Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount

The Project: Performing the Sermon

Each time I teach the Gospel of Matthew at Luther Seminary, I ask students to create a final project that is "an appropriation of a portion of Matthew's gospel for a parish or specialized ministry setting." All sorts of things have emerged from this request. One student created a watercolor featuring scenes from the gospel. (I remember pigs in the picture most vividly, reminiscent of Jesus' reminder not to cast pearls before swine as well as his casting out of a demon into a herd of pigs.) Several students have written Confirmation retreat materials where students walk through scenes in the gospel over the course of a weekend. There have been sermons, Advent devotional booklets, and one or two collections of poetry. All of them are meant to be both faithful to the gospel text and shared with others in a student's life and ministry.

One of the projects a few students choose each semester is memorizing and performing the Sermon on the Mount. In this project, students keep a journal of insights into the Sermon that emerge for them as they spend so much time in it. As a "final exam," they may perform the sermon for one other person or for a group.

This semester five students in NT1210 are memorizing the Sermon. I am accompanying them, memorizing it myself for the first time after a dozen years of teaching it. This blog is our journal of the experience. We invite you to join us as we "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the Sermon on the Mount and the vision Jesus offers there of a whole new world. Together, we will explore performing the Sermon.

Memory Tips and Ideas

    I would like to share a few memory tips and ideas that I used in memorizing the Sermon on the Mount.  Most of these are applicable to memorizing sermons as well, which I think is a real art that I would also like to learn.  A pastor friend who graduated from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) tells me that his preaching professor required them to memorize sermons, and that he benefited from that experience, often giving sermons from memory in his parish ministry. 

The first tip is logical, but not often followed, and that is to memorize from beginning to end.  I learned that it does no good to try to memorize different sentences or paragraphs out of order, and then think that I can put them all together at the end of the day—or near the deadline.  Even though it seems laborious, it is important—and in the end less time-consuming—to memorize from beginning to end.  It may be annoying to repeat the first part over and over as you add the second chapter to it, and then to repeat the first and second chapters over again, as you add the third chapter.  But this is the best way that I have found to memorize so that the entire passage flows and parts are not forgotten.

A second tip is to memorize out loud.  Hearing your own voice is critical to memorization because it helps to remember not just the words on the page that you are trying to visualize, but it also adds an auditory memory to your visual memory of what you have seen.  Though most of us are visual learners as a percentage of the population, we can all benefit from our auditory memory learning as well, even if not quite as much as our visual memory learning.  Every little bit helps.  Therefore, I recommend getting a USB microphone or mic-and-earphone combination hardware that plugs into your computer, and using the Sound Recorder software that allows you to record your own voice so that you can hear it played back.  This is a very good way to hear the sermon in your own voice, which really helps you memorize quickly.

My third tip is to add a kinesthetic component.  If you can touch or pick up a prop for your sermon, it will have the dual advantage of giving your congregation something to look at during your delivery, and it will aid you in your memorization.  My idea is to line up all of your props from left to right in the order that they appear in the Sermon on the Mount so that as you move down the line, you will remember the part that each prop represents.  For example, the props that you can hold up as you deliver the Sermon on the Mount are:

· Salt for the “salt of the earth”

· An unlit candle (or just point to a lighted candle) for the “light of the world”

· Two small tablets for “the law and the prophets” and “the law”

· One tablet for “you shall not murder”

· The other tablet for “you shall not commit adultery”

· An official-looking certificate for “let him give her a certificate of divorce”

· A Bible for “you shall not swear falsely”

· A coat for the “eye for an eye” paragraph

· A picture (or symbol) for sun and rain for the “love your enemies” section

· Coins or a trumpet for “whenever you give alms”

· A small or toy door for “whenever you pray”

· Soap for “whenever you fast”

· Something rusty (or coins again) for the “treasures on earth” section

· A lamp (or unlit candle again) for “the eye is the lamp of the body”

· Coins again for “no one can serve two masters”

· Food, like a small box of rice, and a coat again for “do not worry about your life”

· A thick stick or an actual wood log for “do not judge”

· Pearls, preferably fake, for “pearls before swine”

· A key (or the toy door again) for “ask and it will be given you”

· Grapes or other fruit for “beware of false prophets”

