More Than Hearing

Hey everyone, welcome back! You may have guessed that David and I regularly listen to and read other lectionary resources as we prepare for this podcast. We have a rather lengthy list of “go to” people who illuminate and challenge us. This past week, one of our favorites, Jill Duffield at The Presbyterian Outlook stated that all three passages for this week’s selections deal with pouring out. We have rain, the Spirit of God, service to the Gospel, contempt for others, and a heartfelt need for mercy. What we also have is reconnection to God’s powerful presence through circumstances that are not at all pretty – locust plagues, letters from prison, and unseemly public displays in worship. Maybe we might need some shaking up in order to allow God to work more fully in us. Maybe it is in the pouring out that old systems and ideas are washed away and God’s fresh new life is given room to take root and thrive.

Joel 2:23-32 [02:00]  – We had such a memorable experience with setting stuff on fire back in Advent and Baptism of the Lord that we suggest trying it again using Eye smart! If that’s too dicey, try a labyrinth walk with your fingers in Body smart. For Music smart, the hymn Spirit is lovely or you can have an indoor rain storm. Rain, locusts, fire, and smoke are natural ways to enter the passage and we have some questions for discussion for you and your congregation in both People and Self smart.

{MWD} Nature: Images of locust, fire, smoke, and a blood red moon are so very vivid that Nature smart seems to me to be the most apparent way to start examining Joel. Our world can be quite dramatic from time to time and after the dust settles, everything restarts and life re-emerges. If nature can manage to come through upheaval and begin again, the only thing preventing humanity from doing the same is our arrogant assumption that we are special. Nature often leads the way out of disaster if we have the humility to recognize it.

{D2} Nature: The second half of the passage is ingrained in my mind because we hear it every year at Pentecost, but also because I can almost feel the ground shaking and see the sky darkening, imagining the great and terrible day of the Lord! Those sorts of natural images can be very evocative. Add the locust army and the seasonal rains, and there is just no way to get around this as a Nature Smart passage.

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 [11:18] – In Eye smart, we talk about how pouring out can be a power in itself and suggest using visual images of ocean waves and lava flows. For a special effect, get a cocktail shaker and pour out a libation to demonstrate Paul’s understanding of his ministry. For Math smart, Paul’s ministry can be demonstrated with infinity and a Mobius strip. He tells Timothy he has finished his race – we have a video of another contestant finishing a race to illustrate Body smart. Frank Sinatra shows up in Music smart, and God’s will flows through creation as shown in Nature smart. In People smart, ask your congregation to imagine Paul as a contestant in an athletic competition or a game show and ask about the rules of the game. For a Self smart illustration, show that Paul’s confidence in God is like going into a battle in a video game fully equipped to take on the Boss and ask people to consider how God has rescued them for all that evil can do.   

{MWD} Self: Paul intends this letter to Timothy to be a primer for discipleship. He warns, reminds, advises, praises, and reveals himself as a person who has fully committed himself to Jesus. I think this letter connects most effectively on a personal level. We can each of us imagine we are Timothy, and if we take Paul’s counsel to heart, we are strengthened and encouraged to continue our own races.

{D2} Self: I agree with Molly that Paul’s words throughout this epistle are intended to engage Timothy’s self reflection. This particular passage, I think, also reveals a great deal of Paul’s internal life at that moment. It’s a soul who is at once lonely, sad, and disappointed, as well as hopeful, faithful, and confident. Heck of a thing, being a human.

Luke 18:9-14 [20:14] – Sometimes when we read the Bible, we lose meaning in translations. Other times, we lose meaning because we have become overly familiar with a story – or in this case, characters in a story. We think we understand “the Pharisees” and so are not at all surprised when this one turns up holding the short end of the stick at the end of the parable. What we may not understand is what a huge shock this would have been for the original audience. In special effects for Word smart, we suggest substituting the Pharisee and tax collector with contemporary figures so as to make that surprise obvious. In Eye smart, we look at how spaces define people. We have several different illustrations in Math smart. The illustration and special effect in Body smart are related – break out your old cleats or running shoes! We heard the Pharisee’s arrogance and thought of a song by Mac Davis in Music smart. For People and Self smart, we suggest ideas to examine how our words to and about others pour out what is in our own hearts.

{MWD} People: This parable is – as Admiral Ackbar would say – a trap. We comprehend fairly quickly and thoroughly that the Pharisee has missed the point of righteousness but the second we start feeling salty about it, we realize we have zapped right into his sandals. We also have a tendency to stand off to the side like the tax collector, fully aware of how much we need God’s mercy but disinclined to accept it when it comes – which of course it does and abundantly at that. Maybe the better place to be while listening to this parable is not in either role, but in Jesus’ audience hearing and responding to the story for the first time.

