Spirit Archives - Renewed Heart Ministries

Spirit, Love, Justice and Truth

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Herb Montgomery

We want to take this moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of our supporters for your support of Renewed Heart Ministry’s work of love, justice, and compassion. At a time when ministries like ours are being asked to achieve more with fewer resources, your support is so deeply appreciated, and we want to simply say thank you. Whether in our larger society or within our local faith communities, Renewed Heart Ministries remains committed to advocating for change, working towards a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for everyone, and being a source of love. From all of us here at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you for your generous support. We deeply appreciate you.

If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”

Photo credit: Scott, Lorenzo. Baptism of Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition

Spirit, Love, Justice and Truth

Herb Montgomery, January 10, 2025

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Happy New Year!

Our reading this first weekend after Epiphany is from the gospel of Luke:

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire . . . When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, NIV)

We covered the first part of this reading during this most recent Advent season. I think the last part of it has a special insight for us as we consider what lies ahead in 2025.

The language in this last portion is rooted in two passages from the Hebrew scriptures, one in the book of Psalms and the other in Isaiah.

I will proclaim the LORD’S decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;

today I have become your father. (Psalms 2:7, NIV)

The rest of Psalms 2 is abysmally violent and nationalistic. But as the author connects Jesus to this psalm, they don’t only challenge the Roman claim that Caesar was the son of God, they also tie Jesus to David and the people’s contemporary hopes for their own liberation and restoration.

In Isaiah we read:

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will bring justice to the nations . . .

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.” (Isaiah 42:1, 3-4, NIV)

As we begin a new year, it’s good to remind ourselves what following Jesus, that Galilean prophet of the poor ministering on the edges of his own society, should be all about. At the core of his message, the heart of Christianity, is the call to love our neighbor. And loving one’s neighbor is what we call today social justice: making sure we and all of our neighbors have what they need to thrive, not just barely survive. Dedication and commitment to the ethic of loving our neighbor will, if consistently applied, ultimately bring “justice on earth.” It would take participation from everyone, but that is the ultimate goal: establishing justice here.

Social justice is rooted in love, specifically love of one’s neighbor. It calls us to engage our civic responsibility toward one another. It calls us to take inventory of how we are sharing space with others we live alongside with on our planet.

In Isaiah, “my chosen one in whom I delight” will establish justice on Earth as the fruit of the Spirit. In our reading, that Spirit descends in the bodily form of a dove, which many today take as the symbol of peace arrived at because universal distributive justice has been established. There is an interesting passage from the apocryphal book of the Wisdom of Solomon describing the Spirit/Wisdom and its result:

“She renews all things;

in every generation she passes into holy souls

and makes them friends of God, and prophets;”

(Wisdom of Solomon 7:27, NRSV, italics added.)

Wisdom makes those on whom her Spirit rests both friends of God and prophets. So many prophetic voices throughout the centuries have called for justice. Let’s consider a sample from the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition. Look at how many times justice toward one another is the theme:

Justice and the Prophets

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the LORD Almighty

will accomplish this.

Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Isaiah 16:5 In love a throne will be established;

in faithfulness a man will sit on it—

one from the house of David—

one who in judging seeks justice

and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Isaiah 28:6 He will be a spirit of justice

to the one who sits in judgment,

a source of strength

to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

Isaiah 28:17 I will make justice the measuring line

and righteousness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,

and water will overflow your hiding place.

Isaiah 30:18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the LORD is a God of justice.

Isaiah 32:1 See, a king will reign in righteousness

and rulers will rule with justice.

Isaiah 51:4,5 “Listen to me, my people;

hear me, my nation:

Instruction will go out from me;

my justice will become a light to the nations.

My righteousness draws near speedily,

my salvation is on the way,

and my arm will bring justice to the nations.

Jeremiah 9:24 But let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”

declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 21:12 This is what the LORD says to you, house of David:

“‘Administer justice every morning;

rescue from the hand of the oppressor

the one who has been robbed,

or my wrath will break out and burn like fire

because of the evil you have done—

burn with no one to quench it.

Note that the end of this passage from Jeremiah sounds a lot like John the Baptist from the first portion of this week’s reading.]

Ezekiel 34:16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Hosea 2:19 I will betroth you to me forever;

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

in love and compassion.

Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good;

maintain justice in the courts.

Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy

on the remnant of Joseph.

Amos 5:24 But let justice roll on like a river,

righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Micah 3:1 Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders of Jacob,

you rulers of Israel.

Should you not embrace justice,

Micah 3:8 But as for me, I am filled with power,

with the Spirit of the LORD,

and with justice and might,

Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

Malachi 3:5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify . . . against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.

This is the tradition in which both John and Jesus ministered, applying the themes to the situational injustices of their day. We are called to work for justice in our contexts in the same way.

The Justice of the Prophets in Our Context Today

Our sacred texts sometimes spell out how to apply love of neighbor in practice:

It means practicing justice toward migrants:

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 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 19:33-34)

Loving our neighbor as ourself means loving even the “foreigner” as a “native-born,” and loving them, too, as ourselves.

It means practicing justice toward the poor:

Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,

but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

It means practicing justice toward the young;

Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

It means practicing justice toward the elderly:

Psalms 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.

It means practicing justice toward those who live with disabilities.

Leviticus 19:14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.

It means practicing labor justice:

James 5:4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

In our context today we could expand to include new areas of justice work: environmental justice, gender equity and justice, racial equity and justice, LGBTQ equity and justice, and more!

Justice is also deeply tied to truth-telling. It is difficult to practice justice as a society when we don’t share the same reality, and when some have been misinformed and convinced through appeals to their own bigotries and fears that the reality is different from what is genuinely happening. One passage that gave me chills this week as I wrote this article is from Isaiah 59:

Isaiah 59:14,15: So justice is driven back,

and righteousness stands at a distance;

truth has stumbled in the streets,

honesty cannot enter.

Truth is nowhere to be found,

and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The LORD looked and was displeased

that there was no justice.

This year in 2025, however we choose to be a Jesus follower, may we express truth-telling, love and justice for our neighbor, both foreign and domestic. May we renew our commitments to each other and our dedication to taking responsibility to ensure that not just us but also everyone around us has what they need to thrive. This year, more than any other in recent history, it is vital to keep our hand to the plow, continuing the work despite new obstacles of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone.

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 renewing your committment to the work of establishing justice on the earth in 2025? 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 X (or Twitter), 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.

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 2, Episode 42: Luke 3.15-17, 21-22. Lectionary C, Epiphany 1

Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend 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 we’ll be inspired to 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 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 2: Spirit, Love, Justice and Truth

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

“Establishing justice on Earth is the result of the Spirit. In our reading, that Spirit descends in the bodily form of a dove, which many today take as the symbol of peace arrived at because universal distributive justice has been established. At the core of Jesus’ message, the heart of Christianity, is the call to love our neighbor. And loving one’s neighbor is what we call today social justice: making sure we and all of our neighbors have what they need to thrive, not just barely survive. Social justice is rooted in love, specifically love of one’s neighbor. It calls us to engage our civic responsibility toward one another. It calls us to take inventory of how we are sharing space with others we live alongside with on our planet. Justice is also deeply tied to truth-telling. It is difficult to practice justice as a society when we don’t share the same reality, and when some have been misinformed and convinced through appeals to their own bigotries and fears that the reality is different from what is genuinely happening.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/spirit-love-justice-and-truth

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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Category: Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: Baptism, Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Feminism, Immigration Justice, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Love, Racial Justice, Social Justice, Spirit, Truth

Pentecost as Connectedness and Distributive Justice

Posted on May 18, 2024 by Herb Montgomery

Thank You!

A sharp drop in giving is hurting nonprofits everywhere. Religious charities and small nonprofits are suffering the most from a historic dip in philanthropic giving presently in the U.S. We want to take this moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of our supporters for your invaluable role in the Renewed Heart Ministry community and for your dedication to our mission of fostering love, justice, compassion, and healing. Your support is the bedrock of our work. Your support empowers us to do what we do. At a time when ministries like ours are being asked to achieve more with fewer resources, your support is incredibly important, and we want to simply say thank you. Whether in our larger society or within our local faith communities, Renewed Heart Ministries remains committed to advocating for change, working towards a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for everyone, and being a source of love in our world. From all of us here at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you for your generous support. We deeply appreciate each and every one of our supporters.