· And finally, a rock for “the wise man who built his house on rock”

By my count, this amounts to 16 easy-to-find, household props if you reuse the coins and the candle.  If so, just leave a space in the line of props from left to right for you to put the coins and candle down in their next spots so that you can pick them up again in sequence as you come to them again.  It takes a little practice but is easy to do and makes the memorization more fun and entertaining.  It will also be more entertaining for a congregation to “see” the Sermon.  As an added bonus, you can handle the props dramatically, and pause as you pick them up and place them back down, giving you extra time to remember the next line in the Sermon, and giving you a break from trying to maintain steady eye contact with your audience, which can be daunting.  It will also give your audience things to look at, instead of constantly boring into your eyes and making you nervous.

    My last idea is my biggest challenge for you.  For all of us who have learned the Sermon on the Mount and will be attending J-Term, perhaps we should all take a part of it, and present the Sermon on the Mount from memory during a morning chapel service.  Props or no props, that might be a fun way to put the usefulness of memorization before our classmates for their consideration.

The end is a new beginning...

I was not as active of blogger/journalist as I would have liked, but when it came down to time management I had a hard time blogging when I wanted to focus on memorizing!  Maybe that is the perfectionist in me...maybe I could blame this on Matthew 5:48 ("Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.").  Okay, probably not!

I discovered some things along the way, however.  In all honesty, I'm not sure I will ever try to memorize such a large chunk of scripture again.  I was able to do it, and the words seemed to make sense to me in how they were composed, which helped tremendously.  However, this past week whenever I thought about the Sermon on the Mount my mind grumbled a little bit.  I don't like the idea of grumbling when it comes to spending time in scripture...reminds me too much of confirmation!  I want to savor scripture and look forward to discovering what it has in store for me at that moment.  Somehow this was lost a little bit when I was memorizing words, phrases, and verses, rather than looking specifically at their meaning.  In fact, I quite often got lost on tangents of "meaning seeking" and had to bring myself back to the task at hand - memorizing - in order to stay on schedule.  I wonder how monks are able to memorize so much scripture and still remain so devoted to being a monk?  My guess is they do not have deadlines?

I also found myself frustrated with the overall message of the Sermon, a message that really does come across as passive, obedient, and in some ways quite conditional (6:14-15, 7:1-5).  It's hard to memorize these words when all I wanted to do was memorize the meaning behind them!  I had to continually remind myself that the cross was yet to come!  I had to hold the Sermon and the Cross together in order to not question my theology too much.  I think it's good to question our own theology and hold it up against things, especially scripture, that challenge it.  My mind wandered back to the beginning of class when we discussed the tone of the Sermon and whether it was really as law as it seems or if it could be Jesus' dream for us.  Either way, it's demanding...and very certain, just look at some of the language!  Do not! Rejoice! Ask! Beware! Blessed!  And the crowds were astounded (7:28).

I'm left wondering what the grading scale is for those that Jesus is addressing because I am more certain than ever that I do not measure up.  "The measure you give will be the measure you get" (7:2).  But I DO give, or I continually try to give to the best of my ability.  Will I still be considered least because I can't always turn the other cheek, or because I do worry about what to cook for dinner?  I kind of hang on the fact that the crowds were 'astounded.'  Jesus' words are real, they are true, they are intentional, and they are convicting.  We are told to come to terms with our accuser...is there a message here to come to terms with Christ?  Is this where we are meant to ask, search, and knock?  Is this the gospel before the good news came to be?  Does Jesus turn them away in 7:23 not because of what they fail to do but because they fail to acknowledge it?  only lifting up their good deeds?

I am apparently left with many questions and, of course, the Words!  I am already finding myself reciting verses in my head when I see or experience certain things from certain people in my life.  I fear that I will use this memorization against people, maybe not anytime soon while I am careful to be kind with my words, but maybe down the line when I am old and in a nursing home and they are the only words that come to mind!  My history of wittiness and bad humor combined with memorized scripture might be a dreadful blend for well meaning nursing home assistants!