{D2} People: Here is Luke recording Jesus addressing his followers who might be looking down their noses a little too much. While they look down on others with scorn, Jesus looks down on their scorn with an eye toward correcting it. The twists and turns of who is on top and who is on bottom are pretty subtle here. It takes some People smarts to easily sort it all out, take what correction we need, and direct others to what they may need, all while not having contempt for those poor, miserable wretches. 

Image Credit: Free Water Vectors from Clipart.me

Hey everyone! Welcome to another podcast! As we prepared the passages for this Sunday, we saw that they shared the theme of perseverance. In Jeremiah, the exiles are settling into the land God has sent them to, and Jeremiah receives a word from God about their future. God tells the people that the day is coming when God will re-seed their land with people and animals and will remember their sins no more, so live into this hope and promise. The law of God will be written on their hearts, and the people will no longer need to be told to know God because their wills (hearts) will be so in tune with what God wants that instruction will be unnecessary. But not useless, as Paul tells Timothy. In fact, the instruction that he has received and internalized is exactly what he (Timothy) needs to continue with strength in his ministry, in spite of obstacles or hurdles. The widow in Jesus’ parable in Luke obviously knows this strength and how to persevere, because she pesters a judge to respond to her until the scoundrel finally gives in just to get her to go away. In each of the passages, we hear the subtext that God does not give up, that there is always hope, and that when we learn to turn our hearts to God and trust, we find within ourselves courage to keep on truckin’.

Jeremiah 31:27-34  [02:00]  – For me, this passage just emanates hope. I’m not sure exactly what it is; maybe those first words, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord.” They sound like the lyrics to an old song or the first lines of a beloved story. Maybe it’s the last lines of forgiveness or that scholars call this section “The Book of Consolation.” Whatever it is, we begin with Word smart and a quote from Maya Angelou. In Eye smart, we suggest showing images of abundance and a special effect using baked goods. In Body smart, we suggest using tattoos and branding as an illustration and red paper hearts, fruit, and vegetables for special effects. In Nature smart, we compare the will of a cat to the will of the people, and we look at sour grapes in People smart. In Self smart, we have some questions for you and your congregation to ponder.

{MWD} Body: For me, Body smart seems to be the best entry into this passage with the Lord telling the people that the law would no longer be written in stone but on their hearts. In Hebrew, “heart” may also be understood as the will or intention – the center of a person’s being. Thinking of how central the heart is to a living body, it makes sense to start with how receiving the intention of God in our inner most selves radiates outward to all aspects of our lives. Nothing is not touched by God’s call to return and to belong.

{D2} People: Since God is all about relationships, People Smart is almost always a safe bet for the primary intelligence. Nevertheless, I chose it here because of the relational imagery in the passage: God’s awareness of what has happened to the exiles, God’s hope for restoring them, and God’s creative vision of what life will be like when they all know the Lord and have torah written on their hearts.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 [10:02] – Paul encourages Timothy to persevere by remaining rooted in Scripture – always good advice to religious leaders. In Word smart, receiving and giving instruction reminded us of the old television games shows “Password” and “The $25,000 Pyramid,” except with less shouting and jumping up and down. Or not, we won’t tell you how to preach or teach! We also suggest the use of a thesaurus, which is great for killing a couple hours. In Math smart, we have a suggestion for a special effect that illustrates the importance of foundations. In Body smart, we used well-tailored or custom made clothing to illustrate Scripture’s excellent fit. We also look at muscle memory. We have a few suggestions for Music smart, and in Nature smart, we look at how wind can be used as a metaphor for God’s word. Finally, we have some questions and exercises for you and your people in People and Self smart.

{MWD} Self: As I read this passage, I found myself in Timothy’s shoes, receiving some advice and reminders from colleagues in ministry who have been at this longer than I. Even though I see this as professional tips, what Paul writes to Timothy is useful for anyone who reads and takes the Gospel seriously.

{D2} Word: John Cleese from Monty Python’s Flying Circus had a flare for writing skits that consisted mostly of lists, like the Cheese Shop sketch in which a customer names virtually every cheese on earth in hopes of buying some, but the shopkeeper is out of each one. That’s really not important now, except that I’m reminded of it by this passage where Paul lists the many ways to use the scriptures in ministry. It’s such a flowing list, broken into a few parts, that I can’t help but think that Word Smart folk will delight in this passage.

