Year C, Ordinary 31, 2019 – Confess

More Than Hearing

Hey everyone! We’re back for another episode! We are also at the beach (again) doing a remote podcast (again)! This is the fourth time we’ve done a remote show this year. If nothing else, this is evidence that if you are thinking about doing a podcast but think you may need to be anchored to a recoding studio, this is not the case. If you are willing to have a different “sound” to your show, then take your microphones and hit the road!

It occurs to me that the show for three years ago was also done remotely. We really like taking this on the road, don’t we? Anyway, we used the Habakkuk passage last time, so if that’s what you are looking for, click the link! We also were looking at all eight intelligences then, so if you want more than what we’ve supplied this time, click the link!

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Smart of the Week – [01:59]

Today we are emphasizing MUSIC smart and WORD smart. As we’ve mentioned before, both of these intelligences get a lot of exposure in worship – hymns, preludes, postludes, praise music, and choral anthems for MUSIC, and the sermon, prayers, bulletins, and announcements for WORD smart. Of course, you can always push these to include some different sources and styles. Check out the worksheets below to see what we offer.

MUSIC smart – [04:27]Download

WORD smart – [02:49]Download

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Texts of the Week

Isaiah 1:10-18 – [05:39]

Isaiah is holding nothing back in these first verses. God is fed up with the people’s nonsense and lukewarm expressions of worship. God also sees through the hypocrisy of their day-to-day cutthroat existence by telling them they “have blood on their hands.” Whoa. Intense. For WORD smart, I was reminded by reactions on Twitter to an exchange between Whoopi Goldberg and a co-host on The View. Read the threads below to see how they responded to the words she spoke. Maybe people hearing God’s words through Isaiah had a similar response?

For MUSIC smart, we have some options listed below. The link to Tom Petty’s song is not to the music itself, but to the story behind its inception. Stevie Nicks had broken up with Joe Walsh of The Eagles. He arrived at a house where Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics was staying with her and Tom Petty and when she saw Walsh, she told him, “Don’t come around here no more!” Maybe God was as exasperated with the peoples’ worship and while God wasn’t telling them to stop showing up, God did want them to examine their lives and attitudes more closely and own up to what they were doing.

• WORD smart – [07:11]
  • Scholarly Mama tweets about being “told something”
• EYE smart bonus – [10:30]
  • special effect using fake blood
• MUSIC smart – [11:22]
  • “Day By Day, Dear Lord” – Singing the Faith
  • Vs. 12ff – “Don’t Come Around Here No More” Tom Petty
  • “Create in Me a Clean Heart“

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Psalm 32:1-7 – [15:31]

This psalm possesses both confession and confidence. The first five verses speak to the need to confess and what happens when one does so. The last verses speak to the result of confession. The author is confident that confession will relieve one’s personal soul-struggles and provide a hiding place to recover and be shielded from trouble.

For MUSIC smart, we have songs about confession. You can use the plethora of sacred music dedicated to the topic, but don’t turn away from contemporary, secular songs about it, either. Of course, take care for language and situations in the song. For WORD smart, think about ways we use words to confess – like the 12 steps in recovery programs, for example.

• MUSIC smart – [16:22]
  • “You Are My Hiding Place”
  • “Confession” by Florida-Georgia Line
  • “My Confession” by Ray Price
• WORD smart – [19:38]
  • The fifth step of AA

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2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 – [23:36]

Confession doesn’t always need to be an admission of error. A confession could be simply saying what one feels and believes, much like Paul’s confession of love and admiration for the believers to whom he’s writing. How do words of praise and encouragement effect behavior? For WORD smart, think about ways you can emulate Paul using prayer to encourage and motivate your people and their discipleship. For MUSIC smart, think about how overtures for musicals or classical works use elements of what is to come to set it all up right there at the beginning. We have a link to Quincy Jones’ “Soulful Celebration” – a reworking of Handel’s Messiah. It’s definitely worth a listen!

• WORD smart – [25:27 & 27:39]
  • Ben Witherington III describes the particular prayer practice that Paul uses in the thanksgiving section as a form of a teaching prayer. He says it’s the kind of prayer a parent prays within their children’s earshot so that the kid will hear what his or her parents wants him/her to do.
• MUSIC smart – [25:51]
  • The Overture for Quincy Jones’ Soulful Celebration

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Luke 19:1-10 – [29:56]

You KNOW this story, your long time members KNOW this story, so exercise those creative muscles to present this story! For MUSIC smart, David suggests using some sound effects as the story is read. We demonstrate how that might sound, too! For WORD smart, look deeper into the parts of the story that tend to get glossed over in a quick, “kid friendly” telling. Three years ago, we talked about what Zacchaeus name means. What else is right there that we might miss? Who were the tax collectors? Did they choose this profession? Why does Jesus pick this one guy in a tree out of all the others to go get lunch with? Why does he call him a “son of Abraham”? Look beyond the words for extra layers. Who really needs to confess?

• MUSIC smart – [31:10]
  • “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man”
  • Find some sound effects! I got mine from freesound.org
  • Here is a list of hymns for this Sunday’s selections
• WORD smart – [35:36]
  • Zacchaeus → from Hebrew : zakak = pure

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Photograph by Kalhh at Pixabay Used by permission.

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