More Than Hearing

Hey All!! Welcome back to More Than Hearing!

David and I have tried something for this podcast that’s different from the usual. The main idea of our podcast (applying Multiple Intelligence Theory to preaching and worship leadership) has not changed, but how we prepare ourselves for the podcast has. If you’ve been downloading our worksheets, you can see how they have evolved over the past two years as we’ve navigated this uncharted sea. In the past couple months, we’ve discovered that in order to find material for this show, we’ve devoted a lot of time to our own research – which has enriched our material, to be certain – but has also slowed us down. We have talked in the past about simply sitting down one day, turning on the microphones, and allowing our own creativity, experience, and the leading of the Spirit move us through an episode.

What we have to offer for this show is exactly that! Well, okay, I did do some research prior to starting, but for the most part, David and I do two things with this show. Part 1 is the two of us going through the Gospel passage and simply seeing where the different “smarts” can be used. You can find this on a separate post {coming soon}.

Then, Part 2, this part, we go back and look at each “smart” and offer ideas on the fly about how you could tease out corresponding material from the passage. The raw recording has a lot of dead air as we sat and waited for inspiration, but we did find material for all eight intelligences! To be entirely transparent, we then grabbed our shoes, our son, and the car keys and went to see The Last Jedi because it was getting harder not to be spoiled about the movie.

The show notes that follow are my attempts to capture what we did in Part 2, specifically. This experience was both fun (ideas coming to us in real time!) and exasperating (waiting for said ideas to show up). Depending on time constraints in the future, this may be something we attempt again. Let us know what you think in the comments below!

WORD SMART [02:51]

EYE SMART [07:38]

MATH SMART [12:33]

BODY SMART [18:37]

MUSIC SMART [23:04]

NATURE SMART [27:44]

PEOPLE SMART [32:33]

SELF SMART [36:43]

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each clip in order:

Steeleye Span; The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge; Celtic Thunder; Libera; The King’s Singers

The selection for the Old Testament returns to third Isaiah, but the tone of the message retains the hope of God’s presence with the people. Is it any wonder then that Jesus begins his public ministry with the first verses from this chapter? “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he has anointed me….” You must trust that every eye and ear was riveted on him as he read! For WORD smart, we are taking a comment from Gretchen Wolff Pritchard’s essay in The Christian Century that the prisoners to whom Isaiah referred were not those serving punishment for civil or criminal actions but were rather political prisoners. Illuminating that point may bring a different flavor to this proclamation. For a special effect, we suggest sending words of comfort (and presence) to the people listed by the prophet. One of the many reasons for the prophet to rejoice is that God will clothe the people with righteousness and salvation, so for EYE smart, give folks a chance to do some costume design! Other images used by the prophet come from NATURE so we have some suggestions to illustrate God’s glory with an oak tree. Finally, for PEOPLE smart, give your congregation time to identify the brokenhearted, oppressed, captive, and imprisoned in your community and brainstorm ways to proclaim Good News to them, and not just in this season.

I had to laugh at one commentary I read about these verses. In essence, the author said this list sounds a lot like the admonitions parents rattle off to their children everyday and like children having parents rattle instructions off to them everyday, how many of us really hear them anymore? For EYE smart, setting sparklers on fire will break through the routine! (I don’t recommend trying this to get your kids to brush their teeth, though. But, you know – do what works.) If burning things does not appeal, try the illustration we offer for MATH smart. It’s much quieter, and you won’t need to have a fire extinguisher on hand! In BODY and SELF smart, we suggest a way to do a check up on the soundness of your whole being. These directions for living as a disciple are like weights at the gym; use them often enough and you will be fit and ready for what comes your way.  