Luke 18:1-8  [19:16] – Have you ever waited for something? A birthday, Christmas, the last day of classes, someone to return home, someone to remember to do the dishes, the Parousia? These experiences can truly try one’s patience and endurance. The disciples in Luke’s day were anxiously waiting for Jesus to come back as had been promised. Luke searched through Q’s files and found this parable to help.  A callous, brash judge with no respect for anyone or God finally gives in to repeated, wearing persistence. In Word smart, we suggest looking at the Greek root of key words. We have some illustration ideas for both the judge and the widow in Eye smart. Math smart will hopefully keep interpreters from equating God with the judge, and Body smart has some healthy special effect ideas. We have two contemporary hymns (link below) that use this parable as source material in Music smart. The widow can be every loud, in-your-face, worrisome movement for justice, so we look at a few groups through U.S. history that mirror her persistence in People smart. We also have some ideas for groups of people to engage in prayer and listening in special effects. For Self smart, we look at the persistent prayer for justice and how following the widow’s example can shape us to be vessels for what comes as a result.

{MWD} People: I think Self smart is also a great place to begin with this passage, but I chose People because the need for persistent prayers for justice might be answered if everyone prays for them together. We may learn something about one another and ourselves when we join our voices to beseech God’s mercy and grace for our world.

{D2} People: Once again, the scriptures focus on interrelatedness as the heart of being the Image of God. The parable addresses our human tendencies both to hope and to despair. By showing us how persistent hope can overcome even the worst of mortals, it assures us that we will be in much better stead persistently hoping in our merciful God. So I can see Molly’s leaning toward Self smart, but Jesus definitely played the People smart card here.

Hey all! Welcome back to More Than Hearing! We have some interesting ideas for the passages for this coming Sunday. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah sends a letter to the leaders and priests and exiles recently carried off into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah’s letter encourages the people to learn to live in the new place in which they find themselves. In a way, God has grounded them. “You sit there and think about what you’ve done,” might be what God tells them. Yet, at the same time, God expects them to become grounded – this is their new home and will be for a while. Make the best of it and pray for your captors. In the Epistle, Paul tells Timothy to stay grounded in Jesus’ resurrection and his understanding of its power. In the Gospel,  Luke shows disciples that to be grounded in Jesus’ authority and grace means they will need to learn to respond appropriately to their new experiences, just like their ancestors in Babylon.

Jeremiah 29: 1, 4-7 [02:00]  – I am amazed that the letter Jeremiah sent to the exiles was not a big, fat TOLD YOU SO or any other type of correspondence that pointed out to them that if they had only listened to him they would still be home. At any rate, here they are, and God’s word to them is to settle down into the land, because their time there would be long. In Eye Smart, we consider their displacement by imagining what the ancient city of Babylon looked like, and wonder what places we give sacred meaning to. Jeremiah’s letter comes from a long distance and goes right to the heart of the exiles’ existence, so in Math Smart we suggest using parabolas and Nerf guns to illustrate that. The exile was not going to be diverted, much like raging flood waters which we offer in Nature Smart. In People and Self Smart, we suggest some questions about God’s intention in exile that you and your congregation may work through together.

{MWD} People/Self – I think this passage is most readily entered into through People and Self Smart. The entire book of Jeremiah is a long slow dance of call, challenge, promise, warning, and God’s intention for God’s people. We know how it all works out; we know the steps and the music and rhythm but even knowing it, we still feel the devastation and grief of people losing everything. Maybe we can feel it so well because we have seen so much of it coming out of Syria in recent years or other places in the world where large numbers of people find themselves on the other side of disaster. Using inter- and intra-personal cues, preachers and worship leaders can place congregations in the dusty shoes of ancient and contemporary refugees.  

{D2} Eye/Spatial – At the heart of this passage is the sense of space for Jeremiah’s audience. They are made aware – probably painfully aware – that they are far from their homeland, and that where they are is where they are going to stay. It only makes it more acute for them that this message comes from Jerusalem, the space they want to inhabit but cannot.

2 Timothy 2:8-15 [10:42] – The last two verses of the passage gave us some ideas how to use Word Smart. Plus, there is a chiastic poem right in the middle which serves both Word and Math Smart. Paul reminds Timothy about the power of Jesus’ resurrection and we look at this in Eye Smart. In People Smart, we link to a method of active listening and encourage you to take some time to try it with your congregation. Risky, but worth it if people can learn to be vulnerable, trust each other, and commit to trying. And in Self Smart, we have some questions for you and your people asking you to put yourselves in Paul and Timothy’s place.

