Year C, Easter 5, 2019 – Glory!
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Welcome! We’re glad you are here with us, and we hope you will find some ideas or at least inspiration from our podcast! The lessons for this week share a theme of “glory.” We see it repeated over and over in John’s Gospel as Jesus tells his disciples that he and God are connected. As the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, a voice declares that God’s home is among mortals and that God will wipe away all that burdens us. The psalm is a glorious song of praise, and Peter astonishes the other disciples with his story about joining Gentiles in their home and at their table.
This link will take you to what we did with (most) of these passages three years ago. There is some MATH smart and some MUSIC smart hints, plus a Mad Libs for the Psalm!
Smarts of the Week [01:58]
We take a few minutes to talk about our two smarts of the week in the episode, and here you can download our worksheets for each of them.
The Week’s Texts
John 13:31-35 – [06:08]
These verses are a brief snippet from the much longer discourse beginning in chapter 13 of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, whom he calls friends. WORD smart people will be intrigued by the number of times Jesus uses a form of the word “glory.” Look up the definition of the word both in English and Greek to see how John uses it to connect Jesus to God and how Jesus’ instructions for the disciples to love one another come from heaven itself.
For BODY smart, the transitive property of the word “glory” can be illustrated and demonstrated by a fashion show! The glory Jesus exhibits is God’s glory, just as clothing worn by a model reveals the beauty of the model and the designer’s ideas. When we love one another as Jesus loved us, we reveal the glory of the relationship we have with him and one another.
- BODY smart – [07:05]
- Here’s a video of ten runway models
- WORD smart – [10:28]
- Definition for the word glory from Merriam-Webster
- The Greek definition of δοξάζω
- to love ἀγαπάω agapáō (“loving”)
Revelation 21:1-6 – [14:53]
Our own bodies illustrate this passage! For BODY smart, remind people that the first thing we do when we see someone who has been absent from us is give them a big hug! You can find many such videos of parents returning from deployment to surprise their loved ones. The best are the dogs who recognize their humans! For a special effect, do some interpretive movement.
I posted the definition of a few key words for this passage on the worksheet, which you can download and use for WORD smart. In any interpretation of Revelation, we must keep in mind the lens through which John sends his vision out to the seven churches. To illustrate this, talk about how putting someone else’s glasses on can distort vision (see also: EYE smart); we need to be certain to have the proper focus in order not to become disoriented. A way to demonstrate how we tend to put our own spin on Revelation would be to play the game “Telephone,” in which a message is passed from person to person, usually with hilarious results.
- BODY smart – [20:45]
- Try this interpretive movement with a couple people demonstrating and/or giving the instructions to everyone to try at home with someone they love and trust.
Vs. 1 – Look up, raise your hands, right then left, and then hands sweeping down, right then left.
Vs. 2 – Walk toward each other, reaching out to each other, taking each other’s hands.
Vs. 3 – Share a hug.
Vs. 4 – Wipe each other’s cheeks with a finger.
Vs. 5 – Make broad, sweeping hand motions left and right, like Vanna showing off a new car.
Vs. 6 – Raise a glass in a toast, then drink. If it seems appropriate, do that interlocking arms drinking thing.
Psalm 148 – [25:20]
BODY smart is always fertile ground for interpretive movement, and this psalm has plenty of opportunity to stretch those muscles! This could be a fun way to include children in worship, as well.
It’s interesting to note that the order of things commanded to sing praise to God follows the order of creation in Genesis 1 – a literary echo that might ring the bells of WORD smart people! It would be very interesting to see this passage presented with sign language and could be a help for interpretive movement!
- BODY smart – [26:20]
- WORD smart – [27:11]
Acts 11:1-18 – [28:45]
While BODY smart doesn’t seem to be obvious in this passage, imagine how Peter was telling the other disciples about his experience. We think he probably had a lot of gestures and his body language was engaged and conveyed passion. His description of events is such that listeners may feel they are journeying with him through the story. Think about how people who tell good stories often use more than their words to engage and “bring along” their audience. We have a link below as an example!
For WORD smart, show how Peter takes the other disciples step by step through his reasoning for his behavior. This made me think of the United States Declaration of Independence and how Thomas Jefferson laid out a detailed argument for separating from the Crown. Peter is doing his best to convince the “circumcised believers” that he has not lost his marbles or gone rogue.
- BODY smart – [32:14]
- Gabriel Iglesias’ Road Trip
- WORD smart – [30:31]
Image credit: We couldn’t find any attribution for this photo, which has apparently gotten loose from its owners and has been roaming free and unprotected on the internet for some time. If you know of any claim of ownership or rights to it, please let us know at connect@morethanhearing.org or leave a comment below.
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