Another World is Possible
Dear Friend of Renewed Heart Ministries,
Thank You for Your Support of Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025
As 2025 has come to a close, I want to personally thank you for your generous support of Renewed Heart Ministries this year. Your commitment and generosity make our work possible, and we are deeply grateful for the trust you place in this mission.
Because of you, Renewed Heart Ministries continues to challenge injustice, amplify voices too often ignored, and encourage people of faith to follow Jesus in ways that are courageous, compassionate, and transformative. Your support allows us to create resources, foster conversations, and nurture communities committed to love, dignity, and liberation for all, especially those pushed to the margins.
In a time when injustice can feel overwhelming and hope fragile, your partnership reminds us that meaningful change is built together. Every gift, large or small, is a tangible act of solidarity and a powerful statement that justice, mercy, and radical love still matter.
As we look ahead to the coming year, your support gives us the strength to continue this work with clarity and resolve. We are excited about what lies ahead and honored to walk this journey with you.
Thank you for standing with Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025. Your generosity truly makes a difference.
With gratitude and hope,
Herb Montgomery
Director
Renewed Heart Ministries
renewedheartministries.com
Another World is Possible
Herb Montgomery | January 16, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:12-23)
There are so many good things to highlight in this week’s reading. Before we launch into the good stuff, though, let’s begin with a word of caution about the metaphor of light shining on people living in darkness.
The metaphor of light versus darkness is one of the most enduring symbolic frameworks in Western thought. People routinely associate light with goodness, truth, purity, knowledge, and salvation, while linking darkness to evil, ignorance, danger, and moral failure. Often presented as universal or neutral, this metaphor carries deeply embedded racial meanings that have shaped and continue to shape systems of oppression around the world.
Historically, as European societies moved toward global expansion and colonialism, they increasingly mapped symbolic associations between light and goodness onto human bodies. Whiteness became aligned with light, civilization, order, and rationality. And Blackness and darker skin were cast as closer to darkness, chaos, and moral deficiency. These symbolic associations did not merely reflect prejudice; they actively produced it. The metaphor provided a moral and theological framework that justified enslavement, colonization, and cultural erasure by portraying non-White peoples as needing “enlightenment” or “civilization.”
Religious language played a particularly powerful role in this process. Christian imagery of “light overcoming darkness,” though not originally racial, was weaponized within colonial contexts. Conversion narratives framed European Christianity as light entering the darkness of “heathen” lands, reinforcing the idea that Whiteness and holiness were intertwined. Over time, these metaphors became so normalized that their racial implications became invisible to those who benefited from them.
Again, though this colonial association may not be original to the authors of these passages, the fact that this metaphor has become racialized since then demands that we find better ways to tell the Jesus story today. The light/dark binary still shapes cultural assumptions. Terms like “dark times,” “black marks,” or “lightening” a space or person carry moral weight that subtly reinforces anti-Blackness. This does not mean that every use of the metaphor is intentionally racist, but it does mean the metaphor operates within a cultural ecosystem that is already saturated with racial hierarchy.
Interrogating the metaphor of light versus darkness is not about banning poetic language but about recognizing how symbolism can encode power. Dismantling racism requires not only changing laws and institutions, but also examining the symbols and language that quietly teach us who belongs “in the light” and who is consigned “to the shadows.” Jesus followers today can and should find less harmful metaphors.
This week’s passage also allows us to meet the gospel that Jesus himself actually preached in the canonical Gospel stories.
Much of modern Christianity has come to define the gospel primarily as assurance of heaven after death. In this framework, Jesus’ message becomes reduced to a transaction: believe the right things now so your soul can escape later. While concern for eternal life is present in Christian tradition, this narrow focus misses the heart of Jesus’ own proclamation. In the Gospels, Jesus does not preach how to get to heaven. He begins his ministry by announcing that the kingdom of God has drawn near.
Jesus’ gospel is about God’s reign breaking into the present world, and that’s not merely a promise deferred to the afterlife. The kingdom Jesus proclaims confronts systems of injustice, restores humanity to those on the margins, and calls people into transformed social relationships today. His parables are filled with economic reversals, debt forgiveness, landowners confronted by laborers, and feasts where the poor and excluded are centered now. This is not abstract spirituality; it is a vision of social, economic, and political renewal.
Where the assurance-of-heaven gospel often emphasizes individual belief, Jesus emphasizes collective or societal transformation. He calls for repentance not as private guilt management, but as a turning away from participation in unjust systems. “Good news to the poor,” “release to the captives,” and “freedom for the oppressed” are not metaphors for the afterlife in Jesus’ inaugural sermon in Luke; they describe real conditions in the world he inhabits. Salvation, in this sense, is liberation—healing bodies, restoring community, and challenging concentrations of power that crush human flourishing.
The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached also redefined righteousness. Instead of ritual purity or doctrinal correctness, righteousness is measured by care for the vulnerable: the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, and the foreigner. Judgment scenes in Jesus’ teaching do not hinge on confessions of belief but on whether people fed the hungry and welcomed the stranger. In Jesus’ gospel, faithfulness to God is inseparable from justice.
This does not necessarily deny hope beyond death, but it refuses to let that hope excuse indifference to suffering now. An assurance-of-heaven gospel can too easily coexist with oppression, offering comfort without change. Jesus’ gospel, by contrast, is dangerous. It threatens unjust hierarchies, exposes religious complicity with empire, and demands embodied solidarity with those the system defines as the least of these. To follow Jesus, then, is not merely to prepare for another world, but to participate in God’s work of transforming this one.
Lastly, I’d like to consider an alternative interpretation for what Jesus might have meant by the metaphor of “fishing for people” in this call to his first disciples. Ched Myers reads Jesus’ call to become “fishers of people” not as a metaphor for saving individual souls for heaven, but as a deeply political image rooted in the prophetic tradition of Israel. In Binding the Strong Man, Myers argues that first-century hearers would have recognized “fishing” language from the Hebrew prophets as a symbol of divine judgment against oppressive rulers. Far from a gentle invitation to evangelism, the metaphor signals the dismantling of unjust power structures and removal of elites who exploit the poor.
In texts such as Jeremiah 16:16, Ezekiel 29:4, and Amos 4:2, God promises to “hook” or “catch” kings, nobles, and ruling classes who have grown fat on injustice. Fishing here is not about rescuing the fish but about dragging predators out of the water, out of the systems that allow them to dominate others. Myers insists that Jesus is consciously invoking this imagery when he calls Galilean peasants to follow him. To “fish for people” is to participate in God’s work of confronting and overthrowing unjust rule.
This reading becomes sharper when set in the political geography of Galilee. Jesus calls fishermen working under Herodian and Roman economic control, where fishing rights were taxed, regulated, and often exploited by elites. These men are not being invited into a spiritualized mission detached from their lived reality. They are being recruited into a movement that challenges the very forces that keep them poor and oppressed. Leaving their nets and boats is not merely symbolic discipleship; it is an act of economic and political resistance.
This interpretation further emphasizes that Jesus’ proclamation of the “kingdom of God” must be heard as an alternative to the kingdom of Caesar. In this light, “fishing for people” is a strategy within a larger campaign to expose, unmask, and ultimately depose illegitimate authority. The people being “caught” are not the marginalized masses, but the rulers who have claimed divine sanction for their violence and greed. Jesus’ movement aims to bring these powers into the open, where their injustice will be judged.
This interpretation reframes discipleship itself. To follow Jesus is not primarily to persuade others to adopt correct beliefs, but to join a struggle for social transformation and change. The earliest disciples are trained not as religious recruiters, but as organizers in a nonviolent resistance movement grounded in God’s justice. Their task is to announce that the old order is passing away and to live as if that process is already fulfilled.
The eventual crucifixion of Jesus, I believe, confirms this interpretation. Rome did not execute itinerant preachers for offering private spiritual comfort. Jesus was killed because his vision of God’s reign threatened the stability of imperial and temple power alike. His “fishing for people” led directly to confrontation with the state, exposing who ruled and at whose expense.