I must admit I had an arm’s length relationship with the Gospel of John – there was so much TALKING – until David and I went to a retreat and heard Frances Taylor Gench present an argument that this book is written as a court trial. I am not certain this idea is original to her nor why I had not heard it before, but considering this realigns the content in an intriguing manner for me. We did not use WORD smart in the show, but the commentary by Mark Davis follows this idea of John setting the story of Jesus as testimony given in a trial. Judge Judy and other courtroom dramas on television indicate that we love the drama of the story, if not the underlying search for truth and justice. In EYE smart, we have some ways to illustrate witness as a game in a car and how to talk about something to people who have no context for what you are saying. The authorities coming out from Jerusalem ask John to identify himself and that made me think of a particular song from the 70’s which you could reference for MUSIC smart. In PEOPLE smart, we suggest using a novel by Robert Heinlein – or this movie that I just thought of starring Harrison Ford – about being a witness. Testimony in public worship is not for the benefit of the person giving it but for the good of the body, and we have a link to setting a framework for it. And for SELF smart, John is asked repeatedly to identify himself, and he does so only in relation to who he is not and who is coming after him. We have some ideas that you and your congregation could to use to help you self-identify. 

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Hey all! If we truly preach these texts for this week – the Sunday when we explore the traditional Advent theme of “peace” – our pulpits may explode. The activity in each selection is far from pacific; in Isaiah, the earth itself is heaving around, the grass and flowers are wilting, and roadways are being forcibly straightened. Meanwhile in 2 Peter, all the elements are being dissolved by fire! Mark presents John the Baptist coming out of the wilderness preaching repentance and quoting Isaiah. I don’t see much material here that we could turn into lullabies for bedtime. And maybe that’s the problem; it isn’t the disruptive material in the Scripture passages, but our definition of peace. Peace isn’t soft breezes and warm sunshine and chirping birds and children laughing. Peace is a shepherd searching for the lost members of the flock and finding them and bringing them home after they’d been scattered by destructive forces. Peace is a frazzled, unwashed prophet proclaiming the true source of security is not coming from our systems and safeguards but from the Holy One. In Advent, peace is about what comes in the midst of all the carnage. Based on all the information bombarding us daily about the unrest in our world, I want this kind of peace. Let’s go see what we can find in our readings for Sunday.

These words of comfort from the prophet are spoken to a people who have had their world crumble before their very eyes. If we have experienced a similar foundation-cracking change, we understand how sweet these words can be. But the comfort spoken to people sitting in the ashes of their past also calls them to look for what God is going to do for the future. In EYE smart, we have some links to high and low places in West Virginia and some links to the geographic and historic site of The King’s Highway running east of the Jordan River. We did not include MATH smart in the podcast, but did find some interesting information about road engineering. (Disclosure: my father was a civil engineer and would have loved this stuff!) We included a bit of WORD smart in BODY smart by exploring the definition of the word “comfort” = a deep breath. MUSIC smart of course includes Handel’s Messiah, and we have provided links to verses. And for SELF smart, we have a link to a story by Todd Weir about how high and low places are leveled out in our own hearts.  

This selection from the letter sounds like we are walking into a room where someone has been having a discussion with someone else about what will happen at the end of time. The first verses keep with the motif of life as we know it disappearing in a fiery wrath ball of wrathful fire. Notice that how once it is all burned away, “everything that is done on [earth] will be disclosed”. That should give some pause while others may find satisfaction. But then the tone changes from the ashes and smoke to a question of how the faithful are to live until that day. I think that’s where I’ll be preaching this week! At any rate, in EYE smart, we have links to experiments with fire and wonder how big the space will need to be for everyone to come to repentance. We did not use BODY smart, but the link provided matches the question about perceived speed that we did talk about in NATURE smart. In PEOPLE smart, we have a link to an article that parallels the patience required of parents and God’s patience.