{MWD} Word – I realize that it is a bit too easy to suggest Word Smart is the most readily accessible intelligence for a letter, but Paul himself gives some reasons why, too! At the end of this passage, he encourages Timothy to guard against a mis-use of words and to use his own words well. We would also be wise to heed this advice; to cut gossip off and refuse to entertain whispers and innuendo in our fellowship, in our lives, and in our culture. In addition, we cannot build up the kingdom unless we can connect with hearts and imaginations of people looking for a meaningful home.  

{D2}  Math/Logic – Maybe it’s more rhythm than Logic, but the passage has an internal structure that both reinforces the message and has a sense of poetry. Paul writes to Timothy first to remember Christ, then about his behavior and commitment as an apostle. Later he tells Timothy to remind others of Christ, then to behave honorably and live with utter commitment as a servant of the gospel. That parallelism, plus the repeated parallels in the poetic middle section, seem to me to reinforce the logic of the message – be faithful to Christ, no matter what.

(By the way,  “Rhyme scheme” for vss. 11b-13, the poetic middle, looks like this to me:

A => A’, B => B’, C => C, D => (-D)

we A => we A’, we B => we B’, we C => he C, we D => he (-D)

Luke 17: 11-19 [17:47] – Some stories in Scripture can honestly make interpreters scratch their heads, wondering why the story is there and why the characters act as they do. Usually, the confusion can be laid at the feet of losing meaning in translation – both language and context. I think this passage is a good example of that. We read that Jesus healed ten lepers and only one said “Thank you.” Isn’t that what you were taught in Sunday School? Be sure to say Thank You to Jesus, children! Not that this isn’t a valuable lesson, but there is so much more to it! In Word Smart, we look at Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem as a literary hero and ask preachers to make a distinction among three words that could open some interesting interpretive doors. In Eye/Spatial Smart, we think about where this story takes place – between two regions and near the site of another healing long ago. David found a statistical anomaly that we use in Math Smart, and we suggest the physical acts of reaching up in praise and bowing down in thanks for Body Smart. The lepers cry out MERCY, and so we have a few Music Smart offerings for Kyrie Eleison. We encourage you to put your congregation into the place of the ten lepers in People Smart and then into the place of the tenth leper in Self Smart. Ask them, why go to the priests?

{MWD} Music – I will admit to pushing this as the Primary Intelligence a bit mostly because I love music. But, I also think that by singing and listening to Kyrie Eleison, we have a different ear open for the Spirit. The three clips below offer very different versions; the first is Gregorian chants, the second is a more folk or pop version and the third will blow your speakers out if you are not careful. If you do not find any of these helpful or appropriate, please go to YouTube and do a search. You may even want to look for music that is not specifically using the word “kyrie elesion” but have a sound or feeling about them that express longing and hope. You can never go wrong with music, in my opinion!

{D2}  Self – The dynamics of this passage seem to me to be primarily internal. The lepers, isolated from their communities and desperately aware of their own suffering, beg for mercy from Jesus. The realization of being cleansed must have had tremendous internal impact on each of the ten, and each had to decide what to do next. The Samaritan chose to show his gratitude. Jesus also showed us some of his internal work — surprise that only 1/10 of his work got any acknowledgment. The story holds up a mirror for us to consider which path we would have chosen.

You are welcome for the Earworm.  The three passages for Ordinary 27, Year C, bring to mind times of great stress. In Lamentations, the poet has just seen the city of Jerusalem fall to the Babylonians. How could this happen? Isn’t God in the city, in the temple? Isn’t the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob able to create out of nothing, and hasn’t this God chosen this people as God’s own? Has God turned away? I think the feelings of despair and devastation in the first chapter of Lamentations are very familiar to anyone whose life has fallen apart. The brighter, more hopeful images in chapter three help lift heads if not spirits, and if handled with great care, they may give congregants struggling with their own pressures a sense that God can and will make something of great value out of present hard times. The pressure in Timothy is a little more subtle; Paul is in prison in Rome undergoing his own time of trial, and he writes to his young colleague to prepare him to take over, either for a limited amount of time or permanently. Timothy may have expected this inheritance from Paul but knowing it was upon him may have raised his heart rate a bit. And in Luke, Jesus is STILL trying to shape experiences and words for the disciples to understand what he is on about. He is drawing ever nearer to Jerusalem and crucifixion, as well. We can imagine what stress that put on him. All in all, the passages for today reveal people dealing with stress, frustration, confusion, and pressure. I am reminded of a quote: “A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she is in hot water.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Lamentations 1:1-6 & 3:19-26  [01:59]  – For Word smart, we suggest following the example given in this text in Hebrew – write an acrostic poem expressing pain or frustration or fear concerning an experience you or your congregation has had. Then, flip the page and write a declaration of God’s blessings. For Self smart, we suggest keeping this poem in a prominent place for a while to remind you of God’s presence in the midst of chaos. Also for word smart, you might read this passage with two voices – a narrator and the widowed Jerusalem. If you choose to do this, we suggest using costumes for the widow applying Eye smart. We have some suggestions for using hymns, or the blues, for Music smart. For People smart, we have a story about a woman invited to share her grief with another.

