview

Image Credit: Photo by Andrew Spencer on Unsplash. Used by permission.

Hey everyone! It’s the beginning of May and rather than dance around a May pole, David and I decided to look back to the beginning of the year and do a Feedback Loop. Since we pretty much missed doing one for the entirety of Year A, we are practically doing this back to back with the last one! Which was six months ago! We have not included Advent for Year B; we are starting at the Baptism of the Lord and going through to Easter 5, which was this past Sunday.

The purpose of the Feedback Loop is to let you all know how our ideas for illustrations and special effects worked in our worship and preaching, whether used by David, me, or our listeners. I discovered that I tend to turn special effects into illustrations AND that my pianist is afraid of snakes. David tends to go for the science experiments that may or may not work like they did in rehearsals at home. We sometimes used the same illustration or special effect at our respective churches, and since I am sometimes in worship at David’s church, I am an eye witness to how effective they are. It’s interesting to see these things from both sides of the pulpit.

What follows below is a Sunday by Sunday list of timestamps to help you find a week in the podcast and a link to the relevant episode. You also can see what we did (or remember doing) by clicking on the two “FBL list” links just below that will take you to a pdf. We had fun reminiscing about our efforts, were glad to include feedback from one of our listeners, and plan to be back with a regular show next week for Easter 7.

David’s FBL list                Molly’s FBL notes

January 7, Baptism of the Lord – [02:10]

January 14, Ordinary 2 – [04:22]

January 21, Ordinary 3 – [06:38]

January 28, Ordinary 4 – [09:52]

February 4, Ordinary 5 – [12:25]

February 11, Transfiguration Sunday – [15:14]

February 18, Lent 1 – [15:40]

February 25, Lent 2 – [17:18]

March 4, Lent 3 – [21:40]

March 11, Lent 4 – [22:14]

March 18, Lent 5 – [26:05]

March 25, Palm Sunday – [29:32]

April 8, Easter 2 –  [32:04]

April 15, Easter 3 – [36:12]

April 22, Easter 4 – [37:34]

April 29, Easter 5 – [42:02]

How many of you reflexively answered the question above with your house address? Don’t worry; we aren’t mining for data here, but framing an idea that connects the three passages for this Sunday. When asked this question, “Where do you live?” most of us think of the place where we have all our stuff and sleep at night. A house, an apartment, a town home – a living space. We are very fortunate to have some real property in an era of increasing homelessness due to the economy or warfare, thanks be to God. Let’s put a different emphasis on the question – where do you LIVE? Where is your heart, your mind, your soul, your imagination? Where do you light up like a neon sign? Where do you fall into a place that engages you so thoroughly, you don’t notice time passing? Or, let’s try this emphasis – WHERE do you live? Do you live where you are most comfortable or where there is a chance of risk? Do you live where you feel safe or where there is an element of unease? Is this an actual place or a relationship? Is this a place that has been shown to you by the Spirit, like Philip in the Acts passage, or is this a place where you have come to a deeper commitment to others based on God’s grace to you in Jesus? In all three selections for this Sunday, an underlying question in each of them asks us to consider where we find ourselves and our congregations. Trusting the Spirit enough to go down a wilderness road? Trusting Jesus enough to abide in him as he abides in God? Where do we live? Let’s go find out.