If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”

Herb Montgomery; May 17, 2024

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 two passages in the gospel of John:

When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:26-27)

I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. (John 16:4-15)

This upcoming weekend is Pentecost in the Western Christian calendar, a season that commemorates when the Spirit was poured out on the apostles and Jerusalem church:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)

The subject of the Spirit is vast and was anything but monolithic in the early Jesus movement. For example, in John’s gospel, the Spirit was not poured out after Jesus’ ascension in Jerusalem, but during an post-resurrection appearance in John 20:

Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:21-23)

This moment in John 20 is foreshadowed earlier in John:

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:39)

Why do these passages give a different time for when Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles? There were power struggles in the early church when John’s gospel was written. The narrative that God poured out the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem on those gathered there supported the authority and claims of the Jesus community that honored the apostleship of Peter and James. A gospel that instead stated the Holy Spirit was given to apostles in John 20 by Jesus while he had briefly returned to them post resurrection gave validity to those Jesus communities that honored the apostleship of John, Mary Magdalene, and Thomas alongside Peter and James (though James is not mentioned in the closing chapters of John’s gospel).

Let’s remember that those in the Jesus community of that time did not all have access to the four gospels in a neatly packaged, leather-bound volume like we do today. All four of these gospels may have been known by various communities (Irenaeus later groups the four we have together in his writings), but different communities cherished different gospels. From their own oral traditions, the Johannine community produced and cherished their version of the Jesus story, and today we refer to it as the gospel of John.

In John, the Spirit is referred to as “another advocate.”

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.” (John 14:16, emphasis added)

An advocate is someone who comes alongside someone and pleads their cause with them. Within the Johannine community’s sacred texts Jesus was the advocate with “the Father.”

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 2:1-2)

So in the gospel of John, the spirit was another advocate. The spirit was not an advocate in relation to our sins as a propitiation with God like Jesus (regardless of how we interpret the meaning of those terms today), the Spirit was more an advocate for the community as they related to the larger world.

In John’s narrative, Jewish Jesus followers were being expelled from their synagogues for being Jesus followers. While for John’s community this may be more about their more gnostic way of interpreting Jesus rather than simply being associated with Jesus, this still tracks with how the spirit as an advocate in this context is written of in the other canonical gospels:

“When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13:11)

“When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:19-20)

“So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” (Luke 21:14-15)

“When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:11-12)

In John, the Spirit would remind the Johannine community of what Jesus taught and also reveal further truths that the historical Jesus did not necessarily teach:

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26, emphasis added.)

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” (John 15:26, emphasis added.)

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you . . . I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:7,12-13)

I’m interested in this last role of the Spirit, because it permits the Johannine community to be a Jesus-following community while building in ways the historical Jesus may not have intended. This laid the foundation for the battle that would soon emerge in the church in defining and defending orthodox beliefs about Jesus from the unorthodox.

Where do these battles leave us today?

One of the fruits of the Spirit (to borrow Paul’s language) in the synoptics is the restoration of social justice. The Spirit being poured out on Jesus and also Jesus followers would manifest itself in deep concern for what others were experiencing because of the shape of their society.Consider how this is expressed in Luke’s gospel:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” (Luke 4:18)

The Spirit bears the fruit of concern for the poor, the imprisoned, the marginalized and vulnerable, and the oppressed. Defining the manifestation of the Spirit this way has deep roots in the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition as well. Consider Isaiah, on which the passage in Luke above is based:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1)

Notice how, in this next passage from Isaiah, the fruit of the Spirit being on God’s servant is restoring justice to the nations:

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1)

The Spirit brings the end of violence, injustice, and oppression, and brings distributive justice where everyone has enough to thrive:

“Till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.” (Isaiah 32:15)

And this brings us full circle back around to Acts’ Pentecost being in harmony with this Jewish prophetic justice tradition. The first manifestation of the Spirit in Acts is the overcoming of language barriers and reconnecting all as members of the same human family. It emphasizes our connectedness, our oneness, and began the process putting our world to right. In the book of Acts, in the immediate wake of Pentecost, Peter invites those witnessing the outpouring of the Spirit on the apostles to also receive the Holy Spirit and once they had received it, to notice how the Spirit demonstrates its presence:

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” . . . Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. (Acts 2:38-45, emphasis added.)

This was in direct response to Jesus’ call to those who had more than they needed to sell their possessions and give to those whose needs were not being met (see Luke 12). Two chapters later we see this distributive justice grow until poverty was eliminated among their Jesus community:

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.” (Acts 4:32-34)

The Spirit didn’t make them more religious, per se. It instead expressed itself in economic justice among those it was poured out on, a distributive justice where everyone took responsibility for making sure their neighbor was taken care of.

What areas of distributive injustice could use the Spirit in our society today? Where in the church or our larger world do we need the spirit’s justice work now? The list for sure is long.

This Pentecost, let’s remember the Spirit’s call to be about making our world a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone.

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. What difference does it make for your own Jesus following to understand working toward social justice as a manifestation of the Spirit? 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.

If you would like to listen to these articles each week in podcast form, you can find The Social Jesus podcast on all major podcast carriers. If you enjoy listening to The Social Jesus Podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if your podcast platform offers this option, consider taking some time to leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.

You can watch our new YouTube show 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 societal 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.

New Episode of JustTalking!

Season 2, Episode 13: John 15.26-27; 16.4b-15. Lectionary B, Pentecost

Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal 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.

You can find the latest show on YouTube at:

or (@herbandtoddjusttalking)

Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment

The Social Jesus Podcast

This week:

Season 1 Episode 6: Pentecost as Connectedness and Distributive Justice

John 15:26-27; 16:4-15; Acts 2:1-4

“In the synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, we see a fruit of the Spirit included the restoration of social justice. In these stories, whether the Spirit is poured out on Jesus or his followers, it is evident in their profound concern for the suffering caused by societal structures.”

Available on all major podcast carriers.

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/pentecost-as-connectedness-and-distributive-justice

Now Available on Audible!

Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

by Herb Montgomery, Narrated by Jeff Moon

Available now on Audible!

After two successful decades of preaching a gospel of love within the Christian faith tradition Herb felt like something was missing. He went back to the gospels and began reading them through the interpretive lenses of various marginalized communities and what he found radically changed his life forever. The teachings of the Jesus in the gospel stories express a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of those in marginalized communities. This book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, and presents a compelling argument for a more socially compassionate and just expression of Christianity. Herb’s findings in his latest book are shared in the hopes that it will dramatically impact how you practice your Christianity, too.

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Category: Esights, Liberation Theology, Social Gospel Tags: Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Feminism, Immigration Justice, Jesus, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Pentecost, Racial Justice, Social Justice, Spirit

Obeying What Jesus Taught

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Herb Montgomery

This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 1, Episode 16: Matthew 28.16-20. Lectionary A, Proper 4, Trinity Sunday

You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/fW1lToP8HQ0

or (@herbandtoddjusttalking)

Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment

Thanks in advance for watching!

Herb Montgomery | June 2, 2023

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

“This is a path where we take responsibility for making sure everyone is taken care of and that each person has enough to thrive. No one has too much while others don’t have enough. It’s a path toward making our world a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone.”

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

Many people refer to our reading this week as the great commission. There are other commission stories in other versions of the Jesus story, in Luke 24:47-48, Acts 1:8, and John 20:22-23, which we’ve read recently. Each commission is unique, and original to each gospel. Each commission also reflects the concerns and situations of the communities for which these gospels were written.

While the Matthean community may have been passionate about spreading Jesus’ ethical teachings and inviting others throughout the entire world to follow them, we must be honest about how this passage has been coopted in Christianity and how Christian complicity with and participation in colonialism that has harmed Indigenous populations around the globe. Christian missions today, when coupled with the economic goals of global capitalism, still do much harm. Historically, Christian missions have served to spread European or Western values, erase Indigenous cultures, and enlarge the territories of Christian empires. So many Indigenous lives hae been negatively impacted or lost. This seems to me to contradict many of the ethics of the Jesus story, ethics like the Golden Rule, loving one’s neighbor as yourself, and sharing resources rather than exploiting them.

