A Gospel About the Living Rather than the Dead
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A Gospel About the Living Rather than the Dead
Herb Montgomery | Novembrer 7, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” (Luke 20:27-38)
Our reading this week involves a long-standing disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees regarding the resurrection. Luke’s Jesus aligns with the Pharisees in this argument by affirming the idea of a resurrection, but then escapes a Sadducean trap set for those who believed in a resurrection. The style of the story they told Jesus reflects the style of the debates of rabbis at the time Luke’s gospel was written and is consistent with the way Jesus typically responds to tricky questions in Luke’s stories. At that time, Pharisees did not teach that a person went directly to a heavenly abode at death as some Christians would later come to teach. Jesus’ Jewish society was far from univocal on what happens to a person after this life. Luke’s gospel also includes the story of the rich man and Lazarus, a story that reflects a view of the afterlife influenced heavily by Jewish Hellenism. In our story this week, Jesus sides with a Jewish idea that says all dead people, regardless of the type of life they lived, rest at death in Sheol, the inescapable abode where those who have died have no conscious existence. This belief later evolved into a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous on a day in the future when all injustice, oppression, and violence would be put right (see Daniel 12:2).
The phrase that jumps out at me most in our reading is “God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” The contrast between focusing on the living rather than on death and dying could have many possible applications today. To be sure, managing people’s fear of death has been a significant preoccupation for many religions. In the Christian faith, for example, the promise of heaven is powerful because it can be comforting. But focusing solely on personal salvation and the afterlife can replace focusing on Jesus’ teachings that call us to heal and put right the world around us while we live. Christianity teaches not only about the life to come but also about how Jesus followers are to live here and now. Justice in this life is not a secondary concern, but is central to Jesus’ teachings in the gospel stories.
One of Jesus’ core messages was the importance of loving one’s neighbor and caring for the least among us. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus makes this clear when he says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). This passage defines following Jesus as action. It suggests that a genuine embrace of Jesus’ vision for society (“the kingdom”) manifests in acts of compassion, justice, and love toward others. A life focused only on securing a place in heaven or what may happen to us when we are dead risks neglecting Jesus’ call to be salt and light in our world while we are living (Matthew 5:13-16).
Being “salt and light” in our world here and now means Jesus followers are to influence the world positively by reflecting Jesus core ethic—love of neighbor—through their actions. Loving one’s neighbor in this life can express itself in many ways. It can include opposing unjust economic systems that plunge people into and keep them in poverty. It’s unacceptable that anyone should be hungry in the richest country in the world. The U.S. growing wealth disparity continues to worsen every day. Love of neighbor can also include seeking justice, which leads to peace, in other areas, too: justice in regards to racism, xenophobia, ableism, gender disparities, LGBTQ rights, and more. Working to shape our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone is how Jesus followers testify to the power of Jesus’ gospel of love. To be clear, these actions don’t earn our individual salvation, but they are the ways through which we bring social salvation into being.
When Christians focus on doing justice in this world, they embody Jesus’ kingdom of God on earth. Jesus often spoke of the “kingdom of heaven” not as a distant place but as a present reality breaking into our world. Every act of kindness, every instance of compassion, and every effort toward justice manifests God’s just future and invites others into it today. The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation while we wait for death but in active engagement with the world while we are alive. After all, God is the God of the living and not the dead.
Focusing on our present life also guards against societal complacency and selfishness. A heaven-only paradigm can lead to an inward-looking faith concerned more with personal, individual assurance than community responsibility. But from the very beginning, Christianity has been a communal faith, one where love for God is not in competition with love for neighbor but inseparably connected, one manifesting the other. Following Jesus means working toward justice now as an act of obedience to the love of God, and, in tangible ways that benefit both ourselves and others, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
While the hope of heaven has historically been central to Christian belief, it still should never overshadow Jesus’ call to follow Him in how we relate to our world while we are in this life. Working toward a just world here and now is therefore central to discipleship. Through actions Jesus modeled himself in the gospel stories, Christians not only witness to the truth of Jesus’ love of neighbor but also bring hope, healing, and justice to a world in need. Jesus didn’t live to simply tell us God loved us. He spent his life teaching and modeling for us how to love one another.
“We belong to a mutually beneficial web of connection, well-being, and love. At the root of this connection is empathy; the result is kindness, compassion, respect, and understanding. When religion doesn’t center on this mutuality, it can become one of the toxic narratives that, in the end, dismantles self-love.” (Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Fierce Love, p. 30)
The questions about the afterlife that we encounter in this week’s reading are a distraction from focusing on living just lives while we’re alive. It’s interesting that these questions came from the Sadducees, the wealthy and elite class of Jesus’s society who had the most to lose if the masses embraced Jesus’ economic call for wealth redistribution such as through the Torah’s year of Jubilee (see Luke 4:19). Could this question, part of a debate between the Pharisees and and Sadducees, have been meant to distract from the concrete, economic elements of Jesus’ gospel? Could this have been another example of that age old political tactic of seeking to sow division among the masses over a peripheral topic to divide their support of Jesus?
Jesus’ response that God is the God of the living and not the dead calls each of us today to focus on uniting in our focus on the life in front of us, and shaping our current world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone today rather than on endless metaphysical debates about what may or may not happen to us in an afterlife.
Jesus’ mantra calls to me this week to focusing today. What difference can we make now?
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What difference does focusing on this life make in your own Jesus following and justice work? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 45: A Gospel About the Living Rather than the Dead
Luke 20:27-38
“While the hope of heaven has historically been central to Christian belief, it still should never overshadow Jesus’ call to follow Him in how we relate to our world while we are in this life. Working toward a just world here and now while we are alive is therefore central to discipleship. The questions about the afterlife that we encounter in this week’s reading are a distraction from focusing on living just lives while we’re alive. It’s interesting that these questions came from the wealthy and elite class of Jesus’s society who had the most to lose if the masses embraced Jesus’ economic call for wealth redistribution such as through the Torah’s year of Jubilee? Could this have been another example of that age old political tactic of seeking to sow division among the masses over a peripheral topic to divide their support of justice? Jesus’ response that God is the God of the living and not the dead calls each of us today to focus on uniting in our focus on the life in front of us rather than on endless metaphysical debates about what may or may not happen to us in an afterlife.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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The Social Vision of the Gospel
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
The Social Vision of the Gospel
Herb Montgomery | October 31, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
We have two readings from the gospels in the lectionary this weekend. Because each has powerful potential to inform our justice work today, let’s take a brief look at them both. First is Luke 6:20-31:
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:20-31)
Jesus’ social vision as portrayed in the gospels radically reverses our world’s hierarchies and economic systems. His message is explicitly good news for the poor and the marginalized but often confronts the rich and powerful. The inversion in Luke of societal values is also repeated in his words: “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last” (Matthew 20:16). It is good news for those who are last (in Luke, the poor) and at best problematic for those the status quo places first. In a world of limited resources, Jesus’ vision proposes a more equitable distribution of resources not by expanding abundance, but through redistributing the abundance that already exists. This requires those at the top (whom already have significantly more than they need) being content with less for the sake of those at the bottom having their needs met.
Jesus consistently centers the poor in his ministry. Luke’s beatitudes are yet another example. Here Jesus states plainly: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). In contrast, he warns: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” (Luke 6:24). His teaching doesn’t spiritualize poverty; it addresses material poverty head-on. On another occasion in Luke, Jesus calls a rich man to sell all he has and give to the poor (Luke 18:22). This was not an isolated incident but part of a broader ethic of radical, generous wealth distribution aimed at economic justice.
In Jesus’ social vision, equity means that the powerful must relinquish privilege, not just “help” the poor from a place of superiority. This is about justice, not charity. Redistribution of wealth is not optional but, according to Jesus, a sign of faithfulness to God’s kingdom. The early Christian community in Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-35 reflects this ideal: they held all things in common, and “there was not a needy person among them.” This model directly challenges systems of accumulation and hoarding that benefit a few at the expense of many.
Jesus’ critique of the elite made him deeply unpopular among the powerful. His words in Luke 6 continue: “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Being hated or rejected by the ruling or centered classes becomes a badge of honor for those following Jesus. His vision aligns more with the hungry, the weeping, the outcast, the marginalized than with the privileged, the propertied, and the powerful.
And it doesn’t stop here.