Do you recall a time when you felt moved by the Spirit to get up and go do something? Did you do it? What happened? In WORD smart, John Fairless mentions that Luke makes effective use of questions in telling this story. Philip and the Ethiopian official both ask questions that move the plot along and open new avenues for the “good Jesus news” (a la Mark Davis, below) to move into deeper places in the world. In his commentary, Brian Bantum shows the intersection of proclamation and reception, something we all pray for whenever we get into the pulpit, I’m sure! For EYE smart, we recommend a lot of artwork, especially the intricate metalwork of Ethiopian processional crosses. Take a look at the other artwork linked below. Since baptism is involved in this story, make use of your baptismal font for a special effect. In MATH smart, those of us in denominations with clear polity about baptism find this story either optimistically open or frighteningly free. That Philip can just use a water hole to baptize someone who asks for it breaks some rules for many of us. David heard an interesting podcast about God breaking rules, and we also have Jill Duffield’s commentary for this week’s passages as an illustration about why that is sometimes a good model to follow. For a special effect, play a game or read a story and – mix up the rules! MUSIC smart has three hymns (or many many more if you search for music about the Spirit) as illustrations, and we have an idea to use musical cues as a special effect. Look at our worksheet for some ideas for NATURE and PEOPLE that didn’t make it into the podcast. Finally for SELF smart, we have some questions to use as guides for noticing how the Spirit may move you.

Since we recorded the podcast, I’ve gone back and counted up how many times the word “love” shows up in this selection. If we fudge for the word “beLOVEd”, it appears 29 times. Plus, the word “abide” shows up 6 times. I think we can safely state that this selection from this epistle/sermon is about love. Since this is the center, you could illustrate this in EYE smart by using mandalas or arabesque artworks with its repeated patterns. For a special effect, try using interlocking foam tiles to represent how love connects this passage. Staying with this idea of God and love in MATH smart, use a compass to illustrate how we are always drawn back to this reality. For a special effect, mix up some oil and water! Alicia Myers notes the poetic structure of verses 7-11 (we lay it out at the bottom of the worksheet) in MUSIC smart; for illustrations, see the suggestions for hymns and the commentary by Meta Carlson. David remembers hearing Billy Graham compare the presence of God to the wind, which would be an eye catching illustration and special effect for NATURE smart. If you don’t use the fan, try one of the other experiments linked below. We stick with Jill Duffield’s commentary in PEOPLE smart, which illustrates how we think we may be acting in love, but are not.

Counting again! In this passage, the word “vine” occurs 4 times, “abide” shows up 8 times, “fruit” and “branch” are each used 6 times. The author is stressing a reality about discipleship, obviously. Interestingly enough, we did not mention this in the podcast for WORD smart. Rather, I was struck by two Greek words that have NATURE and SELF overtones. The first one is klemata which means cling and sounds like clematis which is a flowering vine. The other is kathairei that translates as either prune or cleanse and sounds like catharsis. The branches cling to the vine unless they don’t produce and then they are cleansed or pruned. The allusion to disciples abiding in Jesus is clear! To further illustrate this, use our MATH smart idea about dipoles. We have a high energy way to demonstrate this in BODY smart, too. Get your spotters ready! If you haven’t yet heard the old hymn “Abide with Me” in your head simply for reading the word eight times, follow our link in MUSIC smart. NATURE smart is all over this passage; viticulture has been around for a very long time and the basic structure of a plant illustrates the essence of abiding. PEOPLE smart ties all these elements together with Susan Cherwien quoting Meister Eckart’s example of disciples producing fruit.

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Hello friends! The Fourth Sunday in Eastertide is traditionally Good Shepherd Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary, as you’ll see below. So you might be expecting a picture of sheep here, but instead here’s someone laying stone. What gives? It’s tied more to the Acts 3 passage for this week, wherein Peter tells the high priestly types that Jesus, whom they had crucified, is the stone foretold by the psalmist, rejected by the builders but made to be the cornerstone. Laying the foundation connected audibly with Jesus saying in John 10 that he lays down his life for the sheep. (See? The sheep showed up eventually.) In the 1 John 3 passage, we lay down our sin in the light of God’s grace and lay down our claims of control in obedience to God’s call to love one another. Whether you go with this theme to lay it down or the more traditional shepherding, we have a wealth of multiple intelligence illustrations and special effects for you to consider.

(And if you use this “laying it down” theme, you might want to check out Waylon Jennings’ song, “Lay It Down,” as a bit of Music Smart bonus material.)

