The Word As Resistance

In this bonus episode, M hosts Rev. Dr. Tyler Schwaller for a discussion on the Genesis text. Tyler shares about ancient and creative interpretations that draw out power struggles, gender, and the divine within all of us. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

What's going with Jesus and the tempter in the wilderness? Join M as they dig into how the tempations are readying Jesus for the work to come. This Lent, #TheWordIsResistance crew will be focusing on pushing back on antisemitic and anti-Jewish interpretations of the lectionary gospel readings. For more resources on fighting antisemitism, go here: bit.ly/CounterASResources Transcript available here...

What happens when we read the Ash Wednesday gospel selection in the context of ashes? Join Sharon Fennema in considering what ash makes possible, and what they can teach us about fighting antisemitism. This Lent, the Word Is Resistance crew will be focusing on pushing back on antisemitic and anti-Jewish interpretations of the lectionary gospel readings. For more resources on fighting antisemitism,...

In the Transfiguration story, Jesus meets his ancestors to resource him for the fight to come. Nichola Torbett reminds us that our ancestors are familial, spiritual, and also the land itself, and that we as white christians can and must also call on our ancestors to resource us in these challenging times. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

Contrary to what we are traditionally taught about Matthew 5:21-37, Jesus is honoring and deepening Torah: teaching his community how to fulfill it, not abolish it. Join Rev. Kelsey Beebe to learn more about what Jesus is actually up to in this part of the Sermon on the Mount, and how that can help us as white Christians committed to anti-racism. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-wor...

What does it mean to be the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world," in Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5? Join Nichola Torbett in this exploration of how white folks can remember and recover our own saltiness as we navigate towards freedom. Transcript with action links available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

What happens when we crack through surface readings of the Beatitudes that seem to mean we're supposed to just be nice and not complain? Join Rev. Anne Dunlap as she explores this famous and often sanitized set of teachings from Jesus. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/ Info and action to #StopCopCity and demand justice for Tortuguita available here: https://docs...

The New Testament readings this week seem to be about "unity." But it doesn’t take much time looking at things from an anti-racist, anti-oppression lens to see that the value of “unity” has been used to cover all manner of sins. “Unity” in one area often tempts people to deepen division in others, and so often this trends in favor of institutional and systemic power. Join Rev. Sarah Howell-Miller...

Join Rev. Jean Jeffress as they nerd out on the Magi, looking at the story from a literary perspective, and anwering the question, why were they needed for us to know who Jesus is? Focus passage Matthew 2:1-12

Join the Rev. Liz Kearny as she immerses us in the story of King Herod, the magi, the holy family and their communities in Matthew 2. Find yourself in the narrative and ask, “What choices can I make today to resist empire wherever I am? What decisions in my daily life will add to our collective movement towards liberation?" Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

Join Nichola Torbett for an exploration of the ways that patriarchy and white supremacy contribute to lovelessness in our body politic and what it means for love to be born anew amidst all of that. The focus scripture is Joseph's dream in Matthew 1: 18-25.

What do Isaiah's words of disruptive joy have to say to a weary, wounded people living through exile? How can practices of abundance sustain and renew us during seasons of heaviness in our movements? What do white folks have to gain from joining the communities most impacted by systems of oppression as they embody the new world Isaiah imagines, right there in the midst of the old one that is langu...

What kind of repentance are we being called to in order to prepare the way for love and justice to become flesh and dwell in our midst? Inspired by a workshop at Canticle Farm in Oakland, this week Dr. Sharon Fennema invites us to make connections between decolonial land tending practices, indigenous land return and John the Baptist's call to repentance. As newcomers, how can we find the ways our...

It's a heavy one this week! Luke takes us to the site of state execution where Jesus and two others are punished cruelly and in public. M Jade Kaiser engages the text through the onslaught of anti-trans legislation and campaigns and holds the heartache of the text in the context of Trans Day of Remembrance. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

In the wake of the 2022 mid-terms, what are we to make of this moment? And what are we to make of these lectionary selections that claim both victory and violence? Join Rev. Anne Dunlap for her post-election reflections. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

Remembering our ancestors can help us remember we are all connected to one another. Join Rev. Kelsey Beebe for this reflection on Luke 20: 27-38 and All Saints Day. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

Who deserves to participate in movements for healing and liberation? In this episode, Audrey Gale Hall wonders how Zacchaeus, the wealthy tax collector and collaborator with empire, fits into our narratives about which white people are worthy of belonging and capable of transformation. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

The parable of the Persistent Widow wraps up our series on disability justice. Join Rev. Anne Dunlap, with some wisdom from Min. Blyth Barnow, to hear how this parable can help us not lose heart in hard times. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/ Register for our virtual meet-up here: https://act.surj.org/a/nov-2022-podcast-meetup

This week Rev. Anne Dunlap is joined by Sam Heath with Equal Justice USA. Enjoy their conversation about wellness, belonging, and everyone getting what they need as they reflect together on Luke 17:11-19, the healing of the ten lepers. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

Do you ever feel like you are not doing enough? Like you are not enough? in this episode, Nichola Torbett explores the ways that capitalism, ableism, and white supremacy culture encourage us to burn ourselves out in ways that, maybe not coincidentally, end up reinforcing those systems we are trying to dismantle. How does Jesus' teaching in Luke 17 offer an alternative way to 'build up a new world'...

What does it mean that there is an uncrossable chasm between the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16: 19-31? Join Rev. Anne Dunlap as she uncovers the many layers of this chasm to find the disability justice reading of this parable. Transcript available here: https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

Where do we turn when the bottom drops out? This week's episode with Nichola Torbett is about salvation in those moments and how we can begin building the safety net we need now, a safety net big and broad and voluptuous and "unreasonable" enough to support everyone. Join us! Visit https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/ for transcripts, resources, and copyright information.

Sometimes this world weighs so heavily it can bend you over double. What can we learn from Jesus' setting free of the bent-over woman (and the religious leader's annoyed response!) about what it means to get free? This is the question Nichola Torbett takes on in this week's episode. (Also, if you've ever wondered what the heck "binding and loosing" is, there might be a hint here.)

In this episode, Sharon Fennema explores Jesus' divisive ministry in the context of a lineage of prophetic voices resisting false peace, including disability justice activist Imani Barbarin. What is the ableist status quo that we are tempted to keep peace with? Where do we want to hold on to a negative peace that is complicit with and upholds racialized ableist capitalism? Where might we be failin...

How do you sense God in your body? This is just one of the questions Rev. Kelsey Beebe invites us into in this new episode in our #DisabilityJustice series.