Luke’s gospel immediately reminds its audience that Jesus’ revolution is not carried out through violence. His ethic of nonviolence is profound. “Turn the other cheek”(Matthew 5:39), far from a call to passive submission, is a creative act of resistance that exposes injustice without mirroring it. Going the second mile and giving one’s cloak along with the tunic are symbolic gestures of protest that disarm, humanize the oppressed, and unsettle systems of power. These actions refuse humiliation while rejecting retaliation, calling us to reclaim the humanity of all involved. (For more on this see A Primer on Self Affirming Nonviolence [Part 3])
Ultimately, Jesus’ social vision is a direct challenge to the status quo. It is good news for the poor and marginalized, because it affirms their dignity and promises liberation. But for the rich and powerful, it is a call to repentance, humility, and transformation. His vision of a reordered world, where love, justice, and equity reign, is not comfortable for those who benefit from existing inequalities. Yet it is precisely this discomfort that makes the gospel radically revolutionary.
Our second reading this week is an example of a wealthy and powerful person in Luke’s gospel who choose to embrace the repentance, humility, and transformation that Jesus called for. It’s the story of Zacchaeus:
[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)
Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector, was widely despised for collaborating with the Roman Empire and enriching himself at the expense of his fellow Jews. His profession placed him among the elite of his time, yet religiously, culturally, and socially, he was isolated and marginalized.
When Jesus enters Jericho, Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see Him—a powerful symbol of his desire to rise above his compromised life. And Jesus’ response is revolutionary: rather than condemn Zacchaeus, He invites Himself to his house. This act of inclusion leads to Zacchaeus’ transformation. He pledges to give half his wealth to the poor and repay fourfold anyone he has defrauded. This is not just personal, private, individual repentance, it’s economic justice in action. Zacchaeus acknowledges the harm caused by his wealth and uses his resources to repair it. Jesus affirms this change by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
In today’s world, where income inequality is widening and economic systems often benefit the few at the expense of the many, Zacchaeus’ story raises urgent questions. What would it look like if the wealthy, especially those whose fortunes are built on exploitation, followed Zacchaeus’ example? His response to Jesus was not mere charity but restitution and structural change—principles echoed in movements for reparations and equitable wealth redistribution today.
The story of Zacchaeus challenges both the acquisition and use of wealth. It invites a transformation that starts with a compassionate awakening toward those the system has plunged into poverty and leads to economic action. In a time when billions live in poverty while a small percentage hold vast wealth, the Zacchaeus story reminds us that true discipleship involves justice, not just belief.
Zacchaeus’ embrace of Jesus’ social vision is a model not only of repentance but also of social transformation. His encounter with Jesus demonstrates that economic justice is central to spiritual renewal, and that addressing income inequality is not only a policy issue but also a deeply moral and theological one.
I’m reminded of the words of Michelle Alexander almost a decade ago now: “Without a moral or spiritual awakening, we will remain forever trapped in political games fueled by fear, greed and the hunger for power.” (Michelle Alexander, “Something Much Greater At Stake,” Radical Discipleship, September 18, 2016). Our readings in Luke this week offer us that alternate path of awakening toward justice.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways are you choosing to embrace Jesus’ social vision as represented in the gospels? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 44: The Social Vision of the Gospel
Luke 6:20-31 & Luke 19:1-10
“In today’s world, where income inequality is widening and economic systems often benefit the few at the expense of the many, Zacchaeus’ story raises urgent questions. His response to Jesus was not mere charity but restitution and structural change—principles echoed in movements for reparations and equitable wealth redistribution today. The story of Zacchaeus challenges both the acquisition and use of wealth. It invites a transformation that starts with a compassionate awakening toward those the system has plunged into poverty and leads to economic action. In a time when billions live in poverty while a small percentage hold vast wealth, the Zacchaeus story reminds us that true discipleship involves justice, not just belief. His encounter with Jesus demonstrates that economic justice is central to spiritual renewal, and that addressing income inequality is not only a policy issue but also a deeply moral and theological one.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-social-vision-of-the-gospel
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Herb Montgomery | October 24, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
As we begin this week, I want us to first take an honest, historical look at the Pharisees. Pharisees were in conflict with the early church at the time Luke’s gospel was written. That’s why in Luke the Pharisees are typically painted as the “bad guys” in relation to the Jesus movement. Today, that’s not our context. Any person who cares about ending violence, including Jesus followers, should reject using the label of “Pharisee” as a pejorative.
Pharisees in Jesus’ society belonged to two different schools of interpretation, the Schools of Shammai and Hillel. Sometimes Jesus’ teachings harmonized with one school, and at other times his teachings harmonized with the other. These were the two major schools of thought in Judaism during the late Second Temple period. While both schools upheld the authority of the Torah and the Oral Law, they differed in their interpretations and approaches to Jewish law and practice. The School of Shammai was generally more strict and conservative, emphasizing rigorous adherence to religious laws and rituals. They often interpreted the law literally and were less accommodating to non-Jews or Hellenistic influences. For example, Shammai’s followers restricted the conversion process and opposed leniency in Sabbath observance and divorce. It was in matters of divorce that the gospels side with Shammai.
In contrast, the School of Hillel, known for leniency and inclusivity, promoted a more compassionate and pragmatic approach. Hillel’s teachings emphasized the ethical core of the Torah, such as treating others with kindness and patience. Jesus sided with this school when defining the keeping of the Torah as love to God and neighbor. Hillel’s school allowed more flexibility in legal rulings, too, which made Jewish law more adaptable to changing circumstances.
Over time, the rulings of Hillel’s school became dominant in Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud often records debates between the two schools. Hillel’s school was characterized his humility and emphasis on peace and accessibility of the law to all. Jesus’ objections toward Pharisees at any given moment in the gospels was not about antisemitism. Jesus was himself a Jewish man and his dialogues in the gospels represented debates among Jewish voices in the various schools of the Pharisees. When arguing against some interpretations of Shammai, Jesus was simply echoing the same objections of the Pharisees of Hillel, and vice versa.
The prayer in our reading this week attributed to a Pharisee has some known parallels from other Judean sources. So, pejorative as it is, it is not a pejorative invention of the early Christian movement. The parable portrays a common theme in Luke’s gospel: a reversal of ordinary expectations as a surprise to the audience. We see this in the example of the Samaritan in Luke 10:25-30, the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, as well as in the affirmation of the foreigner among the ten lepers healed in Luke 17:11–19.
The theme in our reading, that God humbles the proud and exalts the humble, is a liberation theme with deep roots in the wisdom literature of the Hebrews:
“The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but maintains the widow’s boundaries.” (Proverbs 15:25)
“It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19)
This is a theme that runs through Luke’s gospel from the very beginning:
“He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53)
Another theme in the gospel of Luke is the way tax collectors embraced Jesus’ vision for human society while the wealthy Pharisees from both the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel, did not. While the Pharisees would have adhered much more closely to the purity codes of the Torah while disregarding some economic codes (remember the Pharisee Hillel had invented the Prozbul to get around the debt forgiveness of the Jubilee), Luke’s gospel paints the tax collectors differently. The tax collectors were most likely much less strident about the purity codes of the Torah, but were embracing Jesus’ call for the institution of the year of the Lord’s favor, or Jubilee (Luke 4:18-19).
Consider Luke’s story of the tax collector Zacchaeus:
Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:8-9)
The synoptic gospels portray Jesus as caring more about the economic justice themes taught in the Torah than other themes. This might explain why the tax collectors who embraced the Torah’s wealth redistribution and restitution to “the poor” were “close to the Kingdom” while the wealthy Pharisees holding on to their wealth were characterized as refusing to enter the kingdom and obstructing those others who would (see Matthew 23:13; cf. Luke 18:24).
This brings up questions for me. The Pharisees, even the more liberal Pharisees who interpreted all of the Torah through the lens of love and treating others the way they would like to be treated, failed to enter Jesus’ kingdom because of their failure to embrace concrete economic changes in Jesus’ teachings that would have lessened the inequality gap between the rich and the poor of their society.
Many Christians think they have arrived at a correct and healthy understanding of the gospel when they conclude that it’s all about love. But love that is indifferent to povety, according the gospels is not enough. If our grand teachings on love do not translate down into a concrete, material difference for the poor, is our gospel really the same as Jesus’? Is it enough for us to declare a gospel of love, the love of God, and how we should love our neighbor if we do not apply that love of neighbor to how we live in relation to wealth inequality, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and a system that continues to create both great wealth and great poverty.