The previous passage from 2 Peter has a conversation begun while we were out of the room, but we can always page back a bit and come in closer to the beginning if we are confused. Not so with Mark! As we enter the room, he jumps up from his seat, grabs us by the lapels, and starts telling us about this guy from Galilee named Jesus. He goes on rapidly and then lets go and leaves the house. *blink-blink* Jill Duffield, in her article at Looking into the Lectionary, picks out the reference to Isaiah and wonders where the proper placement of punctuation may be. We take that thought and find some illustrations for WORD smart. Consider simply calling out these lines or having other people call them out for a special effect. (For a MUSIC smart, special effect, use the fanfare from Godspell.) In EYE smart, we consider the spatial factor of all the Judean countryside coming out to the baptist and have some links to pictures of HUGE crowds (actual ones). For BODY smart, we connect with the baptism John offered and also what his attire suggested about who he was. And for NATURE smart, use your baptismal font!! Pour water in it! Splash around! Try using smoke!! No, really!

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Happy New Year!!  Also, Happy Third Anniversary to More Than Hearing! We’re into the home stretch and have been pondering what we will do with our podcast this time next year. We have some ideas, so keep watching this space. Which, by the way, seems to be the theme for our passages – keep watching! In Isaiah, the prophet has been watching and with dismay calls out to God to come deal with the misery he sees among the exiles. By the end of the passage, despair begins to turn toward hope, which is the traditional theme of the first Sunday in Advent. Paul begins his letter to the Corinthians knowing full well the mess they’ve gotten themselves into but doesn’t start there. Instead, he looks back to their beginning in Christ as a way to set the stage for the rest of his letter. And in Mark, Jesus redirects the disciples’ wide-eyed wonder at the splendor of the Temple to the work of God in times that are horrible. Can any human built edifice compare to the glory of the Lord’s return? Keep watching to find out!

 The passage begins with a plea for theophany – show up, Lord! In WORD smart, we talk about the things we do to get people’s attention. Usually, we do this to let them know something is about to begin, which Isaiah fervently hopes is true for his time and place. His desire is for something big and eye catching, and in EYE and NATURE smart, you can illustrate how volcanic eruptions do just that! For MATH smart, we compare Isaiah’s focused attention on God’s appearance to SETI. The prophet suggests that the people are living in spiritual squalor and uses images of contamination and hopelessness that we explore in BODY smart. This selection from Isaiah is a lament, and we have a link to illustrate lament in MUSIC smart and a suggestion for a special effect that could be truly powerful. We did not include SELF (or EYE or NATURE) smart in the podcast, but do have some thought provoking commentary in a link below and on the worksheet. Check them out!

Paul’s letters dwell in two worlds; the world to which he wrote with particular people and particular issues and our world where his timeless affirmation of Jesus as Lord still rings loud and true. His letter to the Corinthians and their struggles to incorporate a way of life as disciples into their sophisticated, metropolitan surroundings is very familiar to those of us who live in privileged places today. We can glean a great deal as we watch what Paul says to them. He begins his letter the way all letters of the time started. In WORD smart, we have many links to letters, two of them pretty lighthearted! In EYE smart, we suggest ways to illustrate and demonstrate Paul’s initial argument that the Corinthians all share a common faith in Jesus who is the center. (We did not use NATURE smart, but we have two links to natural adhesives – Jesus being the glue that holds this congregation together, as per Paul.) In her commentary at Working Preacher, Carla Works thinks the factions in Corinth may have been expecting Paul to jump into the fray on one side or the other, and he does nothing of the sort. Rather, he takes them back to the basics, which we explore with PEOPLE smart special effects. As usual, PEOPLE and SELF smart have blurry boundaries, and with this topic of relatedness in Christ, we have some thoughts in the latter category that did not make it into the podcast but are worth a look.

At the beginning of chapter 13, Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple, and one of them comments on the grandeur of the structure. We can only speculate what it must have looked like, but based on artists’ renditions, it must have been spectacular. Jesus seems unimpressed, though. Rather than join in adulation, he takes that energy from the unnamed disciple and turns it toward looking for things that have eternal significance. We did not use WORD, EYE, or MATH smart in the podcast, but there are some interesting interpretive nuggets you might want to see. We began the segment with BODY smart and think you could illustrate part of the parable Jesus tells about the man who goes away leaving his staff to tend his home in his absence. The doorkeeper had a particular role, and we think the person’s physical stature could have played a key part in making that job successful. We have more to offer in MUSIC smart! Not only do we have a poem about life blooming out of despair, but the whole passage moves in three parts that could be given over to an orchestra! Or just point them out, if you are fresh out of violins. We have SO MUCH in NATURE smart – mostly because of the cosmic allusions. We cannot stand to pass up any opportunity to talk about the solar eclipse in August, but we also include some other heavenly light shows and explosions in the links! We did not include PEOPLE smart in the podcast, but recommend the commentary offered in the link below. The SELF smart illustration comes from commentary below and the special effect is a question or two about what the author mentions.