This passage picks up at the end of the story of the man healed by Peter and John. The council has heard what happened and want to know what’s going on. Peter lays it down for them. We did not use WORD smart in the podcast but the quote linked below gets at the heart of the conflict! Instead, we began with an EYE smart illustration of the healed man as a living before/after picture of transformation. If you choose to use the special effect, take care with your Google search parameters. For MATH smart, we look to construction principles to illustrate the importance of cornerstones. The Greek word sodzo can be translated into English in a variety of ways including the words “salvation” and “healing”. For BODY smart, we link to an article that explores the connection between the two words for women’s body images. Finally, in PEOPLE smart, we think the council is particularly perturbed to be challenged on their own turf and offer some other examples. David was reminded of a face one makes when an evil plan goes awry. See the link below!

The author of 1 John lays down instructions for ethical living as God’s children. We love, not by our speech or what we say, but by what we do and what shapes our hearts. The good news in this selection is that even if our hearts are heavy because of our conscience, God is greater than our hearts. In WORD smart, we compare this graceful reality to the end of A Christmas Carol where Bob Cratchit is stunned to hear Scrooge is going to raise his wages! David found a link about logical proofs for a MATH smart illustration and some experiments for a special effects that reveal how compiling evidence often works as proof. In BODY smart, we offer a link to the current champion of the Boston Marathon who trained her body to endure. Endurance is a common quality for faithful living. David wrote some new lyrics to an older tune for MUSIC smart. It is below – feel free to use it with attribution! In PEOPLE smart, we think the author is instructing believers to tune themselves so closely to Jesus that people will recognize him in us immediately. I have a story about an immediate recognition of family resemblance. And for SELF smart, use a tea bag to illustrate how pressure reveals our character.

Let us love, not just in word or speech,

When our hearts condemn us for sin,

God welcomes us when we do as God commands.

The fourth Sunday in Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. Year B uses these verses where Jesus specifically speaks to what a good shepherd does. A good shepherd sticks around and if necessary, lays down his own life on behalf of the flock. The hired hands won’t do that, and David thought of a scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  that illustrates this well in EYE smart! Make a poster for a special effect and at the appropriate time, lay it down. Sticking with that idea of value and worth, in MATH smart do some calculations and haul out the balance scales. In BODY smart, use the risks of pregnancy and childbirth as an illustration. Following on that example, in NATURE smart, we have some links to parenting in the natural world. Of course, we don’t always act like the Good Shepherd; sometimes we are more like the hired hands, and we have some more examples of that behavior in PEOPLE smart. Finally, in SELF smart we have two stories of people’s willingness to lay down their lives for someone they love.

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Hey! Welcome back! This week’s passages are all about preaching – Peter preaches a sermon in Acts, Jesus gives some instructions in Luke, and the author of 1 John teaches listeners how their lives should be lived on this side of the Resurrection. The texts are all heavily weighted toward WORD smart, but oddly enough, we think the best way to explore them is through BODY smart. How might that be, you may be asking. Go ahead – ask. {waits} Glad you asked! Each of the passages include strong testimony* regarding the BODILY resurrection of Jesus. {Ta-DA!} Each passage speaks of Jesus not in the abstract, but in the tactile sense of his body being raised from the grave and present once again with the disciples. You could reconstruct each sermon using WORD smart elements or concentrate on the location of each using EYE smart. We also found a lot of MUSIC smart to illustrate the texts! Whatever preaching path you choose, be certain to emphasize the witness in each about the new reality opened up to us because of Jesus’ bodily resurrection.  

*(WORD and MATH smart elements)

The body language in the Acts passage includes a healing that happens in the verses prior to the selection. It may be a good idea to include it; there is rich material there in itself, but it also helps illuminate the power of Peter’s witness in the verses for today. We began with EYE smart, looking at the location of the sermon and the healing. If the images we found are true to the historical building, the temple was spectacular! WOW! In MATH smart, use a chart to map out Peter’s points and names for Jesus. For BODY smart, illustrate how the ancient world (and maybe even our own world) considered the outer appearance of the man as in indicator of who he was as a person. We found a poetic construction of verses 13-15 in MUSIC smart, and I remembered a song I learned in 3rd grade Sunday School. And for PEOPLE smart, David and I ran through a short skit that sounds a lot like those cheesy TV commercials.