The Jesus community was moving away from the instinct of hoarding wealth to protect individual wealthy people from bad luck. They were creating community where wealth was created for and shared by all:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
James Cone, considered one the most significant fathers of Black Liberation Theology, also wrote, “It is ironic that America, with its history of injustice to the poor, especially the black man and the Indian, prides itself on being a Christian nation” (Black Theology and Black Power: 50th Anniversary Edition)
Similarly, in his classic book The Gospel of Jesus, The Search for the Original Good News, James M. Robinson reminds us that the historical Jesus gospel was deeply rooted in economic justice envisioning a different type of human society:
[Jesus’] basic issue, still basic today, is that most people have solved the human dilemma for themselves at the expense of everyone else, putting them down so as to stay afloat themselves. This vicious, antisocial way of coping with the necessities of life only escalates the dilemma for the rest of society. (Kindle Location, 134)
This issue goes all the way back to the Hebrew prophets, in a passage that should challenge our culture wars today and that defines the sin of Sodom primarily as about society’s disregard for the poor:
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49)
Our reading this week tells us that a humble tax collector, a member of a community in Luke’s gospel that was embracing Jesus’ vision of wealth redistribution and poverty elimination, went home justified.
I’ll end this week with James Cone’s timely challenge for each of us at this moment in our nation’s history:
When profits are more important than persons, disastrous results follow for the poor of all colors. It does not matter whether blacks or whites do it. This madness must be opposed. (A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 15)
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways are you choosing to embrace Jesus’ economic teachings? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 43: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Luke 18:9-14
“This group, even the more liberal among this group who interpreted all of the Torah through the lens of love and treating others the way they would like to be treated, failed to enter Jesus’ kingdom because of their failure to embrace concrete economic changes in Jesus’ teachings that would have lessened the inequality gap between the rich and the poor of their society. Many Christians think they have arrived at a correct and healthy understanding of the gospel when they conclude that it’s all about love. But love that is indifferent to povety, according the gospels is not enough. If our grand teachings on love do not translate down into a concrete, material difference for the poor, is our gospel really the same as Jesus’? Is it enough for us to declare a gospel of love, the love of God, and how we should love our neighbor if we do not apply that love of neighbor to how we live in relation to wealth inequality, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and a system that continues to create both great wealth and great poverty.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Persisting Inspite of Unjust Obstruction
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com/ and click on “Donate.”
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
Persisting Inspite of Unjust Obstruction
Herb Montgomery | October 17, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)
One of the interpretive lens of Jesus’ parables that I appreciate is in William Herzog’s Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. In this book, Herzog moves away from always interpreting the parables as allegorically about God and us, and instead offers a way to view the parables as a critique of the social injustices the marginalized, oppressed, and disinherited of Jesus’ society were surviving under. The parables become a way to educate listeners and liberate them from internalized forms of oppression. They awakened Jesus’ listeners to liberatory actions and forms of resistance they could practice.
There are no parallels for this parable in any of the other canonical gospels. And while the author of Luke used this parable to point out a lesson about perseverance in prayer, the original audience would have resonated with the story on a personal level. Many of them might have found themselves in similar positions as the ignored widow. Before Luke’s author applied this story of Jesus’ to prayer, it would have first taught listeners how to persevere against injustice in places of power. The widow in this story was heard by the unjust judge, not because of the justice of her cause, but because of her own continued stubbornness in not giving up. The judge is not impartial. Nor is he concerned for anyone but himself. He only grants her request because of her continued harassment: he simply want to be done with her.
This reminds me of a statement in the introduction of Ched Myers’ book, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus. There,Sam Wells writes:
The one thing everyone seems to agree on today is that there’s plenty wrong with the world. There are only two responses to this—either go and put it right yourself, or, if you can’t, make life pretty uncomfortable for those who can until they do. When we take stock of our relationship with the powerful, we ask ourselves, “Does the shape of my life reflect my longing to see God set people free, and do I challenge those who keep others in slavery?” (Kindle Location 1024)
This is the first and primary lesson of the persistent widow: When we see injustice, we can either “go and put it right” or “make life pretty uncomfortable for those who can until they do.”
I also understand why the author of Luke applied this persistence to prayer. This gospel was written for a Jesus-following community that included many Jewish Jesus followers who had just witnessed Jerusalem being razed to the ground by the Roman Empire. In moments of such deep devastation, it’s a hard sell to tell oppressed communities to keep trying. It’s much easier to tell them keep praying instead. I don’t believe the author meant to liken the God these folks were praying to an unjust judge; I believe he was making the point by contrast. If an unjust judge will respond and do justly because of persistence, how much more will a just God do so? Consider the phrasing:
“Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The people listening to Luke’s Jesus were God’s “chosen ones.” In the wake of Jerusalem’s destruction by Rome, Luke’s author is addressing an apparent “delay” too. This tells us a little about how Luke’s audience must have been feeling: “What’s taking so long.” Imagine if they could have seen us here today, still fighting for justice. What might they think?
Lastly, the author asks the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Son of Man image is from Jewish apocalyptic literature, specifically from the book of Daniel, which was written during the era of the Maccabean revolt. This was a time when the people were once again longing for liberation after being subjugated by an oppressive empire. In Daniel 7, oppressive empires are symbolized by wild descriptions of violent and destructive beasts. Then comes the Son of Man who delivers the people, putting all injustice, violence, and oppression right. Luke’s audience must have given these passages some weight or Luke would not have referenced them like this. Today, we could more simply say, when the time for our liberation comes, will there be anyone who still believes liberation is even possible?
I don’t believe that “faith” in our reading this week means believing in the supernatural or the existence of a deity. Almost everyone believed in the supernatural when Luke was written. The passage is describing faith of a totally different nature: the kind of faith that believes that our world can be different. This faith believes that the moral arc of the universe can be bent toward justice. That hatred, injustice, and violence doesn’t have to have the last word. That life and love and justice wins. That the narrow path, the golden rule, is genuinely the better way. This is the kind of faith that both theists and non-theists alike can embrace. In an interview, Angela Davis once said, “We always have to act as if revolution were possible. We have to act as if it were possible to change the world. And if we do that work, the world is gonna change. Even if it doesn’t change the way we need it to change right now, it will change.” (Spirit of Justice with Michelle Alexander & Angela Davis)
Theologian Delores Williams also comments on this kind of faith, though with more of a religious kind of verbiage than Davis:
I traveled to faith—learning to trust the righteousness of God in spite of trouble and injustice; learning to trust women of many colors regardless of sexism, racism, classism and homophobia in our society; learning to believe in the sanctuary power of family defined in many ways in addition to nuclear; discovering love in a variety of forms that heal, but also believing serious political action is absolutely necessary for justice to prevail in the world of my four black children and other mothers’ children. Faith has taught me to see the miraculous in everyday life: the miracle of ordinary black women resisting and rising above evil forces in society, where forces work to destroy and subvert the creative power and energy my mother and grandmother taught me God gave black women. (Delores S. Williams, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, Preface, Kindle location 164)
Scholars who live in a more privileged social location also agree about what this kind of faith would have meant in the gospels:
But the ancient meaning of the word “believe” has much more to do with trust and commitment. “To believe in the good news,” as Mark puts it, means to trust in the news that the kingdom of God is near and to commit to that kingdom. (Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week, Kindle location 480)
I can understand the challenges Luke’s author must have been facing by trying to inspire people to believe in the wake of hopeless devastation. It resonates with where many of us are today. Despite growing polarization and setbacks, believing in social justice today is not naïve—it’s necessary. Every movement for equality has faced resistance, yet progress has always come through those who refused to give up. From climate justice to racial equity, just voices are louder, more connected, and more persistent than ever. Grassroots efforts, legal reforms, and digital activism are reshaping narratives and holding power accountable. The fight is far from over, and yet each small victory builds momentum. Believing in social justice means choosing hope over cynicism and action over silence. Change is slow, but it is still within reach—if we keep pushing, if we continue, like the widow, who “nevertheless, she persisted.”