This passage in Matthew also seems arrogant. Let me explain. I understand why the disciples thought the teachings of Jesus had changed their lives for the better. I also understand how Jesus and his teachings represented something beautifully novel to them, something that had impacted their own lives in immeasurably positive ways. This excitement can easily translate into feeling like you have something to share with everyone else and assuming they don’t know what you have just learned.

But my guess is that if the Matthean community had been humble enough to listen to others, they would have soon discovered that Jesus’ teachings contained universal truths that other communities outside of Galilean Judaism already also practiced. The disciples’ feelings of exceptionalism, possibly influenced by the exceptionalism found in some sectors of their own tradition, were compounded by their feelings of exceptionalism from being a follower of Jesus.

To be clear, Jesus’ teachings were good news! The ethics and values in the Jesus story had the potential to change the world of others in the same positive way they had changed the disciples. It just seems to me that Jesus’ story can encourage us to listen and learn from others rather than first show up in their worlds to teach them something. Change is a two way street, and those we meet, share with, and listen to leave us forever changed as well.

As a Jesus follower, I often bump into wisdom in other traditions that I feel resonance with. What has moved me about Jesus resonates with the wisdom I find already present in the lives of others. Sometimes their wisdom challenges me to rethink my own ways of considering our world. Sometimes it confirms wisdom I already possessed. And sometimes, I have something to give to them. But it is an exchange of ideas, a practice of listening and learning alongside any sharing we may do that leaves all parties positively impacted for having had their paths cross.

One way we can redeem our reading this week from the way it has been harmfully used through Christian history is that the passages speaks of making disciples, not believers: followers not merely worshipers. It speaks of obeying in our lives everything Jesus had commanded his followers to do. This is not merely religious obedience that merits one a seat in some mystical post-mortem non-smoking section, but a social, political, and economic obedience that has the potential to set our communities on a life-giving path in the here and now. This is a path where we take responsibility for making sure everyone is taken care of and that each person has enough to thrive. No one has too much while others don’t have enough. It’s a path toward making our world a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone, a home where everyone has a place to rest securely and grow and not be afraid.

What are some of these commands that Matthew’s Jesus tells us to obey? The lion share of them are found in Jesus’ sermon on the mount, the centerpiece of Mathew’s gospel. In this sermon we find commands such as:

“Let your light shine before others.”

“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary”

“Do not swear an oath at all . . . All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.”

“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.

“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

“Give to the one who asks you.” (cf. Matthew 19:21, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”)

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.”

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray.”

“Forgive other people.”

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . You cannot serve both God and money.”

“Do not worry about your life.”

“Seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness (i.e. justice.)”

“Do not judge.”

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

“Enter through the narrow gate.”

“Watch out for false prophets . . . By their fruit you will recognize them.”

“Hear these words of mine and put them into practice.” (Matthew 6-7)

And these are just a few. Yet there is enough here already for us to wrestle with. Interpretations of these teachings can also be life-giving or death-dealing. It’s important to listen and learn. We can let go of past interpretations that have proven harmful and we can embrace that are more healthy.

But the Jesus who taught these teachings is the Jesus who the Matthean community was so excited to share with others. As stated at the end of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching” (Matthew 7:28).

I used to practice a kind of Christianity that focused on themes that the Jesus of the gospels was never passionate about. The values and ethics that the Jesus in the stories was passionate about were things I never focused on. I didn’t understand the value of his ethics at that stage of their journey. I’m in a different place today.

There is so much value in wrestling with the Jesus of the stories, and endeavoring to apply his teachings to the suffering we have created through how we’ve shaped our world today. The systems we have created, which benefit some and harm others, are still challenged by Jesus’ teachings. The status quo may have repeatedly changed over the last two millennia, but wherever we find a status quo where humans are being harmed, there we can apply Jesus’ teachings. And wherever we find humans being cared for and with enough to thrive, then we can find resonance and affirmation of those systems in the Jesus story.

If our reading this week can be redeemed in any way for our world today, I believe it’s going to have to be through not focusing on our religion about Jesus but by focusing on the things that the Jesus of our stories actually taught himself.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. What teachings of Jesus in Matthew are especially meaningful to you? Share with your group why.

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.

You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.

Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal 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.

My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at 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.

Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!

Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.

Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com

Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?

Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice. Free Sign-Up HERE

Category: Esights, Indigenous Justice, Liberation Theology Tags: Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Ethereal, Feminism, Immigration Justice, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation, Liberation Theology, Material, Now, Pentecost, Racial Justice, Social Justice, Spirit

Pentecost and a Spirit of Justice

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Herb Montgomery

This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 1, Episode 15: John 7 & 20. Lectionary A, Pentecost

You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/ykqgj9pEP_8

or (@herbandtoddjusttalking)

Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment

Thanks in advance for watching!

Herb Montgomery | May 26, 2023

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

“Maybe you, too, still feel the pull to spiritualize that list from Isaiah and Luke, as so many Christians have before us. But what if we lean away from a gnostic response to this list and instead interpret it literally and materially? How could taking this list literally affect us? To actively participate in receiving the Spirit of Acts 2 means to care about the concrete well-being of those who are being harmed in our society today.”

Our lectionary gospel readings this week are both from John’s gospel. We considered the second reading from John 20 a few weeks ago.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-23)

This coming weekend is Pentecost, the festival commemorating when the Spirit was poured out on the first Jesus followers and they developed the ability to communicate Jesus’ teachings in other languages.

Languages are not the only differences among members of our human family. We also have cultural differences, and political, social, and economic differences, as well. What could it mean today for the Spirit to enable us to understand one another, especially as we listen to those our present systems do the most harm?

Let’s consider the passage in John 7.

The first thing that jumps out at me in this passage is the Johannine community’s proto-Gnostic tendency to devalue the material, concrete, physical realities in which people suffered.

So here, “if anyone is thirsty…” let’s not dig a well or find out who is stopping the community from receiving clean drinking water, but let’s promise them an ethereal spirit instead.

In John, Jesus’ state execution liberated his spirit from his material body. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus was thereby “glorified” or transformed. This was the moment when Jesus’ spirit was freed from concrete, lowly embodiment, and was adorned with its inherent splendor.

At this time the community believed the Spirit was given to proto-Gnostic Jesus followers so they too could follow Jesus on this path, on the way to the same kind of spiritual liberation.

As I’ve said repeatedly over the last few weeks, much of western Christianity today is more gnostic than it realizes when it prioritizes the afterlife over the here and now, or prioritizes the spiritual (i.e. saving a person’s “soul”) over setting them free from material harm they are working to survive from social, political, economic, or interpersonal systems.

I want to contrast this with the Jesus we find in the synoptic gospels. Mark’s, Matthew’s, and Luke’s version of Jesus is much more concerned with the material experience of people in his society.

In Mark 8, for example, when the multitude was hungry, the synoptic Jesus did not offer them spiritual food or use food as a metaphor for his teachings. He stopped teaching and fed them literal loaves and fish. In Mark 10, seeing the wealth disparity in his community and noticing the poor suffer in a system that created winners and losers, he told an affluent man to literally sell his superfluous possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. Jesus didn’t simply point the poor toward the spiritual wealth of knowing him (gnosis).

I believe we don’t have to choose the spiritual over the material. I believe we can and must have a healthy balance of both. We need a holistic, life-giving interpretation of what it means to follow Jesus, one where people’s spiritual wellbeing is connected to their physical, material, emotional, psychological, economic, political, and social wellbeing. We don’t have to emphasize any of these to the exclusion of others. A more Jewish view of Jesus would have preserved his concern with liberating the whole person in whatever aspect of their lives they experienced harm.

As Jesus followers today, we must guard against the notion that only saving a person’s soul for eternity is important. That is not what Jesus teaches in our sacred stories. Yet our Christian history is littered with examples of a religion about Jesus that has cared more about saving people for eternity than creating a better world in the here and now where people are saved from the hell they are already enduring.

But like the water in the story of the woman at the well in John 4, the verses in this week’s reading have a gnostic bent to them. The water of life or of the Spirit is the special gnosis or knowledge that sets the believer on a path that will culminate in their own spirit being glorified once it is released from this fleshly housing at death. I understand where the Johannine community was coming from on this, but today we need a much more balanced understanding of what it means to follow Jesus or live in him.

