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The Social Jesus Podcast


Jesus Following and Social Justice EPISODE 14

Mark 6:14-29 “Rev. Dr. Emilie M. Townes states, ‘When you start with an understanding that God loves everyone, justice isn’t very far behind.’ For those endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings, not being concerned with matters of social justice is a failure. It’s a failure to love. It’s a failure in our Jesus-following. It may derided by those who have something to lose from making our world a more just home for everyone. That’s okay. To believe in a gospel of love means to be about justice because justice is what love looks like in public.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com

CLEAN
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Resurrection as Injustice Undone
Episode 1
Resurrection as Injustice Undone
Luke 24:36-48 Whatever we make of the resurrection stories today, reading them through much more scientific lenses, we cannot ignore the fact that nowhere in these passages is Jesus’ death lifted up. The good news is that Jesus’ death had been undone! Whatever else we make of these stories today, their truth is that oppression and power don’t have to have the last words in our stories either. We can choose to keep going. The opposition doesn’t have to have the last word. Love can conquer injustice. Our stories aren’t over yet. For more go to renewedheartministries.com
The Good Shepherd and a Socially Just World
Episode 2
The Good Shepherd and a Socially Just World
https://renewedheartministries.com For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Different Kinds of Christianity Produce Different Kinds of Fruit
Episode 3
Different Kinds of Christianity Produce Different Kinds of Fruit
John 15:1-8 “Today, it is no secret that many kinds of Christianity are failing to produce the kind of fruit that makes this world a better place. We can, if we choose, be a part of shaping a world that is just and safe for everyone. It will require change for some types of Christianity. And this change, difficult as it may be, in the end, will be worth all the effort it takes.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Loving One Another and Social Justice
Episode 4
Loving One Another and Social Justice
John 15:9-17 “Whatever we say about love, the Jesus of the gospels, and the Divine, these beliefs about love must transform us into more loving human beings. We can teach, preach, and believe in love, and still not let those beliefs become anything more than mental assent to ideas. We must choose to apply our beliefs about love not just to how we imagine God relates to us, but also to how we relate to one another! And we can’t love one another and not care about the things each of us suffers as a result of the way our society is shaped.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Sent to be Socially Life-Giving
Episode 5
Sent to be Socially Life-Giving
John 17:6-19 “Although we may be different, we belong to each other. What affects one affects us all. We either thrive together or decline and wither together. Humanity is far from homogeneous, but we are all still part of each other. Like it or not, our shared humanity connects us all.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Pentecost as Connectedness and Distributive Justice
Episode 6
Pentecost as Connectedness and Distributive Justice
John 15:26-27; 16:4-15; Acts 2:1-4 “In the synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, we see a fruit of the Spirit included the restoration of social justice. In these stories, whether the Spirit is poured out on Jesus or his followers, it is evident in their profound concern for the suffering caused by societal structures.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Reuniting the Material and the Spiritual
Episode 7
Reuniting the Material and the Spiritual
John 3:1-17 “This division between the flesh and the spirit, between the physical, material world and the spiritual has born seriously destructive fruit throughout Christianity. The Jesus in the synoptic gospels did not separate the spiritual from the fleshly or material. He taught his followers how to navigate their material world by righting injustice, ending oppression, and offering healing alternatives to violence. That Jewish Jesus did not separate the spiritual and material to offer a path of escape from the material world. Rather he taught his followers how to lean into their material world in life-giving ways.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
The Sabbath and Social Justice
Episode 8
The Sabbath and Social Justice
Mark 2:23-3:6 “Are there times when we have interpreted our own Jesus following in ways that have become death dealing for our society? Is our practice of Christianity socially life-giving? Are we obstacles to those around us working toward a more just, safer, compassionate society with room for everyone or are we, like Mark’s Jesus, standing up to those obstacles and being conduits of love, life, and healing? Where are we in the way? How can we get out of the way and come alongside, choosing to recognize those working to make our world a safer place for everyone, and adding our energy and effort to their work?”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Labelling Social Justice as Dangerous
Episode 9
Labelling Social Justice as Dangerous
