By Brian<\/strong> Bantum<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\n<\/p><p class=\"p3\">While every year is filled with its triumphs and its terrors, 2014 has been a year that has felt particularly fraught. It is not because this is a year where evil and terror appeared from nowhere, surprising us in our general euphoria or mundane lives. Perhaps, this year has seemed more fraught as the weight of evil seems to bear down on the lives of the marginalized in egregiously visible ways, flaunting its power and its certainty while so many stand watching, silent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">We have seen the granite blocks of America\u2019s racial legacy continue to be heaved upon a purported road to progress, in the continued refusal to name the death of black men and women at the hands of police who serve to protect them. Though not new, this was the year we saw the system\u2019s face in its full, hellish fury. Eric Garner, Marissa Alexander, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice\u2026 and these are only the most public.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The protests in Ferguson, MO, seemed to spring from nowhere as spontaneous responses gathered in the streets, making visible the life of Michael Brown that had been so senselessly taken. From those protests emerged young women and men who would not let Brown\u2019s memory die and have continued to protest every day for the last three months at great personal cost. Confronted with the state\u2019s refusal to seek truth, these protests have spurred declarations across the country that #BlackLivesMatter. As the streets of New York, Dallas, Berkeley, Seattle and so many other cities fill with determined voices, perhaps we are seeing the emergence of a powerful refusal to be hidden, to be disregarded, chained, shot, and criminalized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Internationally, we have seen the Chinese government press more blatantly against the people of Hong Kong, navigating the precipice of contested nationality, seeking to more strictly control the pool of candidates who can be chosen in a \u201cdemocratic\u201d process. A contested relationship for decades finally poured into the streets in an \u201cUmbrella Movement\u201d as the Chinese sought to limit the democratic processes, people filled the streets and endured police brutality. In the face of this resistance, the protesters blocked traffic for weeks and occupied the center of Hong Kong\u2019s Central Government Complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In Mexico City, thousands marched against the president\u2019s use of government funds and improper relationship with business against the backdrop of a violent massacre of student teachers, all while the police remain poised more fervently against the protesters than towards the pursuit of justice for those killed. The streets filled with a desire to hold the government to account, calling for trust and action for the innocent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Our fear of the other bares its teeth in the shadow of America\u2019s perpetual campaign against the \u201cforeigner\u201d seeking the possibility that America once purportedly was built around. A congressional body passes meaningless bills to simply say that if they had it their way, they would thwart making homes for those whose lives are already knit into our nation\u2019s economic and cultural fabric. Some seek to protect themselves from the phantom \u201cforeign\u201d while waging war on the present poor, never seeing the land beneath our feet as never really having belonged to us in the first place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In all of these moments, we see the reality of a world where power seems to pave over the ground of the lives it deems unnecessary. We see nations\u2019 vision of \u201cZion,\u201d of fullness, of \u201ccivilization\u201d not in the flourishing of its people, but in its capacity to dominate the land and the people beneath its feet. To level hills and lay down crushed rock upon fertile ground. And perhaps most tragic of all, we have seen this violence resound in silent songs of normalcy and bitter resentment that the \u201cinterruptions\u201d\u2014our lament, our anger, our crying sorrow pouring into the streets\u2014cause for those who wish to eat and be merry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">But this year was also unique, in recent years at least, because from beneath the concrete edifices of a deceptive social progress, bodies of righteousness began to force themselves into the light of day, sometimes through gaps in the slab or through cracks of their own making.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Upon streets, in malls and in the edifices of our advancement, people laid down. They stood where cars should carry people from one place to another. They crowded the entrance of commerce on its busiest days and flooded highways with umbrellas on days where there was no rain. In these moments, people\u2019s bodies and cries filled streets. Their protest made righteousness visible. They risk their lives with each step and derision with each shout. They are called \u201cradical\u201d and \u201cthugs\u201d and \u201crioters,\u201d but are they not the face a God who deplores the dehumanization of God\u2019s people? Is this not the enfleshment of God\u2019s anger when the dispossessed are silenced with batons or hidden by the media\u2019s boredom?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah%2061:10\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\">Isaiah 61:10<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah+62:1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\">62:1<\/span><\/a>, I was struck by the imagery of soil and growth in juxtaposition with the refusal to not speak\u2014the compelling need to speak for Zion\u2019s sake. Writing in the midst of exile and restoration, this text points to the prophet\u2019s sense that there is a reality moving beneath our feet, that the certainty of our days is illusory. But what s certain is God\u2019s working in our midst. That like a plant is drawn to sun the seed will spring tendrils of life and press its way through ground, so too are our lives drawn to light, to righteousness, to dignity, to fullness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The land is not simply a natural entity, the mobilized power of military and economic security. More profoundly, land is an icon of love\u2019s orientation, of identity. That when planted in a space of cultivation, we will grow, we will nourish, we will be bountiful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">But what happens when the ground we are given is not received as a gift to be cultivated, but dominated? What if we press and flatten the hills or cover our fertile ground with crushed and heated stones, hiding it from the sun so that we can get from point A to point B with more ease? What if instead of rocks we build our flourishing upon the backs of our neighbors\u2014our notions of national flourishing requiring the disappearance of certain bodies, the silence of certain voices, the dehumanization of any we deem a threat?