The body language in the epistle rises as the subject of conflicting ideas regarding Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. Commentary suggests this letter is an extended sermon written to counteract creeping Gnosticism and Docetism of the era. Following this idea, we found a couple contemporary examples of letters written in response to cultural pressures in WORD smart. The author of 1 John refers to Jesus’ revelation in these verses, so in EYE smart, we offer some ways to illustrate things being revealed. Jesus’ revelation and resurrection offer a new identity to believers, and we have two poems in MUSIC smart about identity, one where identity must be kept hidden. We also have a plethora of musical options. The author of 1 John attempts to root out growing misunderstandings. This made us think about working in a garden in NATURE smart. In PEOPLE smart, the phrase “children of God” alludes to our adoption into God’s family, so we suggest a couple ways to look at adoption. For SELF smart, we have a couple questions you and your congregation could use for personal reflection. 

Jesus himself provides the body language in the Gospel passage as he stands among his overwhelmed friends, tells them to look at his wounds and touch his body, and eventually asks them, “Got any food?” (We did not use the ideas presented in WORD smart on our worksheet in the podcast, but I think they would be a powerful way to connect to our culture’s current turmoil about brutality and injustice. Proceed with all pastoral care and caution.) We begin in EYE smart with a gadget that could illustrate Jesus’ sudden, startling arrival in the room, and the disciples’ doubt about his physicality. For MATH smart, Jesus opens the disciples understanding of their Scripture, which we illustrate with some mathematical formulae. The letters and symbols make no sense if you do not understand the ideas represented. BODY smart is all about Jesus’ body here and how embodiment is so important to making connections among human beings (PEOPLE smart). We also have some good commentaries to recommend. I just happened to tumble across the website linked below in MUSIC smart and will be going back to it in the future!

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He is Risen! As mainline and lifelong church goers, David and I are accustomed to this traditional Easter greeting. About 20 years ago, good friends of ours added the phrase “rock and roll” to the end of it, and we all laughed and laughed and opened another bottle of wine as we gathered for post-worship cookouts. Good times! Anyway, the startling effect of this phrase has lost some of it’s juice. For those of us long steeped in the story, these words are shorthand. But what if we were to do something unpredictable and counter cultural with this reality – like say, sell our houses and all move in together (Acts 4)? People would say we were nuts or communists, but we would say that what we have seen and what we have heard (1 John 1) has convinced us the resurrection is real (John 20) and has power to overcome any kind of fear and even to make us generous. What would people call us then? I think Jesus would call us blessed. 

The first reading for the next six weeks will come from the book of Acts. Although it got cut from the show for time, we started off this selection with a really dumb joke told poorly by me. Whoops. I had the essence of the joke in my head, it just didn’t come out well! The first community had the essence of generous and dynamic living handed down to them from various writings that may have been familiar to them, which we talk about in WORD smart. This unusual way of living together has garnered much speculation and controversy about how they managed it and for how long. That there was an equal distribution of wealth seems to really confuse some people. In MATH smart, we present an article and a graph that shows how wealth is distributed in the world as of three years ago. It’s quite different from the way these folks in Acts were living. For MUSIC smart, we have a poem by Wendell Berry that explores the unexpected way of living in response to resurrection. We sort of pushed NATURE smart onto this passage with two articles that suggest exposure to the beauty and wonder of the natural world leads people to be more open and giving. For PEOPLE smart, I read a quote from an author at the Christian Century about the effect living in community may have on those around us. Finally, SELF smart encourages individuals to consider their financial assets in Jesus’ balance sheet.