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways are you persisting against stubborn obstacles in your justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 42: Persisting Inspite of Unjust Obstruction
Luke 18:1-8
“In the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, I can understand the challenges Luke’s author must have been facing by trying to inspire people to believe in the wake of hopeless devastation. It resonates with where many of us are today. Despite growing polarization and setbacks, believing in social justice today is not naïve. It’s necessary. Every movement for equality has faced resistance, yet progress has always come through those who refused to give up. From climate justice to racial equity, just voices are louder, more connected, and more persistent than ever. Grassroots efforts, legal reforms, and digital activism are reshaping narratives and holding power accountable. The fight is far from over, and yet each small victory builds momentum. Believing in social justice means choosing hope over cynicism and action over silence. Change is slow, but it is still within reach, if we keep pushing, if we continue, like the widow, who “nevertheless, she persisted.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/persisting-inspite-of-unjust-obstruction
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com/ and click on “Donate.”
The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
Herb Montgomery | October 10, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke.
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19)
The phrase that jumps out at me in this week’s reading is, “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” One of Luke’s larger themes is opening up the early Jesus movement to a more diverse community than more Jewish people. From Luke chapter 4 all the way through to Pentecost in Acts are signs that, though the Jesus movement had deep Jewish roots, it would ultimately be composed of a much more multicultural community.
In fact, this story’s affirmation of the “foreigner” has a solid foundation in Jewish wisdom.
Consider the following passages from the Torah:
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)
“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt . . . Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.” (Exodus 23:9, 12)
“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:34)
“When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 26:12, cf. Deuteronomy 24:19-21, Deuteronomy 14:28-29)
“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.” (Deuteronomy 24:17)
“And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)
“’Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” (Deuteronomy 27:19)
“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)
If a fellow Israelite was plunged into poverty, how they treated foreigners was the standard by which they were to help their fellow native-born neighbors:
“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.” (Leviticus 25:35-38, emphasis added.)
This all stands in stark contrast to the xenophobia so many in our American society today hold and act on. One of the societal failures that were called out by the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition was their society’s mistreatment of the foreigner and denying them justice. I can’t help but think of America right now as I read this verse from Ezekiel:
“The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.” (Ezekiel 22:29)
The Hebrew scriptures are far from univocal about the foreigner, though, and this is why there is debate among Christians today. In our sacred text, we also find exceptionalism, a teaching that often leads those who see themselves as culturally exceptional to view themselves as superior to other cultures. As an example, Christian European colonizers used portions of the Exodus narrative about the nations in Canaan to enact genocide on Indigenous populations in their day. The Bible includes “stories in which it is easy to identify with the displaced people of the land, as opposed to the expanding invaders—with Canaanites and Moabites rather than the Hebrews. The parallels are all the more painful as European colonialists over the centuries consciously used the conquest of Canaan as a model for their own activities” (Philip Jenkins, Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the Bible’s Violent Verses, p. 20-21).
The scriptures are not going to force any of us to treat today’s migrants any particular way. We get to choose which portions of our sacred text we want to shape us here. Do we want to be the kind of humans who vote for and support mistreating migrants at the U.S. border, refusing asylum for those seeking protections, or placing children who have been separated from their parents into detention centers. Do you want to be that kind of person? Scripture will not give you much cover if you do. You may find verses that you can use to help support your biases, but there are also passages on the other side of the debate, as well. So what makes you choose one set of passages to follow over others, especially in light of the story of Jesus through which Christianity claims to interpret Scripture. However many passages one may find to justify the mistreatment of migrants today, we must all stand naked before Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:
“I was a foreigner and you invited me in . . . whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35-40)
The word for foreigner here is xeno, from which we get the word xenophobia.
In his book Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, Robert Chao Romero writes:
“We have been wanted for our land and labor, while at the same time rejected for our cultural and ethnic difference. When economic times get tough, we become the disposable “illegal alien,” and are scapegoated and deported. We are wanted and unwanted. Necessary, yet despised.” (p. 15).
Romeo also reminds us, in chilling resonance with the passage we just read in Matthew 25, that “Jesus, our Lord, was also Brown. As a working class, young adult, Jewish man living in the colonized territory of Galilee, he also occupied a space of social, political, cultural, and religious liminality” (p. 16).
As many of you know, I live in Appalachia. Recently, I overheard a group of four working-class White men complaining that a nearby construction site was “filled with Mexicans.” Because I knew a few of those construction workers through various faith communities here locally, I knew they were actually from Honduras, but everyone who presents as Latin American is a “Mexican” to certain folks around here. Their actual national origin was also incidental to the slur. They could have been American by citizenship and would have still been targeted as “Mexicans.” Slurs are not about facts, but about prejudice, stereotyping, and exclusion.
I then overheard one of the men respond, “Someone needs to call I.C.E.!” And the conversation escalated from there. In their own echo chamber, their xenophobia became uglier and uglier. I also know one of the men in that group. They and their family are weekly churchgoers. They sit in a pew each week and listen to preachers preach from the gospels, but somehow they missed the part of Jesus’ teachings that we’re reading this week. I turned around and did my best to speak up on the construction workers’ behalf, but it mostly fell on ears that refused to hear.
Another example of the many justice violations being committed toward migrants in the U.S. currently is denial of due process. Placing Jesus’ teachings to the side for just a moment, consider this though the lens of the U.S. constitution. Denying migrants due process undermines fundamental human rights and the rule of law. It strips individuals of the opportunity to fairly present their case, and often results in wrongful deportations or detentions. Migrants fleeing violence, persecution, or poverty may face life-threatening consequences if deported without a hearing. Due process ensures accountability, transparency, and justice in immigration systems, and when it is denied, it fosters discrimination, abuse of power, and systemic injustice. Upholding due process is essential for a fair and humane immigration policy. Without it, basic democratic principles are compromised, and vulnerable populations are left without legal protection or a voice. Every time we weaken democratic principles, we are not just harming others, we are making our world less safe for ourselves, as well.
Looking out on the landscape of the current crisis with our migrant population, I think back the words Romero wrote during the first Trump administration:
“A five-alarm fire is raging through the Latina/o immigrant community. Millions are impacted. And yet, relatively few outside of our community—and very few within the evangelical community—seem to care. In fact, through their xenophobic rhetoric many are intentionally stoking the flames without regard to the many lives being consumed.” (Robert Chao Romero, Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, p. 207)
To the ten lepers and his disciples, Jesus asks, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” It’s the same lesson as the good Samaritan. And it should challenge every Jesus follower to assess and reject whatever xenophobic bias we may hold.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What ways are you mitigating the harm presently being done to migrant families? How could you do more? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 41: The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
Luke 17:11-19
“The word for foreigner here is xeno, from which we get the word xenophobia. The scriptures are far from univocal about the foreigner, though, and this is why there is debate among Christians today. The scriptures are not going to force any of us to treat today’s migrants any particular way. We get to choose which portions of our sacred text we want to shape us here. Do we want to be the kind of humans who vote for and support mistreating migrants at the U.S. border, refusing asylum for those seeking protections, or placing children who have been separated from their parents into detention centers? Do you want to be that kind of person? Scripture will not give you much cover if you do. You may find verses that you can use to help support your biases, but there are also passages on the other side of the debate, as well. So what makes you choose one set of passages to follow over others, especially in light of the story of Jesus through which Christianity claims to interpret Scripture? However many passages one may find to justify the mistreatment of migrants today, we must all stand before Jesus’ words here.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-ten-lepers-and-christian-xenophobia
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Free Sign Up Here
The Christian Normalization of Social Evils
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com/ and click on “Donate.”
The Christian Normalization of Social Evils
Herb Montgomery | October 3, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (Luke 17:5-10)
Right at the start this week, I want to name that this text and others in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament fail to call out slavery and they treating other human beings as property of other humans as an evil that a just society rejects. Yes, a biblical argument can be made against slavery. But those arugumenst are much more complex requiring someont to know the cultural contexts of certain sections in which our sacred text was written. Abolitionism isn’t taught by any single passage but deduced from principles gleaned from a string of passages.
If Luke was directing this passage at the priests and Sadducees of Jesus’ day, we could read it as Jesus’ attempt to awaken the powerful, propertied, and privileged to their place as slaves of the Roman Empire. But the context doesn’t seem to support that interpretation. Jesus is responding to his disciples, the apostles, who have just asked for him to increase their faith.
