Year A, Advent 1, 2019 – Wake Up!

More Than Hearing

Happy Liturgical New Year!! We are heading into our fifth year of this podcast! After concentrating on two intelligences per week last year, we’ve decided to let the rest of them back in and include as many of the smarts as decide to show up. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, you are an old pro at this and may be checking our work against your own, which is GREAT! If you are just now joining us, we are glad to have you, and we hope using Howard Gardner’s theory (see the link above) will be fruitful for you. We have discovered that the intelligence-based illustrations and special effects have filled out our own preaching and worship in memorable ways.

Don’t forget to go see what we did with these passages three years ago! I was reading through the post and was surprised at how many and how different our ideas were! I guess it goes to show that when you open the gates for creativity, many interesting ideas come crowding in! Plus, we did not include the Psalm last time around, so you have a bonus this time.

---

The Week’s Texts:

Isaiah 2:1-5 – [03:03]

Isaiah 2:1-5 – WorksheetDownload

We found illustrations and special effects for all eight intelligences! Then, we started recording, going over all of them! Then, we saw that we had gone twenty three minutes with very little ad libbing! So, we decided to pick our favorites and present only them! Suffice it to say, I heartily recommend that you download the worksheet for Isaiah to see what got left on the shelf.

We decided to emphasize EYE, BODY, MUSIC, and PEOPLE smarts. EYE made the cut so we could show you some remarkable artwork that comes from this passage. Plus, David really likes the idea for the special effect. (I may lose my exercise ball.) We kept BODY smart for the sensation of being in a crowd that is all going in one direction with the same purpose. It feels like a tonic to our fractured life these days. MUSIC smart contains a poem and three songs and PEOPLE smart goes back to the concept in EYE smart; exchanging implements of war for implements of creation.

• EYE smart – [04:12]
  • Let Us Beat Our Swords into Plowshares– Soviet artist Evgeny Vuchetich.
  • Guns into Plowshares
• BODY smart – [08:08]
• MUSIC smart – [09:48]
  • Make Me Plow Blade, by Abigail Carroll
  • Come and Find the Quiet Center, Shirley Murray
  • Pleasure Comes, lyric by Ruth Duck
  • Siyahamba performed by Angel City Chorale
  • Also look us up on YouTube – choir starts at 21:45
• PEOPLE smart – [11:54]
  • Lean On Me
  • Peter Murchison and Diane Keefe organized this fundraiser on behalf of The Newtown Foundation, Inc.
  • Here’s a story of a man who traded in an heirloom weapon to RawTools. The book Beating Guns is its story.

---

Psalm 122 – [15:08]

Psalm 122 – WorksheetDownload

We didn’t have nearly as many ideas for the Psalm, but we did not cover the Psalm three years ago, so our contribution has increased six fold! We decided to emphasize only two of the intelligences, so download the worksheet to see what else we had. Like Isaiah, the Psalm encourages believers to ascend to the temple. When pilgrims enter the temple gates, they will know they are in a place of peace. For WORD smart, brainstorm some synonyms for the word “peace.” How does defining the word bring it to life? For PEOPLE smart, consider how we might “seek your good” for the sake of the house of the Lord.

• WORD smart – [16:00]
  • Prayers and liturgies written by Joan Stott at The Timeless Psalms.
• PEOPLE smart – [17:56]

---

Romans 13:8-14 – [19:45]

Romans 13:8-14 – WorksheetDownload

Again, download that worksheet to see the three intelligences that didn’t make the cut. We start with MATH smart and syllogisms. (By the way, Paul is always good for MATH smart illustrations and special effects, especially in Romans. He presented a reasoned argument for Jesus, to which logical thinkers will attend.) I thought David’s description of syllogism sounded a lot like geometry proofs, too. A commentary got me to thinking about how we can use a BODY smart special effect for the season of Advent. We found a song from Taizé for MUSIC smart and David has a great way to illustrate Paul’s argument using a symphony! Another commentary led us to a SELF smart illustration about “senioritis.”

• MATH smart – [20:54]
  • syllogism defined
  • a link to several examples
  • Venn diagram examples
• BODY smart – [23:29]
  • commentary by Jill Duffield
• MUSIC smart – [25:27]
  • Taize Wait for the Lord
• SELF smart – [27:52]
  • Claire McGarry in These Days: Daily Devotions for Living by Faith

---

Matthew 24:36-44 – [29:30]

Matthew 24:36-44 – WorksheetDownload

We each of us have preached many a sermon and led many a worship service telling folks that while we wait for Jesus’ coming at Advent, we don’t wait passively. In the passage from Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples to remain alert, to pay attention to what’s going on around them, and not to take anything for granted. For MUSIC smart, David found a … um … song that fits the theme (but is terrible) and also has a rhythm game for a special effect that demonstrates how we pay attention. Jesus mentions Noah’s flood, so for NATURE smart, we found some video of flash flooding. The power of the water is an awesome thing to behold. But beware – some of the videos may show people being swept away to their deaths. Finally, for SELF smart, think about how eerie it would be for people around you to suddenly disappear. To illustrate, I relate a story about playing “Sardines” – it is freaky.

• MUSIC smart – [30:50]
  • Caught By Surprise
• NATURE smart – [33:20]
  • Here’s some video of a flash flood in southern Utah that is pretty dramatic.
  • Here is a video of some vastly more devastating flash floods. (WARNING: possible death happens here)
  • The Big Thompson Canyon flood of 2013. My mother lives near here and when I went to visit her and my father the month after this went through, the amount of destruction was simply jaw dropping. Six years later, the road is open again but there are massive rocks in the river that weren’t there before.
• SELF smart – [35:55]

---

Photo by it’s me neosiam from Pexels. Used with permission.

---