One way to redeem this passage is, as the lectionary does, to connect it to John 20, where Jesus breathes the Spirit onto the apostles after resurrection. Today we too can inhale this Spirit and exhale justice, liberation, and life. Consider how in Luke’s gospel, the Spirit that Jesus is imparting to his followers in John was manifested on Jesus himself:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

We must be careful here not to spiritualize away the above passage. The poor here are economically poor. In both Isaiah and Luke, the writers spoke of those who were actually poor in the economic systems of their day. The prisoners are those who were literally, not merely metaphorically, in need of liberation and justice. The blind were those who were in a Roman cell, a hole dug in the ground that was so dark they physically could not see their hands in front of their faces. The oppressed are not experiencing mystical, spiritual oppression but marginalization, subjugation, and oppression in their daily lives. And, finally, the year of the Lord’s favor was not someone’s warm and fuzzy assurance deep inside that God liked them. “The year of the Lord’s favor” was a Jewish reference to the literal year of Jubilee, when all economic debts would be forgiven and cancelled.

Maybe you, too, still feel the pull to spiritualize that list from Isaiah and Luke, as so many Christians have before us. But what if we lean away from a gnostic response to the list and instead interpret it literally and materially? How could taking Luke 4’s Spirit literally affect us?

To actively participate in receiving the Spirit of Acts 2 means to care about the concrete well-being of those who are being harmed in our society today. It means to care about LGBTQ people still being marginalized within and outside of our faith-based communities. It means to proclaim in solidarity that Black lives really do matter. That trans kids’ lives matter. That the children in our schools are of greater value to us than our freedom to own an AR-15. That the well-being of people migrating across our borders and coasts is a priority.

Who else would be included if Luke 4 were re-written in our social context today?

On this year’s Pentecost, what can it mean for us in our context to inhale the same Spirit being breathed on disciples in our gospel readings this week? How will that spirit be exhaled? What will it look like for us to breathe in and breathe out Jesus’ gift of the Spirit: a love that manifests itself in a faith that works justice, and an exhaling that is life-giving to those around us.

This Pentecost, may this same Spirit that blew on the primordial waters of our sacred creation stories blow once again today, spawning life and life-giving things into our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with the Divine.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. What does the Spirit showing up and manifesting itself as activity in justice work mean for you? Share 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.

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.

(Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™)

Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!

Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com

Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?

Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice. Free Sign-Up HERE

Category: Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Ethereal, Feminism, Immigration Justice, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation, Liberation Theology, Material, Now, Pentecost, Racial Justice, Social Justice, Spirit

Loving What Jesus Taught

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Herb Montgomery

This Week’s Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 1, Episode 13: John 14:15-21. Lectionary A, Easter 6

You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/QnXt34XGexc

or (@herbandtoddjusttalking)

Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment

Thanks in advance for watching!

Herb Montgomery | May 12, 2023

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

“I don’t want it to be said of me that what I loved was the hope of heaven, not Jesus, because loving Jesus means actually loving the things he taught and following them. And so, in the spirit of this week’s reading, I have to ask myself: do I really love Jesus—the political, social, economic Jesus of the gospels? Or am I simply addicted to the religious candy that my religion about Jesus offers, if I only believe?”

Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:15-21*)

I grew up hearing Christians interpret the Spirit as Advocate as an intermediary interposing between sinful humans and a holy God. Today, I reject any interpretation of this language that places humanity and divinity on polar opposites and a mediator in between. I experienced that bearing bad fruit in my own life and I believe it produces bad fruit societally as well.

This reading is from the Johannine community’s version of the Jesus story, and we should remember that as we consider this language. Repeatedly over the past few weeks, we have seen how the Johannine community characterized the Pharisees and Jewish leaders. We have also noted the tensions between Pharisaical Judaism and the early Gnosticism that the Johannine community was part of.

Consider the following passages in John, where being removed from the synagogue is a penalty for Jewish people who follow the Johannine Jesus.

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Anointed would be put out of the synagogue.” (John 9:22)

“Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.” (John 12:42)

John’s Jesus also repeats the warning in John 12, “They will put you out of the synagogues” (John 16:2).

In this context, characterizing the Spirit as an Advocate would have meant something to this community. The Spirit would not have mediated between them and God but between them and other members of their own religious communities. We must hold all of these references in John in tension with the fact that most of the history between Judaism and Christianity is not characterized by Jews persecuting Christians but by Christians persecuting Jews. The gospel of John was also written when Gentile Christians wanted to distance themselves from their Jewish siblings under the Roman Empire.

We find a different nuance in the synoptic gospels. The early Jesus community was comprised of those on the undersides and margins of their society who were in deep need of advocacy or justice socially, politically, and economically. This is the context in which I understand the work of the Spirit as Advocate to bear the most life-giving fruit. The synoptics characterize the Spirit as an Advocate between humans in matters of justice. For the original audiences of the synoptics, “advocate” would have called to mind actual legal proceedings that elites in Judea and also from the larger Roman society initated against Jesus’ followers:

“So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” (Luke 21:14-15)

A representation of the Divine that places God against us with us in need of an Advocate before God ignores this context, the social context in which these passages were originally written.

Lastly, in this week’s reading we see an important if-then statement: If you love Jesus, then follow his teachings.

To be honest, it is a lot easier to revere Jesus and to worship Jesus in word and song than it is to choose every day to follow the ethics and values we find in the Jesus story. In the Jesus story we find a Jesus who taught inclusion of the marginalized, resource-sharing with the poor, wealth redistribution from the rich, nonviolent resistance for the oppressed, treating others the way we would like to be treated ourselves, and an ethic expressed through justice above all else.

It’s much easier for privileged, powerful, and propertied Christians to religiously worship a Jesus who promises us a beautiful afterlife, than it is for us to socially, politically, and economically follow the ethics and values our Jesus taught as challenging but fruitful means of reshaping the injustices, oppressions and violence of our present society.

I’m reminded of the poem “A Dead Man’s Dream” by Carl Wendell Hines, Jr. Hines who wrote this poem in 1965 after the assassination of Malcolm X. After Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968 his poem also came to be associated with Dr. King.

“Now that he is safely dead,
Let us praise him.
Build monuments to his glory.
Sing Hosannas to his name.

Dead men make such convenient heroes.
For they cannot rise to challenge the images
That we might fashion from their lives.
It is easier to build monuments
Than to build a better world.

So now that he is safely dead,
We, with eased consciences will
Teach our children that he was a great man,
Knowing that the cause for which he
Lived is still a cause
And the dream for which he died is still a dream.
A dead man’s dream.”

To apply this poem to Jesus of Nazareth for Christians leads to some haunting questions. Have we simply built churches as monuments to Jesus? What images of Jesus that Christianity has shaped would Jesus challenge if he physically walked the earth today? Have we built a religion when we should have been building a different world, a safe, compassionate, just world big enough for all of our differences and where each us treat each other the way we would like to be treated? Have we taught the message of Jesus’ greatness while ignoring the truths he taught and the solidarity with the marginalized he modeled that made him so great?

The phrases that give me pause in this week’s reading are: “If you love me, keep my commands” and “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.”

Forget a religion or gospel about Jesus for a moment. What was the gospel our Jesus himself taught in the story? Are the things we as Christians so passionate about the same things that Jesus was passionate about? Are the things this Jesus was so passionate about, the themes and truths that he taught and emphasized, the centerpieces of our teaching and action?

Some Christians today are intentionally endeavoring to answer in the affirmative. There are also large portions of Christianity that are known instead for their hate and bigotry. For these Christians, the Jesus of the gospels (even John) is strangely silent on the issues they are most vocal about, and the themes Jesus focused most intently on would threaten their social privileges too much. This kind of Christianity has to avoid or deprioritize the gospels because within those stories we run headlong into Jesus’ teachings.

I have to allow myself to be confronted by this contradiction regularly. It’s much easier for me to focus on the parts of the New Testament that subtly redirect me toward cosmological claims about Jesus rather than to Jesus’ call for obedience to his teachings. I don’t want it to be said of me that what I loved was the hope of heaven, not Jesus, because loving Jesus means actually loving the things he taught and following them. And so, in the spirit of this week’s reading, I have to ask myself: do I really love Jesus—the political, social, economic Jesus of the gospels? Or am I simply addicted to the religious candy that my religion about Jesus offers, if I only believe?