The first verse of this passage made me think of Harry Truman and Mark Twain but much to my surprise, the motto on Missouri license plates – the “Show Me State” – is attributed to a US Representative I’d never heard of before! We think this could be a good EYE illustration and for a special effect, shine a bright lantern in the room. We put the idea of witnessing something in MATH smart where the timing between seeing an event and talking about it makes testimony more confident and accurate. Also for MATH smart, Jesus is an advocate before God on our behalf which pings on legal issues – and chemical bonds. Jesus was incarnate and his resurrection in the body puts eyes, ears, hands, feet, hearts, and minds on the ministry of his disciples. We have some illustrations of embodied ministry in BODY smart. We have two wildly popular songs as MUSIC smart illustrations. For PEOPLE smart illustrations, we talk about relationships where someone acts as an advocate, or when you talk about someone you love. 

It’s time – once again – to roll out the story of Thomas refusing to trust the tall tales of the other disciples without some concrete evidence. So, Jesus returns a week after his first appearance greets them with peace. We have an idea for a special effect in WORD smart using a literal translation. For an illustration, show how John breaks the fourth wall and use our similar examples. In EYE smart, we have some ideas for special effects that play with expectations and the astonishment we experience when something happens to upset that apple cart. Jesus breathes on the disciples which is a BODY smart element, as is the physical sensation of loosing and binding sins. Our illustration in MUSIC smart doesn’t entirely fit the hard definition of poetry, but the essay we link to has a rhythm to it, vivid images, and questions that linger; seems poetic to me! And finally, for PEOPLE smart, illustrate Thomas’ difficulty believing the others with the situations we suggest. 

ALSO: Explore our earlier episodes on this passage from Year A and Year C.

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Hey everyone! We broke with our pattern and have produced a show for Palm Sunday! In the past, we have simply assumed that people have some customs around this day that happen every year, so we have quietly gone about leaving this day and Easter out of the line up. This year, we thought we would do a “live” episode – simply scribble some notes on our worksheet (see link below), turn on the microphones, and see what happens! We kept coming back to a lot of parade imagery, as it turns out. We ran through the text from start to finish with a few return trips here and there to check out interesting scenery we missed on the first pass through and managed to find something for every intelligence – except MATH smart. Sorry, guys. If *you* happen to think of something that fits the profile of the intelligence (which you can see at the link at the top right of the page, click on Howard Gardner’s name), let us know. We tried to force some things into the category, but they turned out to fit better in other places. At any rate, here is a sorta live show to get your creative gears meshed and turning!

We decided to cover only the Gospel passage for this week. This is the story that gives the day its name, so we thought it would be best to stick with it. The Psalm for the day is quoted in the middle of the passage and the people throw their cloaks on the road, which echoes 2 Kings 9:13 and the anointing of Jehu. As a spectacle, the event has long roots in the peoples’ history.

In the podcast, we meander all over the place, so these show notes will not match what we recorded very well. Instead, I’m going to go from top to bottom in the categories, beginning with WORD smart. As a special effect, try presenting this passage as Reader’s Theater. I kept coming back to the idea of updating the processional to a more contemporary setting which you could do here. Also for a special effect, the word “hosanna” means “save us”, so see what happens if you use the translation instead of the traditional word as people wave palms.  

We started with EYE smart in the podcast and as usual, EYE smart is a great place to break out maps or pictures to show geographical details and distances. For a special effect, incorporate tableau vivant as a way to present the passage. You could try a contemporary setting here, as well.

Have you ever had your congregation process into the sanctuary to start the service? This is a great BODY smart special effect. So is waving the palms! As an illustration for this intelligence, talk about how people get to their feet to applaud athletes, performers, or politicians. Talk about how concert goers jump up and down and how proud band parents will walk along the parade route to take pictures of their kids, or people will stand around for hours waiting for a political rally to start. Work in how exhausting each of these can be!

You may already have your standards for MUSIC for Palm Sunday, but I found this long list of options when I did a Google search. In keeping with the parade idea, you could really go outside the box and use a John Philip Sousa march!