So let’s begin with an honest survey of what our sacred text does say about slavery. And, fair warning, our scriptures don’t always say what we wish they would say. Let’s start with a passage in Leviticus:
“As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. You may also acquire them from among the foreigners residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.” (Leviticus 25:44-46)
That people are being permitted to be owned as property and even passed down as property that children can inherit is an astounding failure. In every era, an enslaved person would have objected to their dehumanization. I offer no justification here for enslavers. Nor will I advocate for or soften enslavers’ theology, ancient or modern. Certainly the society in which this passage was written had evolved enough to understand the evil of slavery. This is why it’s not allowed for other Israelites but only for those who are not Israelites: it was an evil enough to not be allowed for fellow citizens, but you could practice owning others, those who were not part of “us.”
I find this passage abhorrent. It’s passages like this one in Leviticus as well our reading in Luke that empowered Moses Stuart of Andover Seminary in Massachusetts, the nation’s most learned biblical scholar in the era leading up to the American Civil War, to publish a major tract on the subject of slavery entitled Conscience and the Constitution. Stuart stated that abolitionists “must give up the New Testament authority, or abandon the fiery course which they are pursuing” (p. 55). In other words, he argued, you can’t hold the abolitionist position that all slavery is evil and the New Testament with both hands. You have to let go of one to hold on to the other.
In The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, Mark Nollwrites of the uphill battle Christian abolitionists faced in using the Bible for their arguments against slavery:
Biblical attacks on American slavery faced rough going precisely because they were nuanced. This position could not simply be read out of any one biblical text; it could not be lifted directly from the page. Rather, it needed patient reflection on the entirety of the Scriptures; it required expert knowledge of the historical circumstances of ancient Near Eastern and Roman slave systems as well as of the actually existing conditions in the slave states; and it demanded that sophisticated interpretative practice replace a commonsensically literal approach to the sacred text. (Mark A. Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis [The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era], Kindle Edition. Kindle location 645)
Our reading this week belongs to a series of passages in Luke that don’t speak against slavery but assume it is a permanent part of human society. Other passages in Luke include:
Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. (Luke 12:35-38)
And:
For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:27)
This week’s reading normalizes slavery. One of the dangers of readings like the one we’re reading this week is that they normalize for Christians behaviors and societal evils that we should react to with much more concern. They desensitize us to just how evil some things really are. The scriptures also have a long history of normalizing things such as genocide of Indigenous populations, viewing and relating to women as inferior to men, rejecting and even being violent toward LGBTQ people and migrants; they normalize xenophobia, exceptionalism, White supremacy, nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, retribution, and more.
This has helped me make sense much of why certain sectors of Christians today have embraced racist, fascist, authoritarian, and misogynistic elements in our society. Christians I have known all my life have embraced things over the last decade that have left me wondering if I really ever knew them. Things that should have been deal-breakers were instead glossed over, mitigated, or explained away. This makes sense because if a Christian’s picture of God includes some of these evils and encourages relating to humanity through an aggressive, destructive, us-versus-them paradigm, then these evils become normalized and fail to evoke the repulsion they should. These evils are accepted as part of the moral fiber of a loving God when they should be a huge red flag instead. If these aren’t a deal-breaker for God, they aren’t going to be deal-breakers for political leaders. This has desensitized a whole sector of Christianity to go along with a host of social evils rather than strenuously opposing them as harmful, horrendous, and destructive of vulnerable people. Beyond that, our own bigotries and prejudices can confirm us in normalizing destructive behaviors and worldviews.
However we hold, read, view, or interpret our sacred texts, we must do so in life-giving ways with a diverse community of others who experience life on this planet differently from us. This enables us to experience how others hear certain passages. It enables us become aware of the harm certain interpretations permit certian people to commit. And it offers us the opportunity to humbly listen to those unlike ourselves, believe their lived experience, and choose the kind of human being we want to be.
On the subject of slavery, I’m thankful that certain Bible authors did see the evils of slavery and sought to move their audiences away from it. As much as I critique the gospel of John over its focus on the afterlife rather than this life, it does get some things right. It focuses its audience on love toward one another, and love is the root of justice. It affirms the equality of women and other communities marginalized within Christianity at that time. And it subtly betrays the evil of slavery when John’s Jesus speaks to his disciples:
“I do not call you slaves any longer, because the slave does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends . . .” (John 15:15)
It’s still a far cry from a robust rejection of slavery. But the fact that Jesus refused to relate to his disciples as slaves in John, whereas in Luke, he tells disciples to say “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”, sows a seed in the hearts of John’s listeners that could germinate and grow into questions about the institution of slavery itself.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What other things do you feel certain sectors of Christianity have normalized which should be societally rejected? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
Season 3, Episode 27: Luke 17:5-10, Lectionary C, Proper 22
Just Talking is a weekly conversation centered on the upcoming weekend’s Gospel lectionary reading. Each discussion explores the text through the lenses of love, inclusion, and social justice.
Our hope is that these conversations will be more than just talking—they’ll be just talking, rooted in justice. And maybe, they’ll inspire you to go beyond just talking and into action.
Whether you preach from the lectionary or are simply curious about the Jesus story from a more progressive, justice-oriented perspective, we invite you to join us.
Herb Montgomery is speaker/director of Renewed Heart Ministries.
This week’s special guest is Alicia Johnston.
Watch at:
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 40: The Christian Normalization of Social Evils
Luke 17:5-10
“One of the dangers of readings like the one we’re reading this week is that they normalize for Christians behaviors and societal evils that we should react to with much more concern. They desensitize us to just how evil some things really are. This helps us make sense much of why certain sectors of Christians today have embraced racist, fascist, authoritarian, and misogynistic elements in our society. Christians I have known all my life have embraced things over the last decade that have left me wondering if I really ever knew them. Things that should have been deal-breakers were instead glossed over, mitigated, or explained away. However we hold, read, view, or interpret our sacred texts, we must do so in life-giving ways within a diverse community of others who experience life on this planet differently than ourselves.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-christian-normalization-of-social-evils
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
The Rich Man, Lazarus and Justice
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Image created by Canva
The Rich Man, Lazarus and Justice
Herb Montgomery | September 26, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:19-31)
There are three narrative elements that are inescapable about Jesus in this week’s reading. First, the Jesus of Luke’s gospel was a theist, not an atheist. While I believe atheists can follow Jesus’ ethics and values (see here), the Jesus of the story believed in and taught the existence of God. Second, the Jesus of this story often refers to an afterlife. Humanists who do not believe in another life beyond this one can still embrace and promote the ethics in the Jesus story such as the golden rule, nonviolence, and economic justice. The Jesus in the story spoke of things such as laying up “treasure in heaven,” being rewarded at the “resurrection of the righteous,” and the meek “inheriting the earth.” After all, Jesus was a 1st Century Jewish man who lived in a world where these ideas and beliefs were overwhelmingly prevalent. This was the prevalent metaphysical worldview, the water that they swam in. And third, the Jesus of these stories spoke of being rewarded in that afterlife for following his “kingdom” teachings on how we relate to one another now. He spoke of both an intrinsic reward in the present life for the choices we make and another reward in the “age to come” for those who followed his teachings. This week touches on one of those occurrences: the story of the rich man and Lazarus.
This story uses the then-popular belief that the afterlife would include a great reversal. Many teachers used the great reversal trope to value spiritual pursuits in the present, like contrasting the poor scholar of the Torah and rich publican (see J. Jeremias, Parables p. 183). Luke’s Jesus makes his story less a contrast between a scholar and a tax collector and more a universal story of the poor and the rich. The poor don’t have to be Torah scholars to be deserving or for Jesus to critique the economic injustice of Luke’s time.
There are so many little details in this story that have literary importance. In a world where people would have known the names of rich people while poor people would have only been the nameless masses, Luke’s Jesus leaves his rich man nameless but humanizes the poor man by naming him Lazarus. Lazarus is immortalized in the story, and that would have cut across the grain of expectations of the time.
Some details of this story also offer a powerful message about economic justice, critiquing wealth inequality and wealthy people’s immoral disregard of the poor. In the story, the rich man lives in luxury, ignoring Lazarus, a poor man who suffers at his gate. When they die, their fortunes are reversed: Lazarus is comforted in “Abraham’s bosom,” while the rich man is tormented in Hades, another popular Hellenistic idea of what the afterlife might be like when this story was written.