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. What are some of the things Jesus taught that you love and choose to follow? Share 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.

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.

*Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!

Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com

Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?

Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice. Free Sign-Up HERE

Category: Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: advocacy, Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Feminism, Immigration Justice, Jesus, Johannine, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Mediation, Racial Justice, religion, Social Justice, Spirit, Teachings

John Chapter 9 and Our Need To Tell A Better Story

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Herb Montgomery

We Need Your Support

The cost of everything is on the rise and with that the cost of doing ministry is becoming more expensive, too.

To help Renewed Heart Ministries meet these rising costs, we are asking each of you to consider making a special one time donation to Renewed Heart Ministries, this month.

You get to decide what voices are heard in our faith communities. Your support enables us to be a life-giving, healing light and continue to be a voice for desperately needed change. Renewed Heart Ministries is a ministry on the margins that prioritizes the needs of marginalized people, especially those who have been the recipients of misinformed, faith-based harm.

The work of helping people find ways to heal and live out their faith through love, compassion, and justice are needed now more than ever.

You can make your one time give online by going to http://www.renewedheartministries.com and click “Donate.”

Or if you prefer to make your donation by mail, you can do so by mailing it to:

Renewed Heart Ministries

PO Box 1211

Lewisburg, WV 24901

Together we will continue being a source of healing, light, life, and change.

Thank you in advance for your support.

New Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 1; Episode 6. John 9.1-41. Lectionary A, Lent Week 4

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John Chapter 9 and Our Need to Tell A Better Story

Herb Montgomery | March 17, 2023

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

We don’t need to assign moral value to the ways we each encounter our world. All in all, John chapter 9 is a reminder to me that today, as Jesus followers, we need to tell the Jesus story in better ways than this chapter does. As Jesus followers today, we should be about shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone. A world that big enough for all of differences, where each person can “sit under their own fig tree” (Micah 4:4), and no one—no one—has to be afraid.

The lectionary reading this week is from the Gospel of John:

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:1-41)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!

Our reading this week is interesting and there’s a lot here to cover in this story. We won’t get to it all but we’ll cover what we can.

Most academic scholarship agrees today that Gnosticism has both Jewish and Christian starting points. It evolved in the late 1^st Century CE out of nonrabbinical Jewish sects and early Christian sects during the time that the Gospel of John was being written in the Johannine community. I believe that the author or authors of John’s gospel looked at the world similarly to the community that would later come to be known as Christian Gnosticism. Some things in John are different from later Gnosticism, and they have many things in common. A couple weeks ago, I shared from the works of Irenaeus how later Gnostics only valued the gospel of John out of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The Pharisees and the proto-Christian Gnostics would have deeply disagreed about how to look at the world, and we bump into this division in our story. These worldview disagreements were very similar to those that later Rabbinical Judaism, which grew out of Pharisaical Judaism, had with Gnostic Judaism. These were not primarily a struggle between Christianity and Judaism. Only insofar as Christianity or Judaism took Gnostic forms would it have conflicted with Rabbinical Judaism.

Anti-Judaism was already present by this time among Gentile Christians, but this story and stories like it in the gospel of John have a long history of inspiring Christians to see all of Judaism as negative through negative stereotyping and the label Pharisees. The schools of the Pharisees that followed Hillel had much in common with early Christian communities that looked more like the Jesus of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This is important because atrocities Christians have been responsible for against the Jewish community that can be traced back to interpretations of stories like this week’s. With stories like this, Christians have characterized the struggle as between Christians and Jews rather than between the Pharisees of that time and all forms of Gnosticism, Christian or Jewish.

The very first thing we bump into in the story is how the Gnostics explained so much concrete suffering in our world. The question “Who sinned?” betrays a worldview that assumes that all misfortune is somehow deserved. Many forms of early Jewish and Christian Gnosticism were not purely monotheistic but dualistic: they believed the material world was made by one God who had done the best they could but still created a world that involved suffering and pain. Christian gnostic sects framed Jesus as a Gnostic savior who came from a second Divine entity and saved the world through gnosis or knowledge (see John 17:3).

If John’s gospel was not written by those who were themselves proto-Gnostics, they definitely wrote a gospel that was especially vulnerable to being valued and interpreted by Christian Gnostics later.

Our story this week includes other binaries such as day and night, which we’ve spoken about the last two weeks. We even have a debate between the Pharisees and Gnostics over the Sabbath. Remember that the Gnostics were all about liberating our good souls/spirits from our material world of pain and suffering. The Sabbath was about a physical, enfleshed, material resting of bodies from physical labor each seventh day, and therefore would have fallen under the category of the material/physical, which Gnostics did not particularly value or prioritize.

Something we should mention here is the implication in the story that miracles are the sign of whether someone’s teachings are true. Our sacred texts aren’t monolithic on this topic. They include multiple warnings that even if miracles are performed, we should not trust that alone.

In the end, though, the Johannine community declares that the school of the Pharisees should be rejected because their spiritual understanding is blinkered. I could not disagree with this more. There is much Jewish wisdom that we Christians would do well to listen to.

Lastly, the narrative uses blindness as a metaphor and the way to describe the Pharisees as worthy of rejection by those seeking gnosis. I’ve said this repeatedly: using blindness to negatively characterize an opponent, adversary, or story nemesis is very ableist. It’s also harmful to those who live with physical blindness. We don’t need to assign moral value to the ways we each encounter our world.

All in all, John chapter 9 is a reminder to me that today, as Jesus followers, we need to tell the Jesus story in better ways than this chapter does. As Jesus followers today, we should be about shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone. A world that big enough for all of differences, where each person can “sit under their own fig tree” (Micah 4:4), and no one—no one—has to be afraid.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. How would you answer the disciples question at the beginning of our story this week? Share 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.

Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal 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.

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.

Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!

Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com

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Category: Ableism, Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Embodiment, Eternal Life, Feminism, Flesh, Gnosticism, Immigration Justice, John, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Racial Justice, religion, Social Justice, Spirit, Water, Well, Womanism

A World That Is Safe for Everyone

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Herb Montgomery

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New Episode of Just Talking Available on YouTube

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

John 3.1-17. Lectionary A, Lent, Week 2

You can find the latest show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/_mF6Tol5WSQ

or (@herbandtoddjusttalking)

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A World That Is Safe for Everyone

Herb Montgomery | March 10, 2023

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

“That’s not necessarily bad. We simply need to make sure we are interpreting John’s Jesus in a way that doesn’t ignore the very concrete harm many are suffering because of unjust systems. Today, we don’t need a form a Christianity that is so afterlife-focused that it merely anesthetizes its adherents so we passively bear present injustice, look toward afterlife bliss, and don’t challenge, transform, or liberate folks suffering from this unsafe, unjust, and death-dealing world.”

Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons [and daughters] and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship God neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Judeans. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship God in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers God seeks. God is spirit, and God’s worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:5-42, Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. )

The Johannine community’s version of the Jesus story begins with a collection of dialogues. Last week we looked at the first one, the story of Nicodemus. This week we are looking at a story that many scholars believe is included to explain why the Johannine community included Samaritan Jews when the Jews of Judea excluded them, and why they also included women, who are seen as disposable within patriarchal societies. The woman in this story had experienced rejection many times from the various men in her life, and her latest situation was filled with anxiety. The Jesus of this story is speaking directly to women like her.

Our reading is comprised of three sections: Jesus’ dialogue with the nameless woman, his exchange with the disciples after she departs, and the many Samaritan Jews that come out to meet Jesus and embrace him as “Savior of the world,” a title usually used then to refer to Rome and Caesar.

In each of these sections, the author of the gospel strings together sayings that could have been said by the historical Jesus. The overarching point of the story and the context that the minor details should be understood in is that this story seeks to show where the Samaritan Jewish population in the Johannine community can trace their roots back to.

One thing we bump into repeatedly in the gospel of John is tension between Samaritan Jews and Judean Jews. There was a long history here that, at the risk of oversimplifying, revolved around debates over what fidelity to the Torah looked like. Judean Jews accused Samaritan Jews of practicing different religious traditions than them, and they attributed the difference to their mixed heritage and history. Having been excluded from participating in the temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritan Jews had their own temple and their own version of the books of Moses. If Galilean Jews were marginalized by Judeans because of their Hellenistic practices, then Samaritan Jews were marginalized even more because of their heritage and alternative religious practices.