*This intelligence was not used in the podcast.

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Welcome back to the MTH Feedback Loop, a bonus episode where Molly and David talk about some of the multiple intelligence illustrations and special effects from previous More Than Hearing episodes that we have actually used in worship and how they turned out. For the most part, pretty well! We have discovered that if you are going to use these tools, especially the special effects, it helps if you are fully committed to them. This not only engages you and thereby your congregation, but if it should happen that the effect doesn’t fully connect with your people, they will allow its presence in the worship service because YOU are connected to it. It’s kinda like going along with the adorable toddler who hands you a “cookie” made of clay and you pretend to “eat” it because the child is so convinced the gift is what they say it is. Your congregation will go down the path with you for the sake of your relationship. Who knows; getting them to take a step with you into this strange thing you are doing may just introduce them to something God wants to show them that remaining safely seated would have prevented.

Here is a by-no-means exhaustive list of illustrations and special effects we’ve used. We hope you have tried one or two of these or are inspired to give one or two a try. Let us know how it goes!

Let us know how these multiple intelligence ideas are working for you! Leave us a comment below or send us an email at [email protected] telling us what went well, what missed, and what you came up with on your own. Maybe we’ll even include it in a future episode!

Hey All! Welcome back! You know that Sam Cooke song called “What a Wonderful World“? In it, Mr. Cooke runs through all the academic avenues that stymie people but the one topic he did not mention was finance. If I were to re-write the song with lyrics that apply to me, the first verse would be:

“Don’t know much about monetary theory.

Don’t know much about hedge funds, either.

Don’t know much about high finance at all

It’s a puzzling world to me!”

The parable in Matthew’s gospel for this week deals explicitly with money and its handling by three servants. The Old Testament and Epistle lessons are not about money at all but do share a common theme of getting a return on one’s investment. In Judges, God invests in the leadership of the people so that the people will advance into the land. While that advancement does happen, the leadership falls out differently at the end of the story than expected at the beginning. In Thessalonians, Paul continues to encourage the believers to invest in ways of living that will not catch them unaware when Jesus returns. The bottom will not fall out on them if they listen to Paul and wear the armor of faith, hope, and love. We hope we can help you invest in your preaching for this Sunday with the illustrations and special effects suggested below.

Complicated money markets are not the only thing that makes me scratch my head; why the Lectionary Committee stopped at verse seven is another mystery. Of course, it would be very difficult to preach a concise sermon on two chapters of Scripture – which is where the entire story of Deborah is found. We suggest in WORD smart, that you not truncate the whole story by stopping at verse seven but find a way to include the intrigue with Sisera and Jael found later in chapter four. You might even want to try telling it in the style of film noir! We base this suggestion on an article we talk about in EYE smart (see the worksheet for the citation). Also in EYE smart, we have several links below to maps that show the movement in the story. The movement is reminiscent of chess, so for MATH smart, talk about strategy and even bring in a chess board and pieces. We mention another article in MUSIC smart that examines the opera Debora e Jaele by Ildebrando Pizzetti. The entire book of Judges contains within it a refrain of obedience, falling away, crying out, God’s response and deliverance, rinse, repeat. Find a hook and turn it into a country song or a blues tune, or an epic poem. Investing in any of these options could make the story come alive for your congregation. 