The reversal of Lazarus and the rich man underscores the rich man’s moral failure and indifference. Lazarus wasn’t far away; he was at the rich man’s doorstep. Yet the rich man did nothing to ease his suffering. Over and over again, Jesus’ kingdom teachings taught that when his listeners had more than they needed, their call was to share that surplus with those whose daily needs were going unmet. The parable highlights the grave tragedy of having the ability to ease others’ suffering and instead choosing to ignoring the needs of others. Imagine that the five richest people on the planet could end world hunger forever, and each night they go to bed not doing it.
The story is a call for economic justice. For Jesus, inherently instrinsic to wealth was the responsibility of making sure that very wealth was redistributed more equitably. “Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys” (Luke 12:33). Our reading this week challenges a worldview where people see prosperity as a sign of divine favor, and reminds readers that material comfort can blind them to the suffering around them. The parable also posits that posthumous regret in whatever afterlife there may be comes too late. That regret won’t undo the harm caused by economic apathy. The time to act is today.
In today’s world, where extreme poverty and wealth coexist, this story remains deeply relevant. It calls on individuals and societies to recognize the humanity of the poor, act with compassion, and build systems that reduce inequality—not just out of charity, but out of justice.
Future reversals of reward or punishment in an afterlife can be a strong motivation. I would rather live by a different motivation though. We can choose to be motivated to do the right thing by a deep belief in the value, dignity, and potential of every human being. Unlike moral systems based on afterlife consequences, we can consider the consequences of our actions in this life and choose to ground our ethics in reason, empathy, and a commitment to human welfare. We can choose to improve the conditions of those around us whose needs are not yet being met.
One of the strongest motivations beyond self-concern and afterlife threats is empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. When we see suffering, we can choose to allow ourselves to be moved not by religious obligation or fear of post mortem punishment, but by a genuine desire to alleviate pain and promote the well-being of those who are suffering now. If we let it, this emotional connection to others can drive us to act with kindness and integrity in this life.
Reason and critical thinking also play a part and are not always easy. Ethical decisions have to be based on evidence, and while reason should be rooted in empathy, it also involves carefully considering the consequences of various options. Doing the right thing often means weighing competing interests and making choices that lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people. An ethical approach rooted in empathy encourages us to be fair to all who are involved and discourages selfish individualism.
We humans are responsible for each other, here, now, in this life. Whether we appeal to a higher power, an afterlife reversal, or post mortem punishments and rewards, the reality that we all can attest to is that we are accountable for the kind of world each of us helps to shape and create. The question is not what do we want to experience in the afterlife. It’s what kind of world do we want to live in, in this life! We can choose to act ethically if we believe that it is up to us to solve problems like poverty, injustice, and discrimination.
And ultimately this is what it means to live meaningful lives in the present. Doing the right thing contributes to a sense of purpose and personal integrity today. Caring for others and taking responsibility for making sure those around us also have what they need to thrive helps to build a society where we can all flourish through cooperation and a sense of our shared humanity. We are all connected. We are all part of one another.
Lastly, we can choose to do the right thing simply because we care. That is the question: not do we care about whether we will experience reward or punishment in an afterlife, but what kind of human do we want to be now. Do we care about others? Do we care about this world we share together, our home? Is only making sure that we are okay but not being concerned about whether others are too the kind of humans we want to be? How we answer these questions makes all the difference, not for a post mortem reversal, but right now, today.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways do you wish our present economic system took better care of the poor? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
Season 3, Episode 27: Luke 16:19-31, Lectionary C, Proper 21
Just Talking is a weekly conversation centered on the upcoming weekend’s Gospel lectionary reading. Each discussion explores the text through the lenses of love, inclusion, and social justice.
Our hope is that these conversations will be more than just talking—they’ll be just talking, rooted in justice. And maybe, they’ll inspire you to go beyond just talking and into action.
Whether you preach from the lectionary or are simply curious about the Jesus story from a more progressive, justice-oriented perspective, we invite you to join us.
Herb Montgomery is speaker/director of Renewed Heart Ministries.
This week’s special guest is Alicia Johnston.
Watch at:
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 39: The Rich Man, Lazarus and Justice
Luke 16:19-31
“Future reversals of reward or punishment in an afterlife can be a strong motivation. I would rather live by a different motivation though. We can choose to be motivated to do the right thing by a deep belief in the value, dignity, and potential of every human being. Unlike moral systems based on afterlife consequences, we can consider the consequences of our actions in this life and choose to ground our ethics in reason, empathy, and a commitment to human welfare. We can choose to improve the conditions of those around us whose needs are not yet being met. One of the strongest motivations beyond self-concern and afterlife threats is empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. When we see suffering, we can choose to allow ourselves to be moved not by religious obligation or fear of post mortem punishment, but by a genuine desire to alleviate pain and promote the well-being of those who are suffering now. If we let it, this emotional connection to others can drive us to act with kindness and integrity in this life.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-rich-man-lazarus-and-justice
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Image created by Canva
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
Herb Montgomery | September 19, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, /‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, a who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:1-13)
Our story this week is one that scholars have offered multiple interpretations of. They have spiritualized the story, taken it literally, and sought to apply the story to our context today, but most interpretation give me the feeling that something is being left on the table. One interpretation I find most convincing is by William Herzog in his classic book, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Herzog looks at various parables from the gospels through the lens of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s work Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
With this lens, let’s begin with the context that the manager in this story would have found himself in. Losing his position as a steward and becoming a day laborer means he had fallen from the class of valued a into the ranks of the expendable poor. With only his physical strength to offer, the former steward would stand little chance against seasoned peasants or the surplus sons of village craftsmen who had long been part of the laboring class. Used to regular meals, he will also struggle with an inconsistent food supply and bouts of hunger. As his strength fades, he will eventually be reduced to begging and, like countless others, die from malnutrition and illness. His dismissal from his job as a steward isn’t a result of refusing honest work; it’s effectively a death sentence (see William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 347).
So the manager comes up with a creative solution:
“The rich man expects that the steward will take his honest graft, but he does not care as long as the steward does his job, produces the expected profits, and keeps the peasants under control. The steward always has to balance his greed against its consequences. He will do well, but he cannot become conspicuous in his consumption. One possible meaning of the verb diaskorpizōn, translated as “wasting,” is “scattering,” or “dispersing”. . .Thus the steward may have indulged in forms of status display and conspicuous consumption inappropriate to his social standing. If he had been accumulating too much and spending it in ways that caused a stir, he could have set himself up for his fall. To engage in this behavior is to dishonor his patron by taking advantage of his position and competing with the master rather than acknowledging his own subservient and dependent position.” (William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 361)
So what the manager decides to do is adjust the debts of those indebted to his patron and subtractwhatever amount was accounted for his own graft, the manager’s profit. The manager is using what Herzog refers to as the weapons of the weak: Peasant resistance and revolt could also take everyday forms such as dissimulation, false compliance, looting, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage and more. Because one class is virtually powerless, they have to find ways of resisting their oppressors that don’t subject them to the dangers of open revolt. This is what we see happening in our reading this week: The manager is exposing the system and betraying the graft built into the system.
“He reduces the contracts held by the debtors. Assuming a Jewish setting, the reductions represent the difference between the ostensible value of the contract and the hidden interest contained in it. The hidden interest on oil is 50 percent because oil is a commodity susceptible to adulteration and therefore less secure. The interest rate on wheat is lower (20 percent) because the commodity is easier to assess.” (William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 366)
The indebted merchants begin to talk among themselves and realized the advantage they’ve gained, something the steward likely claimed credit for. By agreeing to the reduced contracts, they’ve put themselves in the steward’s debt and will owe him a favor in return. In public, however, they will only express gratitude and admiration to their noble and generous patron. When they do, the patron faces a choice: he can accept their praise and keep the steward in his position with the newly negotiated amounts, or he can reject the revised agreements and turn the steward into a martyr.
With these moves, the steward reminds the master of his skill. He is responsible for the master’s accumulation of wealth. I’m not convinced that giving the steward temporary housing is the real goal here. It would only have been a temporary solution. What the steward is aiming for is to preserve his position. To preserve his social status, the master needs a steward who is willing to engage in these kinds of practices, and the steward has done that. Whatever faults he may have, he’s not lazy about looking after the master’s concerns. By his actions, therefore, the steward reminds the master of his value (see William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 369).