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Isaiah\u2019s prophetic words to an Israel that exists between exile and restoration are words that call it to remember the ground beneath its feet. As we see protests interrupt the ebb and flow of Black Friday, as \u201cdie-ins\u201d sprout up in the streets of American cities, as umbrellas unfold in the streets of Hong Kong, amassing like wildflowers in concrete fields, we are witnessing the sprouting of seeds that cannot remain silent\u2014that cannot lie dormant and dark, but press through the cracks of our normalcy\u2014intruding into the illusion that our present prospering does not have a human cost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">How do we begin to make sense of the protests that have surged to the surface this year and what happens when they dissipate? In these protests we see the swelling of God\u2019s love for those whose voices have, for too long, been silenced. But as the crowds recede, can the church be a holy interruption, a seedbed of many voices, scattering them in the city, in schools, in neighborhoods to grow, and to press against the structures of an oppressive normalcy? Will the church wander in the wilderness of a spiritualized passivity, rationalizing its own safety and silence? Or will it drink deeply from the streams of living water? Will it orient itself towards the land of Jesus\u2019 body, the Word enfleshed to protest humanity\u2019s refusal of God and itself? Will the church say, \u201c<i>For Zion\u2019s sake, I will not remain silent?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><em><b>Bible Study Questions:<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<ol class=\"ol1\">\n<li class=\"li5\">Isaiah writes repeatedly to Israel, warning them against idolatry. What are some ways idolatry is present in our contemporary society? What could \u201crighteousness springing up\u201d look like in the face of these idolatries?<\/li>\n<li class=\"li5\">Isaiah implores the people to not remain silent. Protests are gatherings of people to bring visibility to an issue, but they are not the only way to speak. What are some other ways to speak in this moment?<\/li>\n<li class=\"li5\">Protest is a means of making the voices of marginalized people heard and making injustices that were hidden, seen. How can the church be a space to help voices be heard?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p4\"><em><b>For Further Reading:<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Ransby, Barbara. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ella-Baker-Black-Freedom-Movement\/dp\/0807856169\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. <\/i>(Gender & American Culture). Chapel Hill; London: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Rieger, Joerg, and Kwok, Pui-lan.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Occupy-Religion-Theology-Multitude-Modern\/dp\/1442217928\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<i>Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. <\/i>Religion in the Modern World. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Brueggemann, Walter.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Prophetic-Imagination-2nd-Edition\/dp\/0800632877\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>The Prophetic Imagination \/ Walter Brueggemann<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. <\/i>Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/syndica\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Umbrella Movement and Theology<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s3\">. Justin Tse, ed. <i>Syndicate<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s3\">David Walker, <a href=\"http:\/\/docsouth.unc.edu\/nc\/walker\/walker.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"s4\"><i>Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\">\n<\/p><p class=\"p8\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/132\/2014\/12\/Brian_Bantum.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2428\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/132\/2014\/12\/Brian_Bantum-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Brian_Bantum\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><\/a>Dr. Brian Bantum is a professor of theology at Seattle Pacific University and a graduate of Duke University. For 10 years he has been reflecting on God, God\u2019s people, and God\u2019s world trying to discern what to learn, what to teach, and how to teach it. It is his hope that his teaching and learning might serve to help Christians and non-Christians alike navigate a quickly changing world where lives and societies are becoming intermingled at an ever-quickening pace.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><em>His teaching and writing intersect theology and critical theory. He writes and teaches on issues of identity, Christology, race theory, interracial existence, ecclesiology, and church practices.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\">\n<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\">About <a href=\"http:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/on-scripture-the-bible\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">ON Scripture<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Learn more about the <a href=\"http:\/\/odysseynetworks.org\/on-scripture-the-bible\/on-scripture-editorial-committee\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">ON Scripture Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Like ON Scripture on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/onscripture\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Follow ON Scripture on Twitter <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/OnScripture\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">@ONScripture<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">ON Scripture \u2013 The Bible is made possible by generous grants from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lillyendowment.