Last week, Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to grieve the death of those they love as people who have hope. This week, he visits the idea of Jesus return with imagery that captures the attention, borrowed from the Prophets. This is not an accident, for like the prophets before him, his intention is to refocus the peoples’ vision on God. We have a suggestion as to how you might literally refocus during worship in EYE smart special effects as well as using your lights to demonstrate contrast between light and dark. Also in EYE smart, we have links to articles about lighting up the dark, especially in populated areas, and links to a fresco in a Greek monastery that depicts the Day of the Lord. Paul talks about the sudden nature of Jesus’ return on that day being like labor pains, so in BODY smart, we have a link to six of the most common signs or symptoms of labor onset. In NATURE smart, we consider the power of God’s holiness and the judgment that effects on us. In PEOPLE smart, we wonder what being children of light or darkness might look like. And in SELF smart, the armor Paul encourages us to wear might make us live life with more courage and tenacity, investing boldly in our witness to Jesus. 

Jesus’ Parables have been studied for two millennia and still they offer fresh insights every time. Carolyn Dipboye writes that the parables do not offer neutral ground to those who really hear them; they require a decision both for interpretation and application. To that end, we suggest playing a game in WORD smart (that can also be used in PEOPLE, BODY, and SELF smarts, too!) For EYE smart, we have a link to a current adult beverage advertisement that turns the parable on its head. We also have links to art that has tackled this story. The plot of the parable contains MATH smart illustrations and pushing the master’s aggravation of unused gold buried in the ground, we came up with an illustration for BODY smart. For PEOPLE smart special effect, we have a script for Reader’s Theater (see the Resource Page for this and a MATH smart chart that shows the master’s return on his investment). As another special effect for PEOPLE smart, think about giving your congregation the chance to actually invest real money on behalf of mission.

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Greetings!! Our son works in a big box retail store and is bracing himself for the onrush of the holidays. One of his colleagues just broke her hand, and he is expecting to be gone much more often than usual. I was encouraging him to think about the larger paycheck he would be getting for putting in more hours, but in the back of my mind I was also thinking, OH NO! We’re getting into That Time of the Year! (cue dramatic chord) I’m not one to get way out ahead in planning for the holidays, so I usually end up rushing to get last minute stuff together and then feeling guilty that I didn’t do more and resentful that it was expected of me in the first place. Holly Jolly, to you, too. So the texts for this Sunday have a word for me in them; how ready are you for what really matters? In Joshua, the people are pressed three times to make a declaration of devotion to the LORD before finally going into the land God has promised them. In Thessalonians, Paul comforts believers who are grieving the loss of loved ones before the Parousia. In Matthew, Jesus tells a story about being ready for the big event, in this case the arrival of a bridegroom. The holidays come every year but some things only happen once in a lifetime; and how we prepare for those things will affect every part of how we live now. Let’s leave the tinsel and garlands on the shelf for a while longer and explore how using Multiple Intelligence Theory can enrich this week’s worship preparation.

We’ve taken another HUGE leap in the story of the Hebrew people. A couple weeks ago, we jumped from Sinai in Exodus to Moses’ death at the end of Deuteronomy. Today, we’re jumping from Joshua taking over the lead from Moses to Joshua’s own farewell. I hope no one has pulled a muscle! This editorial long jump keeps us at a good bird’s eye view of the story, but we lose some interpretive details by staying at this altitude. It’s up to individual preachers as to how many landmarks you wish to include to make sense of the context of this passage. We do a bit of that in EYE smart with some references to Shechem and its historical importance. In WORD smart, the back and forth exchange between Joshua and the people can be read responsively as a declaration of faith or you could use one of the two baptismal covenant reaffirmations linked below. Joshua pushes the people to declare themselves three times, which we investigate in MATH smart. Bob Dylan shows up in MUSIC smart, and we go back to TV Tropes in PEOPLE smart. 