This interpretation also challenges modern Christianity to reconsider how it reads Jesus’ words. If “fishing for people” means removing unjust rulers from power, then faithfulness to Jesus today requires more than evangelistic zeal. It also demands active resistance to systems of domination and a commitment to building communities that embody justice, equity, and shared power as signs that another world is not only possible, but already breaking in.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In this new year, what area of societal justice is Jesus’ gospel inspiring you to engage? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 3: Another World is Possible
Matthew 4:12-23
Where the assurance-of-heaven gospel often emphasizes individual belief, Jesus emphasizes collective or societal transformation. He calls for repentance not as private guilt management, but as a turning away from participation in unjust systems. “Good news to the poor,” “release to the captives,” and “freedom for the oppressed” are not metaphors for the afterlife in Jesus’ inaugural sermon in Luke; they describe real conditions in the world he inhabits. Salvation, in this sense, is liberation—healing bodies, restoring community, and challenging concentrations of power that crush human flourishing. The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached also redefined righteousness. Instead of ritual purity or doctrinal correctness, righteousness is measured by care for the vulnerable: the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, and the foreigner. Judgment scenes in Jesus’ teaching do not hinge on confessions of belief but on whether people fed the hungry and welcomed the stranger. In Jesus’ gospel, faithfulness to God is inseparable from justice.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/another-world-is-possible
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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Advent as Good News for the Marginalized
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From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
Whether it’s $5 or $5,000, your generosity will be doubled thanks to a matching gift opportunity.
Give today and make twice the difference!
Go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Or you can mail your support to:
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Thank you for being part of this work. Let’s finish the year strong—together.
Advent as Good News for the Marginalized
Herb Montgomery | December 19, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this weekend is from the gospel of Matthew.
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(Matthew 11:2-11)
For years, I was a preacher of the gospel in a pretty fundamentalist tradition. At the same time, the gospel I preached never even mentioned the poor. This week’s lectionary passage continues to remind me that good news to the poor is how we know whether Christianity’s gospel is the same as the one Jesus’ preached. Audience members used to often remind me that if it’s not good news it’s not the gospel. Today, a better reminder would be that if what we are preaching is not good news first and foremost to the poor, if it’s not accessible by the poor, than it’s at bare minimum not the same gospel that the Jesus of the stories preached.
A reliable litmus test for the gospel is whether it is truly good news to the poor. Jesus announced a kingdom where the last are made first, the hungry are fed, people’s humanity is restored, and the poor become the blessed. If our message comforts only the privileged, it drifts from Jesus’ own proclamation in the gospels. The gospel becomes tangible when it addresses hunger, oppression, exploitation, and injustice with practical compassion and material, concrete hope. Good news to the poor is not just charity. It is solidarity. It is justice. It stands with those who are overlooked by the status quo and affirms the intrinsic worth of those presently being disenfranchised and made vulnerable. Today, it doesn’t matter whether we define those communities as migrant, trans, or the people in Ukraine or Gaza. The gospel Jesus preached challenges systems that crush people and inspires us to create societies shaped by generosity and justice. When the marginalized including the poor hear the gospel and recognize it as hope, freedom, and belonging, its authenticity is unmistakable.
In the spirit of that justice and hope, I want to begin this week by addressing the other recipients of Jesus’ gospel in the statement to John’s disciples. When it comes to people who live with disabilities and how we tell the Jesus story, I believe we can do better today for them. The gospels contain ableist elements. Many healing stories frame disability primarily as a condition needing correction. Jesus’ miracles often present disabled people as objects through whom divine power is displayed, rather than as full participants with agency. This narrative pattern has unintentionally reinforced the idea that a meaningful life requires being “fixed.” Additionally, disability is sometimes used metaphorically for moral or spiritual lack, such as blindness for ignorance and lameness for weakness, which can deepen the stigmatizing, negative associations of having a disability with being “less than.” Many disability theologians also note subversive moments in the Jesus story where Jesus centers marginalized people, restores them to community, and challenges social exclusion (see Nancy Eiesland’s The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability.)
Acknowledging ableist elements doesn’t disqualify the gospel stories. Rather, admitting the truth about these stories invites us into deeper reflection on how we can interpret these texts today as faith communities endeavor to uphold the humanity and dignity of all, including people who live with disabilities.
Next in our reading, Jesus addresses his audience regarding John the Baptist. John the Baptist was born into a respected priestly family; his father, Zechariah, served in the Temple State system, and his lineage offered him the social, political, and economic benefits of that path. Yet John chose a radically different calling. Rather than serve within the structured Temple State system—deeply intertwined with political and religious authority—he withdrew to the wilderness. He chose a path of challenging the status quo, calling his society to repent for complicity with Rome and to return to the practice of justice toward one another, all of this outside of institutional control. John’s voice in the desert was a contemporary return to the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition and was in tension with the institutionalized and co-opted-by-Rome priesthood. John confronted corruption, preparing hearts for a just future brought about by a God who would respond to the people’s repentance and return to justice. He reminded the people that their future directly depended on what they chose to practice toward one another: continued exploitation or a return to the Torah’s justice.
In the gospels, “the wilderness” symbolizes the margins of society. It represents those places far from centers of power, wealth, and political/religious control. It is in these edges that God’s presence is revealed most clearly. John the Baptist preaches there in the wilderness, showing that divine truth arises outside the institutional authority of his time. Remember, Jesus is also tested in the wilderness, therefore identifying with the vulnerable and the unseen. The wilderness becomes a space where God meets those who are overlooked, oppressed, or displaced. By locating revelation in the margins, the Gospels declare that God is not confined to centered places of power but stands in solidarity with the marginalized and offers them hope, reclaimed humanity, and new beginnings rooted in justice.
In his book Say to This Mountain, Ched Myers writes, “The experience of wilderness is common to the vast majority of people in the world. Their reality is at the margins of almost everything that is defined by the modern Western world as ‘the good life.’ This wilderness has not been created by accident. It is the result of a system stacked against many people and their communities, whose lives and resources are exploited to benefit a very small minority at the centers of power and privilege.” (Say to This Mountain: Mark’s Story of Discipleship, p. 11)
Myers goes on to say, “While the margin has a primarily negative political connotation as a place of disenfranchisement, Mark ascribes to it a primarily positive theological value. It is the place where the sovereignty of God is made manifest, where the story of liberation is renewed, where God’s intervention in history occurs. (Say to This Mountain: Mark’s Story of Discipleship, p. 12)
John the Baptist’s ministry, as portrayed in the Gospel of Luke and illuminated by Josephus, centers not on offering assurances of heavenly reward but on demanding concrete, ethical transformation in society. Luke presents John as standing in the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition with a message focusing on action-based repentance in contrast to the complicity that elites engaged in with the Roman empire. When the crowds ask John what repentance requires, John does not speak of greater fidelity to the Temple State, but of earthy, concrete, social practices and preparation for an approaching end to unsustainable social practice. He instructed them to share resources: “Whoever has two tunics must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same” (Luke 3:11). John’s demands also addressed tax collectors and soldiers. He calls tax collectors to economic honesty, to refuse to collect more than prescribed, and calls soldiers to non-violence and contentment, forbidding extortion and false accusation (Luke 3:12–14). These calls reveal his vision of repentance as social and economic justice embodied in everyday life.
Josephus corroborates this image, describing John as a teacher who urged people to practice justice toward one another as an expression of their devotion to God. In Antiquities 18.5.2, Josephus states that John commanded his followers to exercise justice in their dealings and piety toward God, emphasizing the practice of social justice as the true preparation for baptism. This portrait aligns with Luke’s emphasis: John’s baptism symbolizes a commitment to transforming present social reality, not a ticket to a later heaven.
Taken together, Luke and Josephus portray John as a prophetic figure calling Israel to ethical renewal. He insists that genuine repentance manifests in equitable economic practices and compassionate treatment of neighbors. His message is a summons to rebuild society on justice, not a promise of post-mortem security.
Advent rituals remind and call us, like John’s preaching of old, to return to the social justice practices of our various faith traditions, and to renew our commitments to shaping our present world into a just, safe, compassionate home for us all.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How are you taking a stand for justice this Advent season? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 50: Advent as Good News for the Marginalized
Matthew 11:2-11
Advent rituals remind and call us, like John’s preaching of old, to return to the social justice practices of our various faith traditions, and to renew our commitments to shaping our present world into a just, safe, compassionate home for us all. John chose a radically different calling. Rather than serve within the structured Temple State system—deeply intertwined with political and religious authority—he withdrew to the wilderness. He chose a path of challenging the status quo, calling his society to repent for complicity with Rome and to return to the practice of justice toward one another, all of this outside of institutional control. In the gospels, “the wilderness” symbolizes the margins of society. It represents those places far from centers of power, wealth, and political/religious control. It is in these edges that God’s presence is revealed most clearly. This narrative details speaks to every person who finds themselves doing justice work along the edges of our communities today.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/advent-as-good-news-for-the-marginalized
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
The Liberation at the Heart of Advent
Big News! Your Gift Will Go Twice as Far!
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
Whether it’s $5 or $5,000, your generosity will be doubled thanks to a matching gift opportunity.
Give today and make twice the difference!
Go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Or you can mail your support to:
Renewed Heart Ministries
PO Box 1211
Lewisburg, WV 24901
Thank you for being part of this work. Let’s finish the year strong—together.