2 Timothy 1:1-14  [09:43] – In Word smart, we wonder, what stories have you heard from your youngest days that shaped your life? What stories does your congregation tell that affect how it lives and moves? Words have a lot of power; how are they being used to build up and offer correction? In Eye smart, we look at verse 10 where Paul speaks of grace being revealed and appearing in Jesus Christ. We offer some examples to illustrate how sudden appearances can be wonderful, awesome things! Blessings and charges are part of our corporate worship so in Body smart we suggest a way to do it that includes everyone present charging and blessing one another. We’ve used this before, and while sometimes people (teens) can be giggly with it, this can also be a truly powerful experience of giving and receiving. We offer some old and new music to illustrate kindling faith for Music smart and look how heat and pressure can create gems in Nature smart. What gems do you now possess because of pressing times? In People and Self smart we offer some questions for groups and individuals to reflect on people from our past who have given us jewels of faith and trust.

Luke 17:5-10 [20:41] – In Word smart, we have a suggestion for how to read the passage so that people hear what Jesus is expressing. We have three options for a special effect in Eye smart, and we really want to know how it goes if you use any of them! The illustration in Body smart could become a special effect if you find someone who is disciplined, and in Nature smart we talk about berries and seeds. For People smart, we have specific questions for some verses and have an idea for a skit for a special effect. We did not write one yet, but would love to see yours if you choose to do this! And finally for Self smart we have quoted a story Will Willimon tells and have some questions to ponder about our own service to God and one another.

Greetings!!  Welcome to More Than Hearing where, in spite of the title of today’s post, we do NOT offer financial advice – believe me! Instead, we bring you sermon illustrations and special effects, and the three passages for this week’s Lectionary selection provide plenty of both. In Jeremiah, the prophet provides a living parable by helping out some kin. Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman may have gotten the title for their play You Can’t Take it With You from the 1 Timothy passage.  Luke continues to surprise and discomfit us with stories about wealth. Looking closely at all three selections, we see how people trust by their deeds. 

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15  [timestamp]  – One commentary I read about this passage called it the worst land deal ever. No kidding! Jerusalem is about to be wiped out by the invading Babylonians – the horses of the cavalry can be heard snorting in Dan (8:16) and Jeremiah is buying land from his cousin. He goes through the entire proscribed ceremony of witnesses and seals and putting one copy in a safe place, too. As if he is going to ever claim this land – or might he? Jeremiah preaches a word of outlandish hope in the face of certain destruction. He is bold enough to do this because he knows the One in whom he hopes will not let destruction be the last word. In Word smart, we suggest keeping track of the words we use; are they words that build up or words that tear down? In Math smart, we look at the logic of Jeremiah’s lived-out parable. We consider the properties of clay in Nature smart and have some questions for reflection and discussion in People and Self smart.

1 Timothy 6:6-19 [timestamp] – Hmmm…. Stewardship season must be upon us based on the calculated words about wealth in the passage from 1 Timothy! Yet, rather than being used to “encourage” reluctant parishioners to part with a bit more of their money, the author of Timothy puts the love of money into terms of the eternal. Commentary on this passage remarks that the love and pursuit of wealth becomes detrimental when the slippery slope of Just A Bit More starts to avalanche and take over a person’s soul. We examine this slide into the trap with a quote from GK Chesterton and a link to a room similar to what he may have referenced in Eye smart. The author of the passage stresses that the pursuit of wealth makes it difficult to live in a state of what Walter Brueggemann refers to as “continual doxology.”  We have suggested an activity for a special effect in Body smart that might help demonstrate what he is talking about. We have two classic hymns in Music smart. The word for contentment in verse 6 has some roots in Stoic philosophy that we think reflects how water runs off the back of a duck which we look at in Nature smart. In People smart we ask how people can give significance to objects and have a clip from George Carlin talking about “our stuff” in Self smart.

