The Word As Resistance

No fancy exegesis this week; nothing to add to the ongoing analysis of the deep racial inequities in this country. Join Jean Jeffress as they speak from Genesis 1-2:4a on the importance of imagination - of speaking and creating during this time of pandemic and global uprisings against white supremacist police violence. Link to my last podcast https://soundcloud.com/thewordisresistance/maundy-thurs...

This week we sit with the heartbreak--the disciples' and our own. With contributor Nichola Torbett, we sit with our longing to be community together across racial lines, and we lament the all-to-real barriers to living into that. And we pray and lean into a trust that power is becoming available to us that will explode those barriers. A transcript, including credits, references, and links, can be...

Join Rev. Drew Bongiovanni for a discussion on Acts 1:6-14 exploring how white folks can combat the belief in individualism that keeps us from remembering that our liberation is bound up in the liberation of others. How can we use the power of gratitude and prayer to dismantle white supremacy? She also shares action steps you can take alongside SURJ members nationwide to call for Justice for Ahmau...

In this commentary on Acts 17:22-31, Rev. Margaret Ernst calls out racial capitalism as a god "made by human hands" that demands the sacrifice of black, brown, and poor bodies - and contaminates the White american imagination of freedom. What have you learned about freedom during the pandemic, and what kinds of freedom dreams can we invite our white family and church members into that are in solid...

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to God except through me." In this episode, Rev. Seth Wispelwey discusses one of the most famous (and most misappropriated) sections and verses in Christian scripture, and how it's really a call to locate ourselves: our own belovedness and our own commission to manifest Godly goodness in today's world, even and especially during the pandemic and...

Who are we meant to be to each other? And what do gates have to do with abundant life? Rev. Anne Dunlap offers wisdom from her time working on a goat farm to illuminate this week's gospel reading from John 10 -- Jesus claiming to be the gate to the sheepfold, and that he has come so that all may have abundant life. Transcript here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.h...

It may be Eastertide liturgically, but it still feels very much like Good Friday right now. How can we hold the tension of crucifixion and resurrection in such a way that it releases us into a free-fall of repentance? In this episode, Nichola Torbett explores how the early church did just that, creating beloved community and a new economic reality. The transcript is here: https://www.showingupforr...

For the Second Sunday in Easter, Grace Aheron walks us through what the "doubting Thomas" Gospel reading from John has to teach us about this pandemic moment. What appears to be a story about faith in Jesus alone might actually be a story about understanding trauma, somatic experience, and collective community care... things very much alive in this COVID-19 moment. The texts for this week are: Act...

What does hope and justice mean to us during this time of global pandemic? How do we, as white folks, acknowledge our fear and anxiety while continuing to work towards a resurrected world? Join contributor Drew Bongiovanni in reflecting on Matthew 28:1-10 this Easter. Transcript available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Today Jesus is tried. Today Jesus is convicted. Today Jesus is sentenced. Today Jesus is executed. What and who is on trial today? In the time of pandemic? Today we explore how Jesus' trial and crucifixion connect with the disproportionate number of deaths being experienced in the Black community to COVID-19. Transcript can be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resis...

Maundy Thursday has been canceled. Join Jean Jeffress as they retell the story of Maundy Thursday in the context of a global pandemic. Maundy Thursday is canceled, but the empire is still feasting. We need to keep organizing. Please make a donation to SURJ. You can do that here https://secure.actblue.com/donate/surj-jfrej

Empires do not love our bodies. The stories of the Valley of the Dry Bones (Ez 37), Lazarus (John 11), and Paul's letter to the Romans teach us this, and so much more. Join Rev. Anne Dunlap for this reflection on Divine love for our bodies in the time of Covid-19. Transcript available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

As we continue into the season of Lent, join Drew Bongiovanni in exploring Exodus 17:1-7. As the Israelites face thirst and discomfort in the wilderness, how do we acknowledge the discomfort of dismantling white supremacy in our lives? Drew discusses the dynamic of scarcity for folks who hold privilege, and how Lent calls us to embrace abundance. Transcript available here: www.showingupforracialju...

The call to embody solidarity until all are free from the oppression, racism, misogyny, and exploitation of Empire is a call that can and does lead to the cross. How does that most famous of Bible verses, John 3;16, speak to that reality? Join Rev. Seth Wispelwey on this journey. Transcript here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

In the first week of Lent, Jesus is tempted by the devil in Matthew 4:1-11. Join Jean Jeffress as they explore how whiteness is one of the greatest tempters from which white folks cannot escape. How can we resist the temptation of whiteness? It's always about the use of power. Always. Transcript available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Ash Wednesday's readings traditionally cover piety-- how to do it and how not to. This year, Grace Aheron explores what the historic contexts of Third Isaiah and Matthew might have to teach us about their messages, grounded in the framework of understanding the text as an elder in our community. Full transcript on our website: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Rosemarie Freeney Harding's teaching that "all that remains is love" helps us understand the role of the ancestors Moses and Elijah showing up for Jesus on the mountain, the observance we call "Transfiguration." Join Rev. Anne Dunlap as she reflects on the importance of calling on the ancestors in the struggle for justice. Transcript here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resi...

This week's lectionary readings are the proclamation of God's commandments, a way of understanding justice that claims a transformation of our whole selves and community. In this episode, the Rev. Claire Brown asks, how do we connect our soul work and our social action in light of these texts? Find the full transcript here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

When we read Isaiah 58, it’s easy for people to say that the problem is some interior, spiritual problem. Join Rev. Will Green in this exploration of a powerful prophetic text that calls us to live differently. Transcripts can always be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

We welcome new contributor Rev. Seth Wispelwey, who explores the juxtaposition of the Beatitudes in this week's lectionary readings, with the "US High Holy Days" of the Super Bowl. Transcript available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

There is something on the other side of the end of the world. Rev. Anne Dunlap discovers belovedness running like currents through the servant song of Isaiah 42 and Jesus's baptism. Transcript with action links can be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html Special gratitude to Jan Richardson for her blessing "Beloved is Where We Begin," from her book "Cir...

The story of the magi, King Herod, and newborn Jesus can help us decide who we want to emulate. Rev. Will Green draws out lessons for white folks from the Epiphany story. Transcripts available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

A vicious and unstable ruler and a refugee family fleeing violence—Matthew 2's story of the magi, Herod, child Jesus, and the flight to Egypt seems unnervingly insightful these days. The Rev. Claire Brown digs into this passage with a particular interest in what wisdom the Magi have to offer white folks resisting white supremacy. Transcripts of each episode are available here: https://www.showingu...

"We need to have symbols that unsettle us." Join new contributor Grace Aheron in letting the symbol of a radical Mary unsettle us this Advent. Transcripts are always available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

John the Baptist has questions from his prison cell about Jesus. Is he the one for whom John has been waiting, or should he wait for another? Jean Jeffress explores John's questions and has a few of her own as seeking the Kingdom of God in the deep racial and economic inequity of the "liberal" Bay Area is not always what it seems. Transcripts of each episode are available here: https://www.showing...