The Liberation at the Heart of Advent
Herb Montgomery | Novembrer 28, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
This weekend is the beginning of Advent season and our gospel reading in the Lectionary is from the gospel of Matthew:
But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the ddays of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
(Matthew 24:36-44)
Our first gospel passage of Advent this year is deeply rooted in the liberation hopes of Daniel’s “Son of Man” who would bring liberation for the oppressed, subjugated, and disenfranchised.
As I watched in the night visions,
I saw one like the Son of Man [a human being]
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.
To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed. (Dan 7:13)
In Daniel 7, the oppressive, unjust, and violent world empires of that time are represented by violent, fantastical beasts that are brought to judgement and replaced with the just reign of the Son of Man. It’s a transition away from predatory beasts to a world where our humanity, both oppressed and oppressor, has been reclaimed, thus represented by a “human being” or the “son of man.” By rooting the passage in Matthew in the imagery of Daniel 7, Matthew’s author is reminding readers that Jesus’ God is the God of the oppressed. As Mev Puleo wrote, “There’s an immediate relationship between God, oppression, liberation: God is in the poor who cry out. And God is the one who listens to the cry and liberates, so that the poor no longer need to cry out.” (Mev Puleo in Hune Margulies’ Will and Grace: Meditations on the Dialogical Philosophy of Martin Buber, p. 303.)
The imagery in Matthews of two groups with only one remaining reminds me of Matthew’s other parable where the sheep and the goats are separated, the goats are taken away, and the sheep remain. The condition in the parable that allows them to remain is the King’s statement “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
That condition is empathy. The kind of liberation Jesus envisioned is a liberation rooted in empathy and embracing our neighbor as ourselves. The Christmas season follows Advent. One of my all-time favorite Christmas stories is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol. I have loved its macabre challenge of classism and the economic exploitation of children, the poor, and laboring classes since I was young. In the scene where Scrooge is confronted by ignorance and want, we read:
“’Spirit! are they yours?’ Scrooge could say no more.
‘They are Man’s,’ said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ‘And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree; but most of all beware this boy [Ignorance], for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!’ cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ‘Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!’” – The Ghost of Christmas Present
Liberation rooted in empathy is the path away from the crisis coming as we continue to strain the sustainability of our present system. The masses make less and less while the cost of living becomes more and more expensive. Jesus’ ministry stood in the long lineage of the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition, and those prophets from long ago cried out in ways that resonate with what we witness daily here in the U.S.:
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” (Isaiah 10:1-2).
People’s SNAP benefits were arbitrarily made a condition of the recent Government shutdown struggle while both Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, which puts healthcare in the reach of so many, are threatened. Standing in that prophetic justice tradition, Luke’s Jesus echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah when he states, “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).
Advent is our annual reminder of what James H. Cone wrote decades ago: “There can be no Christian theology that is not identified unreservedly with those who are humiliated and abused. In fact, theology ceases to be a theology of the gospel when it fails to arise out of the community of the oppressed. For it is impossible to speak of the God of Israelite history, who is the God revealed in Jesus Christ, without recognizing that God is the God of and for those who labor and are overladen” (James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 18).
Cone repeats this theme years later in his career in God of the Oppressed, expanding what it means in our context today:
“There can be no Christian theology that is not social and political. If theology is to speak about the God of Jesus who is revealed in the struggle of the oppressed for freedom, then theology must also become political, speaking for the God of the poor and the oppressed.” (James H. Cone; God of the Oppressed, p. 75)
Jesus is too often only envisioned as a peacemaker who accepted everybody. But this fails to take in the story in its entirety. Peacemakers who accept everybody don’t end up on Roman crosses. Jesus’ teachings and actions were rooted in his alternative social vision for his society. Jesus did not preach personal piety that left the status quo unchallenged, uncritiqued, or unchanged. He called his followers to a social vision that included the distributive justice found in Torah that many of those in his society had either forgotten or were choosing to ignore. He called this vision the kingdom, proclaimed it had come near (Advent), and invited his listeners to follow him in being a part of it.
Today, too many Christians want to claim Jesus so they can go to heaven but leave Jesus’ politics alone because it threatens their privilege, their power, or their social standing. Advent reminds us that Christianity’s gospel is rooted in a Jesus who proclaimed the advent of liberation for the oppressed and the beginning of a whole new world where injustice, violence and oppression are replaced by loving one’s neighbor as oneself and relating our neighbor as we would like our neighbor to relate to us. Anything less is a failure to grasp Jesus in his entirety.
I’ll close with one more quotation from Dr. Cone that it would be life-giving for us, this Advent season, to meditate on.
After all, are we not all oppressed, especially those who think that their freedom is found in social, political, and economic domination of others? Although these questions point to an essential truth of the gospel of liberation, they have been used by oppressors for untruth. The untruth of these questions lies in the subjective and often undisclosed intention of the people who ask them. While pretending to be concerned about the universal character of the human condition, oppressors are in fact concerned to justify their own particular status in society. They want to be oppressors and Christians at the same time. Since the oppressed are the only true Christians, oppressors claim to be victims, not for the purpose of being liberated but for their own social interests in retaining a ‘Christian’ identity while being against Jesus Christ. This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer in another context called ‘cheap grace.’ I call it hypocrisy and blasphemy. (James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed, p. 136)
What does it mean this Advent season for us, together, to be a part of the advent of justice for the marginalized, oppressed, and disenfranchised?
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What is Advent calling you to remember this season? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 48: The Liberation at the Heart of Advent
Matthew 24:36-44
“Today, too many Christians want to claim Jesus so they can go to heaven but leave Jesus’ politics alone because it threatens their privilege, their power, or their social standing. Advent reminds us that Christianity’s gospel is rooted in a Jesus who proclaimed the advent of liberation for the oppressed and the beginning of a whole new world where injustice, violence and oppression are replaced by loving one’s neighbor as oneself and relating to our neighbor as we would like our neighbor to relate to us. Anything less is a failure to grasp Jesus in his entirety.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-liberation-at-the-heart-of-advent
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Herb Montgomery | October 24, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
As we begin this week, I want us to first take an honest, historical look at the Pharisees. Pharisees were in conflict with the early church at the time Luke’s gospel was written. That’s why in Luke the Pharisees are typically painted as the “bad guys” in relation to the Jesus movement. Today, that’s not our context. Any person who cares about ending violence, including Jesus followers, should reject using the label of “Pharisee” as a pejorative.
Pharisees in Jesus’ society belonged to two different schools of interpretation, the Schools of Shammai and Hillel. Sometimes Jesus’ teachings harmonized with one school, and at other times his teachings harmonized with the other. These were the two major schools of thought in Judaism during the late Second Temple period. While both schools upheld the authority of the Torah and the Oral Law, they differed in their interpretations and approaches to Jewish law and practice. The School of Shammai was generally more strict and conservative, emphasizing rigorous adherence to religious laws and rituals. They often interpreted the law literally and were less accommodating to non-Jews or Hellenistic influences. For example, Shammai’s followers restricted the conversion process and opposed leniency in Sabbath observance and divorce. It was in matters of divorce that the gospels side with Shammai.
In contrast, the School of Hillel, known for leniency and inclusivity, promoted a more compassionate and pragmatic approach. Hillel’s teachings emphasized the ethical core of the Torah, such as treating others with kindness and patience. Jesus sided with this school when defining the keeping of the Torah as love to God and neighbor. Hillel’s school allowed more flexibility in legal rulings, too, which made Jewish law more adaptable to changing circumstances.
Over time, the rulings of Hillel’s school became dominant in Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud often records debates between the two schools. Hillel’s school was characterized his humility and emphasis on peace and accessibility of the law to all. Jesus’ objections toward Pharisees at any given moment in the gospels was not about antisemitism. Jesus was himself a Jewish man and his dialogues in the gospels represented debates among Jewish voices in the various schools of the Pharisees. When arguing against some interpretations of Shammai, Jesus was simply echoing the same objections of the Pharisees of Hillel, and vice versa.
The prayer in our reading this week attributed to a Pharisee has some known parallels from other Judean sources. So, pejorative as it is, it is not a pejorative invention of the early Christian movement. The parable portrays a common theme in Luke’s gospel: a reversal of ordinary expectations as a surprise to the audience. We see this in the example of the Samaritan in Luke 10:25-30, the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, as well as in the affirmation of the foreigner among the ten lepers healed in Luke 17:11–19.
