Year B, Ordinary 11 (Proper 6, Pentecost +4), 2018 – New Growth

Year B, Ordinary 11 (Proper 6, Pentecost +4), 2018 – New Growth

June 14, 2018 / Molly Douthett / Ordinary Time

Hey there! Welcome back! We are very grateful to Cindy Thompson for checking in with us last week with an absolutely BRILLIANT idea for the 1 Samuel 8 passage! Go back to last week’s show notes and check out her comment if you missed it! Once again, we are leaving the Old Testament passage on the shelf, but there are many NATURE and EYE smart elements to Ezekiel’s prophecy about God plucking a branch from the noble cedars of Lebanon. The NATURE smart elements are also all over the Gospel passage as Jesus tells two parables about growing things. In 2 Corinthians, Paul’s encouragement to them ends with the well known verse that “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.” As I look out the window at the plants growing in our garden, I’m gratified that the mud pit that it was in March is now showing signs of potential produce! It is a new creation, indeed! If God can do that in our yard, what might God do in our lives? or our sermons?

This week’s texts are:

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13) 14-17 [01:58]

We begin the Epistle lesson with EYE smart and verse 16 where Paul says that because of what Jesus has done, we no longer look at other people from a human point of view. So, look at people! (I remember an experience I once had waiting for David and the kids after a Dayton Dragons baseball game; I was watching people walk past me to their cars and had an overwhelming sense of love for them because I knew Jesus had died for each one. I just stood there with a goofy grin on my face, feeling joy!) In MATH smart, we explore Paul’s logic using some commentary and Sherlock Holmes. Walking by faith reminded me of a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for a BODY smart illustration. For a special effect, to some breathing and visualization. David is always reminded of an old song by verse 17 in MUSIC smart. In SELF smart, think about a time when you “saw” others the way Jesus does.

Smarts – Eye [03:15], Math [05:08], Body [09:52], Music [11:32], Self [13:06]
2 Corinthians 5 worksheet
Links in 2 Corinthians
- MATH smart –
  - commentary by Lois Malcolm at Working Preacher
  - some information about double negation
  - commentary by David Frederickson at Working Preacher
  - Paul’s logic is sort of like the distributive property of multiplication over addition and the substitution property of equality
    - David has examples of each:
      - D*(J) = D*(h1+h2+h3+…)
        
        Where D = Death,
        
        J = Jesus,
        
        h(n) = human #n, where n is a positive integer
      - If J = (h1+h2+h3+…),and
        
        If D*(h1+h2+h3+…) = RL ,where RL = requirement of the Law,
        
        Then D*J = RL
- MUSIC smart –
  - Everything Old Is New Again

Mark 4:26-34 [13:52]

As David says in the introduction to this passage, if you have been using Multiple Intelligence Theory in your preaching, you are someone who uses parables! We take some time to define a parable in WORD smart. Then, in MATH smart, we briefly remind everyone we made an interesting discovery about the way a parable works like a parabola. Go check out the links below! In MUSIC smart, we have an anthem that goes along with the idea that growth happens over time and two poems about seeds and parables. NATURE smart is the star of the show for this selection! We have some other ways of looking at the kingdom of God and some video clips of seeds germinating, sprouting, and growing in time lapse photography. In PEOPLE and SELF smart, we encourage you to take the metaphor of planting seeds and growing to maturity as a way of looking back at your own faith development.

Smarts – Word [15:26], Math [17:39], Music [18:02], Nature [18:40], People [21:29], Self [23:35]
Mark 4 worksheet
Links in Mark
- WORD smart –
  - commentary by Justo L. Gonzalez at The Christian Century
- MATH smart –
  - Parable = Parabola!! See this post from Ordinary 16, Year A and the worksheet that explains the comparison.
- MUSIC smart –
  - One Step by Pepper Choplin
  - The Seed of God by Meister Eckhart
  - On the Parables of the Mustard Seed by Denise Levertov
- NATURE smart –
  - A 25 day time lapse video of a bean sprouting and growing.
  - Lima beans sprouting, with a good look at the roots.
- PEOPLE smart –
  - commentary by Jeanne Choy Tate at The Christian Century

Image Credit: Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash. Used by permission.

Tags: 2Corinthians, Mark

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