Mark 3:20-24 “The Beelzebul controversy makes me think of how certain Christians have feared the women’s liberation movement, opposed the abolition of slavery, or are still opposed to making our world a safer place for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer/questioning. I think of how certain Christians are opposed to political movements attempting to make our world safer for children by passing background checks for firearms. The number one cause of death of school age children in the U.S. is not library books or drag queens, but mass shootings. Certain Christian leaders seek to inspire fear among middle class people about programs to have the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes to fund more programs for the poor and disenfranchised. This story serves as a warning and helps us consider whether we are genuinely using the wisdom of Jesus’ teachings as we assess the work and progress of those presently shaping our world into a safer, compassionate, just home for everyone.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Hope Despite Appearances
Episode 10
Hope Despite Appearances
Mark 4:26-34 Just as we don’t have to understand how seeds work in order to plant the seeds, we don’t always have to understand how our world is going to be put right to take the first steps in reshaping it. Many times, the road to justice is made as we travel it. How justice is achieved from the modest beginnings of grassroots movements is often a path with twist and turns that surprise us and could not have been predicted. There is mystery in how our combined justice efforts combine with others’ justice efforts to create something that is often greater and more beautiful than the sum of all its parts.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
When the Wind and Waves Threaten Justice
Episode 11
When the Wind and Waves Threaten Justice
Mark 4:35-41 It seems like, no matter what area of justice we are working for, whenever we take three steps forward the winds and waves push us two steps back. Working from of a place of love to make our world a more equitable place continues to mean facing winds and waves from those who benefit from an inequitable world. This week’s reading is for those presently facing winds and waves. It reminds us that there will be storms, there will be winds, there will be waves that threaten to sink us. This passage doesn’t promise that these won’t be part of our story. In fact, they remind us that they most certainly will. Yet the disciples weren’t alone in the boat. And neither are we. You’re in the right story.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Preferential Options and Patriarchy
Episode 12
Preferential Options and Patriarchy
Mark 5:21-43 It initially looks like this story will affirm the social assumption that if we take care of those considered less than in our society then there won’t be enough for everyone else, assuming life is a zero-sum game. But then this story takes a sharp turn. This story ends up teaching us how to practice a preferential option for the marginalized of our society. Placing the synagogue leader next to the woman in this week’s reading affirms practicing a preferential option of the marginalized in general. Then, by placing the woman alongside this little girl too, the story calls us to reject specifically preferences practiced within patriarchy.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Embracing our Dependency
Episode 13
Embracing our Dependency
Mark 6:1-13 “Is our Christianity all about getting to heaven and saving our own individual soul? Or does following Jesus call us at the very first to be concerned with someone’s present material need? The very first test for someone who encountered one of these original twelve was not how they responded to a gospel presentation on Jesus’ death, heaven or hell, or whatever gospel topic is too often the soundbite version of sharing Christianity today. The very first test was how would this person respond to someone on their door step with no bread, no money, and no extra clothing.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Transcending and Escaping or Engaging and Transforming
Episode 15
Transcending and Escaping or Engaging and Transforming
John 6:1-21 “A focus on transcending this world comes from John’s gospel. But as Jesus followers, we must allow ourselves to be confronted by the fact that that focus has not always produced good fruit. The synoptic gospels admonish us as Jesus followers to engage our world, to transform it, to work alongside others working to shape our world into a home for everyone, a home where everyone has their needs met, a home that is safe, rooted in distributive justice, and founded on compassion and the recognition that each of us bears the image of the Divine and is part of one another.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Not Spiritualizing the Material
Episode 16
Not Spiritualizing the Material
John 6:24-35 “There is no reason to pit the saving of souls against social justice work. Saving bodies is just as much a part of the Jesus tradition as savings souls is. In fact, in the synoptic gospels, social justice engagement is a requirement for genuinely following Jesus.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
The Bread of Life
Episode 17
The Bread of Life