The theme in our reading, that God humbles the proud and exalts the humble, is a liberation theme with deep roots in the wisdom literature of the Hebrews:
“The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but maintains the widow’s boundaries.” (Proverbs 15:25)
“It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19)
This is a theme that runs through Luke’s gospel from the very beginning:
“He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53)
Another theme in the gospel of Luke is the way tax collectors embraced Jesus’ vision for human society while the wealthy Pharisees from both the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel, did not. While the Pharisees would have adhered much more closely to the purity codes of the Torah while disregarding some economic codes (remember the Pharisee Hillel had invented the Prozbul to get around the debt forgiveness of the Jubilee), Luke’s gospel paints the tax collectors differently. The tax collectors were most likely much less strident about the purity codes of the Torah, but were embracing Jesus’ call for the institution of the year of the Lord’s favor, or Jubilee (Luke 4:18-19).
Consider Luke’s story of the tax collector Zacchaeus:
Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:8-9)
The synoptic gospels portray Jesus as caring more about the economic justice themes taught in the Torah than other themes. This might explain why the tax collectors who embraced the Torah’s wealth redistribution and restitution to “the poor” were “close to the Kingdom” while the wealthy Pharisees holding on to their wealth were characterized as refusing to enter the kingdom and obstructing those others who would (see Matthew 23:13; cf. Luke 18:24).
This brings up questions for me. The Pharisees, even the more liberal Pharisees who interpreted all of the Torah through the lens of love and treating others the way they would like to be treated, failed to enter Jesus’ kingdom because of their failure to embrace concrete economic changes in Jesus’ teachings that would have lessened the inequality gap between the rich and the poor of their society.
Many Christians think they have arrived at a correct and healthy understanding of the gospel when they conclude that it’s all about love. But love that is indifferent to povety, according the gospels is not enough. If our grand teachings on love do not translate down into a concrete, material difference for the poor, is our gospel really the same as Jesus’? Is it enough for us to declare a gospel of love, the love of God, and how we should love our neighbor if we do not apply that love of neighbor to how we live in relation to wealth inequality, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and a system that continues to create both great wealth and great poverty.
The Jesus community was moving away from the instinct of hoarding wealth to protect individual wealthy people from bad luck. They were creating community where wealth was created for and shared by all:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
James Cone, considered one the most significant fathers of Black Liberation Theology, also wrote, “It is ironic that America, with its history of injustice to the poor, especially the black man and the Indian, prides itself on being a Christian nation” (Black Theology and Black Power: 50th Anniversary Edition)
Similarly, in his classic book The Gospel of Jesus, The Search for the Original Good News, James M. Robinson reminds us that the historical Jesus gospel was deeply rooted in economic justice envisioning a different type of human society:
[Jesus’] basic issue, still basic today, is that most people have solved the human dilemma for themselves at the expense of everyone else, putting them down so as to stay afloat themselves. This vicious, antisocial way of coping with the necessities of life only escalates the dilemma for the rest of society. (Kindle Location, 134)
This issue goes all the way back to the Hebrew prophets, in a passage that should challenge our culture wars today and that defines the sin of Sodom primarily as about society’s disregard for the poor:
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49)
Our reading this week tells us that a humble tax collector, a member of a community in Luke’s gospel that was embracing Jesus’ vision of wealth redistribution and poverty elimination, went home justified.
I’ll end this week with James Cone’s timely challenge for each of us at this moment in our nation’s history:
When profits are more important than persons, disastrous results follow for the poor of all colors. It does not matter whether blacks or whites do it. This madness must be opposed. (A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 15)
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways are you choosing to embrace Jesus’ economic teachings? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 43: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Luke 18:9-14
“This group, even the more liberal among this group who interpreted all of the Torah through the lens of love and treating others the way they would like to be treated, failed to enter Jesus’ kingdom because of their failure to embrace concrete economic changes in Jesus’ teachings that would have lessened the inequality gap between the rich and the poor of their society. Many Christians think they have arrived at a correct and healthy understanding of the gospel when they conclude that it’s all about love. But love that is indifferent to povety, according the gospels is not enough. If our grand teachings on love do not translate down into a concrete, material difference for the poor, is our gospel really the same as Jesus’? Is it enough for us to declare a gospel of love, the love of God, and how we should love our neighbor if we do not apply that love of neighbor to how we live in relation to wealth inequality, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and a system that continues to create both great wealth and great poverty.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com/ and click on “Donate.”
The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
Herb Montgomery | October 10, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke.
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19)
The phrase that jumps out at me in this week’s reading is, “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” One of Luke’s larger themes is opening up the early Jesus movement to a more diverse community than more Jewish people. From Luke chapter 4 all the way through to Pentecost in Acts are signs that, though the Jesus movement had deep Jewish roots, it would ultimately be composed of a much more multicultural community.
In fact, this story’s affirmation of the “foreigner” has a solid foundation in Jewish wisdom.
Consider the following passages from the Torah:
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)
“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt . . . Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.” (Exodus 23:9, 12)
“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:34)
“When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 26:12, cf. Deuteronomy 24:19-21, Deuteronomy 14:28-29)
“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.” (Deuteronomy 24:17)
“And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)
“’Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” (Deuteronomy 27:19)
“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)
If a fellow Israelite was plunged into poverty, how they treated foreigners was the standard by which they were to help their fellow native-born neighbors:
“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.” (Leviticus 25:35-38, emphasis added.)
This all stands in stark contrast to the xenophobia so many in our American society today hold and act on. One of the societal failures that were called out by the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition was their society’s mistreatment of the foreigner and denying them justice. I can’t help but think of America right now as I read this verse from Ezekiel:
“The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.” (Ezekiel 22:29)
The Hebrew scriptures are far from univocal about the foreigner, though, and this is why there is debate among Christians today. In our sacred text, we also find exceptionalism, a teaching that often leads those who see themselves as culturally exceptional to view themselves as superior to other cultures. As an example, Christian European colonizers used portions of the Exodus narrative about the nations in Canaan to enact genocide on Indigenous populations in their day. The Bible includes “stories in which it is easy to identify with the displaced people of the land, as opposed to the expanding invaders—with Canaanites and Moabites rather than the Hebrews. The parallels are all the more painful as European colonialists over the centuries consciously used the conquest of Canaan as a model for their own activities” (Philip Jenkins, Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the Bible’s Violent Verses, p. 20-21).
The scriptures are not going to force any of us to treat today’s migrants any particular way. We get to choose which portions of our sacred text we want to shape us here. Do we want to be the kind of humans who vote for and support mistreating migrants at the U.S. border, refusing asylum for those seeking protections, or placing children who have been separated from their parents into detention centers. Do you want to be that kind of person? Scripture will not give you much cover if you do. You may find verses that you can use to help support your biases, but there are also passages on the other side of the debate, as well. So what makes you choose one set of passages to follow over others, especially in light of the story of Jesus through which Christianity claims to interpret Scripture. However many passages one may find to justify the mistreatment of migrants today, we must all stand naked before Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:
“I was a foreigner and you invited me in . . . whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35-40)
The word for foreigner here is xeno, from which we get the word xenophobia.
In his book Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, Robert Chao Romero writes:
“We have been wanted for our land and labor, while at the same time rejected for our cultural and ethnic difference. When economic times get tough, we become the disposable “illegal alien,” and are scapegoated and deported. We are wanted and unwanted. Necessary, yet despised.” (p. 15).
Romeo also reminds us, in chilling resonance with the passage we just read in Matthew 25, that “Jesus, our Lord, was also Brown. As a working class, young adult, Jewish man living in the colonized territory of Galilee, he also occupied a space of social, political, cultural, and religious liminality” (p. 16).
As many of you know, I live in Appalachia. Recently, I overheard a group of four working-class White men complaining that a nearby construction site was “filled with Mexicans.” Because I knew a few of those construction workers through various faith communities here locally, I knew they were actually from Honduras, but everyone who presents as Latin American is a “Mexican” to certain folks around here. Their actual national origin was also incidental to the slur. They could have been American by citizenship and would have still been targeted as “Mexicans.” Slurs are not about facts, but about prejudice, stereotyping, and exclusion.
I then overheard one of the men respond, “Someone needs to call I.C.E.!” And the conversation escalated from there. In their own echo chamber, their xenophobia became uglier and uglier. I also know one of the men in that group. They and their family are weekly churchgoers. They sit in a pew each week and listen to preachers preach from the gospels, but somehow they missed the part of Jesus’ teachings that we’re reading this week. I turned around and did my best to speak up on the construction workers’ behalf, but it mostly fell on ears that refused to hear.