When working from this letter, we need to keep in mind that Paul only had a short time to instruct the Thessalonian believers about Jesus before being chased out of town. His teaching had a lasting impact and when he hears that the community is grieving the loss of some members, he includes specific encouragement that he probably did not address while with them. Namely, what happens to those who die before Jesus returns in glory? Where are they now? Using images from the era, he sees Jesus returning with fanfare similar to an imperial agent entering a city (see the link in WORD smart below). The picture Paul paints is captivating, so we suggest using a captivating art form in EYE smart to demonstrate it – a pop-up book! Commentary by Jane Patterson (link below) led to some interesting illustrations in BODY smart about embodying deep trust in Jesus. MUSIC smart includes three hymns using Paul’s imagery and the longing for someone in another realm (see SELF smart links) reminded us of one movie’s plot device in PEOPLE smart. 

Sometimes, I wish Jesus had left commentary for his parables. He did interpret a couple at the request of his disciples, which is helpful to us, but there is no record of anyone asking him to unpack this one. Is this allegory or metaphor? Aren’t we supposed to give freely of what we have, and if so, what does the oil represent, since five of the maidens refuse to share? What were the wedding customs of the day, and who sells oil at midnight? We can spiral down into a morass of questions about this text, so illuminating the intelligences helps give us some less slippery footing. In EYE smart, we have a link to a blog post at Art and Faith Matters that discusses some sculpture in France that I thought was really interesting. The special effect demonstration addresses the issue of why five maidens did not share their oil. Some people are very good about making checklists and keeping to them – and knowing where they put them – and we have some illustrations about how we prepare for different events in BODY smart. Since this parable has so much going on in it, we have a variety of offerings in MUSIC smart. If we want to step back and catch our breath a bit, we can follow the link in NATURE smart and make an oil lamp. We have commentary in PEOPLE and SELF smart that lead to some questions about our own spiritual fuel and a suggestion about sharing the vessel for oil. 

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Hey everyone! We both had really full weekends this past week, which curtailed our attention to the podcast a bit. We decided to forego the New Testament passage for this week – 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 – because we were having a tough time coming up with anything “smart”. The passage itself reiterates what Paul wrote in last week’s selection, and we felt like we were simply standing in a cave yelling, “ECHO!” (echo) {echo} Instead, we concentrated on the passages from Joshua and Matthew. Joshua is about to lead the wander-weary Israelites into the land, and Jesus turns to his disciples with advice about how to follow the Pharisees and how not to. We have illustrations and special effects a-plenty! Get comfy, eat some Halloween candy, and let’s go discover how we can use Multiple Intelligence Theory to bring the word to our congregations in memorable, meaningful ways.

[Also, we’ve been having some internet connectivity issues, so combined with our other wrestlings this week, we’re really late getting the show up. We apologize for that and will do our best to do better in the future.]

This is it! Time to bring to reality what the people had waited 40 years to do – go home. God promises to be present with Joshua as God was with Moses and directs the new leader to gather the Israelites and prepare themselves for one last journey. Twelve men, one from each of the tribes, are to be selected (to grab a stone from the riverbed and make a memorial with them which we read about in chapter 4), and the priests are to bear the ark before the company. For WORD smart, think about using the poem linked below or writing your sermon as a first person account of this final trip. We have a couple ideas for EYE smart that can also be served as a snack for fellowship time – plus, maps! For MATH smart, we found some articles about how the Jordan River may have been dammed and just how dramatic the “heaping” waters might have been based on amounts traveling downriver. Have you ever tried to jump a puddle? We have some video clips of people (and penguins) navigating water obstacles in BODY smart, and we have clips of songs in MUSIC smart about crossing the Jordan River, which has come to stand in for leaving this earthly life for the next one. In NATURE smart, we are back to the geological structure of the river and have a suggestion for building a model. In PEOPLE smart, we discuss the ins and out of leadership and have some questions for you and your congregation to ponder in SELF smart.