NATURE smart centers around the colt Jesus sent his disciples to fetch. In the podcast, I remark that I was always impressed with Jesus’ riding ability in that he was willing to mount an unbroken animal! Much has been written about the irony of a king riding a small mount rather than a mighty warhorse so you could compare the differences between the two types. A church David served in Ohio would have a donkey walk, so if you also have access to someone who is willing to bring an animal by, go for it!

In PEOPLE smart, Jesus told his disciples what to say if anyone objected to them walking off with someone else’s colt. This has always seemed odd to me. In the podcast, David gives a reason for why this may have happened which made me think to illustrate this “code” by referring to the Enigma machine and Code Talkers. Also, people will often get energized by drawing near to a destination after a long trip, so you might talk about how the disciples may have been excited to finally reach Jerusalem.

In SELF smart, ask people to put themselves in the setting described and think about how they respond to parades. I must admit, I really enjoy them and always get a bit wistful when high school bands march past. I was a band geek all four years in high school and always felt a great sense of belonging when we marched in parades. I was part of something bigger than I was but I was also an important part of it. Yay, band!

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I apologize that this week’s episode is so late. My hard drive crashed over the weekend, and it’s been a challenge to rebuild my digital environment, including recovering files and applications for producing the podcast. The episode is on the long side and the sound may be off a bit because of the chaos and running out of time. Thanks for your forbearance. –David

Hey all! Welcome back to another episode of the show! Often when putting together these show notes, the connection among the three passages is sitting right there, waving at me. This week, it seems to have jumped off the table and gone into hiding. After much pondering, I think I have recognized a coherent theme – you may not agree, and if you don’t, please say why in the comments. I think the common denominator is God’s continual grace. In the Old Testament passage, God has decided that the best way to impress the law upon the people is to write it on their hearts. In Hebrews, the author goes to great lengths to reveal Jesus as the high priest who intercedes with us and relays God’s grace through his death and resurrection. In John, some Greeks come looking to find Jesus – for reasons that are unclear – and Jesus launches into a proclamation about his coming fate. In each passage, God’s intentions are for humanity to be saved and gathered in to God’s embrace. Follow me to the texts, and let’s test how that works out.

We begin with Jeremiah announcing to the exiles that the old covenant made with their ancestors as they left slavery in Egypt has been broken by faithlessness. So, rather than try the same thing and hope for a different outcome, God is going to inscribe the law within the people. This is a good idea, really. Large stone tablets are difficult to move, and even when placed in a golden box for safe keeping, that box can be stolen by enemies and then eventually broken up and lost to time or buried in a warehouse somewhere. Writing the law on internal organs that travel everywhere keeps it much closer! In WORD smart, we offer an illustration of writing on organic tissue using a scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. If that is too gruesome, use tattoos as an example. For a special effect, hand out water-based markers and make your own tattoos! Parental supervision may be necessary. In EYE smart, the Lord speaks of making formerly divided people one again, and we have some geographic examples of this. The old covenant is not null; it is simply entering a new form, which a painting by van Gogh may convey. We have a quick MATH smart illustration about knowledge, and in BODY smart, that knowledge in people’s hearts may be like a potter fashioning clay or like developing muscle memory to play a sport or to play an instrument. In MUSIC smart, God’s intention to re-write the law within the people might be like playing music in a different key. 

The author of Hebrews may be writing to a fellowship that is struggling to determine its future identity as followers of the Way. Much like the gospels of Matthew and John, this writing calls up people and practices from Israel’s history and knits Jesus into them. In these verses, the author uses the figure of the high priest, reminding the people how that role functioned in worship on behalf of the people. As this comparison draws on, the author deconstructs the image and places Jesus inside it, revealing a bridge to God that will always be open. In WORD smart, we have a story about how words and images get deconstructed. In MATH smart, you can illustrate the compare and contrast strategy of the author with educational examples in the link below. The high priest functioned as a bridge between God and the people, and in BODY smart, we have some fun ways to demonstrate that! I found a poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that we suggest for a MUSIC smart illustration. And in SELF smart, we stick with the image of a bridge and offer some ways to reflect on its strength.