The author of Luke’s gospel takes this story from Jesus and applies another narrative lesson: “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Again, I’m not convinced that housing was the steward’s goal in the story, butI can see how it could have been the point of Luke’s gospel. Using wealth created by taking “necessities from the masses to give luxury to the classes” and then using that wealth to create relationships for the kingdom would fit the tactics of the early Jesus movement. This is one of the central themes of the book of Luke as well as its companion book of Acts:
Sell your possessions, and give them to the poor. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:33-34)
All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44-45)
There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:34-35)
The early Jesus movement built community through what was called ‘dishonest wealth.’ It was about forging bonds through shared resources and mutual aid. Even now, this parable whispers through time, urging us to transform the riches of the few into a wealth shared by all, to redistribute wealth not to the few, but for the good of all, and to create a robust common wealth rooted in compassionate, empathetic care for everyone’s needs.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What “tools of the powerless” do you use in your own justice work today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
Season 3, Episode 26: Luke 16:1-13, Lectionary C, Proper 20
Just Talking is a weekly conversation centered on the upcoming weekend’s Gospel lectionary reading. Each discussion explores the text through the lenses of love, inclusion, and social justice.
Our hope is that these conversations will be more than just talking—they’ll be just talking, rooted in justice. And maybe, they’ll inspire you to go beyond just talking and into action.
Whether you preach from the lectionary or are simply curious about the Jesus story from a more progressive, justice-oriented perspective, we invite you to join us.
Herb Montgomery is speaker/director of Renewed Heart Ministries.
This week’s special guest is Alicia Johnston.
Watch at:
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 38: The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
Luke 16:1-13
“Our story this week is one that scholars have offered multiple interpretations of. They have spiritualized the story, taken it literally, and sought to apply the story to our context today, but most interpretation give me the feeling that something is being left on the table. One interpretation I find most convincing is by William Herzog in his classic book, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Herzog looks at various parables from the gospels through the lens of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The early Jesus movement built community through what was called ‘dishonest wealth.’ It was about forging bonds through shared resources and mutual aid. Even now, this parable whispers through time, urging us to transform the riches of the few into a wealth shared by all, to redistribute wealth not to the few, but for the good of all, and to create a robust common wealth rooted in compassionate, empathetic care for everyone’s needs.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-parable-of-the-dishonest-manager
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Sheep, Coins, and a Preferential Option for the Marginalized
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you'd like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and click on "Donate.”
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Sheep, Coins, and a Preferential Option for the Marginalized
Herb Montgomery | September 12, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:1-10)
The imagery in the first part of our reading this week is found in both the canonical gospel of Matthew and the non-canonical gospel of Thomas. The lost coin image is unique to Luke.
In Matthew’s gospel we read:
If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. (Matthew 18:12-14)
In Thomas, we find a little different flavor:
Jesus said, “The kingdom can be compared to a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. The largest one strayed. He left the ninety-nine and looked for that one until he found it. Having gone through the trouble, he said to the sheep: ‘I love you more than the ninety-nine.’” (Gospel of Thomas 107:1-3)
In Matthew’s gospel, this imagery answers the question “Who is the greatest” in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew’s Jesus centers one of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in his society, children, and then tells the story of a lost sheep.
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells a slightly different story. Luke uses this story to justify Jesus’ fellowship with those whom the powerful, propertied, and privileged felt were inferior: tax collectors and others labelled sinners.
The term “sinner” is used quite differently in the gospel stories than in Paul’s epistles. I grew up in a very Pauline-flavored expression of the Christian faith. It was drilled into me that we are all, without exception, sinners. But in the gospels, the term “sinner” is not universal but used by those in positions of power and privilege to define someone else as living outside their interpretations of Torah, as outside of the covenantal community’s moral expectations, or simply as their moral inferior. In certain cases, the person was simply someone who disagreed with how Torah was being interpreted in a specific situation. The term was used to label, define and then marginalize others. In many cases, innocent people were being labelled as sinners while those in power, who were exploiting the poor and marginalized and were therefore the real sinners in the story, were deemed righteous, holy, or morally superior.
Using religion and claims of moral superiority to exclude people is, I believe, a misuse of both religious beliefs and ethical principles. At its core, most religions teach compassion, humility, and acceptance, yet individuals and institutions sometimes distort these teachings to justify exclusion. Just like in our story this week, by positioning oneself as morally superior, people succeed in creating an “us vs. them” dynamic, labeling others as sinful, impure, or unworthy. This approach fosters judgment and exclusion rather than an openness to understanding and perceiving our world from different perspectives. It fosters a conformity aligned with power. It then enables discrimination under the guise of righteousness. Such behavior can lead to the marginalization of those who are different, whether those differences are due to race, sexuality, gender, or a difference of belief, all while absolving the perpetrators of responsibility. In fact, it often makes the perpetrators look more holy because they are mistaken as standing up for morality. Ultimately, using religion as a tool for exclusion betrays the inclusive and compassionate values many faiths promote. True moral strength lies in empathy, not in self-righteous condemnation or the gatekeeping of worthiness based on personal biases or prejudices cloaked in religious justification.
In context, the lost sheep story that Jesus tells in Luke’s gospel sparks curiosity about the value of the people whom those in power were pushing to the edges of their world. In a language most of the wealthy elites would understand (livestock then equalled net worth), Jesus taught the value going in search of a lost sheep. In Thomas’ gospel, the lost sheep was also the fattest sheep. While yes, the other sheep had value, in that moment, they were not in danger. The one sheep was. To insist that the other sheep mattered too would dismiss the systemic harm committed against the marginalized people Jesus was identifying with, ignore the specific struggles of those living on the edges of their society and undermine Jesus’ calls for justice for the “least of these.”
We experience this social phenomenon any time we focus on one specific sector of our diverse society because of systemic harm being done to them. In that moment, the one “lost sheep” is the focus because of their need. One example is the “All Lives Matter” response to calls for racial equality.
The phrase “All Lives Matter” emerged to counter the Black Lives Matter movement, which advocates for justice and equality for Black people facing systemic racism and violence. While the assertion “all lives matter” is fundamentally true, its use in this context often serves to undermine and dismiss the specific struggles Black and marginalized communities face. The response fails to recognize the unique historical and social contexts that contribute to these groups’ disproportionate suffering.
The fallacy of focusing on the 99 sheep rather than the 1 sheep that is in danger can be understood through the lens of selective attention to issues of inequality. When individuals assert that all lives matter in response to calls for justice for a specific group, they divert attention away from the systemic inequalities that make those justice movements necessary to begin with. It is akin to saying, “All houses matter” when a particular house is on fire; it ignores the urgent need for intervention in a specific instance of crisis. As a result, it perpetuates a status quo that keeps certain injustices unaddressed.
In contrast, and in harmony with this week’s parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, liberation theologies offer frameworks that prioritize the needs of marginalized communities. Rooted in Christian teachings, liberation theologies emphasize the preferential option for communities that are marginalized and oppressed. These theological perspectives assert that God’s love and justice are particularly directed toward those who are suffering due to social, economic, and political injustices. Rather than adopting a universalist stance that diminishes the unique experiences of marginalized groups, liberation theologies call for a focused commitment to those who have historically been or are presently being silenced and oppressed.
The preferential option for the marginalized acknowledges that while all lives are inherently valuable, those who have been subjected to systemic injustice require special attention and immediate, focused advocacy. This approach is not about elevating one group over another but about recognizing disparities and actively working to change them. We are called to solidarity with those who are suffering and to demand justice in light of their specific circumstances.
The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in our reading this week both challenge the notion that social justice can be achieved without addressing the root causes of oppression and focusing on communities who suffer harm from inequities. Jesus’ teachings here call us to to confront the structures that perpetuate inequality, advocating for systemic change for people being harmed now rather than mere charity or superficial solutions. This way of reading the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin align with principles of social justice: true equality cannot exist without addressing the historical injustices against specific communities that have led to disparities.
Focusing on the ninety-nine sheep that need no rescue and saying “they matter too” neglects the importance of context and the specific struggles that the specific communities represented by the sheep or coin in our reading face. Universal approaches to the gospel often oversimplify the realities of systemic oppression and what certain communities uniquely need. In contrast, the lens of a preferential option for the marginalized (temporarily focusing on the lost sheep or the lost coin rather than the rest) provides a nuanced understanding that prioritizes those who are suffering. True justice for all requires acknowledging injustice that may be only affecting certain communities, and focusing on those being harmed acknowledges that injustice to any is a threat to injustice to all.