Luke 16:19-31 [timestamp] – Unfortunately, the lesson Jesus attempts to teach about the way wealth can alienate people from one another has gotten lost in the obsessive questions about heaven and hell that this parable about a rich man and a beggar at his gate has generated through the centuries. That Jesus has named this man is significant to his theme, and we look at how names suggest relationships in Word smart. In Eye smart, we encourage you to paint vivid mental pictures of the gap between the two men in the parable – you could use great distances in nature to help illustrate it. As in the Jeremiah passage, the logic of our expectations regarding wealth are turned on their ear by Jesus as he presents God’s economy, which we explore in Math smart. Body smart has a built in connection with the conditions of both men’s bodies before and after death, and Music smart would be a poor thing without “Rock-a My Soul.” We wondered about the alleged healing properties of canine saliva in Nature smart. (See below) We have some really wonderful stories that illustrate People and Self smart. (See below)

1. Researchers in the Netherlands identified a chemical in pet saliva called histatins. Histatins speed wound healing by promoting the spread and migration of new skin cells.

2. Dr. Nigel Benjamin of the London School of medicine has shown that when saliva contacts skin it creates nitric oxide. Nitric oxide inhibits bacterial growth and protects wounds from infection.

3. Researchers at the University of Florida isolated a protein in saliva called Nerve Growth Factor that halves the time for wound healing.

1 – Rev. Dr. Delmer Chilton: Lectionary Lab

I started my career as a pastor in three little churches in rural NC. Wood-frame buildings on isolated dirt roads, a few dozen farmers and shop-owners and their children and grand-children who drove out on Sundays from the cities to visit the folks and go to church. One weekday noon I went into a church member’s place of business for lunch: Alvis Brigg’s Bar-B-Q.

As I walked in, a Briggs grandchild, a boy about 4 years old, spotted me. He stood up in the booth where he was sitting and yelled out, “Hello . . . ” and then he was silent, because he couldn’t remember where he knew me from. He tried a couple more times, “HELLO . .” then silence and meditation, “HELLO . . ” again, and more thoughtful silence. By this time everyone in the room was quiet and looking back and forth between the boy and me. Finally his face brightened and he shouted, “HELLO CHURCH!”

We are called to remember who we are as God’s people, and to remember what we have to say and we are to say it and do it in such a way that when people see us coming, they will shout in their hearts, “HELLO CHURCH!”

2- William Horan, writing a comment to Amy Willis at Political Theology Today

A few weeks ago, I was walking into South Station in Boston when I noticed a man off to the side who looked rather lonely, but I figured that this is none of my business, so I kept walking until I heard a plea, “mister”. I turned around and walked over to the man who then asked for money. I gave him a few dollar bills and felt that I did my good deed for the day. A few minutes later a young man approached me to ask for $10 in order to buy tickets for himself and his girlfriend to Maine. I gave him the $10 but I began to feel that this was going a little too far. I bought some Chinese food and sat down to eat when a woman came up to my table asking for money. I may not have looked very happy because she said right away that she was sorry to bother me because she was probably at this table before. I did give her a few dollars, but I was tempted to ask God if He expected me to feed every bum in South Station. I thought, however, I better not because He might tell me that He was one of those “bums”.

3- Mark Scandrette, Creating Chasms, The Hardest Question

“A friend of mine recently told me about an experience he had. After the gathering of his faith community he walked outside to find a man begging for spare change. “What do you need the money for?” he asked. The man replied, “I’d like to buy a beer.” “Sorry,” my friend said, “I can’t give you money for that.” Then my friend went on to a pub down the street with his church friends and bought a round of beers for everyone. Reflecting on this incident he said, “I guess I felt justified judging the begging man, assuming that he was an alcoholic, even though I would never do that with my friends.”

Welcome back to More Than Hearing – we’ve been gone for a bit but are back to share exegesis, sermon illustrations, and ideas for special effects.  Today’s podcast covers the Lectionary selections for Ordinary 25 (Pentecost +18 or Proper 20) Year C. The passages are thick with possibilities for preaching and worship. Jeremiah’s lament over Judah is rich with pathos. 1 Timothy urges disciples to pray for one another and their rulers. The reading from Luke is the parable of the Dishonest Steward, which presents some uneasy questions about honesty and the right use of wealth.

Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1  [01:59]  – This passage is an example of how Jeremiah got his nickname “The Weeping Prophet.” I have wept profusely in my life and reading these verses takes me back to the pain of the experience. In Eye smart, we suggest some visual special effects that may parallel the devastation that makes Jeremiah weep. In Body smart, we suggest adopting a posture of grief. We have a list of modern laments in Music smart and look at how a good harvest is a sign of God’s providence in Nature smart. In People smart, we ask some questions about how we can be present with one another in times of suffering and in Self smart we wonder if we could be more present to our own sadness.