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lilly Endowment<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hluce.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Henry Luce Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ONScriptureTheBibleLogo-e1413577916876.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2203 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ONScriptureTheBibleLogo-e1413577916876.jpg\" alt=\"ONScriptureTheBibleLogo\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/logo_theendowment-e1403880920739.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2129 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/logo_theendowment-e1403880920739.gif\" alt=\"logo_theendowment\" width=\"51\" height=\"50\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/logo2.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2969\" src=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/logo2.gif\" alt=\"logo\" width=\"51\" height=\"128\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. While every year is filled with its triumphs and its terrors, 2014 has been a year that has felt particularly fraught. It is not because this is a year where evil and terror appeared from nowhere, surprising us in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":625,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[661,109,660,199,565],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-democracy","tag-justice","tag-protest","tag-racism","tag-sacred-texts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Protest and God's Presence (Isaiah 61:10--62:3)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. While every year is filled with its triumphs and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2014\/12\/protest-and-gods-presence-isaiah-6110-623\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protest and God's Presence (Isaiah 61:10--62:3)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. 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We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. While every year is filled with its triumphs and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2014\/12\/protest-and-gods-presence-isaiah-6110-623\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Protest and God's Presence (Isaiah 61:10--62:3)","og_description":"By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. 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While every year is filled with its triumphs and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2014\/12\/protest-and-gods-presence-isaiah-6110-623\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2014\/12\/protest-and-gods-presence-isaiah-6110-623\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2014\/12\/protest-and-gods-presence-isaiah-6110-623\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Protest and God’s Presence (Isaiah 61:10–62:3)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/","name":"On Scripture - The Bible","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f5e06ed6c494e540a6fff0f5b9906f","name":"Odyssey Networks","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dbc506f6127d85b97874708793ff88d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dbc506f6127d85b97874708793ff88d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Odyssey Networks"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/author\/odysseynetworks\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/625"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\n<\/p><p class=\"p3\">While every year is filled with its triumphs and its terrors, 2014 has been a year that has felt particularly fraught. It is not because this is a year where evil and terror appeared from nowhere, surprising us in our general euphoria or mundane lives. Perhaps, this year has seemed more fraught as the weight of evil seems to bear down on the lives of the marginalized in egregiously visible ways, flaunting its power and its certainty while so many stand watching, silent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">We have seen the granite blocks of America\u2019s racial legacy continue to be heaved upon a purported road to progress, in the continued refusal to name the death of black men and women at the hands of police who serve to protect them. Though not new, this was the year we saw the system\u2019s face in its full, hellish fury. Eric Garner, Marissa Alexander, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice\u2026 and these are only the most public.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The protests in Ferguson, MO, seemed to spring from nowhere as spontaneous responses gathered in the streets, making visible the life of Michael Brown that had been so senselessly taken. From those protests emerged young women and men who would not let Brown\u2019s memory die and have continued to protest every day for the last three months at great personal cost. Confronted with the state\u2019s refusal to seek truth, these protests have spurred declarations across the country that #BlackLivesMatter. As the streets of New York, Dallas, Berkeley, Seattle and so many other cities fill with determined voices, perhaps we are seeing the emergence of a powerful refusal to be hidden, to be disregarded, chained, shot, and criminalized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Internationally, we have seen the Chinese government press more blatantly against the people of Hong Kong, navigating the precipice of contested nationality, seeking to more strictly control the pool of candidates who can be chosen in a \u201cdemocratic\u201d process. A contested relationship for decades finally poured into the streets in an \u201cUmbrella Movement\u201d as the Chinese sought to limit the democratic processes, people filled the streets and endured police brutality. In the face of this resistance, the protesters blocked traffic for weeks and occupied the center of Hong Kong\u2019s Central Government Complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In Mexico City, thousands marched against the president\u2019s use of government funds and improper relationship with business against the backdrop of a violent massacre of student teachers, all while the police remain poised more fervently against the protesters than towards the pursuit of justice for those killed. The streets filled with a desire to hold the government to account, calling for trust and action for the innocent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Our fear of the other bares its teeth in the shadow of America\u2019s perpetual campaign against the \u201cforeigner\u201d seeking the possibility that America once purportedly was built around. A congressional body passes meaningless bills to simply say that if they had it their way, they would thwart making homes for those whose lives are already knit into our nation\u2019s economic and cultural fabric. Some seek to protect themselves from the phantom \u201cforeign\u201d while waging war on the present poor, never seeing the land beneath our feet as never really having belonged to us in the first place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In all of these moments, we see the reality of a world where power seems to pave over the ground of the lives it deems unnecessary. We see nations\u2019 vision of \u201cZion,\u201d of fullness, of \u201ccivilization\u201d not in the flourishing of its people, but in its capacity to dominate the land and the people beneath its feet. To level hills and lay down crushed rock upon fertile ground. And perhaps most tragic of all, we have seen this violence resound in silent songs of normalcy and bitter resentment that the \u201cinterruptions\u201d\u2014our lament, our anger, our crying sorrow pouring into the streets\u2014cause for those who wish to eat and be merry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">But this year was also unique, in recent years at least, because from beneath the concrete edifices of a deceptive social progress, bodies of righteousness began to force themselves into the light of day, sometimes through gaps in the slab or through cracks of their own making.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Upon streets, in malls and in the edifices of our advancement, people laid down. They stood where cars should carry people from one place to another. They crowded the entrance of commerce on its busiest days and flooded highways with umbrellas on days where there was no rain. In these moments, people\u2019s bodies and cries filled streets. Their protest made righteousness visible. They risk their lives with each step and derision with each shout. They are called \u201cradical\u201d and \u201cthugs\u201d and \u201crioters,\u201d but are they not the face a God who deplores the dehumanization of God\u2019s people? Is this not the enfleshment of God\u2019s anger when the dispossessed are silenced with batons or hidden by the media\u2019s boredom?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah%2061:10\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\">Isaiah 61:10<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah+62:1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\">62:1<\/span><\/a>, I was struck by the imagery of soil and growth in juxtaposition with the refusal to not speak\u2014the compelling need to speak for Zion\u2019s sake. Writing in the midst of exile and restoration, this text points to the prophet\u2019s sense that there is a reality moving beneath our feet, that the certainty of our days is illusory. But what s certain is God\u2019s working in our midst. That like a plant is drawn to sun the seed will spring tendrils of life and press its way through ground, so too are our lives drawn to light, to righteousness, to dignity, to fullness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The land is not simply a natural entity, the mobilized power of military and economic security. More profoundly, land is an icon of love\u2019s orientation, of identity. That when planted in a space of cultivation, we will grow, we will nourish, we will be bountiful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">But what happens when the ground we are given is not received as a gift to be cultivated, but dominated? What if we press and flatten the hills or cover our fertile ground with crushed and heated stones, hiding it from the sun so that we can get from point A to point B with more ease? What if instead of rocks we build our flourishing upon the backs of our neighbors\u2014our notions of national flourishing requiring the disappearance of certain bodies, the silence of certain voices, the dehumanization of any we deem a threat?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Isaiah\u2019s prophetic words to an Israel that exists between exile and restoration are words that call it to remember the ground beneath its feet. As we see protests interrupt the ebb and flow of Black Friday, as \u201cdie-ins\u201d sprout up in the streets of American cities, as umbrellas unfold in the streets of Hong Kong, amassing like wildflowers in concrete fields, we are witnessing the sprouting of seeds that cannot remain silent\u2014that cannot lie dormant and dark, but press through the cracks of our normalcy\u2014intruding into the illusion that our present prospering does not have a human cost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">How do we begin to make sense of the protests that have surged to the surface this year and what happens when they dissipate? In these protests we see the swelling of God\u2019s love for those whose voices have, for too long, been silenced. But as the crowds recede, can the church be a holy interruption, a seedbed of many voices, scattering them in the city, in schools, in neighborhoods to grow, and to press against the structures of an oppressive normalcy? Will the church wander in the wilderness of a spiritualized passivity, rationalizing its own safety and silence? Or will it drink deeply from the streams of living water? Will it orient itself towards the land of Jesus\u2019 body, the Word enfleshed to protest humanity\u2019s refusal of God and itself? Will the church say, \u201c<i>For Zion\u2019s sake, I will not remain silent?