Our society can work toward a more equitable and just world where the dignity and worth of every individual are upheld. At times, the ninety-nine must be left, and the other nine coins not focused on. In order to restore the whole, our parables call us to practice a preferential option for certain ones: the one sheep, the one coin. And when that which threatens the “ones” has been corrected, the rest will be brought back into the narrative.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways do you practice a preferential option for the marginalized in your own life? Share and discuss with your goup.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking.
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
Season 3, Episode 25: Luke 15:1-10, Lectionary C, Proper 19
Just Talking is a weekly conversation centered on the upcoming weekend’s Gospel lectionary reading. Each discussion explores the text through the lenses of love, inclusion, and social justice.
Our hope is that these conversations will be more than just talking—they’ll be just talking, rooted in justice. And maybe, they’ll inspire you to go beyond just talking and into action.
Whether you preach from the lectionary or are simply curious about the Jesus story from a more progressive, justice-oriented perspective, we invite you to join us.
Herb Montgomery is speaker/director of Renewed Heart Ministries.
This week’s special guest is Alicia Johnston.
Watch at:
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 37: Sheep, Coins, and a Preferential Option for the Marginalized
Luke 15:1-10
“The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in our reading this week both challenge the notion that social justice can be achieved without addressing the root causes of oppression and focusing on communities who suffer harm from inequities. Jesus’ teachings here call us to to confront the structures that perpetuate inequality, advocating for systemic change for people being harmed now rather than mere charity or superficial solutions. This way of reading the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin align with principles of social justice: true equality cannot exist without addressing the historical injustices against specific communities that have led to disparities. Focusing on the ninety-nine sheep that need no rescue and saying “they matter too” neglects the importance of context and the specific struggles that the specific communities represented by the sheep or coin in our reading face. Universal approaches to the gospel often oversimplify the realities of systemic oppression and what certain communities uniquely need. In contrast, the lens of a preferential option for the marginalized (temporarily focusing on the lost sheep or the lost coin rather than the rest) provides a nuanced understanding that prioritizes those who are suffering. True justice for all requires acknowledging injustice that may be only affecting certain communities, and focusing on those being harmed acknowledges that injustice to any is a threat to injustice to all.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Hating One’s Family
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Image created by Canva
Hating One’s Family
Herb Montgomery | September 6, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” (Luke 14:25-33)
In my opinion, we would be hard-pressed to find a more dangerous passage in the gospels than the passage we’re reading this week. This passage has been used repeatedly to incite families to reject family members over religious differences. Someone in the family is an atheist? Shun them. Someone in the family believes differently? Label them as the bad apple. And God forbid, a child in an evangelical family realizes they are gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual? LGBTQ children in Christian families often face insurmountable challenges, particularly when their identities conflict with their family’s traditional religious beliefs. Many Christian faith communities subscribe to heteronormative values, heteronormative ways to interpret scriptures, and a heteronormative lens through which they navigate the world around them. Our reading this week, in this context, has led countless families to condemn and even reject their LGBTQ children. This rejection may come in the form of emotional distancing, forced conversion therapy, or even disowning, and such experiences can have devastating effects on a child’s mental health and lead to increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicide. For LGBTQ youth, acceptance at home is crucial. When families choose love over exclusion, they create safe environments where their children can thrive, both in identity and faith. But when families choose to read this week’s passage in a way that affirms their biases and phobias, this passage becomes dangerous.
I have experience with what I’m writing about this week. My own extended family has led group actions against me in my faith community because they view my alliance with LGBTQ folks as heretical.
But Luke’s context is not choosing one’s religion or faith over loving and affirming a family member. The context is choosing justice and inclusion even when your privileged family rejects you for doing so. This passage is about times when standing up for those being rejected and shunned causes division from those who reject and shun others:
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law . . . ” (Luke 12:49-56, NRSV)
These verses describe division but it’s the kind of division caused when someone is standing up for the vulnerable and marginalized and receive negative pushback as a result. The passage encourages standing up for justice, compassion and the wellbeing of all, even if that brings you into conflict with others you have a relationship with, and even if that relationship is family. (For more, read When Justice Means Division.)
Combine this lesson with the other theme in Luke’s gospel: that family means something very different in Jesus’ society than it has come to mean in ours. Long before our hyper-individualistic, self-reliant form of capitalism, Jesus’ society had an economic system that revolved around the family. This is one reason why widows and fatherless children were so vulnerable to harm: in a patriarchal system, their economic survival depended on them being part of a family and the mutual resource sharing that their family represented (see Lamentations 5:3 and Caring for Those Outside the Tribe).
Luke 14 isn’t about hating family as we think about family today. It is about economics. Jesus wasn’t against family, but was critiquing the economic system of his day. Jesus called his followers away from the family-based economic system that harmed widows and fatherless children who had lost their patriarch, and pointed them to a community-based economic system rooted in access and acceptance, one where social safety nets took care of all in need whether they were family or not. In our passage this week, Jesus is calling his listeners to value their commitment to justice, inclusion, and equity above their commitment to their system of economic survival through family.
In Ched Myers’ book Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, Myers writes, “Among members of a family, goods and services were freely given (full reciprocity)” (p. 48). Members of a clan or family would often give each other help, care, and gifts, but they also balanced giving with receiving. Members balanced reciprocity: receiving help and being expected to serve the family’s needs as well. In our reading this week, Jesus is calling his audience to stand with justice even when that stance potentially jeopardizes their connection to a family that is powerful, propertied, and privileged.
What I wish our reading this week did not include is the word “hate.” Jesus declares, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” At first glance, this statement is shocking and appears contradictory to Jesus’ message of love and parental honor. However, many Biblical scholars and theologians interpret the phrase not as a literal command to hate, but as a Semitic expression of comparison.
In the cultural and linguistic context of the time, the word “hate” was often used hyperbolically to emphasize preference or priority, not emotional hostility. Jesus is making a radical claim: that loyalty to social justice must come before all other allegiances including the closest of human relationships, especially if those relationships offer us a level of privilege. It’s a call to total commitment where discipleship demands putting justice, love, compassion, and equity above every other cherished bond.
This teaching reflects the high cost of following Jesus’ vision for a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone in a world opposed to such. Jesus often warned that discipleship would divide families (cf. Luke 12:49-59), not because of hatred, but because devotion to him and his vision of a just society could lead to social and relational conflict. The “hatred” that Jesus references is therefore symbolic: it represents willingness to forsake all for the sake of the gospel.
Ultimately, the phrase challenges those on the side of justice to evaluate their priorities and confront the cost of true discipleship. It is not about rejecting family, but radically reordering love and loyalty and making justice, equity, compassion, and safety for all the supreme focus. In this light, the phrase becomes a powerful statement of commitment to a more just world in the face of potential rejection by a family upon whom our survival depends. It’s not a statement of cruelty or a call to reject family members if they don’t align with our religious beliefs. This difference may seem subtle, but it makes a world of difference in the work of justice.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways have you chosen to prioritize justice in your own life? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
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My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
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You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking.
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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 36: Hating One’s Family
Luke 14:25-33
“Luke’s context is not choosing one’s religion or faith over loving and affirming a family member. The context is choosing justice and inclusion even when your privileged family rejects you for doing so. This passage is about times when standing up for those being rejected and shunned causes division from those who reject and shun others. Jesus often warned that discipleship would divide families (cf. Luke 12:49-59), not because of hatred, but because devotion to him and his vision of a just society could lead to social and relational conflict. The “hatred” that Jesus references is therefore symbolic: it represents willingness to forsake all for the sake of a more just, present world. Ultimately, the phrase challenges those on the side of justice to evaluate their priorities and confront the cost of true discipleship. It is not about rejecting family, but radically reordering love and loyalty and making justice, equity, compassion, and safety for all the supreme focus. In this light, this hyperbolic phrase becomes a powerful statement of commitment to a more just world in the face of potential rejection by a family upon whom our survival depends. It’s not a statement of cruelty or a call to reject family members if they don’t align with our religious beliefs. This difference may seem subtle, but it makes a world of difference in the work of justice.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/hating-ones-family
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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