Another example of the many justice violations being committed toward migrants in the U.S. currently is denial of due process. Placing Jesus’ teachings to the side for just a moment, consider this though the lens of the U.S. constitution. Denying migrants due process undermines fundamental human rights and the rule of law. It strips individuals of the opportunity to fairly present their case, and often results in wrongful deportations or detentions. Migrants fleeing violence, persecution, or poverty may face life-threatening consequences if deported without a hearing. Due process ensures accountability, transparency, and justice in immigration systems, and when it is denied, it fosters discrimination, abuse of power, and systemic injustice. Upholding due process is essential for a fair and humane immigration policy. Without it, basic democratic principles are compromised, and vulnerable populations are left without legal protection or a voice. Every time we weaken democratic principles, we are not just harming others, we are making our world less safe for ourselves, as well.
Looking out on the landscape of the current crisis with our migrant population, I think back the words Romero wrote during the first Trump administration:
“A five-alarm fire is raging through the Latina/o immigrant community. Millions are impacted. And yet, relatively few outside of our community—and very few within the evangelical community—seem to care. In fact, through their xenophobic rhetoric many are intentionally stoking the flames without regard to the many lives being consumed.” (Robert Chao Romero, Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, p. 207)
To the ten lepers and his disciples, Jesus asks, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” It’s the same lesson as the good Samaritan. And it should challenge every Jesus follower to assess and reject whatever xenophobic bias we may hold.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What ways are you mitigating the harm presently being done to migrant families? How could you do more? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 41: The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
Luke 17:11-19
“The word for foreigner here is xeno, from which we get the word xenophobia. The scriptures are far from univocal about the foreigner, though, and this is why there is debate among Christians today. The scriptures are not going to force any of us to treat today’s migrants any particular way. We get to choose which portions of our sacred text we want to shape us here. Do we want to be the kind of humans who vote for and support mistreating migrants at the U.S. border, refusing asylum for those seeking protections, or placing children who have been separated from their parents into detention centers? Do you want to be that kind of person? Scripture will not give you much cover if you do. You may find verses that you can use to help support your biases, but there are also passages on the other side of the debate, as well. So what makes you choose one set of passages to follow over others, especially in light of the story of Jesus through which Christianity claims to interpret Scripture? However many passages one may find to justify the mistreatment of migrants today, we must all stand before Jesus’ words here.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-ten-lepers-and-christian-xenophobia
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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The Christian Normalization of Social Evils
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com/ and click on “Donate.”
The Christian Normalization of Social Evils
Herb Montgomery | October 3, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (Luke 17:5-10)
Right at the start this week, I want to name that this text and others in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament fail to call out slavery and they treating other human beings as property of other humans as an evil that a just society rejects. Yes, a biblical argument can be made against slavery. But those arugumenst are much more complex requiring someont to know the cultural contexts of certain sections in which our sacred text was written. Abolitionism isn’t taught by any single passage but deduced from principles gleaned from a string of passages.
If Luke was directing this passage at the priests and Sadducees of Jesus’ day, we could read it as Jesus’ attempt to awaken the powerful, propertied, and privileged to their place as slaves of the Roman Empire. But the context doesn’t seem to support that interpretation. Jesus is responding to his disciples, the apostles, who have just asked for him to increase their faith.
So let’s begin with an honest survey of what our sacred text does say about slavery. And, fair warning, our scriptures don’t always say what we wish they would say. Let’s start with a passage in Leviticus:
“As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. You may also acquire them from among the foreigners residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.” (Leviticus 25:44-46)
That people are being permitted to be owned as property and even passed down as property that children can inherit is an astounding failure. In every era, an enslaved person would have objected to their dehumanization. I offer no justification here for enslavers. Nor will I advocate for or soften enslavers’ theology, ancient or modern. Certainly the society in which this passage was written had evolved enough to understand the evil of slavery. This is why it’s not allowed for other Israelites but only for those who are not Israelites: it was an evil enough to not be allowed for fellow citizens, but you could practice owning others, those who were not part of “us.”
I find this passage abhorrent. It’s passages like this one in Leviticus as well our reading in Luke that empowered Moses Stuart of Andover Seminary in Massachusetts, the nation’s most learned biblical scholar in the era leading up to the American Civil War, to publish a major tract on the subject of slavery entitled Conscience and the Constitution. Stuart stated that abolitionists “must give up the New Testament authority, or abandon the fiery course which they are pursuing” (p. 55). In other words, he argued, you can’t hold the abolitionist position that all slavery is evil and the New Testament with both hands. You have to let go of one to hold on to the other.
In The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, Mark Nollwrites of the uphill battle Christian abolitionists faced in using the Bible for their arguments against slavery:
Biblical attacks on American slavery faced rough going precisely because they were nuanced. This position could not simply be read out of any one biblical text; it could not be lifted directly from the page. Rather, it needed patient reflection on the entirety of the Scriptures; it required expert knowledge of the historical circumstances of ancient Near Eastern and Roman slave systems as well as of the actually existing conditions in the slave states; and it demanded that sophisticated interpretative practice replace a commonsensically literal approach to the sacred text. (Mark A. Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis [The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era], Kindle Edition. Kindle location 645)
Our reading this week belongs to a series of passages in Luke that don’t speak against slavery but assume it is a permanent part of human society. Other passages in Luke include:
Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. (Luke 12:35-38)
And:
For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:27)
This week’s reading normalizes slavery. One of the dangers of readings like the one we’re reading this week is that they normalize for Christians behaviors and societal evils that we should react to with much more concern. They desensitize us to just how evil some things really are. The scriptures also have a long history of normalizing things such as genocide of Indigenous populations, viewing and relating to women as inferior to men, rejecting and even being violent toward LGBTQ people and migrants; they normalize xenophobia, exceptionalism, White supremacy, nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, retribution, and more.
This has helped me make sense much of why certain sectors of Christians today have embraced racist, fascist, authoritarian, and misogynistic elements in our society. Christians I have known all my life have embraced things over the last decade that have left me wondering if I really ever knew them. Things that should have been deal-breakers were instead glossed over, mitigated, or explained away. This makes sense because if a Christian’s picture of God includes some of these evils and encourages relating to humanity through an aggressive, destructive, us-versus-them paradigm, then these evils become normalized and fail to evoke the repulsion they should. These evils are accepted as part of the moral fiber of a loving God when they should be a huge red flag instead. If these aren’t a deal-breaker for God, they aren’t going to be deal-breakers for political leaders. This has desensitized a whole sector of Christianity to go along with a host of social evils rather than strenuously opposing them as harmful, horrendous, and destructive of vulnerable people. Beyond that, our own bigotries and prejudices can confirm us in normalizing destructive behaviors and worldviews.
However we hold, read, view, or interpret our sacred texts, we must do so in life-giving ways with a diverse community of others who experience life on this planet differently from us. This enables us to experience how others hear certain passages. It enables us become aware of the harm certain interpretations permit certian people to commit. And it offers us the opportunity to humbly listen to those unlike ourselves, believe their lived experience, and choose the kind of human being we want to be.
On the subject of slavery, I’m thankful that certain Bible authors did see the evils of slavery and sought to move their audiences away from it. As much as I critique the gospel of John over its focus on the afterlife rather than this life, it does get some things right. It focuses its audience on love toward one another, and love is the root of justice. It affirms the equality of women and other communities marginalized within Christianity at that time. And it subtly betrays the evil of slavery when John’s Jesus speaks to his disciples:
“I do not call you slaves any longer, because the slave does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends . . .” (John 15:15)
It’s still a far cry from a robust rejection of slavery. But the fact that Jesus refused to relate to his disciples as slaves in John, whereas in Luke, he tells disciples to say “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”, sows a seed in the hearts of John’s listeners that could germinate and grow into questions about the institution of slavery itself.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What other things do you feel certain sectors of Christianity have normalized which should be societally rejected? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
Season 3, Episode 27: Luke 17:5-10, Lectionary C, Proper 22
Just Talking is a weekly conversation centered on the upcoming weekend’s Gospel lectionary reading. Each discussion explores the text through the lenses of love, inclusion, and social justice.
Our hope is that these conversations will be more than just talking—they’ll be just talking, rooted in justice. And maybe, they’ll inspire you to go beyond just talking and into action.
Whether you preach from the lectionary or are simply curious about the Jesus story from a more progressive, justice-oriented perspective, we invite you to join us.
Herb Montgomery is speaker/director of Renewed Heart Ministries.
This week’s special guest is Alicia Johnston.