For the past two chapters in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has been in direct conflict with the religious leaders in Jerusalem. He has been asked whose authority gives him to do such things, whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, whose wife will a woman be who has been married to seven brothers, and which law is the greatest. Jesus has responded with parables and questions of his own. Those who seek to discredit him are done in; I imagine them lying about exhausted and reeling from their attempts. Jesus then turns to his disciples and pointing to these guys, tells them that because of the office – being on Moses’ seat – they are to do what the leaders say, but don’t do as they do. We take this idea and in WORD smart suggest playing an increasingly complicated version of Simon Says until the rules for the game become so obscured it cannot go on anymore. Jesus points out the leaders’ hypocrisy and pride of place, and in EYE smart we have some ideas to use to catch the visual attention of your congregation. Also, have you ever turned off your GPS because you “know where you are” only to find out you don’t? Never happens to me! (Watch out for the lightning bolt.) Jesus seems really to object to the heavy load that the leaders have made of the Law, and so we have a way to demonstrate that weight in BODY smart. We know a lovely song suggested below for MUSIC smart. In PEOPLE smart, we have links to some articles that explore the social and interpersonal dynamics of what Jesus may have been doing. Finally, in SELF smart, we have some questions and a link to an intriguing study about power and how it influences us in subtle ways. I may not look at cookies the same way again!

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Greetings!! Almost a year ago, the United States elected a new president, and so far, nothing has blown up. We are still hopeful that won’t happen. New leadership is often a challenging time for everyone. In the three passages for this Sunday, we see a literal leadership change as (spoiler alert!) Moses dies at the end of Deuteronomy after leading the people to the boundary between the wilderness and the land promised to their ancestors. In Thessalonians, Paul is taking great care to persuade the believers that his style of leadership can be trusted. He isn’t coming to them simply to flatter them and get a place to stay for a while. In Matthew, Jesus has been showing the authorities that their leadership style is lacking in compassion, justice, and understanding, but all they see is an opponent who has ridiculously good answers to any question they ask. 

This passage is the end for Moses and the Pentateuch. According to an article at Reformed Judaism, this section is read at the end of the liturgical year. God allows Moses the opportunity to actually see the land he had been moving towards since the beginning of Exodus before his end comes. We have some links to paintings and photos so we can “see” this scene in EYE smart. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, and we are told his strength was not diminished. In BODY smart, we have a link to some people who lived that long and to an article that speaks to Moses’ breath being taken by God and then given to Adam as the liturgical calendar begins again in Genesis. In NATURE smart, the land Moses is shown is quite varied geographically and geologically. We have some links to help talk about that. And in PEOPLE smart, we have some eulogies for famous people. You might want to think about beginning your sermon as a eulogy for Moses. For MUSIC smart, think about the soundtrack that would be playing for this scene; would it be mournful or would it swell as Moses sees the land?  

In this passage, Paul is attempting to allay the suspicion that he is not anything other than a traveling sophist. Commentary suggests that communities often had people appear who claimed a special knowledge and would let you in on it – for a price. Paul reminds the believers in Thessalonica that he is not peddling that type of information or anything else. He and his companions truly care for them. He writes the phrase “as you know” often, so in WORD smart, we chase down its contemporary uses. In PEOPLE smart, we follow the suggestion of Jeffrey Weima that there are three familial images Paul uses in this passage in order to persuade the Thessalonians as to his sincerity. Break into groups and discuss them. Paul’s concern in these verses is to contrast his motives for coming into the community with the motives of those who come with flattering words, so in SELF smart, we have some questions to clarify our motives for preaching. 

We are at the end of Jesus’ conflicts with the authorities in Matthew’s Gospel. He has been evading verbal traps, setting off his own theological explosions, and essentially running circles around them. One has to acknowledge their persistence because they give it one last shot in this passage. Which is the greatest commandment – out of 613? It seems like they are panicking a bit, doesn’t it? Jesus gives two answers, and in EYE smart, we suggest making a mobile out of them and hang it in your worship space. Since they have been attempting to trick him with difficult questions, Jesus gives them a riddle, and in MATH smart, we think using some riddles would appeal to the logic smart people in your congregation. In BODY smart, we suggest a TED Radio Hour episode about play and offer some articles about where the soul might be found in our brains. If you have a need to break your congregation into three groups, which you will if you use our suggestion for PEOPLE smart in Thessalonians, make some paper cutouts of hearts, minds, and souls, and use them as a way to group your people. And for SELF smart we have a special effect that demonstrates how loving God and neighbor can expand the ego. 