1 Timothy 2:1-7  [12:35] – Using Word smart, we suggest using the Doxology to illustrate praise. We have a couple ideas to illustrate what we think the author of Timothy is teaching about the effectiveness of prayer. Living a godly life sparked some ideas for Body smart, and in Nature smart we wonder if prayer is like a privacy hedge. Finally, for People and Self smart, the 2016 Presidential Election makes an appearance!

Luke 16:1-13  [20:43] – The parable in this passage gives preachers a serious interpretive challenge. What does Jesus mean about making friends with dishonest wealth, anyway? In Word smart, we suggest using the story about Saint Thomas and King Gundafar to illustrate another use of unrighteous mammon. We wonder what the confrontation between the rich man and the steward might have looked in Eye smart. We explore the logic of the passage in Math smart and how Jesus upends the usual view of right use of money. Then we think about a friendly game of badminton in Body smart. For people smart, we wrote a reader’s theater script, and we consider the nature of forgiveness in Self smart.

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.

It’s been about 5 months since we made the loop, so we had dozens of illustrations and special effects that we’ve tried since then! We sorted through them and picked some of the most interesting to tell you about, either because they worked really well or because they didn’t go as well as we had hoped. We hope you enjoy hearing about them and that the Loop will encourage you in your efforts to include multiple intelligences in your sermons and worship, because however it goes, you aren’t alone, and you’re being faithful in the effort to make God’s Word more accessible for more people.

Here’s what we talked about, the original episodes where we introduced the idea, and the time where you can find our discussion in this FBL episode:

FBL Time        Ref. Episode         Passage                   Smart           Type             Description

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. We’ll try to include it in the next FBL episode!

Greetings!! Our family really likes to play board and card games. We don’t do it often but when we do, it’s a lot of fun. We have a particular game called Anomia, which is the term for having a particular word “right on the tip of your tongue” but not being able to call up the file. The rules are simple; you all have categories printed on the card in front of you laying face up on the table. The card also has a symbol on it. As you go around the table taking turns drawing cards and laying them face up before you, you pay attention to see if your symbol matches anyone else’s symbol. When they do, you must blurt out a word that fits the category of the other person’s card BEFORE they do the same with your card. If you are successful, you get both cards. Play continues until the entire deck is gone and the winner is the one with the most cards. The rules make the game fast, loud, and hilarious as you watch someone work very hard to access words in their mental files as quickly as possible.

In the passages for this week, we are reminded of God’s rules, particularly for the Sabbath. Isaiah’s words to the exiles-returned-home urges them to remember the ethical and theological reasons for keeping the Sabbath. Hebrews states that God is the judge of all and offers a contrast between Mt. Sinai, where the rules were given, and Mt. Zion, where the rules are fulfilled. In Luke, Jesus and a synagogue leader clash about how one is to keep Sabbath.

Isaiah 58:9b-14 [01:57]  – Isaiah’s words to the exiles returned from Babylon sound a lot like advice given to contemporary believers. I am pretty sure every believer in every age has said this; conditions of oppression and injustice don’t ever seem to go away. Yet, in this selection, we are given clear methods to examine our times and our lives, to see if we have in any way participated in oppression and injustice. Using Math smart and a U-tube manometer, show your congregation how pressure (oppression) subjugates people and experiment with actions that could alleviate it. In Nature smart, we compare dogged self centeredness with a beagle and God’s promised providence to a watered garden in an arid land. In People smart, we look at some options to actively work on behalf of the hungry.

Hebrews 12:18-29 [12:38] – The author of Hebrews sets up contrasting visions and meanings of two important mountains in Israel’s history; Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion. Sinai is where the people received God’s rules, and Mt. Zion is the city on the hill where the world will find its ultimate redemption in Jesus. In Word smart, we use the dictionary to define shake or shaking, and in Eye smart, we offer some truly startling images of fire – both of which the ancient Hebrews witnessed and experienced at the foot of Sinai. The selection is divided into three parts – past, present, and future – and God’s judgement is central to the entire thing. In Math smart, we look at the logic of God’s rule and suggest a game to be played with children as a way to illustrate it. In Body smart, we offer a US army veteran’s memory of R&R in Hong Kong and several musical clips for Music smart. In Nature smart, we compare the two mountains with a graphic and examine the benefits of a wild fire. And just so you know, Nibiru is not coming to get us.