Watch at:
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 40: The Christian Normalization of Social Evils
Luke 17:5-10
“One of the dangers of readings like the one we’re reading this week is that they normalize for Christians behaviors and societal evils that we should react to with much more concern. They desensitize us to just how evil some things really are. This helps us make sense much of why certain sectors of Christians today have embraced racist, fascist, authoritarian, and misogynistic elements in our society. Christians I have known all my life have embraced things over the last decade that have left me wondering if I really ever knew them. Things that should have been deal-breakers were instead glossed over, mitigated, or explained away. However we hold, read, view, or interpret our sacred texts, we must do so in life-giving ways within a diverse community of others who experience life on this planet differently than ourselves.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-christian-normalization-of-social-evils
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Christianity, Liberation and Justice
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
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Christianity, Liberation and Justice
Herb Montgomery | August 15, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17)
The Jewish weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) is a sacred day of rest and spiritual renewal observed from sunset Friday evening to sunset Saturday evening. Part of the biblical creation story, Shabbat commemorates the seventh day when God ceased from creating and declared the day holy (Genesis 2:2–3). It is one of the central practices of Judaism and is both a commandment and a gift.
For some observers today, Shabbat begins with lighting candles to mark the transition from the ordinary workweek to sacred time. Then follow blessings over kiddush (wine ) and challah(bread), and a festive meal with family and community. Observant Jews typically share three meals over the course of Shabbat, and the day is filled with songs, prayers, and Torah discussion.
The essence of Shabbat is rest. Traditional observance includes refraining from work and creative activities called melachot, which include things like cooking, writing, or using electronics. This pause from productivity is not merely about abstaining from labor: it is about making space to be present with God, with others, and with oneself.
Shabbat is also a time for worship at the synagogue, including communal prayer and the public reading of the Torah. It provides a weekly opportunity for spiritual reflection, physical rest, and deepened human connection.
More than just a day off, Shabbat is seen as a foretaste of a world still future—a day of peace, joy, and completeness. In Jewish tradition, keeping Shabbat is meant to be more than an obligation: it is intended to be a delight.
There was an original justice component to the Shabbat as well.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
Think of the Sabbath commandment in Exodus in the context of a narrative about liberated slaves who are being re-enslaved by Babylon. Scholars believe the Torah as we know it reached its final form through a process of redaction and compilation during the Babylonian exile. It served a purpose much like the establishment of the 8-hour workday, which emerged from the labor movements of the 19th Century. During the Industrial Revolution, workers often faced grueling 10 to 16-hour shifts. In response, labor activists began demanding “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what we will.” The movement gained momentum in the U.S. with nationwide strikes, including the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. Although progress was slow, the 8-hour standard became law for federal workers in 1912, and in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established the 40-hour workweek as a national labor standard in the United States. The Sabbath commandment also has a history in a kind of labor justice. In the Exodus narrative, they are establishing a 6-day workweek. Notice that the Exodus Sabbath commandment isn’t so much aimed at employees as it is aimed at employers. It’s not telling employees to rest, as much as it forbids employers from denying their employees rest. In its original context, the Sabbath was about justice and liberation.
But in our reading this week, the Sabbath had become an excuse to object to Jesus’ justice and liberation work. The Sabbath had become an obstacle to justice and liberation, not a conduit for achieving it. Mark’s gospel even tells a story about how folks were waiting for Sabbath to end so they could come to Jesus for healing and liberation:
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. (Mark 1:32)
This is a history often repeated: something that was originally intended to be life-giving evolves over time into a death-dealing tool oppressors use to keep oppressed people in their places, denying them justice, and obstructing their liberation.
Can you think of other things that have followed this same evolutionary path? I love that this week’s reading shows Jesus liberating a woman in an act of transgression against the oppressive norms of his own context. He values the woman’s liberation as paramount. It reminds me of a passage in Peter’s epistle:
Above all, love each other. (1 Peter 4:8)
Above all.
Provocative Black intellectual and philosophy professor at Union Theological Seminary Dr. Cornel West has often said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” In situations where there’s a scale of competing values, we must esteem how we choose to exercise justice (the public expression of love) above all else.
Our reading this week is about the tension between a person’s liberation and the way a religious institution (the Sabbath) was interpreted to oppose that liberation. The Christian faith tradition also has a long history of using its interpretations of our sacred texts to stand in the way of people’s liberation from injustice. Christianity has always had a dual witness regarding oppression: some advancing it, some fighting it. From the first generation in Acts to today. Some Christians have, Bibles in their hand, opposed the abolition of slavery here in the U.S., or women’s liberation from patriarchy, and the LGBTQ community’s work toward a more equitable society. Liberation and justice are deeply intertwined concepts, each depending on the other to be fully realized. Liberation speaks to the process of freeing individuals and communities from systems of oppression—whether political, economic, racial, gender-based, or religious. Justice, meanwhile, ensures that this freedom is not only achieved but sustained through structures that affirm everyone’s dignity and rights.
Historically, liberation movements have risen in response to injustice. I’m thinking of the Civil Rights Movement, Indigenous resistance to colonialism, the fight for women’s rights, and more. Each of these efforts began with a deep yearning for freedom but ultimately sought a more just society—one in which the systems that produced inequality were dismantled and replaced with equitable alternatives.
Justice is not simply the punishment of wrongdoing; it is the active creation of conditions where wrongs are less likely to occur. It involves redistribution of resources, access to education and healthcare, protection of rights, and the amplification of marginalized voices. Justice requires us to confront power and privilege, especially when they are used to exclude or dehumanize.
Liberation without justice can be fleeting. If a people are freed from one form of domination only to be subjected to another, their liberation is sham. Similarly, justice without liberation is a lie. You cannot have true justice while people remain trapped in systems that deny their full humanity.
Spiritual and philosophical traditions around the world affirm the essential link between liberation and justice, Christianity with its complicated oppressive history among them. The call to “let the oppressed go free” is not merely a metaphor; it is a summons to act in solidarity with the poor and the excluded. Our gospel must unequivocally state that justice is love made public and embodied in social, economic, and political transformation.
True liberation and justice require more than empathy. They demand action. They challenge us to listen deeply, to learn from those on the margins, and to use our resources and influence in ways that help us all reimagine a better world. It is not enough to hope or pray for a just society; we must build it, piece by piece, policy by policy, relationship by relationship.
In this sense, liberation and justice are ongoing journeys. They are the work of communities committed to healing, truth-telling, and the shared belief that another world is possible and a just, compassionate world that is a safe home for all is worth fighting for.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does your practice of Christianity lead you to support justice and liberation, rather than stand against it? Share and discuss with your goup.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking.
Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
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 34: Christianity, Liberation and Justice
Luke 13:10-17
“Our reading this week is about the tension between a person’s liberation and the way a religious institution (the Sabbath) was interpreted to oppose that liberation. The Christian faith tradition also has a long history of using its interpretations of our sacred texts to stand in the way of people’s liberation from injustice. Christianity has always had a dual witness regarding oppression: some advancing it, some fighting it. From the first generation in Acts to today. Some Christians have, Bibles in their hand, opposed the abolition of slavery here in the U.S., or women’s liberation from patriarchy, and the LGBTQ community’s work toward a more equitable society. Spiritual and philosophical traditions around the world affirm the essential link between liberation and justice, Christianity with its complicated oppressive history among them. The call to “let the oppressed go free” is not merely a metaphor; it is a summons to act in solidarity with the poor and the excluded. Our gospel must unequivocally state that justice is love made public and embodied in social, economic, and political transformation.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/christianity-liberation-and-justice
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
I Have Much More to Say to You
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.”
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I Have Much More to Say to You
Herb Montgomery | June 13, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this first weekend after Pentecost is from the gospel of John:
“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 16:12-15)
One of the things I believe the gospel of John gets right is its repeated call to take Jesus’ liberation work further than Jesus could in his own lifetime. This challenge doesn’t need to fill us with anxiety, and perfection isn’t the goal. Our justice work today can follow the same trajectory as Jesus’ work, and be in harmony with the values we perceive in Jesus’ gospel. As long as we are endeavoring to do this, sometimes we will get it wrong and sometimes we will get it right. And when we do get it right, healing justice will be the result.
You find this idea echoed in other parts of the gospel of John as well:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these . . .” (John 14:12)
More revelations, greater deeds, continuation of the Spirit: all of these narrative elements hint that the Johannine community believed they were to build on Jesus’ initial work. We can do that in for our context, time, and spaces, too!
Jesus built on the justice tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9)
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)
Today, we can build on Jesus’ work, with these themes as our foundation too. Literalists among us have often cited passages like this and only been concerned with those who are literally widowed or fatherless. But the principle here is to prioritize and center whomever our society makes vulnerable to harm. In patriarchal societies like the ones both Proverbs and Isaiah were written for, community members not connected to a man (widows were without a husband, while the fatherless were without a present father) were vulnerable to social, political, and economic harm. Today we can mark other differences that make certain people in our communities vulnerable to harm. Today we don’t only use patriarchal biases We also use differences like race, gender, sexuality, education, culture, legal status or citizenship, and more to make community members vulnerable.
