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The Social Jesus Podcast


Right Now Matters EPISODE 19

John 6:56-69 ?These things may or may not have meaning in the future, but they all still have meaning right now. In the present, we are alive, and what we are experiencing right now means much to each of us. It betrays a deep lack of compassion to say someone?s experience of hunger, for example, right now doesn?t matter because it may or may not matter in the future. What we are encountering in John is simply a Christianized version of this way of looking at our material existence. The future will come. But right now, we are alive. We live in this moment. Our material existence does matter. Injustice, oppression, violence, and suffering matter. Love for those who are experiencing these realities demands that they matter.?For more go to renewedheartministries.com

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Episode 8
Insights on Turning the Other Cheek, Enemy Love, and Judging Others
Luke 6:27-38 ?Pam McAllister expressed the tension well as she explain the teachings of Barbara Deming: ?Barbara wrote about the two hands of nonviolence... With one hand we say to one who is angry, or to an oppressor, or to an unjust system, ?Stop what you are doing. I refuse to honor the role you are choosing to play. I refuse to obey you. I refuse to cooperate with your demands. I refuse to build the walls and the bombs. I refuse to pay for the guns. With this hand I will even interfere with the wrong you are doing. I want to disrupt the easy pattern of your life.? But then the advocate of nonviolence raises the other hand. It is raised out-stretched?maybe with love and sympathy, maybe not?but always outstretched. With this hand we say, ?I won?t let go of you or cast you out of the human race. I have faith that you can make a better choice than you are making now, and I?ll be here when you are ready. Like it or not, we are part of one another.? Active nonviolence is a process that holds these two realities?of noncooperation with violence but open to the humanity of the violator?in tension. It is like saying to our opponent: On the one hand (symbolized by a hand firmly stretched out and signaling, ?Stop!?) ?I will not cooperate with your violence or injustice; I will resist it with every fiber of my being?. And, on the other hand (symbolized by the hand with its palm turned open and stretched toward the other), ?I am open to you as a human being.??For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Episode 11
The Courage to Stand Up to Harm
Season 2 Episode 11: The Courage to Stand Up to Harm Luke 13:31-35 All of this causes me to consider those today with the courage to speak out against harsh decisions and brutal acts being perpetrated in the name of government efficiency today. A chainsaw is quite metaphorically being taken to our system, all to grant benefits to wealthy elites who verbalize allegiance to our present administration in the U.S. At what cost? The dismantling of a system, and undeserving people harmed in its wake. And those who speak out now are also being targeted for doing so. In our story, Jesus knew where his solidarity would lead. He knew that if he continued to speak out against the harm being perpetrated by the powerful, if he continued to stand in solidarity with the marginalized, the vulnerable, those most harmfully impacted by the decisions the powerful in his society were making, and if he called the entire populace back to fidelity to the God of the Torah with its economic justice (including the Torah?s periodic wealth redistribution and debt cancellation), he well knew that taking up the prophet?s role could garner him a prophet?s end. And this is why the Jesus story remains relevant for me in times like we are living through today. Jesus, knowing where his choices would lead, still had the courage to make those decisions and stand up for what was right for the people. Today, many Christians (not all) are directly responsible for the political, social, and economic horizon we are looking out on in this nation. How would the Jesus of our reading this week respond to Christians who carry his name today being the very agents who have let a fox in the hen house to wreak havoc, chaos, and long lasting harm to so many? May those of us endeavoring to follow Jesus in our present moment be encouraged by the prophet we find in this week?s reading. A Jesus who named Herod for what he was. A Jesus who boldly refused to stop speaking truth about what was right. A Jesus who, setting his face toward Jerusalem, determined to go to the heart of the system in his commitment to God?s just future and making our world a safe, compassionate, just home for all. In the face of so many who are being harmed now, and for those for whom the next few years will bring untold harm, may we, too, find the same courage the Jesus of this week?s story showed.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Episode 23
Servants of the Most Vulnerable
Mark 9:30-37 ?Some may consider this to be a subtle difference, but it makes a huge difference. One way to tell the difference is to ask yourself who is being addressed: those in power and being corrected for how they lord their authority over others, or those being lorded over and encouraged to passively accept their experience? How we shape our faith communities matters. And these words offer wisdom in our justice work in our faith communities and in the wider society. When we vote for leaders, are we voting for leaders who have at heart the well being of even the most vulnerable among us? Do they care about the actual needs of the community they are seeking to serve or are they primarily concerned about themselves and what they want from whatever leadership role or office they are seeking? As I consider the political season we are presently in here in the Unites States, I hear wisdom calling to each of us from these words in Mark?s gospel. Consider the record of those seeking office from our local communities all the way to the Office of the President. Do they really care about others or do they only want your vote? Ask yourself, how do those asking for your support treat those who most vulnerable to injustice, subjugation, and exploitation in our society? Character matters! Is their character such that seeks to serve themself or to genuinely serve the people? ?Anyone who wants to be first, must be servant of all.?For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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