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Remember when MTV played music videos? I remember this one making the rounds often – U2’s Gloria. I was just beginning to awaken to my own walk of faith in 1981, and this song later became a private anthem for me. Bono simply sings the phrase “Gloria, in te domine, Gloria, exultate” (Glory in You, Lord / Glory, exalt [Him]) over and over like a Taize chant with drums and The Edge. The Exodus passage for this Sunday is specifically about God’s glory. Paul is so thankful for (and impressed with) the Thessalonians growth in Jesus that he knows God is glorified in it. The theme of glory in the Matthew passage is not apparent until we push the idea of giving back to God what belongs to God and discover the glory underlying all of creation. So, let’s go look at what we did with Multiple Intelligences and find where we can assist you with illustrations and special effects.

Echoes of the golden calf debacle resound in this passage. It is time for the company to move from Sinai to the Promised Land, and God tells Moses that He will send His angel before the people because He knows the people are “stiff-necked” (33:4) and, we may assume from this, still prone to wander and prove they didn’t learn anything. Moses will have none of that, please. It is vitally important that God’s presence accompany them the rest of the way, and he appeals to the relationship they have to convince God to do so. God has a real soft spot for Moses and agrees. Moses presses on a bit and asks God to show him His glory. God tells him He will make His goodness pass before him, and Moses will hear the Name proclaimed. In WORD smart, we wonder how you would describe God’s glory going before you. For EYE smart, we suggest some artists’ interpretations of God’s glory. Moses’ plea to God centers around the favor he has found in God’s eyes, which made us think of a song by Olivia Newton-John. God’s presence will function like a sluice way, which we explore in NATURE smart. We also wonder why a rock would crack, although it’s good for Moses that they do!

Paul writes this letter to the believers in Thessalonica to follow up with them since he was forced to leave their company after only three weeks with them. He begins his letter by telling them that he and his companions always give thanks to God for them because of their ready faith and growth. They have been such receptive soil for the seeds Paul planted that neighboring regions have heard about them, and this word has gotten back around to him, which pleases him greatly. In EYE smart, we suggest hauling out maps to show where Thessalonica is in the world. Also, to illustrate how they learned by following a pattern given by Paul and his associates, we suggest using furniture construction diagrams, Martha Bakes, and a particular roadblock on the reality show The Amazing Race. Imitation is the most sincere flattery, and in MATH smart we think fractals could be fun as an illustration of imitation and repetition. Keeping with the learning by doing thought, we think batting practice, dance instructions, and training for a marathon are good illustrations in BODY smart. To pull in a bit of MUSIC smart, teach some hand motions for songs, which works for both intelligences. Also for MUSIC, do you have anyone who plays trumpet or bagpipes? Is your choir up for singing a processional? We have some ideas on the worksheet. 

Previously in Matthew, Jesus has been schooling the authorities about authority. They aren’t taking too kindly to it, and at the beginning of this passage, they get the idea to use Jesus’ own words against him. So, intending to trap him between a rock and a hard place, Herodians and disciples of the Pharisees ask Jesus a question about paying taxes to the emperor. I’m pretty sure everyone will be distracted by thoughts of their own taxation, so start with EYE smart, and ask people to get out a coin or paper bill and look at who’s head is on it. Then read the quote by Brian Stoffegen on our worksheet – is our money political propaganda as Roman Imperial coins were? We have a special effect that also works with MATH smart in that it demonstrates sets and subsets. There is a lot of play acting going on in this encounter and Jesus knows it and is having none of it. We have some ideas in PEOPLE smart to illustrate how natural enemies will band together to oppose a common one. Finally, for SELF smart, we have a devotional idea that you and your congregation could practice for a while and see if it makes a difference how God is glorified in your words and actions.  

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