Year A, Advent 2, 2019 – Peace Be With You

More Than Hearing

And also with you! How many of you automatically said that when you read the title for the episode? The theme for the second Sunday of Advent is peace, traditionally. Which is odd, considering the thundering judgment John the Baptist aims at the Pharisees and Sadducees who come out to the Jordan to check up on what he’s up to out there. “Brood of Vipers” is not usually a greeting one uses for one’s friends. It’s up to Isaiah and Paul writing in Romans to deliver messages of peace. Yet, even there the peace comes through after conflict is resolved through the power and grace of God. No wonder the Psalm devotes so much praise to God for righteousness and justice.

Three years ago, we suggested making animal masks for the Isaiah passage for a PEOPLE smart special effect. We also suggested adding voices one by one to a well known song to demonstrate the unity Paul is after in Romans. For Matthew, David had a colorful graph for MATH smart, and we thought using a balance scales would be a good BODY smart special effect. In other words, you have a lot of stuff to choose from for this Sunday!

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Matthew 3:1-12 – [03:47]

Matthew 3:1-12 worksheetDownload

If we turn to Scripture expecting simple answers to complex problems, we are kidding ourselves as John the Baptist shows us in this passage. “Repent!” he calls to the people – but how simple is it to turn away from our usual lives, really? John isn’t asking for incremental change either – turn completely, he instructs. Likely, the people streaming out into the wilderness to see him and be baptized had been so beaten down they had nothing to lose so turning from a life of oppression and hopelessness was not difficult. But what about those who are not hard pressed, who in fact, may be looking to protect their piece of turf? John calls them vipers and tells them the ax of judgement is lying at the base of their trees. It seems the message John proclaims is that peace – REAL peace – is coming but we have some work to do in order to prepare for it and fully receive it.

• EYE smart – [05:18]
• MATH smart – [06:18]
  • This video shows the necessities for “making a path straight”.
  • And these videos show the procedure for road construction.
  • Here is another video that recycles old tires to patch roads!
  • commentary by Katie Hines-Shah, The Christian Century
• BODY smart – [08:22]
• MUSIC smart – [11:27]
  • A folk song about Ein Gedi, the oasis along the Dead Sea
• NATURE smart – [12:50]
  • Bear Grylls’ new Netflix show, “You vs. Wild”
• SELF smart – [14:33]
  • commentary by Elizabeth Myer, The SALT+ Project

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Romans 15:4-13 – [16:32]

Romans 15:4-13 worksheet Download

Some of the commentary I read for this passage thinks that Paul has come to the main point of his letter to the Romans in this chapter. He has carefully laid out who Jesus was and now is and why this matters to those who are children of Israel. He also showed how Jesus’ resurrection flows out into the world of nations and includes them as adopted sons and daughters. Now, he knits the two yarns together into a whole and proclaims that the steadfastness and encouragement of Christ brings all believers together in harmony in order to sing praise to God. Ironically, while we found MUSIC smart illustrations galore, we left that on the shelf in order to bring the intelligences listed below. So check out the worksheet by clicking on the button above to see what else we have!

• WORD smart – [17:50]
  • commentary by Orrey McFarland, Working Preacher
  • The Declaration of Independence
  • The Constitution of the United States of America
  • The Bill of Rights
  • See Our Documents for notable American docs.
• EYE smart – [19:45]
  • Here’s an experiment in 3-D perception and parallax in vision.
• BODY smart – [20:44]
• PEOPLE smart – [22:38]
  • commentary by J.R. Daniel Kirk, Working Preacher
  • the current World Series champs the Nationals had a great vibe according to many reports and fans
• SELF smart – [24:22]
  • commentary by Valerie Nicolet-Anderson

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Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 – [26:21]

Psalm 72:1-7; 18-19 worksheetDownload

This psalm is a prayer for the king. As I read it, I substituted the word “President” since the United States does not have a king. The prayer for this leader in the psalm is entirely appropriate for anyone who has a leadership role anywhere in any society. We want people who are filled with God’s righteousness and mercy. We want people who will defend the cause of the least of these. We want people who will be like “rain that falls on grass” and whose justice will last “until the moon is no more.” Realistically, politics gets in the way of these noble ideals, but that doesn’t mean we can’t petition God for them to be realized. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

• WORD smart – [27:07]
• MATH smart – [28:36]
  • Organizations seeking legal remedy for the poor and oppressed
    • ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
    • SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center)
    • Poor People’s Campaign
    • ADL (Anti Defamation League)
    • Life After Hate
• MUSIC smart – [29:59]
  • El mensaje que hoy proclamamos Hear the Message We are Now Proclaiming
  • For the World and All Its People (follow the link, then search for the title of the song and a sound clip will be at the top of the list)
  • Justice Shall Flourish in His Time
• PEOPLE smart – [30:54]

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Isaiah 11:1-10 – [31:42]

Isaiah 11:1-10 worksheet Download

Isaiah’s vision of a peaceable kingdom seems so outlandish – small children not being attacked by venomous snakes when they put their hands in their dens? Lions and lambs lying peacefully together? Children leading? He appeals to the “prophetic imagination” in all of us with these images. If we allow ourselves the space and time to simply sit with them, they begin to worm into our hearts bringing with them hope and maybe the desire to do what we can to make this possible. Of course, God doesn’t need our help for any of this, but God wants us to participate in our present, so a future of peace finds root in all of us and flowers for the next generation.

• EYE smart – [32:38]
• BODY Smart – [33:50]
• MUSIC smart – [35:13]
  • Come, Come Emmanuel
• NATURE smart – [36:00]
  • Snake venom has properties that scientists have learned are useful for treating heart attacks
• PEOPLE smart – [37:55]
  • Luke Skywalker vs. the remote
  • Job discrimination starts with reading your name
    • Harvard Business School
    • National Bureau of Economic Research
    • UCLA
    • Bustle.com

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Photo copyright : Evgeny Atamanenko from 123rf. Used by permission.