John 6:35, 41-51 “The kind of Jesus following that is only about managing fear of death is also convenient for those in positions of power who benefit and are privileged by unjust systems and ways of shaping our societies. Death-management-only Christianity leaves unjust systems unchallenged, unchanged, and thus untouched. This is why a heaven-focused version of Christianity is often promoted by people in power. They know that a Christianity that is other-world-focused leaves this world, their world, unchanged. Faith that has become mere death management is, ironically, death-dealing. Faith should first do no harm. It should call us to consider how we show up in our world while we are alive and inspire us to shape our shared world into a compassionate, safe home for everyone.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
The Evolution of the Eucharist
Episode 18
The Evolution of the Eucharist
John 6:51-58 “The early Jesus community’s shared meal evolved away from a meal of real bread and fish among a hungry crowd of Jewish Jesus followers where open mutuality and sharing resulted in baskets of food left over. It became a ritualized meal appropriating the Greco-Roman 'bread and wine' and symbolizing Jesus’ death among Christians. This evolution happened as Jesus followers’ social locations changed. What had begun as a Jewish peasant movement became more affluent by the time the gospels were written down. And as the church’s social location continued to transition toward prosperity, privilege, and power there would be many other changes in the Jesus movement as well.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Right Now Matters
Episode 19
Right Now Matters
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
Morality, Culture Wars, and Consent
Episode 20
Morality, Culture Wars, and Consent
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 “Where we get into culture wars today is in how to define sexual immorality in our list. I find it ironic that those who are quick to accusing others of sexual immorality are most often guilty themselves of the immorality of arrogance on this list. And however we land on what we define to be sexually immoral, our own sexual ethic should at least include the golden rule, consent and the practice of doing no harm. Too often what certain sectors of Christianity define as sexually immoral is between two consenting adults and hurts no one. We must ground discussion on what is and isn’t sexually immoral on a definition of morality that looks at the intrinsic results of the behaviors in question, not just imposed dogma. Is something intrinsically death-dealing or is it life-giving and mislabelled? We too often turn our gaze and pretend not to notice things that are intrinsically death-dealing while we scrutinize and forbid behaviors that intrinsically do no harm. So, while holding in our hands the golden rule, let’s begin a discussion on consent. Consent is an egalitarian discussion. It doesn’t privilege any gender above another, or penalize one while ignoring others. Beginning the discussion of what is sexually moral and what is sexually immoral with discussion of consent includes us all.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Jesus, a Greek Woman and a Magical Cure
Episode 21
Jesus, a Greek Woman and a Magical Cure
Mark 7:24-36 “Intersectionality is such a rich lens through which to relate to this Jesus story as we consider how it may inform our justice work today. We each occupy intersecting social positions within our own society’s systems, where we can simultaneously be both oppressor and oppressed. Our privilege or disadvantage intersects depending on different aspects of our identities in relation to society. This story illustrates how, in the areas where we hold privilege, we can learn to listen with compassion to those who are marginalized or excluded in those same areas. At the same time, in aspects of our identity where we are deemed "less than" by others, the story encourages us to stand up and hold accountable those who diminish us—no matter who they are, even if it's Jesus.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Refusing to Passively Endure Injustice
Episode 22
Refusing to Passively Endure Injustice
Mark 8:27-38 “Too often Christians in power have used “bearing one’s cross” to teach that to follow Jesus means to passively and patiently endure whatever abuse, injustice, or oppression one is experiencing with the hope that in the afterlife your suffering will be rewarded. Nothing could be further from the way Jesus describes taking up one’s cross in our reading this week. The cross is not passively enduring injustice. The cross is the threat abusers and oppressors make against us for our refusal to passively endure injustice. The cross is the threat intended to make us passive. When Jesus tells his followers to take up their cross, he’s telling them to keep refusing to be passive, even if you’re threatened with a cross for doing so. Jesus’ call is a call to courageously refuse to let go of your hope for justice, for change, for liberation, and freedom to thrive. Don’t passively endure suffering. Don’t give in when those who have privileges to lose seek to persuade us to patiently ‘endure pain, humiliation, and violation of our sacred rights to self-determination, wholeness, and freedom’ rather than speaking out”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Servants of the Most Vulnerable