I find it encouraging to picture a Galilean Jesus embracing Samaritan Jews instead of following the exclusionary practices that may have been common in his society. Including those presently marginalized is a theme that we, as Jesus followers today, could learn a lot from. Our society also practices pushing certain people and communities to the edges because of their differences.

We also bump into the Johannine pre-Gnosticism that I mentioned last week as we read the story of Nicodemus. Real water contrasted with the mystical water of knowledge (gnosis) that will give a person eternal life. Debates over worshipping God at a physical location rather than worshiping God in spirit and truth. The claim that God is spirit.

In the exchange with the disciples, spiritual food replaces physical food. Concrete material harvests and how they were being exploited by Roman imperialism to the detriment of rural farming communities mentioned in the other gospels become a mystical, spiritual harvest.

All of this would later evolve into Gnosticism, which devalued what people experienced in their physical world, including injustice, oppression and real harm and encouraged Gnostics to gaining knowledge that would one day liberate their sprits/souls from being entrapped in physical existence.

Many sectors of Christianity today have much more in common with those early Gnostic communities than they do with the this-life and this-world focus of the Jesus of the synoptic gospels. I believe that commonality can be traced back to the gospel of John and its embrace of proto-Gnostic ideas and ways of looking at the world.of

The Johannine Jesus is very different from the synoptic Jesus we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. That’s not necessarily bad. We simply need to make sure we are interpreting John’s Jesus in a way that doesn’t ignore the very concrete harm many are suffering because of unjust systems. Today, we don’t need a form a Christianity that is so afterlife-focused that it merely anesthetizes its adherents so we passively bear present injustice, look toward afterlife bliss, and don’t challenge, transform, or liberate folks suffering from this unsafe, unjust, and death-dealing world.

Lastly, I am encouraged that this story ends with contrasting Jesus with Rome. Again, Rome and Caesar were both referred to as savior of the world. Although some later less life-giving forms of Gnosticism would interpret this “saving” as an escape from this life, today we can interpret Jesus and his teachings as offering a set of values and ethics that put us on a life-giving path. The path Jesus sets us on assists us in transforming our physical world into a just, safe, compassionate home for everyone, a world large enough to hold all our differences, where we are not simply tolerated but celebrated, and where we not only survive but we thrive. In this world, exploitation and extraction is replaced with reciprocity and sharing. There’s enough for everyone. And everyone can experience home.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. How does this story of the woman at the well speak into your justice work? Share 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.

You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast thro ugh the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.

Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal 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.

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.

Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!

Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com

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Category: Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Embodiment, Eternal Life, Feminism, Flesh, Gnosticism, Immigration Justice, John, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Racial Justice, religion, Social Justice, Spirit, Water, Well, Womanism

Breathing In Spirit, Exhaling Love and Justice

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Herb Montgomery

Herb Montgomery | April 22, 2022

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

“In the stories, Jesus doesn’t come back from the dead just to live another 30 or so years doing the same thing he’d done before he was executed. The attempted silencing of Jesus and his saving work is only an interruption, not an end. Each resurrection story defines Jesus’ resurrection as causing his life work to continue in the lives of his followers. Jesus commissioned his disciples to continue his life work in the same spirit that inspired him.”

Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Messiah. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Messiah!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Savior and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)

This first weekend after Western Christianity’s Easter each year, we begin reading the stories of the early believers after the resurrection. In each post resurrection story, the good news or gospel is not that Jesus died or even died for you, but that this Jesus that was brutally murdered by the state and those who controlled the status quo is risen. He’s alive! The crucifixion and all that Jesus’ death accomplished has been undone, reversed, and overcome!

This week’s story from John is similar to yet still very different from those found in Luke 24:36-49, Mark 16:14-18, Matthew 28:18-20, and Acts 1:8.

In John, Jesus cryptically breathes the Holy Spirit onto his disciples. He then attaches to this gift of the spirit the authority of “loosing and binding,” forgiving, bringing comfort and liberation, and setting people free (cf. Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18).

It’s vital that the power of forgiving or not forgiving is connected to the disciples receiving the spirit of Jesus. Forgiveness divorced from that spirit serves to only perpetuate oppression and harm. I’ll explain.

Jesus uses this language in the gospel of Luke:

“The Spirit of the Most High is on me,

because the Most High has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

The Most High has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Most High’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Here the work of the Spirit is to announce good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for prisoners, set the oppressed free, and announce the year of the Most High’s favor, the year when all debts would be forgiven, regardless of creditors’ wishes. In that year, debtors were released!

Those who are forgiven in the Jesus story are those on the margins, those pushed to the underside and edges of Jesus’ society by those benefiting from the status quo. What about those whose social location was more at the center or upper class? Did Jesus extend forgiveness to them, too?

Remember the story of Zacchaeus? (see Luke 19:1-9) Jesus forgave and loosed him, too. Yet Zacchaeus was not loosed or forgiven from the consequences from his actions. Jesus instead called him to stop participating in oppression. Only then did salvation come to Zacchaeus’ house, because salvation looks like justice for the oppressed. This reminds me of Gandhi critiquing Christianity: he said he didn’t want to be saved from the consequences of his actions but from those actions themselves.

How many times have we seen those who harm others or benefit from that harm being forgiven or assured of no condemnation without being called to make restitution or reparations?

Being loosed is not conditional on acts of restoration like a quid pro quo, tit for tat, or an exchange. Rather, for oppressors, being loosed actually is these acts of restoring that which has been taken from others.

This is why I believe the disciples were given authority not to forgive, too. Reserving “forgiveness” is a way to remind them that their freedom is intrinsically tied to their choice to stop participating in the harm being done to others. Anything less than that is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer described as “cheap grace.” During the 1930s, Bonhoeffer watched Christians giving assurance to the Nazis. Assuring oppressors that everything is okay while they continuing to do harm is akin to expecting victims or survivors to reconcile with those who have harmed them but done no work of restitution. Neither of these are life-giving interpretations of the forgiveness ethic in the Jesus stories.

These stories don’t help us recover so much of the historical Jesus as much as they establish the authority of his disciples. In this week’s reading, the focus is Thomas and the story about him serves a double purpose for the fledgling Jesus movement.

First, it establishes Thomas as an early movement leader. Multiple documents in Christian history would later be attributed to this disciple. Thomas is supposed to have taken the gospel to the Parthians and then on to India. He is credited with establishing the Mar Thoma Church and was martyred there as well. Thomas is also a central figure in Syrian Christianity: his bones are claimed by that faith tradition to have been removed from India and brought to Edessa close to the end of the fourth century.

Second, this story challenges people to believe in the Jesus story even though they haven’t seen Jesus for themselves.

What speaks to me most about these stories is that Jesus didn’t come back from the dead just to live another 30 or so years doing the same thing he’d done before he was executed. The attempted silencing of Jesus and his saving work is only an interruption, not an end. Each resurrection story defines Jesus’ resurrection as causing his life work to continue in the lives of his followers. Jesus commissioned his disciples to continue his life work in the same spirit that inspired him.

I consider again how Jesus’ life work was summarized in passages like Luke 4:18-19: as good news for the poor, release for the prisoners, setting free the oppressed, and proclaiming the most High’s favor or forgiving debts. There are similar teachings in both Luke’s sermon on the plain (Luke 6) and Matthew’s sermon on the mount (beginning in Matthew 5). These are the ethics and values in the Jesus story: Jesus both comforted and challenged individuals and also, in his overturning of the tables, challenged unjust systems, demanding a different order of things in the here and now.

So I ask myself, am I breathing in this same spirit that we read of in this week’s passage? And how closely is my story aligning with the Jesus story?

In what areas does my life harmonize with the Jesus story? Where is there dissonance?

Each of us looses and binds things every day. Are the things I bind and loose similar to or vastly different from the liberation work, the love, compassion, safety and justice in the Jesus story?

This first weekend after Easter, I want to foster more harmony between my life story and this story of Jesus that I hold dear.

I’m sure you do, too.

