Year C, Ordinary 15 (Proper 10), 2019 – Simple

More Than Hearing

Hey everyone! Welcome to the show! We have some fun illustrations and special effects to share with you this week. The Gospel passage is the very familiar parable of the Good Samaritan. Paul greets the Colossians with a lot of enthusiasm and the Psalmist is eager to be kept from shame and ridicule. In Deuteronomy, the people are reminded that all they need to live a prosperous life in the land is contained in the book of the law. It’s really that simple.

Program Note!

We’ll be taking some time off after this week’s podcast. We’ve got some family time and travel coming up, so we’re going to post the shows we did three years ago. I was looking them over and thought we had some pretty good ideas! Here’s what we did three years ago for Year C, Ordinary 15, 2016. We used the Amos passage instead of Deuteronomy.

---

Smarts of the Week [01:58]

This week, we are concentrating on WORD and MATH smart. You can follow these links to read more about all the intelligences, especially for faith formation. Sharon Ely Pearson is the author at that link. Diana Waring is an educator who we’ve referenced before, as well. The worksheets with all our notes are below for download.

MATH smart – [06:00]Download

WORD smart – [03:48]Download

---

Texts for the Week

Luke 10:25-37 – [07:41]

What else can be said about this parable? It’s a bit daunting to find something fresh from such a well known passage. Fortunately, using the Multiple Intelligence Theory lens offers some different insights. I was truly impressed with how much MATH smart can be found there! David found a study about offering assistance using students from our alma mater Princeton Theological Seminary (several years before we were there) with some surprising results. I think this is the golden nugget for the week; preach this, because it works!

I found a couple sermons that use a different focus for telling the story for WORD smart. You could also find out just how well everyone knows this story by inviting your congregation to recall it before you read it. Like the Nativity story, this could generate some telling results. Just how much do we pay attention to the detail of the written story, and how much to we embellish with our own imagination or traditions?

• MATH smart – [18:16]
  • Here’s a video summarizing the Darley-Batson Good Samaritan study at Princeton Theological Seminary.
  • The figures and statistics can be found in this article.
  • Similarly, on the “bystander effect” and other studies that refute it from this article on aeon.com
  • Consider exploring Jewish laws about neighbors. Here’s one summary.
  • Here is another article that traces Jewish thought on understanding the second great commandment. Highly recommended!
• WORD smart – [14:00]
  • Retelling the parable with a modern update is effective. Take a look at this one.
  • This sermon suggests looking at the story from the point of view of the man beaten by robbers.

---

Colossians 1:1-14 – [15:46]

Paul is eager to make the Colossians acquaintance, because he has heard how they have embraced the Gospel of Jesus. He has heard that they have received it and are bearing much fruit because of it. The Greek word “ἀκούω” is used four times in these verses with varied prefixes and tenses. It means both “to hear” and “to listen,” and I think Paul is stressing the latter translation in his writing. Exploring definitions and how they affect interpretation is a lovely WORD smart exercise.

The Colossians are transformed by this new message, which made David think about the way the concept of “zero” changed mathematics. Your MATH smart people will be all over this illustration!

• WORD smart – [17:03]
  • What happens when we hear.
  • How to make the most of when we listen.
• MATH smart – [20:16]
  • the invention of zero

---

Psalm 25:1-10 – [23:03]

The psalmist wants God to both remember him and forget his transgressions. For MATH smart, remind people about the memory function on calculators!

For WORD smart people, explore the definition of “exult” and the way the psalmist uses it hoping to avoid his enemy’s taunts. Also, in verse 9, the psalmist hints that the humble are the best candidates for God’s education. I think this is very true, and you can use the NPR Sunday puzzler to support this claim!

• MATH smart – [24:00]
• WORD smart – [26:09]
  • exult defined; taunt defined
  • Schoolyard taunts can be brutal – or really obscure.
  • The Guardian reports on an exchange between Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw.
  • Word puzzles on the Sunday morning Puzzler on NPR by Will Shortz

---

Deuteronomy 30:9-14 – [31:50]

In our pre-post-literate world, the written WORD had a lot of authority. Remember playing a board game and running into a situation that required looking up the rules? Or cooking a new dish and forgetting which ingredient was next on the list? Nowadays, we’re more likely to turn to a video to find the answers, but back in MY day, we turned to the written words to find the answer. The author of Deuteronomy is urging the people to remember that everything they need to survive and thrive in the land is written in the Law of Moses.

It’s really that simple.

• WORD smart – [32:54]
  • This is a project you could have your children make.
• MATH smart – [36:00]

---

Photo by Sarah Dorweiler on Unsplash. Used by permission.

---