The Word As Resistance

Our first contribution from Rev. Allyn Maxfield-Steele takes on Matthew 16: 21-28 as a useful resource for white folks wanting to resist white supremacy. "I think this passage speaks very clearly to the problem of resistance against white supremacy, especially as white supremacy plays out theologically. The logic of white supremacy distorts our consciousness of what it means to be created; instead...

Rev. Will Green asks us: What if Jesus were to ask us to share what is said when only White people are in the room? How would we respond to Jesus asking us questions about what people are saying and what we really think? Check out the transcript, along with references and copyright/permissions: http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

This week Rev. Anne notes that by lashing out against the Pharisees, Jesus is performing "wokeness" that leads to him harming the Canaanite woman who demands that her child's life matter. There's a lesson here for white folk as we deepen our work towards collective liberation. "What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. In the aftermath of Charlottesville, We have to ask ourselves, Do ou...

In this episode, Margaret Ernst journeys through Matthew's telling of Jesus and Peter walking on water. What does this story have to teach us about white fear and the work we must do as white folks to name our fears, confess them, and move into liberation, even when we're afraid? "Since we’re here in this story with Peter’s fear, and Jesus’, I want to zoom in particular on fear. Because what I kno...

Rev. Anne Dunlap finds lessons from both Jacob's story and Jesus's as they wrestle with strangers and the realities of murderous regimes -- lessons that can help white folk stay with our discomfort in confronting white supremacy rather than reacting with "white fragility." "The point in engaging in the wrestling, you see, Is to not stay the same. The point, as white folks, in wrestling With the re...

In this week's episodes, Nichola contemplates what it might mean to be "more than a conqueror," whether Christian scripture can be decolonized, and what mustard has to do with it. She also does a little theologizing of city hall. Transcript here: http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Rev. Anne Dunlap has been fighting with Jesus about why there are enslaved people in the kingdom of heaven, in Jesus's parable of the Weeds and the Wheat. And she makes a confession of her own. "I have never preached about this. I have never talked about this. Until sitting down with these texts, This week, It had never occurred to me To find out just what enslavement in the Roman empire looked li...

This week, drawing on Matthew's telling of Jesus' Parable of the Sower, Margaret Ernst asks us to go beyond simple metaphors when hearing Jesus' parables - and to consider what these seed and soil stories may have to do with finding our roots in struggles over land and power in today's Empire. The phrase "dirt wisdom" comes from James Perkinson's book Messianism Against Christology. As always, res...

This week, using the story of the Binding of Isaac, Blyth Barnow thinks about the weight of white supremacy that we carry, but don't understand. As always, resources for the call to action, references, and copyright/permissions info can be found in the transcript, which can be found here: http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

"I've come not to bring peace, but a sword." This week Rev. Anne Dunlap says that to be a follower of Jesus, to be an ally as a white person to people of color, is to stay losing. "What Jesus is telling us in this text is, You’ve gotta be willing to make the people mad. The point of being a disciple, The point of being one of Jesus’s organizers, Is not numbers, is not a hefty budget, Is not the 30...

Nichola Torbett takes on the potential power of "justification by faith" to root us in the humility and self-assurance needed to avoid white fragility and co-optation. As always, resources for the call to action, references, and copyright/permissions info can be found in the transcript, which can be found here: http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Rev. Anne Dunlap takes on "Trinity Sunday" and questions why we celebrate this doctrine, meditating on the words of Dr. Vincent Harding: "Love trumps doctrine, every time." "What I am saying is, I am not interested in celebrating A doctrine thrust at me On the point of Constantine’s sword... ...I’m thinking now about how Every time someone is baptized, We inscribe them with doctrines About what po...

Rev. Will Green joins The Word is Resistance to reflect on the second chapter of Acts from a racial justice perspective. Pentecost is more than a multicultural fair about "diversity"! It is a chance for White people to question and critique our identity, get out of the way of other conversations that need to happen and find a language that people can actually understand. As always, resources, refe...

