The Word As Resistance

Everybody is gathering at the Jordan River with John the Baptist, including some folks we might be surprised to see -- Pharisees and Sadducees. Rev. Anne Dunlap reckons with her own surprise and learns that freedom movements are messy and we don't always agree, but we need all of us in order to survive the wrath of Rome. Transcripts of each episode are available here: https://www.showingupforracia...

Yes, a storm is coming, or rather, a storm is upon us. But someone's been building an ark! Listen in to hear how podcaster Nichola Torbett discovered Advent hope in the midst of an intense movement week. Transcripts including references, copyright information, and additional resources can we found at www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word…nce.html.

Telling the truth about the world also means celebrating our real successes. Are we lifting up the victories in our movements when they happen? Let's celebrate! Transcript with action links here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Locust armies and blood moons -- what is the prophet Joel up to? Are we paying attention to the signs of the seasons? Are we listening to those with visions of a new world? Transcript with action links here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

What if the only people who can see the way out of the crisis we are in are people we never listen to? What if our salvation, literally our salvation right here on this planet, relies upon our willingness to listen to what poor people have to say and to honor their self-determination? In this episode, contributor Nichola Torbett seeks out the wisdom of Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia, formerly houseless f...

Let's get real about climate destabilization and our future. Not naive. Not pessimistic. John Bergen invites us to consider honestly what we can win and what Jeremiah, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and our own moment can teach us. Transcripts with resources and action links can be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

What does reconciliation mean in the context of climate devastation? Rev. Anne reflects on her recent trip to Santa Fe and how that deepened her understanding of this week's lectionary texts. Transcript with action links here as always: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Jeremiah 18 and Paul's Letter to Philemon are the texts this week. They are brought into dialogue with the recently released "1619 Project" and some definitions from Ibram Kendi's "How To Be An Antiracist" to help us better understand, and resist, racism. Transcripts with action links are always available on our website: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

The fire of human sacrifice is raging, brought not by Jesus and not by the oppressed people who are rising up in resistance but by those who would worship at the altar of white supremacy and rely upon that idol for their safety and prosperity. And we need to decide which side we are on. This is what time it is. Join Nichola Torbett for an exploration of what it might involve to fight fire with (re...

In Arkansas, a mother is radicalized into a Neo-Nazi group when the group pledges support to her son who is in jail. In Tennessee, a neighborhood joins arm in arm to block an ICE raid to prevent their neighbor from being deported. Reading Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 in the aftermath of yet more white supremacist terrorism, Margaret Ernst talk about these stories through the lens of choices white people c...

"I gave my heart up to despair," say the Teacher who also claims all is vanity and there is nothing new under the sun. What might the Teacher in Ecclesiastes have to teach us about despair, and why is that important in the work for dismantling white supremacy? Full transcripts with resources are always available here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Margaret Ernst explores what happens when a unfunded farm worker prophet from the Kingdom of Judah dares to speak up at the capitol building. What might happen when we listen to those that tell the truth at centers of power in our moment in history, and dare to change our lives because of it? Because our problem is not civil disobedience, it’s civil obedience.(Howard Zinn) Transcript with action l...

With concentration camps on our border and dire climate projections coming out nearly weekly now, it can be hard to sustain hope. But what if the Kingdom of God really has drawn near, and all we have to do to step into it is to...welcome the stranger who will change everything? Transcript with action links here: www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word…nce.html

John Bergen unpacks three stories of oxen, plows, fire, big asks, and leadership. Transcript with action links here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

Rev. Anne Dunlap asks, what if this story [about the Gerasene Demoniac] is about someone who recognizes they are caught in the middle of Roman imperial power plays, enjoying benefits -- peace, law and order, economic stability -- bought through violence perpetrated against others, and decides they don’t want to be a part of that anymore? The transcript includes action links and resources: https://...

For Pentecost, Rev. Sarah Jordan digs into the story of the Tower of Babel, looking for the workers’ side of the story, and how God shows up to tear down empire's towers. Plenty of resources for action are in the transcript, as always: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

In this episode, contributor Margaret Ernst sings a little, and connects the function of water in texts from Acts and Revelation to global water struggles and environmental racism, from Honduras to Detroit. Take action by supporting the Berta Cáceres Human Rights Act: www.bertacaceres.org.

Why is imperial mainstream Christianity so anxious about replacing and being replaced? How might actually be going on in Acts 11 besides a replacement? John Bergen goes on a rant and then explores some alternatives.

In this week's episode, Nichola Torbett shocks herself with a revelation about Revelation 7: 9-17 that leads her into an extended meditation on love, "ugliness," and surviving apocalypse. Transcripts of every episode, with action links and more resources, can be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

At the end of John's gospel, Jesus makes breakfast for some of his community by the lakeshore. What can we learn from the grace he offers to Simon Peter in their exchange, which tradition says "undoes" Peter's triple denial of knowing Jesus during his mockery of a trial? Rev. Anne Dunlap offers her reflections. Action links and other resources can always be found in the transcript: https://www.sho...

For the second Sunday of Easter, Margaret Ernst explores the role of trusting God as a practice of resisting white supremacy, and the difference between healthy doubt that keeps us vigilant and toxic doubt that leads us to obsess over proof of outcomes while missing signs of resurrection. Check out the call to action for people of faith to participate in this year's Black Mamas Bailout: https://me...

How do we preach resurrection in Good Friday times? How do we embody resurrection when crucifixion still happens daily, multiple times a day? How do we live a resurrection that does not glorify a white, imperial, supercessionist, death-dealing victory? These are the questions our podcast contributors are reflecting on in this episode. Will Green, Anne Dunlap, and Margaret Ernst each have a resista...

We are in Holy Week, and the story of Jesus’s last days are full of anguish, betrayal, denial, Pilate’s cynical manipulation of the situation to extinguish a threat to Rome...and, love and solidarity and women who refuse to abandon Jesus. The story is full of humanity, at its best and its worst. For Good Friday, three of our podcast contributors -- John Bergen, Nichola Torbett, and new contributor...

If the procession we read about on Palm Sunday was a direct action aimed at collective liberation, what was it meant to achieve, and where are we who are white positioned in relationship to it? What is the spiritual work we need to do in order to be more faithful participants? The transcript for this and every episode may be found here: www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word…nce.html

While white supremacy and capitalism trap us in scarcity, God offers us a new (and very old) world already in the making.