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
Inclusivity and Taking Care of the Vulnerable
Episode 24
Inclusivity and Taking Care of the Vulnerable
Mark 9:38-50 "Love, inclusivity, justice, and liberation don’t impose extra conditions, nor do they require everyone to be alike in every detail. Jesus embodies an openness to diversity. In this passage, He speaks about our responsibility toward the most vulnerable among us—are we truly caring for them? We must be intentional in our rejection of being so 'heavenly minded' that we are indifferent to the needs of our world. Our mission is not just to save souls but to care for bodies and our material world. We must address the injustices and suffering of the present, rather than focusing solely on the afterlife. Otherwise, we lose our essence, our 'salt.' In Mark’s gospel, Jesus calls us to transform the world into a safe, compassionate, and just home for everyone, especially the most vulnerable."For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Divorce Just Ain’t What It Used To Be
Episode 25
Divorce Just Ain’t What It Used To Be
Mark 10:2-16 “Our practice of marriage and divorce in our culture today should be based on the ethics and values of the golden rule, the well being of all parties involved, whether abuse is taking place, and an egalitarian concern for justice for everyone. This is the spirit of the gospels’ teachings. People matter above institutions. Institutions were made for people not people for institutions. Even the institution of marriage. Justice and that which was life-giving were Jesus’ concerns in Mark. And that which is just and life-giving should be our concern today, too. Marriage and divorce are two sides of the same coin. We are not infallible. And when marriage becomes death-dealing, divorce as a life-giving option should be among the choices available to those seeking to turn things around. Whether people believe that they can work on and change their marriage or that their marriage should be undone, that is strictly up to them. It is not our place to shame or look down on them. It’s our job to life-givingly support them during such difficult choices. People who have been divorced or are going through divorce don’t need our judgement. They need our encouragement and our care.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
God and Money
Episode 26
God and Money
Mark 10:17-31 “Will Jesus followers today as a community ever return to these practices and teachings? We live in a very individualistic culture. The first step may be to create communities that make our hyper-self reliance obsolete. We have people in all classes in our communities. Some have nothing to give because their needs aren’t even being met. Others are living month-to-month and just barely getting by. Their needs are met, but they have no extra. Some in our communities have a little extra that they are saving for a future emergency. And others have so much extra they couldn’t possibly spend it all in multiple lifetimes, much less their own. So today as we read Jesus’ call to share our possessions with others, certain questions arise.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Participation Not Substitution
Episode 27
Participation Not Substitution
Mark 10:35-45 “I too know something of what it means to stand up for justice and love. I know something of pushback from those who are benefitting from an unjust system, pushback that threatens your own livelihood and ministry. These days, I’m thankful for resurrecting life. My life looks nothing today like I thought it would twenty years ago. But that’s okay. I wouldn’t change the stances I’ve taken or the people being harmed that I’ve stood in solidarity with. I know it’s the same for many of you too. Standing up for love and justice sometimes involves drinking the same cup Jesus drank and being baptized with the same baptism he was baptized with. In those moments we are participating with Jesus in standing up rather than choosing to be silent. We are in the right story. We must remember, this story doesn’t end in death, dying, or a cross. This story, and our story, ends in resurrection. Love wins.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege
Episode 28
Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege
Mark 10:46-52 “We create so many lines based on social differences that we must learn to step across. Whether these lines are gender, social class, education, race or culture, or sexuality, when we choose to enter into relationship with those who are different from us, we experience that proximity which has the power to change the way we perceive and act. Proximity doesn’t guarantee change. But it does provide the opportunity for change. Crossing lines that we have created and defined by our differences is the doorway to relationship. Our relationships have the potential, if we allow them, to help us understand more of the experiences of others who are different from us. As these relationships grow, we learn how others live in our society and have experiences different from our own. If we choose to respond to this awareness with empathy, we begin to discern, perceive, and understand broader realities. We begin to look at our world differently.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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