As we began introducing this passage, we realized we have never been certain to whom Jesus is speaking in these verses. We are still not entirely sure but it’s possible he is speaking to the Greeks who came looking to find him. At least, through verse 26, anyway. If this is the case, it’s also possible he has included them in the crowd to whom he is speaking in the second part of this selection. Jesus is using this opportunity to teach what is going to happen to him and why it matters. For EYE smart, we think you could demonstrate Jesus “drawing all people to him” using a magnetic paperweight. We have a couple examples in the links below. Jesus says he will be lifted up, and we have some ideas to illustrate that in BODY smart. For NATURE smart, Jesus refers to the natural process of seed germination, so try illustrating it with the links we’ve provided. We have a lot to offer as illustrations and special effects in PEOPLE smart. I would recommend the TED Talk by Brene Brown.

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Ophidiophobia is the irrational fear of snakes. I know some people who would argue that a fear of snakes is not irrational at all, thank you very much. I would argue the same for spiders. At any rate, two of the Scripture passages for this Sunday mention snakes (aka “danger noodle” or “nope rope”). In the Old Testament lesson, fiery serpents are sent into the Israelite camp as God’s response to the peoples’ complaints. In the Gospel passage, Jesus refers to this incident in his nighttime conversation with Nicodemus as a passion prediction. The Ephesians passage does not have any mention of snakes (or spiders). Instead, the passage talks about the difference between living in and for the world, which can spiral one down into death, or living as a believer in Jesus Christ, which opens one up to the fullness of life in God’s created world – which includes snakes!

In the book of Exodus, the people seem to complain against Moses all the time. They don’t, but the response to the complaining brings water out of a rock and manna from heaven, so the story is remembered because of the miraculous events that follow. This story in Numbers is similar. The people have been wandering for quite a while at this point. You know how cranky you can be when you are confined to a car or a plane for long periods of time, so imagine how stifled they must have felt traveling for decades and still not reaching their destination. This “Are We There Yet?” in Numbers differs from the ones in Exodus because here the people actually grumble against God. God responds by sending fiery serpents among them, and the people are bitten. This seems harsh. God then tells Moses to fashion an image of what is killing them, put it on a pole, and tell anyone who wants to live to look at it. Those who do are saved. The salvation doesn’t come from the bronze image, but from the people hearing the Word of God and obeying it. For WORD smart, we suggest taking the movement of the story and working your entire worship service around it. In EYE smart, be like Moses and make a serpent (maybe rubber instead of bronze) on a pole. Practice hearing and obeying in BODY smart by playing Simon Says. For a NATURE smart special effect, bring in a snake and its handler. The bronze serpent is a manifestation of sin; we have some ways in PEOPLE smart to illustrate this in literature past and present. And for SELF smart, what symbol would you look at that embodies your disobedience?   

Commentary suggests the first three chapters of Ephesians is part of a baptismal liturgy or baptismal catechumen. These particular verses teach about the abundance of God’s mercy given by grace to those dying in the flesh. Life and death are marked with clear boundaries and the transition point between the two of them is Jesus’ death and resurrection. Visually, the passage reminds me of an hourglass where the grains of sand shift down to a narrow point and then are released once again into a wider area on the other side. I wish I had thought of this for the podcast! Anyway, we have some other illustrations for EYE smart using images from television and movies, linked below. For a special effect, David found some instructions for making a swing card! In MATH smart, we suggest using numbers to illustrate the limitless value of God’s grace. Death in this passage is more about spiritual death than physical death, but we have a link to what happens to the BODY when the heart stops beating. We found two fun, easy-to-learn songs using the last verses of this passage and linked to them for MUSIC smart. The kind of death and life transformation in these verses is illustrated very well by the work of an organization called Life After Hate, which we talk about in PEOPLE smart. The relationships established in alt-right and hate groups are often the kind of connection that lost souls seek. 