On a more technical side, I have become a little bit more comfortable (emphasis on 'little bit') with giving reflections on scripture publicly without notes.  Every third week, I give the Wednesday message at the local nursing home, which amounts to reading a short pericope (of my own choice) and giving a brief (7 or 8 minute) reflection.  Now, in all honesty, I usually don't have much time to do a ton of planning for the message, which freaked me out at first, but I'm adapting.  I have even been asked to share one of those reflections 'off the cuff' during the Christmas Eve service and I'm only slightly nervous about it.  I think the memorization and recitation have helped to build confidence in sharing scripture without notes.  And the many, many, many times I have read these chapters have brought many, many, many different ideas about meaning.  I have had to trust myself with the Words that I would be accurate in giving the messsage.  And I have had to trust myself that my reflection matters even though it may not be planned to perfection.

Tara

Final thoughts - in a nutshell.

If I had to put this whole experience in one sentence (or maybe three) it would be that Jesus said these things in love, love for the father, and as a way to show how to be in relationship w/ the father. One of my reflections about "reward" is to think of a child's reward being different than the hypocrite's motive for reward.

A child will think about how to please her father so the reward will be the praise and smile from him, not from anyone else - the father who sees in secret. The child does it to please and the reward is that the father is pleased. The "hypocrite" does it for a reward from others, so does get his reward, but has no thought about pleasing the father, so the father is not pleased. He IS pleased when we trust him with our whole selves - enough to extend his love to others, unconditionally.

And that even if we "seek first the kingdom of heaven, and his righteousness" we can never achieve it on our own, but only at the foot of the cross, where it is out of our hands and we have to trust and not worry.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Great experience - Thank you Mary!

Mary,

Thank you for making this an option for our final.

It went well this morning. Got there at 8:00. Set up the video, ran through it, with some changes that hindered my sleep last night :) I decided to start the Beatitudes sitting (since I asked Pastor read the first two verses and it actually says Jesus "sat") and keep some of the action I had done in the chancel during my rehearsals down on floor level. The last rehearsal I did, I really expanded the motions - with larger hand gestures and big movements. After reviewing it on the camcorder, I didn't like it. It did not look natural -- and instead of imprinting the words, it was distracting and another thing to think about. I decided to keep a few "marks" but concentrated on the the words and speaking intimately with those listening.

We gathered in the classroom at 9, and Pastor explained that I would be reciting all of the Sermon on the Mount in the sanctuary. He invited the class to think about the message of the Sermon as they experienced it.

It turned out well. There were a few stumbles, and I left out the "meek" and "except for unchastity" and "If God so clothes the grass of the field..... you of little faith" :( and there were some spots where as I watch the video, I realize it was not 100% verbatim - but the meaning did come across.

It was a pretty small group (about 10) and I asked them to sit on both sides as that was how I had rehearsed it. I tried to make a lot of eye contact, and could even smile when looking at Sandy, who was my main help in memorization, when I remembered a certain part we had difficulty with -- e.g. "how they grow"

After "great was its fall" we spent some time in the classroom discussing the sermon. Comments were very complimentary about the delivery, but it was also great to hear people say that they "heard" something differently than they had before, or that hearing it all in one sitting gave them a new perspective.

I will post a video in the 7 day Temp folder on the campus drive. You access the campus drive via SNAP. Mary gave me these directions:

If you haven't used SNAP, you might want to explore it. It's not the homelab, but rather a way to post stuff to campus servers from anywhere. You have your own password-protected drive (H:) and then access to the campus drive (M:). On the M: drive is a 7-day temp folder where stuff is deleted a week after being posted. Right now there is a folder in 7-day temp that says NT1210 Finals or something like that.

To access SNAP, just go to this address and log in with your Luther Seminary information. You have to enable popups. https://snap.luthersem.edu/showLogon.do It's also linked on the Intranet home page, under the Web Tools menu.

Dan Ruth (druth001@luthersem.edu) can help you if what I've put here isn't clear or complete.

Blessing to all of you and see you in January. 

And I have a second chance to get it "perfect" in February, when I present this at midweek chapel at Oberlin, and perhaps for Lent sometime.

Peace to you all!

Sharon

Practice, Practice, Practice....

After 2 run throughs yesterday and two today - not spot on, but I will get through it. Now deciding if I want to wear the "collar" for the first time for this presentation. I usually just wear the clerical blouse w/o the tab.