Here’s to breathing in that spirit, together, and exhaling love and justice with those our lives touch each and every day.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. In what ways are you inspired to breath in spirit and exhale love and justice in your own spheres of influence this new year? 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.

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

Category: Esights, Liberation Theology, Myth of Redemptive Suffering Tags: Breathing, Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Exhaling, Feminism, forgiveness, Immigration Justice, Justice, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Love, Racial Justice, Reparations, Resurrection, Social Justice, Spirit, Womanism

Universal Love Means Universal Thriving

Posted on August 20, 2021 by Herb Montgomery

Herb Montgomery | August 20, 2021

“Love and justice are connected in the gospels. Proclaiming love, specifically a universal love of which everyone is the object, and embracing the directive to practice that love for every one of our neighbors, will necessarily move us to make sure every person around us has what they need to thrive. We won’t focus only on ourselves individually, but also account for others within our collective communities, too.”

Our reading this week is from the gospel of John.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:56-69)

There is a lot to unpack this in this week’s reading. This passage starts Jesus’ command to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The original audience would have immediately recognized this as a metaphor and not meant to be taken literally. Nonetheless, as we discussed last week, it is very hard to imagine a 1^st Century Jewish male, deeply cultured in the teachings of Torah, using this kind language even metaphorically. And even the text itself recognizes this language is problematic on the lips of a Jewish teacher:

“On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’”

The author recognizes the problem that this language creates for its Jewish audience and seems to be trying to get out in front of it by highlighting the tension in the story itself: “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

This passage also includes the early Gnostic and Pauline view of the world as divided between the spirit and the flesh. Christianity has a long history of harmfully categorizing things of “the flesh” as evil and things of the “spirit” as good. (For an excellent telling of this history I would recommend reading, Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire by Brock and Parker.)

The Jesus of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) does not draw the deep distinction between the spirit and the flesh that’s described in the gospel of John or in Paul’s works. In the synoptic gospels, we see a very fleshly Jesus who is deeply concerned with what negatively impacts people’s material, concrete well-being. His response to suffering is not to focus on the spirit but to liberate humanity from whatever oppresses people in their “flesh.” The Jesus of these gospels is very enfleshed.

What I do appreciate about this week’s passage in John is that its author keeps defining “spirit” for Jesus followers in terms of the “words” of Jesus. Jesus’ words “are spirit and life.” Simon Peter also affirms that Jesus has the words of life in the story when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (emphasis added).

He’s pointing to he words of Jesus—his teachings, his message. In our context today, it’s difficult to understand the distinction between “flesh” and “spirit, even if John’s original audience understood it. But defining whatever is meant by “spirit” as focused on the words or teachings of Jesus—this I can begin to get my head around. Perhaps it’s easier for you to understand as well.

The teachings of Jesus bring to my mind Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, which the author of the gospel of John does not mention, and the economic justice found throughout the entire gospel of Luke. In Mark, the teachings of Jesus repeatedly challenge the political status quo through stories full of political symbols and meaning. And even in John, the teachings of Jesus emphasize the importance of love more than any of the synoptics.

Consider the following passages:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 cf. Luke 6:31)

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39)

To love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. (Mark 12:33)

He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied, ‘Do this and you will live.’ (Luke 10:27-28)

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

These are the words/teachings that are life, two thousand years ago and today. Love is not only named in the gospels as an ethic of life, but it is also defined in the gospels. John emphases love more than the other canonical gospels and yet the synoptic gospels are still needed to define what that love looks like publicly: as Cornel West often says, justice is what love looks like in public. Matthew and Luke can be interpreted to teach this:

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will proclaim justice to the nations. (Matthew 12:18, emphasis added.)

“You neglect justice and the love of God.” (Luke 11:42)

Love and justice are connected in the gospels. Proclaiming love, specifically a universal love of which everyone is the object, and embracing the directive to practice that love for every one of our neighbors, will necessarily move us to make sure every person around us has what they need to thrive. We won’t focus only on ourselves individually, but also account for others within our collective communities, too. That is social justice. We at RHM sometimes call it making our world a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone. Yet whether you call it social justice, or politics, or economics, or whatever, in the end what we are talking about is love and treating others the way oneself would like to be treated.

Anything less isn’t love, no matter how “Christian” the language for it. As Jesus followers, our words of love must be accompanied by actions of justice. We say something about this every week: Choose compassion. Take action. Work toward justice. This is how we define living in the way of love repeated in each version of the Jesus story we hold sacred.

Love and justice.

These are spirit.

These are life.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. Many of us are feeling deeply concerned with the events in Afghanistan this week. Here are a few organizations that are providing ways for those who are moved to take action to do so:

No One Left Behind

https://nooneleft.org/

International Refugee Assistance Project

https://refugeerights.org/

Women For Afghan Women

https://womenforafghanwomen.org/afghanistan/

Lutheran Immigration And Refugee Service

https://www.lirs.org/

International Rescue Committee

https://www.rescue.org/

Global Giving

https://www.globalgiving.org/

WorldHelp

https://worldhelp.net/

Child Foundation

https://www.childfoundation.org/

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.

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

Renewed Heart Ministries is a nonprofit organization working for a world of love and justice.

We need your support to offer the kind of resources RHM provides.

Helping people find the intersection between their faith, compassion, and justice is work that continues to prove deeply needed.

Please consider making a donation to support Renewed Heart Ministries’ work, today.

You can donate online by clicking here.

Or you can make a donation by mail at:

Renewed Heart Ministries
PO Box 1211
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And to those of you out there who already are supporting this ministry, we want to say thank you. We continue being a voice for change because of you.

Category: Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: community, Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Feminism, Flesh, Flesh and Blood, Immigration Justice, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Love, Mutual Aid, Racial Justice, Sharing, Social Justice, Spirit, Thriving, Womanism

Speaking against the holy Spirit

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Herb Montgomery

by Herb Montgomery

Featured Text:

“And whoever says a word against the son of humanity, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.” Q 12:10

Companion Texts:

Matthew 12:32: “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Luke 12:10: “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”

Gospel of Thomas 44: “Jesus says: ‘Whoever blasphemes against the Father, it will be forgiven him. And whoever blasphemes against the Son, it will be forgiven him. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither on earth nor in heaven.’”

Womanism and Spirit

For those unfamiliar with the womanist school of thought, Alice Walker writes, “Womanist to feminist is as purple is to lavender” (In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose, pp. xii). Womanism’s origins are among Black women of the African diaspora. And within our context this week, I love the emphasis womanist writers place on Spirit.

Karen Baker-Fletcher, a Christian womanist, explains, “The Spirit is the all-encompassing, inclusive force in which God/Creator, Jesus and all of creation are inextricably entombed.” (My Sister, My Brother, p. 31). She quotes Igbo theologian Okechukwu Ogbannaya: “[Spirit] is like the amniotic fluids—the waters of the womb—that encompasses a child before it is born, and accompany it, flowing out with it as it makes its way into the world as we know it. It surrounds the child and forms the first environment out of which it is born.”

Christian womanists view Jesus as the “human embodiment of Spirit” (ibid.). Spirit is the source of strength and courage to both survive and stand up to individual and systemic oppression. Womanists join love with justice in their discussion of Spirit. Emilie Townes, for example, reminds us that we see the evidence of the Spirit at work when we see justice as the demands of love (see In a Blaze of Glory, p. 143-144). Within a womanist understanding, whenever we see love as engagement of the world of justice for the oppressed, marginalized, or subjugated, we are seeing the Spirit at work.

So a womanist would read our saying this week assuming that the Spirit expresses love through restorative, liberative, transformative, and distributive justice.

I remember an evangelical fourth of July celebration I had to attend once in California where supporters of the Christian Right repeated quoted Paul’s statement, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom [liberty]” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Too often, however, this “freedom” or “small government” rhetoric has not been freedom for the oppressed, nor liberty for those imprisoned and exploited (Luke 4:18). Rather it has been about individual freedom, or state’s freedom to oppress, segregrate, imprison, and exploit. (For an example read here.)

In other words, for those at the top of an exploitative social pyramid who are privileged, advantaged, and benefited by the status quo, freedom and liberty means something fundamentally different than it does for those at the bottom. One is fixated on the freedom of the individual to do whatever they desire. The other sees that in nature, we are not truly free from one another. As we said last week, we are interconnected. We are part of one another. We are each other’s fate, and what one does affects others. What the individual does affects the community as much as what the community does affects the individual. We are not genuinely free from one another.