John 3:16 is a bumper sticker verse, and that’s not a bad thing. But it isn’t the only thing about this chapter. We would need to drive tanks in order to display all the ideas and truths about God’s activity as John’s gospel presents it! Instead, we have an idea for a special effect in WORD smart that acts as a visual display in worship (see the bottom of the worksheet, linked below). Jesus refers to the bronze serpent in the Numbers passage to explain to Nicodemus why he has come into the world, which opens up the illogical idea that something dangerous can be a source of salvation. We look at that in MATH smart. We have a very cool special effect for BODY smart that includes something called God Rods. The theme of light vs. dark runs throughout John, and here Jesus speaks of the light being something that those who love the dark flee from. In NATURE smart, we think illustrating the way cockroaches flee from the light works well. Continuing with the theme of dwelling darkness, we have a list of cover-ups that did not go so well in PEOPLE smart. 

Image Credit: Copyright: pelooyen / 123RF Stock Photo. Used by permission.

Welcome back! United States Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) once famously said that the internet was a series of tubes. Many memes were born that day, I tell you. I liked all the pictures of the cats. Whatever the internet is made of, tubes or fail, it is the place where actions live forever. I’ve had many friends comment on different social media platforms that they are so very glad the internet did not exist when we were younger so there is no record of the folly of yesteryear. Instead, we have stories told by people who were present, and you can believe what they said or not. Paul and John both present stories of God’s actions that you can believe or trust or not. To the Corinthians, Paul addresses the folly of God sending Jesus to die on the cross. In John, we see Jesus foolishly making a scene in the Temple, which very likely prodded his opponents to see death on a cross as the best way to deal with him. In both passages, God is behaving in a foolish way (as humanity sees it) in order to save humanity from our own foolish behavior. 

Since this passage was the Old Testament lesson for Year A, Ordinary 27, we opted to skip it for this podcast and spend a bit more time on the New Testament and Gospel passages. We recommend looking over what we did back in October. We do have some suggestions for the passage on the worksheet – which you can access by clicking the link just below. 

In our modern era, if you wish to be taken seriously as you put forth information, you must have sources for your facts. Of course, this may not always be enough to sway people who have no desire to be shifted, see #fakenews. In these verses in Corinthians, Paul is jumping feet first into a fact about Jesus of Nazareth that has been working against Paul’s assertion that he is the Christ – Jesus was crucified. On the worksheet in PEOPLE and SELF smart, we have about a half dozen quotes about what Paul was attempting to do by going directly to the way in which Jesus died. Unfortunately, we did not get around to using them in the podcast, but I recommend checking them out. Rather, we began in WORD smart by considering how language can be an indication of wisdom – or at least knowledge – and how to formulate an argument using critical thought. For MATH smart, think about how subatomic theory rattled the world of Newtonian physics; in much the same way proclaiming the cross as a way to salvation shook up well established notions of God’s saving activity. In BODY smart, lift some weights in a way that not only strengthens the muscles of the body, but the muscles of interpersonal connection. 

Apparently, this story of Jesus throwing out the money changers has been used to justify Christians less than peaceful urges toward those in power. But does this passage really allow for that? In NATURE smart, we discuss Jesus using cords to drive out the animals in the courtyard, much the way a shepherd or farmer would get a flock or a herd moving. In John’s gospel alone, Jesus directs his actions towards the critters, which in turn leads the people to follow them out. He is very deliberate and seems more in control than as the story is presented in the Synoptics. It is possible, this was a political move, which we explore in EYE smart. Jesus responds to the leaders question about his authority to do this with a confusing statement about rebuilding the temple in three days. We have a suggested special effect in EYE smart, that could do double duty for MATH smart. For PEOPLE smart, ask your congregations to discuss if Jesus is passionately addressing treatment of the poor, or calmly disrupting commerce? Or doing both? And why? And in SELF smart, we think the disciples are given answers to questions before the questions even arise. 

Image Credit: Copyright: haywiremedia / 123RF Stock Photo. Used by permission.