I'm trying to relate it to the new, different, unexpected authority of Jesus.

Think that makes any sense whatsoever?

Now as long as the pauses look like the are for dramatic effect, not because I'm trying to remember what comes next - it will all be good.

Movement - how much is too much?

I will be presenting the Sermon in the sanctuary during the Adult Sunday School hour this coming Sunday. Talk about taking it down to the wire, eh? I will post the video in NT 7-day temp folder on the campus drive via SNAP by Monday, barring any technical glitches.

On Wednesday, I spent a couple of hours "walking through" some movement. There are two purposes for this. One is to aid in "imprinting" the memorization. Combining the words with action can jog the memory  - just like walking back in the other room to remember why you came in this room. Okay, admit it. We all do it. The other purposes is to convey the sermon in a form different than standing in the pulpit, for the hearer and the speaker. Our discussion will start with the question,"Was seeing and hearing the Sermon all in one sitting different then reading sections of it in personal Bible study?"

Since I will be freed from the need for notes, I want to experiment with using that freedom.

However - an old question from my theater days pops up. What do I do with my hands? All those directives come back to me: "Don't just move aimlessly. Movement should enhance the message - not distract from it." I can still recall seeing a local television talent show years ago where the girl sang, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and she acted out the whole song - her hands making signs for rain and tapping her head and doing a little dip every time she sang that line. I still cringe.

My guiding principle must be - unless there is a reason for a movement, just stand where you are with your hands at your sides or clasped in front of you.

Reciting the Sermon for an audience is different than rattling off what has been memorized. It is my intention to spend the next couple of days refining the blocking and making the words so solid that any pauses are intentional and not because I am trying to find the next word or phrase.

The one thing that will be helpful to drill is the order of the sections. Some helps for Chap 7 have been - Judging, Speck, Dogs, Ask, Good Gifts,  Golden Rule, Gate, False Prophets/Good tree, Lord Lord, House.

I have volunteered to repeat this during Lent, possibly at church, but also at a midweek chapel service here on campus. Should be interesting to see if it comes back quickly.

I will try to post a final reflection after Sunday on how things go.

Peace to you all!

Sharon

Eyes are the windows to the soul

Ever since reading the "Sound eye" section.   I've been wondering is this where the proverb "Eyes are the window to the soul comes from?  When you read the section it does sound like it. 

Matt 6:22-23(KJV)

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

While these verses may be the gist of the proverb it's hard to track down the origin of this one on the web.   I found the proverb attributed to an English proverb, and as a Yiddish proverb.   The best I found was Cicero (106-43 B.C.) is quoted as saying, 'Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi' (The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter).    The source that was cited was "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996) which unfortunately I can't verify. So from the sounds of things Jesus probably wasn't the first to say this.

I think the idea for the "eye is the lamp of the body" seems to link the idea of being "full of light" to health.   So the more righteous you are the more healthy you are.    I think it also implies that you can tell by looking at someone's eyes what someone is really saying or doing.

I've had another weekend of memorizing among the ordinary business of life. We traveled from Minneapolis to Moorhead to see my daughter and 450 other Concordia students perform the annual Christmas Concert. Wonderful experience - the Journey to Bethlehem in word and song.

In the car I spent time reciting and memorizing, focusing on Ch. 6 and the practices of piety. Jesus is a demanding teacher here, calling out any who would practice just to be seen - wanting only honest relationship. I sense that is what he most wants his followers to understand, that giving alms, praying, fasting and any other faith habit is designed first and only to tend the connection with God. Doing "church" for rewards, for entertainment, to be seen, is no way to tend a relationship. Jesus wants us first for and with himself. From that connection springs whatever it is that we do for others.

"Seek first the kindom of God and his righteousness - then all these things will be given you."

Patterns

This is a new and wonderful experience for my young self, so please pardon any error in form or protocol. Most new and wonderful experiences involve learning of some kind. YEAH!

The first order of business has been to settle on which translation/version of Matthew 5-7 to absorb. As a kid (like even before school) the 'rents had me memorize Luke 2:1-19, so there's a musical quality to the King James Version that I still have an affinity to. One problem is that the language is not so popular as it might've been a while ago. The typical version used in today's Lutherian confabulations seems to be the NIV. I've also gotten used to reading the English Standard Version, which I understand from general discussion is popular among those Presbyterian/Reformed types. It's odd, but each version has characteristics that I really like, as well as some aspects that I wish were not there.