Today, we still have poor people, as well as the elderly and children. We must also be cognizant of how differences of race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and other factors are used to justify cruelty and harm. As Brock and Parker remind us, “The work of justice requires paying attention to how difference is used to justify oppression.” (Rita Nakashima Brock & Rebecca Parker, Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire, p. 396)
What Brock and Parker call the “work of justice” is essential for creating a safe, just and compassionate society. Today, several areas of society urgently require social justice to ensure that all people, regardless of their differences, experience equity and safety. The apostle James explains it well when he says, our faith without works of social justice is worthless:
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:15-17)
We must deeply question and reject a gospel that has no social impact toward justice:
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? (1 John 3:17)
Societal sins are creating an immigration crisis in our nation today. Robert Chao Romero writes, “A five-alarm fire is raging through the Latina/o immigrant community. Millions are impacted. And yet, relatively few outside of our community—and very few within the evangelical community—seem to care. In fact, through their xenophobic rhetoric many are intentionally stoking the flames without regard to the many lives being consumed” (Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, p. 207. Published in 2020).
Romero continues, “Seeing ourselves in the Exodus narrative, we apply the biblical text to our present experience and declare:
Afterward the Brown Church went to Donald Trump and said, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may live lives of shalom and abundance in the land that was once theirs.’”
But Donald Trump said, “Who is the LORD that I should heed him and let the Hispanics go? I worship the God of Make America Great Again, Manifest Destiny, and America First. I do not know about the Christianity of which you speak—this Jesus of Galilee and the God of the Oppressed.” . . .
But the president of the United States said to them, “Brown Church, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!”
—Exodus 5:1-4, Contemporary Chicana/o Version
(Ibid., pp. 210-211)
Another prominent area in need of reform is the criminal justice system. Racial profiling, disproportionate sentencing, police brutality, and mass incarceration particularly affect marginalized communities. Social justice in this area calls for equitable law enforcement practices, judicial fairness, and rehabilitation over punishment. Ensuring accountability for law enforcement and promoting restorative justice are also crucial steps.
Consider getting involved in our education system to address inequality. Social justice in education means meeting funding gaps and providing support services to meet diverse student needs. Consider getting involved in the battle for everyone to have even basic health care. The US is considered by many to be a “major nation” due to its substantial economic influence, its powerful military presence, and its role in international organizations. Yet we are the only high-income nation in the world not to ensure everyone has healthcare as a basic human right. Justice requires that everyone can access necessary services regardless of income. You could engage social justice in the workplace. Workplace justice means ensuring fair wages, equal hiring practices, and safe, inclusive environments. Labor rights and protections against exploitation are also foundational to workplace justice. Or how about getting involved in environmental justice? Marginalized communities often live in areas with higher vulnerability to pollution, waste, and climate-related risks. Environmental justice involves pushing our elected officials toward regulating the environment and involving the community in decision-making about environmental issues.
And this only scratches the surface. Jesus’ followers today could choose to see so much more in the Jesus story than a call to charity. Hearing Jesus’ words in John’s gospel, “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” invites us to perceive the truth that achieving a world that is safe, compassionate, and a just home for everyone in our time requires systemic change, policy reform, and collective commitment to equity, inclusion, and human dignity that embraces and celebrates all of our differences.
Christianity and social justice have always been deeply connected. Whether Christians have historically been found fighting against social justice movements or supporting and working alongside them, Christianity and social justice are connected first and foremost through the teachings of Jesus Christ, who emphasized love, compassion, and care for the marginalized. Central to our gospel is the belief that all humans are created in the image of God, are objects of God’s love and salvation, and deserve dignity and equality. The Hebrew scriptures, too, repeatedly call for justice, particularly for the poor, oppressed, and vulnerable, as seen in verses like Micah 6:8, which urges believers to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”
Today, we can find Christians on both sides of the social justice work. Some work for a better world here and now, and others are afraid of change, biased against differences, and opposed to the efforts of more justice-oriented Christians working to address systemic injustice, advocate for peace, and end oppression and marginalization. While the different communities within the early Jesus movement held various interpretations of his teachings, the core principle for all them was that faith must be expressed through action. The book of James defines faith as including actions that strive for justice for the oppressed. Christians today who aim to reflect God’s love and build a more compassionate and safe world are wading out into the deep waters of the “much more” Jesus had to share with us, for such a time as this.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What does expanding on the Jesus story look like for you this week? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
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!
Lectionary Readings in the context of Love, Inclusion, & Social Justice
Season 3, Episode 15: John 16.12-15. Lectionary C, Trinity Sunday
Each week, we’ll discuss the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend in the context of love, inclusion, and justice. We hope that our talking will be “just” talking (as in justice) and that we’ll be inspired to do more than “just talking” during our brief conversations each week.
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.
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 24: I Have Much More to Say to You
John 16:12-15
“Today, we can build on Jesus’ work, with these themes as our foundation too. Literalists among us have often cited passages like this and only been concerned with those who are literally widowed or fatherless. But the principle here is to prioritize and center whomever our society makes vulnerable to harm. In patriarchal societies like the ones both Proverbs and Isaiah were written for, community members not connected to a man (widows were without a husband, while the fatherless were without a present father) were vulnerable to social, political, and economic harm. Today we can mark other differences that make certain people in our communities vulnerable to harm. Today we don’t only use patriarchal biases We also use differences like race, gender, sexuality, education, culture, legal status or citizenship, and more to make community members vulnerable.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/i-have-much-more-to-say-to-you
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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A Gospel of Economic Justice
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A Gospel of Economic Justice
Herb Montgomery, January 25, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this upcoming weekend is from the gospel fo Luke:
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“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.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14-21)
Out of all of the passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that the author of Luke could have chosen, they connected Jesus with these words from the book of Isaiah:
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,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:1-3)
Luke’s gospel squarely places Jesus in the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition, speaking truth to power, on behalf of the poor in this case.
A Gospel of Wealth Redistribution
Considering how many times Luke’s gospel mentions “the poor,” it is no wonder that many consider it to be the gospel of economic justice. I’m reminded of what the late father of liberation theologies Gustavo Gutiérrez wrote in solidarity with the poor: “The poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order.” (The Power of the Poor in History, 2004, p. 45).
Certainly this was Jesus’ call in Luke, too.
So central is Jesus’ gospel of the wealth redistribution of the kingdom for the poor that when John’s disciples ask Jesus about the authenticity of his own movement, he responds that the good news to the poor validating his ministry:
So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Luke 7:22)
One of the transitional moments for me in my own journey in ministry was realizing that the Jesus of the gospels never mentions so many of the things I used to be passionate about preaching. And so many of the things Jesus taught and that were central to his emphasis in the synoptic gospels, I never even mentioned.
The poor, poverty, and economic justice were one of themes for me.
In Luke, Jesus centers the poor. The kingdom belongs to them. And Jesus’ “kingdom” is good news for them. As Gutiérrez would say, it’s a different social order where poverty is no longer created. Poverty is an indictment of the system it exists in, because that system creates and allows for poverty. A system of winners and losers will always have those who lose. But in Jesus’ new social order, everyone has enough to thrive:
Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20)
For Jesus, everything depended on how generous our attitude and actions were toward those our system places in poverty. Notwhithstanding the problematic nature of purity cultures in general, and given that this passage was written within a kind of purity culture, notice how everything “being clean” hinged on generosity toward the poor:
But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (Luke 11:41)
It is often said that Jesus’ advice in Luke 18 to the rich man, to sell his superfluous possessions and give them to the poor, were an isolated, private, and individual call only to that man. But this is far from the truth. Consider Jesus’ words to this man in Luke 18 and then compare them to Jesus’ words to the crowd in Luke 12. In Luke 12, this call is not to a specific wealthy person, but to all wealthy listeners in general.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33)
The wealth redistribution Jesus was calling for actually makes sense. Today, the difference between a $30,000 income and a $60,000 for a family is dramatic for the adults but especially dramatic for that family’s children. Their stress, health, life expectancy, and social outcomes are all dramatically different. At the same time, we now know people aren’t dramatically happier or more fulfilled if their net worth grows from $1 billion to $10 billion.
I’m reminded of Zacchaeus, who in Luke is one of those wealthy members of society (who also was a tax collector) who choose to heed Jesus’ call:
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8)
A Gospel of a New Social Order
So central was this call to create a new social order where poverty is no more that in Luke’s companion book, Acts, the first generation of Jesus followers who put Jesus’ societal vision into practice eliminated poverty in their group entirely:
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 2:42-45)
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. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (Acts 4:32-35, italics added)
In our reading, Jesus’ gospel doesn’t just end with the poor. It also includes freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, liberation for the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favor when slaves would be set free, debts cancelled, and lost or sold land returned back to ancestral families. The prisoners, the blind, and oppressed are all people whose social system had failed them. The blind were imprisoned in a dark Roman cell and deprived of all light. Their situation was referred to as “prison blindness.” In this context, “recovery of sight” means setting free those in these dark cells and ushering them back into the freedom of the sunlight where they could see again. This gives me pause for all whom our justice system in the U.S. is failing today. (To learn more about mass incarceration and the justice system, read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson; and Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate by Helen Prejean.)