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><em><b>Bible Study Questions:<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<ol class=\"ol1\">\n<li class=\"li5\">Isaiah writes repeatedly to Israel, warning them against idolatry. What are some ways idolatry is present in our contemporary society? What could \u201crighteousness springing up\u201d look like in the face of these idolatries?<\/li>\n<li class=\"li5\">Isaiah implores the people to not remain silent. Protests are gatherings of people to bring visibility to an issue, but they are not the only way to speak. What are some other ways to speak in this moment?<\/li>\n<li class=\"li5\">Protest is a means of making the voices of marginalized people heard and making injustices that were hidden, seen. How can the church be a space to help voices be heard?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p4\"><em><b>For Further Reading:<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Ransby, Barbara. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ella-Baker-Black-Freedom-Movement\/dp\/0807856169\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. <\/i>(Gender & American Culture). Chapel Hill; London: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Rieger, Joerg, and Kwok, Pui-lan.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Occupy-Religion-Theology-Multitude-Modern\/dp\/1442217928\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<i>Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. <\/i>Religion in the Modern World. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Brueggemann, Walter.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Prophetic-Imagination-2nd-Edition\/dp\/0800632877\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>The Prophetic Imagination \/ Walter Brueggemann<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. <\/i>Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/syndica\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Umbrella Movement and Theology<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s3\">. Justin Tse, ed. <i>Syndicate<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s3\">David Walker, <a href=\"http:\/\/docsouth.unc.edu\/nc\/walker\/walker.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"s4\"><i>Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\">\n<\/p><p class=\"p8\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/132\/2014\/12\/Brian_Bantum.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2428\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/132\/2014\/12\/Brian_Bantum-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Brian_Bantum\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><\/a>Dr. Brian Bantum is a professor of theology at Seattle Pacific University and a graduate of Duke University. For 10 years he has been reflecting on God, God\u2019s people, and God\u2019s world trying to discern what to learn, what to teach, and how to teach it. It is his hope that his teaching and learning might serve to help Christians and non-Christians alike navigate a quickly changing world where lives and societies are becoming intermingled at an ever-quickening pace.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><em>His teaching and writing intersect theology and critical theory. He writes and teaches on issues of identity, Christology, race theory, interracial existence, ecclesiology, and church practices.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\">\n<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\">About <a href=\"http:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/on-scripture-the-bible\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">ON Scripture<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Learn more about the <a href=\"http:\/\/odysseynetworks.org\/on-scripture-the-bible\/on-scripture-editorial-committee\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">ON Scripture Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Like ON Scripture on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/onscripture\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Follow ON Scripture on Twitter <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/OnScripture\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">@ONScripture<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">ON Scripture \u2013 The Bible is made possible by generous grants from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lillyendowment.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lilly Endowment<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hluce.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Henry Luce Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ONScriptureTheBibleLogo-e1413577916876.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2203 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ONScriptureTheBibleLogo-e1413577916876.jpg\" alt=\"ONScriptureTheBibleLogo\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/logo_theendowment-e1403880920739.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2129 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/logo_theendowment-e1403880920739.gif\" alt=\"logo_theendowment\" width=\"51\" height=\"50\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/logo2.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2969\" src=\"https:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/logo2.gif\" alt=\"logo\" width=\"51\" height=\"128\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. While every year is filled with its triumphs and its terrors, 2014 has been a year that has felt particularly fraught. It is not because this is a year where evil and terror appeared from nowhere, surprising us in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":625,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[661,109,660,199,565],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-democracy","tag-justice","tag-protest","tag-racism","tag-sacred-texts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Protest and God's Presence (Isaiah 61:10--62:3)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. While every year is filled with its triumphs and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2014\/12\/protest-and-gods-presence-isaiah-6110-623\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protest and God's Presence (Isaiah 61:10--62:3)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brian Bantum. We asked people on the street about the effectiveness of demonstrations and protests. 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