The Spirit’s work in Luke is especially helpful for us to remember now:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year for the cancelling of all debts [or “of the Lord’s favor.”]” (Luke 4:18-19, emphasis added.)

The Spirit works in solidarity with those on the undersides and margins of our societies. It calls those among the elite to abandon their advantage, join the rank and file, and work for a society marked by equity, fairness, compassion, and safety for all.

This week, I want to encourage you to think of the Spirit in the context of distributive justice, justice that makes an environment where each person not only survives but also thrives. This is one of the most devastating critiques of capitalism for Jesus followers because capitalism creates wealth disparity between winners and losers.

The U.S., the wealthiest nation in history, is also home to the greatest wealth disparity in history. Today six people possess as much wealth as the bottom 50% of society. Despite being so wealthy, the U.S. is still home to 43 million people who live below the poverty line. As I often say, the game Monopoly is fun for the first two rounds, but the last two rounds are only fun for one person at the table. For everyone else, it’s a slow painful death.

I want to speak for a moment to the middle class in our society. Here in the U.S., we do have a class structure. Below many of us is the lower class. Above us is the upper class, and there are large portions of the middle class of people who have drunk the upper classes’ Kool-aid. These are people who look at the upper class and long to be where they are, who subscribe to their economic philosophies and their societal “solutions.”

Even within Christianity, many people here in Appalachia think that if the poor can simply be taught how to play the upper class’s game of gaining and keeping individual wealth, this will solve poverty. (An example are churches who promote programs such as Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University).

What I want us to stop and consider is whether the game itself has moral ramifications. Is it enough to teach people how to succeed in an exploitative system? In Sayings Gospel Q we rather see a Jesus who critiques the exploitative system itself and casts before his listeners’ imagination a world that plays by a different set of values and priorities.

But I continue to bump into a certain resistance in Christian churches when I speak of Jesus’ preferential option for the poor. Just recently a gentleman came up to me after one of my presentations, stuck his finger on my chest, and said, “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let someone else take my hard earned money away from me and give it to lazy poor people.”

I want to try and break down what I see happening here. First within the U.S. the higher one traverses up the class structure the more tax loopholes one can use to legally avoid paying taxes. The U.S. president admitted in the third presidential debate, “I haven’t paid taxes in nineteen years. That makes me smart.”

This legal tax avoidance means that the middle class pays most for social programs that go to alleviate the economic hardships that capitalism produces for the poor. The lower middle class—those who have worked really hard just to eek across the line from lower class to middle class—pays most. They have worked really hard to get to where they are, and I get that frustration.

But what I want us to see this week is that they, too, are being played by the upper class that doesn’t pay any taxes. They get out of paying taxes, unlike us, and they place the majority of the tax burden on others. This predisposes middle class people, even in Christian congregations, to have knee-jerk negative reactions whenever helping the poor is brought up.

Most of the Christians I have the pleasure of giving presentations to are middle class Christians. They are not exempt from what I’ve described above. When Christians hear their Jesus speak of selling everything the have and giving it to the poor, they hear it from their social location and they respond, “But then we all will be poor.”

I would like us to consider that Jesus’ message to the upper class was “Sell everything you have and give it to the poor.” To the middle class Jesus would instead say, “Do not be afraid little flock, it’s the Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom, too. Seek first Jesus’s new social order,” which the gospels refer to as “the Kingdom.” This is a social order marked by no more classism, mutual-aid among those in the lower class, resource-sharing for those in the middle class, and radical wealth redistribution for those in the upper class. Jesus envisioned class structures being replaced by a shared table with enough for everyone. Every person’s needs are met in the Kingdom, and not in the sense of “just scratching by.” No, no. This is world where everyone is thriving together!

But here is the catch: How does this relate to our saying this week on “speaking against the Spirit.” The spirit Jesus spoke of is the Spirit of liberation and restoration and transformation. It calls those who are in the middle class to stop their love affair with the upper class. Stop standing in solidarity with the rich. Stop making preferential options for the wealthy. Enter instead into a love affair with the poor. Stand in solidarity with the economically exploited. Embrace Jesus’ preferential option for the poor! When we do this, “all these things will be added unto you” intrinsically, because within a community that embraces the values and priorities of Jesus’s social vision, all these things are added to everybody!

“But seek first his kingdom and his justice, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

And yet the upper class continually has us think, speak, feel, and act against this “Spirit” that anoints one to bring good news to the poor. Some, in an attempt to delegitimize a world that looks like Jesus’s, use as slurs such labels as “leftist,” “socialism,” “communism” because they know that many people find these words emotionally charged. Some of those who use these terms derogatorily don’t even know what they mean! And others do know and use them accurately, but genuinely want an oligarchy where the world is ruled by the elites.

Stop falling for their fear-mongering.

Stop drinking their Kool-aid!

Recently I watched two documentaries back to back. The first was The 13th, an in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality. Then, at the request of a friend, I watched the documentary Occupy UnMasked, which is an Alt-Right spin on the Occupy Movement written by Steven Bannon and hosted by the late Andrew Breitbart.

Watching these two films back to back is what produced a spontaneous combustion in my heart. There are people today who buy hook, line, and sinker popular misrepresentations of the Occupy Movement. (The movement did have flaws, as all movements do, but was nowhere what Breitbart accuses it of being.)

When the masses have been made solely dependent on corporate elites for survival, this has been massively detrimental to them. And yet, I have family and friends who think that documentaries like Unmasked represent the truth, while documentaries like The 13th are spin. It is calling evil good and good evil. The Hebrew prophets pointed out the same phenomena within their societies:

“Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

The term “fake news” was originally used to call out conspiracists whose reporting was without foundation. I have family now who calls news agencies like The Washington Post “fake news.” They are saying things like “I’m simply choosing to believe in the alternative facts.”

Each of these family members also claims to be Christian. And though they might not realize it today, their Jesus stood in solidarity with the oppressed. He taught a gospel that did have a preference, for the poor, the outcast, those forced to live on the edges of society.

Stop standing with those who once were in the driver seat of abuse and want to be restored to that place of power over others once again. Stand in solidarity with and be informed by the voices of those who historically have been abused. Equity will always feel oppressive to those with privilege. Their privilege over others is being removed. Their advantage over others is being removed. But we are making a world that is safe for everyone, including them. They rarely perceive it this way.

Wherever the liberating, holy Spirit is believed to be evil, where it is accused of being dangerous, as it was by Jesus’ enemies among the elite in his own society, these words call us to reconsider:

“And whoever says a word against the son of humanity, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.” Q 12:10

HeartGroup Application

Who is telling the truth? Which side should one listen to in the uphill work of making our world a safer, more compassionate, just home for us all? Jesus’ gospel calls us to make a preferential option for the voices of the vulnerable and oppressed, all of them. We cannot afford to make a world that solves the human dilemma at the expense of any group.

Sit down with your HeartGroup this week and

Discuss what difference it makes to define Jesus’ holy Spirit as liberation for the poor, marginalized, and disinherited?
Those in positions of privilege within the status quo will always have a different side to the story. Of course they will, because even if only subconsciously, they want to preserve their social location. What difference will it make to base your preferential option on the perspectives of underprivileged people in our society?
This week choose some well respected news outlets to read and begin asking yourself which side is this person’s perspective making a preferential option for: those with privilege or the underprivileged? Then come back to your group next week and discuss any changes in the “Spirit’s work” that you began to perceive this week.

Thanks for checking in with us this week. Keep living in love, loving like Jesus, and following the gospel Jesus modeled for us by making a preferential option for the least of these. Wherever this finds you this week, keep up the good work of survival, resistance, liberation, restoration, and transformation. We are in this together.

I love each of you dearly.

I’ll see you next week.

Category: Economic Justice, Esights, Sayings Gospel Q, Womanism Tags: Communism, Deliverance, egalitarianism, Equity, Freedom, holy spirit, Justice, Left, Liberation, Liberty, Oppression, Preferential Option for the Poor, Resistance, Restoration, Right, Socialism, Spirit, Survival, Thriving, Transformation, Womanism

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