For example, I'd really like to say "Raca" as part of the text. It's in KJV, NIV, but not in ESV or NRS.

Again, the literal piece of "and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying" is somehow musical at the same time (at least to my ear). It's in KJV, ESV, but NRS says "then he began to speak, and taught them saying" and the NIV simply  says "and he began to teach them, saying."

And of course one must avoid placing the candle under a "bushel" as opposed to a "bowl." Else where would you get the kid's song about the "light of mine?" Unless there are compelling reasons from others, I'm going to settle on the ESV. Some day I'll put together a composite, or go into BW7 and generate my own version. But not right now. . . .  Comments welcome!

Going through the Beatitudes, it seems that there's a bit of chiasm (sp?) in them. The first and last promise "the kingdom of heaven." The first four deal somehow with our relationship to God - poor in spirit, mourner, meek, and thirsty for righteousness. The middle item is blank, but there's the break in the relationship direction. The second four deal with relationships to other people: merciful, pure in heart (that may be a little bit of a stretch), peacemakers, and persecuted for righteousness' sake. 

The next section is a transition from the Beatitudes to the salt/light business.

Getting this down verbatim will be a little bit of a challenge, but having the text in one's head and always there to ponder when needed will be, I think, priceless.

Can it ever be right to be seen by others while praying?

In the sermon on the mount Jesus was very clear that you shouldn't pray for the wrong reason(Mat 6:5 NRSV):  And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. 

However what is not clear is whether it is being seen that is wrong or is it the putting on a show and pretending that is the problem.   The message has this translation for the same verse: "And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

I feel that if "they may be seen by others"  is the best translation that its not enough to just be seen.   That it is ok to be seen by others if you are not being hypocritical.   The idea in the NRSV is that the hypocrites really don't believe what they are saying they just want to be seen, or in other words are putting on a show. I think if you are not putting on a show its ok.

This made me think.   I was sitting watching everyone in Church tonight kneel and get their bread and wine at communion after I had finished and then I saw only one go to one of the prayer stations.   I was hoping that more would make use of the Stephen Ministers there.   So what I was wondering was should I have prayed at one of the prayer stations to encourage others to do the same.

In a way it would be putting on a show.  Put is it ok to put on a show for the right reasons?   Jesus doesn't really address this.   The part where the person giving the prayer if they pray in private will not be an example to others.  The part where a public prayer would help others.  

I decided to look at the greek for this and do a word study on  φαίνω to which it seems to be seen by others is not the best translation.   The BDAG lexicon has the following definitions:

1. Shine or produce light
2. become visible or appear -- this is the definition most choose.
3. to become known be recognized, be apparent, be revealed.
4. to be known by appearance as opposed to reality.
5. to make an impression on the mind, seem.

 The common translation for Mat 23.28 is closer to the context of the text than "to become visible" or "to be seen by".   Picking that translation drops the hypocrisy implied by φαίνω when put into english.   It should be "so that that their facade/fake performance may be seen by others."    The reason for the addition is to make it clear that if you are praying in public and really doing it, meaning its not fake then Jesus wasn't talking about it.    I feel that the translation must add something to make the fake part clear.

For it is the fake part that is the problem.   Otherwise we might even start questioning something like communion which could be perceived as putting on a show, or any of our rituals.  

So back to my situation.  I was asking the wrong question.   The question I should have asked is: "Do I have anything that could be prayed for at the prayer station?"  I really don't think of using it.   If the answer was yes then I shouldn't feel like I'm being a fake even though there is a secondary benefit of others might do the same.   If the answer is No then it would be putting on a show.   I didn't even think about it and moved on passed the station.

I feel that was the issue I had.   I really didn't think I had anything that needed praying for.   Its sad.   I'm sure I do my life is not without problems.   I think next time I'll try to be a little more completive and if I have something I'll go to the prayer station.   And if others want to also pray then good and if not I prayed for the right reason even if it was a little of a show, because the prayer needed to be said.