A special episode in memory of Dr. Vincent Harding (July 25, 1931 – May 19, 2014), from the National Association of Pan African Students special service in his honor at Iliff School of Theology, 5/17/17. Texts are: • Psalm 46: 1-7 • Excerpts from “There Is A River” and “Remnants "Dr. Harding, How did you do it? With all that you saw and lived and bore, How were you not just angry all the time, bit...

"So here’s my question. If Jesus is the gate, If having life abundantly is the gate For anyone and everyone inside the sheepfold …and there’s no reason to believe he doesn’t mean Anyone and everyone as in ALL of us, Then is the letter of 1st Peter a good shepherd? Or is it a thief and a bandit trying to climb over the back fence?" That's the question that bugs me on this week's edition of "The Wor...

Guest Contributor Margaret Ernst offers a provocative Holy Week reflection. "Beloveds, Kill White Jesus and maybe we can get free. Kill White Jesus and maybe things can be holy. That’s why I think maybe this year we should have a Good Friday service for White Jesus." As always, resources, references, and copyright/permissions info can be found in the transcript, which can be found here: http://www...

"Palm Sunday." Why do we tell this story? Matthew’s story this year, to be exact, Matthew 21. No palms, no stones crying out, Just a procession, and some questions. Maybe we know this by now, That this thing we call Palm Sunday Is actually a protest A counter-demonstration. But...why do we tell this story? We offer a Holy Week spiritual practice for you in response to Palm Sunday. As always, resou...

This week we tackle the whole letter of Romans, looking at how Paul is dismantling Roman Imperial propaganda, reminding the *Roman* community members that it’s not enough to say you follow Jesus, but depend on the Empire to save you. The lectionary texts are as follows, though the whole of the letter is covered. • Romans 5:12-19– 3/5 • Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 – 3/12 • Romans 5:1-11 – 3/19 • Romans 8:6...

This week we go deeper into resisting anti-Jewish oppression in Christian scriptures by looking at all four stories of encounter in John's gospel that are used over the next 4 weeks of Lent: • John 3:1-17 (Nicodemus) – 3/12 • John 4:5-42 (Samaritan Woman) – 3/19 • John 9:1-41 (Blind Man) – 3/26 • John 11:1-45 (Mary, Martha, Lazarus) – 4/2 Resisting white supremacy also means resisting anti-Jewish...

March 1, 2017 Ash Wednesday A Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12 • Psalm 51:1-17 • 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 • Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 What if, on Ash Wednesday, we start giving up something that actually matters? On Ash Wednesday, when the ashes are imposed on our heads, let the words of all these prophets be also imposed on our hearts. Our call to action this week is 3 practices for Lent to help us...

Working with texts for February 26, 2017, Transfiguration A Exodus 24:12-18 • Psalm 2 or Psalm 99 • 2 Peter 1:16-21 • Matthew 17:1-9 What, if anything, does Transfiguration Sunday have to do with the violent repression happening all around us every day? Spoken word artist Mallory Everhart offers a piece that helps guide our reflection. Our call to action includes action items to support Jeanette V...

Working with the texts for February 12, 2017, Epiphany 6A Deuteronomy 30:15-20 • Psalm 119:1-8 • 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 • Matthew 5:21-37 We dive deep into Deuteronomy and the erasure of Canaanites from the Exodus story, and what that means for us today. Lady Gaga may be mentioned. Our call to action includes fundraising for the defense of indigenous sovereignty at Standing Rock. Donations may be mad...

Working with the texts for January 29, 2017 Epiphany 4A: Micah 6:1-8 • Psalm 15 • 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 • Matthew 5:1-12 On accountability, small-town prophets, and the foolish un-empire of the Divine. Full transcript, including Call to Action details, references, and copyright/permissions info can be found here: http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

The Word is Resistance inaugural podcast. Working with the texts of January 15 2017, Epiphany 2A: Isaiah 49:1-7 • Psalm 40:1-11 • 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 • John 1:29-42 Talking about resistance leaders, where Jesus stays, and Martin Luther King. More on #ReclaimMLK: https://m4bl.net/ The transcript may be found here: http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html