Luke 13:10-17 [24:57] – Sometimes, rigid black and white demarcations of what is in and out of bounds need to be shifted a bit. Not because moving boundaries will make them crumble out of existence, but because someone is caught under them. Jesus sees a woman he intends to heal; he does so and the leader of the synagogue where this happens is offended. He does what he can to put a stop to anyone else getting any Sabbath breaking ideas, which Jesus addresses by explaining the small ways the Sabbath rules are stretched in order to show humane treatment to animals. Isn’t a Daughter of Abraham worth at least as much as someone’s donkey or ox? We use Eye smart to give a taste of the woman’s experience – which also ties into Body smart. We both thought the Primary Expressed Intelligence was the logical argument Jesus uses to counter the synagogue leader’s outrage and we discuss ways to illustrate that in Math smart. (We also have a link to a story in the New York Post on our Facebook page that we found after we put together this podcast. Check it out!) Chris Tomlin has a lovely re-arrangement of Amazing Grace that we link to below, and in People and Self smart, we have some questions you could use to encourage your congregation’s empathy and imaginations.

Here’s a bonus for you. Well, you might not think so after you hear me sing. It’s my adaptation of Isaiah 5:1-7 to a 12-bar blues, as referred to in our COrd20 episode. Think of it as a demo tape, but with theological implications. That’s Molly on the guitar, and the song is in the key of C. Here’s a link to the lyrics: God’s Vineyard Blues.

There’s nothing like a master blues singer practicing his craft. And this is nothing like a master blues singer practicing his craft! But we hope you’ll enjoy it any way and maybe use it to enhance your congregation’s connection to the text. While you have permission to use it for local church worship or education, we do ask that you give credit to David and Molly Douthett at the More Than Hearing podcast.

Remember long division? I remember loving the problem solving aspect of learning this math and was entirely blown away when my mother showed me how to do short division. I adopted Mom’s technique and have never looked back. The passages we have for today’s lectionary readings speak directly about division, especially the Luke passage. In Isaiah, the prophet alludes to division when God decides to let the beloved vineyard go to seed. Breaking down the protective walls and ripping up the carefully tended vines seemed to be God’s final response to the deep disappointment of foul grapes. The metaphor is that God was going to allow God’s beloved people to be disciplined by their own lack of discipline; sometimes, you just have to let someone find out for themselves how very off the road they are before they will accept an offer of help. The Hebrews passage encourages followers of The Way to look to the long history of faithful, obedient ancestors for help to run their own races. In Luke, Jesus takes the tough love approach of his Father and states explicitly that he comes to bring division – but not just for the sake of division. There is a purpose to it.

Isaiah 5:1-7 [01:56]  – Sometimes, a passage presents one of the intelligences in a distinct way, and this lesson has a very strong flavor of nature. We both decided that Nature Smart is the Primary Expressed Intelligence due to those vivid images of planting a vineyard. Neither one of us is very good at growing things – even though we have some tomato plants that are going gangbusters out on the deck this summer (What happened? How did we DO that?) – but even we understand the heartbreak and discouragement that comes with crop failures. God’s disappointment could be mirrored in the expressions of the refugees escaping the Dust Bowl, searching for a new home in California in the 1930’s. There is no choice but to let the ground go fallow and hope that time spent in the wilderness will yield earth better suited for planting in the future.

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 [10:16] – For Word Smart, we suggest using definitions for the word “hero” to illustrate heroic qualities. For a special effect, take those definitions and put them into a word puzzle (see links below) that could be worked during the sermon or taken home to discuss as a family. We use Math Smart to explore the logic of following Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. I think the Primary Expressed Intelligence for this passage is Body Smart, and the 2016 Rio Olympics is a great example for illustrating running a race with perseverance. For a special effect, we have interpretive movement! (see link below). David thinks the PEI is People Smart and has some questions that blur between illustration and special effect.

Luke 12:49-56 [18:58] – We really like to think that being people of faith means our lives will be blessed with good things, and they are! But sometimes, we distort those blessings; we idolize them or close them off for personal use or fail to see them as blessings. Jesus seems to have had his fill of this distortion at this point in Luke’s gospel. He states plainly and definitively that what he brings is not peace but division. Ironically, the division he brings will lead to peace, but not the way the world understands it. In Word Smart, we look at how revising an old saying illustrates Jesus’ intention. In Eye Smart, we suggest taking a visual tour of the neighborhood, making careful note of signs. In Body Smart, we talk about baptism and in Nature Smart, we go with Jesus’ illustration of reading the signs of nature. I think the PEI is People Smart and David thinks it is Self Smart. We have some illustrations as to why.

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