Today, we could extend this list of system failures even further. Participating in Jesus’ justice work today is to combat white supremacy and anti-Blackness. It means combating misogyny and patriarchal norms. It means standing for the safety and well-being of our LGBTQ family and friends, and even more. This list ultimately includes all of us. Because to follow the Jesus of our reading this week means to engage the ongoing work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone, whatever obstacles we might face.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s Podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. Do you consider economic justice as foundational to other areas of social justice? How so? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
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 44: Luke 4.14-21. Lectionary C, Epiphany 3
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 4: A Gospel of Economic Justice
Luke 4:14-21
“Poverty is an indictment of the system it exists in, because that system creates and allows for poverty. A system of winners and losers will always have those who lose. But in Jesus’ new social order, everyone has enough to thrive. In our reading, Jesus’ gospel doesn’t just end with the poor. It also includes freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, liberation for the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favor when slaves would be set free, debts cancelled, and lost or sold land returned back to ancestral families. Today, in addition to econimic justice, we could extend this list of system failures even further. Participating in Jesus’ justice work today is to combat white supremacy and anti-Blackness. It means combating misogyny and patriarchal norms. It means standing for the safety and well-being of our LGBTQ family and friends, and even more.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/a-gospel-of-economic-justice
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Free Sign Up Here
A Socially Engaged Gospel
Now Available on Amazon!
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb MontgomeryAvailable.
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.
New Episode of JustTalking!
Season 2, Episode 3: John 3.14-21. Lectionary B, Lent 4
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.
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 the latest show on YouTube at
Season 2, Episode 3: John 3.14-21. Lectionary B, Lent 4
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A Socially Engaged Gospel
Herb Montgomery | March 9, 2024
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
Our reading this fourth weekend of Lent is from the gospel of John:
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:14-21
Most New Testament scholars today recognize the proto-gnostic or gnostic tendencies of the Johannine community that produced the gospel of John. Later Gnostic Christians even only honored and read from the gospel of John (cf. Irenaeus, Against Heresies).
Some of the Gnostic elements we encounter in John’s gospel include glorifying the Moses’ snake (a symbol in early Jewish gnosticism); a dualistic way of dividing our experiences between the material, deemed evil, and the spiritual, deemed good; and defining salvation as when our souls are finally liberated from our bodies and this finite, material plane.
Although those who won the power in the early Christian church deemed Christian gnosticism a heresy, much of western protestant Christianity today ironically looks a lot like early gnosticism, at least relation to the elements we have mentioned here.
Today, John’s gospel is the favorite of the New Testament gospels for many who practice the kind of Christianity that is hyper-focused either on gaining heaven or attaining the inward, individual, privatized spiritual experience with a cosmic Jesus often referred to as having “a relationship with God.” If either of these kinds of Christianity happens to be your experience, I don’t want to degrade that experience in the slightest. I just want to push it further. Whether someone’s focus is getting to heaven or having a private relationship with their individual Lord and savor, we must be honest about how those two focuses can divert our attention from the focus of the Jesus in the synoptic gospels. That Jesus was a source of healing and liberation for folks, not from a private internal hell unattached to the society around them or a post mortem one but from the living hell they were suffering through concrete social realities.
In 1958, responding to a complaint that someone’s pastor was talking about the NAACP during their sermon, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King responded,
“Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men [sic] and is not concerned about economic conditions that cripple them and the social conditions that damn them is a dry as dust religion in need of new blood. Therefore your minister by including so-called ‘worldly things’ in his sermon revealed that he is a man of great spiritual depth and deep civic conscience. He revealed his awareness of the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ deals with the whole man [sic]—his [sic] body as well as his soul, the earthly as well as the heavenly.” (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Advice for Living, September 1958)
There are two ditches on either side of the paths we journey as Christians. One ditch is to be only focused on heaven. This is what some have referred to as being “so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.” The other ditch is to only be focused inwardly on private and personal piety or a cosmic “relationship” to the exclusion of the center: our path following Jesus which is being a source of life-giving change in our world here and now.
It doesn’t matter which of these ditches we fall into. Whatever we believe, our beliefs should make us a more engaged and better humans in relation to our world we are living in today.
Why does this matter in relation to our text this week? This week’s passage is a favorite for those who live solely in either ditch. For those in the ditch of getting to heaven, the phrase “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” has special resonance. For those focused on a private, individual relationship with Jesus or God’s love, the phrases “God so loved the world” and “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world” especially resonate. And rightly so.
While there may be some value in these beliefs, there is no reason why this passage should only belong to those who focus on them. This passage can also speak to those who care about making a difference in our material world and on personal and systemic suffering today.
Why can’t the condemnation in this passage be similar to how the Hebrew prophets defined divine condemnation? In the Hebrew prophets, condemnation was not focused on individuals but on people groups, societies, and communities. When their social systems engaged in harmful practices toward the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow (in a patriarchal society), that society would suffer divine condemnation. They understood that condemnation was expressed through a calamity, natural, military, or a combination of both. If the teaching in John was similar to the Hebrew prophets’ teaching, God did not send God’s son into the world to perpetuate this cycle of unsustainable injustice and the intrinsic fruit of oppression and violence, but to shows us a way out.
And this leads to us defining salvation socially not individually. As Walter Rauschenbusch so rightly stated almost a century ago, “If our theology is silent on social salvation, we compel [people] to chose between an unsocial system of theology and an irreligious system of social salvation” (A Theology for the Social Gospel, p. 7) This social salvation can lead us into some beautifully inclusive realizations and practices. As the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis so beautifully states, “If there is such a thing as salvation, none of us are saved, until all of us are saved.”
“Perish” can refer not to some post mortem hell, but to literally perishing here, now, today. As Gustavo Gutierrez often stated, poverty is death and means an early death. Eternal life can be about quality not quantity: about the abundant life now, where there is enough for everyone to thrive (cf. John 10:10) .This vision is for a world that prioritizes making sure everyone is taken care of rather than shaping the world with greed and funneling our resources into the hands of the few in positions of power.
Today, we can lean into this passage: God actually does loves the world! And if God’s love is universal, then we are to care about justice for everyone included in that world as the objects of that love. As Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes says, “When you begin with the idea that God loves everyone, justice isn’t very far behind.” Or as so many today are fond of saying, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” This world that is loved, we must be careful to define as everyone, with no exclusions. Those who comprise our world that are loved includes those that are different from ourselves, even those whose differences trigger our own bigotries and prejudices. We must be honest here.
I’m thinking of how women in positions of authority can trigger insecure or patriarchal men. I’m thinking of how racial and cultural differences trigger those whose internal bias is some form of White or western supremacy. I think of how trans and nonbinary differences and gender nonconformity triggers those who have cis-biases. Or how folks who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual trigger those with heteronormative biases. I think of class bias. I think of educational bias with what is now being called the paper ceiling.
If we are serious about leaning into the belief that every person is the object of divine love, then this would radically impact how we relate to those around us. Every person we meet is our sibling. Every person we meet is a part of ourselves. What impacts and affects one affects us all. Whether we like it or not, we are all connected to each other as part of this beautifully diverse human family that is loved by a universal love.
And this has grave implication for our everyday choices as well. You can’t love others and not care about the things they suffer from the way our society is shaped. You can’t love them and vote for legislatures who seek to do them harm. To come full circle, you can’t love them and be focused on only your own arrival into heaven or your own personal relationship with the Divine. Otherwise, our focus on God’s love mutates from God’s loving us alongside everyone else in the world into a self-absorbed need to be loved by God above all else. It’s an only-child-like syndrome where God may love others, but privately and inwardly we begin to believe that we are God’s favorite. This is the root of Christian and too often national exceptionalism.
To authentically reinterpret our passage this week through the lens of the Jesus we see in the Mark, Matthew, and Luke can still give us assurance of heaven, and still usher us into a relationship with the divine if that is your thing. And it also has the potential, when understood more broadly and deeply, to shape our practice of Christianity in ways that shape us into humans who make our world a safer, more 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. How do the gospel stories call you to be more socially engaged? 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.
I want to also say a special thank you this week to Quoir Publishing, Keith Giles who wrote the foreword to my latest book, all the special people on our launch team, and all of you who made this release a success.
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and soon 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 new Threads. 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.
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.
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