Shows / The Social Jesus Podcast
The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice, and what a first-century, Jewish, prophet of the poor from Galilee offers us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
Episodes
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Hating One’s Family
Luke 14:25-33 “Luke’s context is not choosing one’s religion or faith over loving and affirming a family member. The context is choosing justice and inclusion…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Humility, Inclusion, Power and Privilege
Luke 14:1, 7-14 “What I do appreciate about our reading this week is Jesus’ admonishment to be inclusive. These are the people who, in his social context…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
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…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
When Justice Means Division
Luke 12:49-56 “The challenge, then, is to understand that we cannot build real unity on the denial of justice. Authentic unity emerges not from avoiding…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Bending Our World’s Moral Arc Toward Justice
Luke 12:32-40 “That famous arc of justice requires deliberate and courageous efforts from those who choose to stand on the side of equity, compassion, and…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Moral Dilemma and Challenge of Wealth
Luke 12:13-21 “Faith traditions, moral philosophies, and humanitarian values all speak to the sacred responsibility that comes with wealth. Jesus taught that…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
A Prayer For Liberation
Luke 11:1-13 “Our reading closes with a story about shameless persistence in prayer. I will be the first to admit that I don’t understand how prayer works. But…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Mary, Martha and Gender Equality
Luke 10:38-42 The Bible and gender equality is a subject of ongoing theological debate within many Christian communities. This debate draws passionate voices…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Who Is My Neighbor
Luke 10:25-37 “Ultimately, seeing others as neighbors is a choice. It is a spiritual and ethical discipline that transforms how we relate to those with whom we…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Dependency and the Community of Justice
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 “This passage reminds us today to focus on justice work here and now. Not to focus on supernatural realms, but on our own present reality…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Caring for Those Outside the Tribe
Luke 9:51-62 “Where does this leave us today? Not belittling family ties, but working for economic justice. Wealth inequality continues to widen globally. Many…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Gerasenes and the Current Migrant Crisis
Luke 8:26-39 “The present immigration crisis is driven by a complicated intersection of violence, poverty, and environmental factors, and we need cooperation…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
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…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Pentecost and Social Justice
Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost reminds us that Christians should be deeply concerned with social justice because it reflects the heart of God’s love for humanity…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Carrying on the Work of Love and Justice
Luke 24:44-53 “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins that they taught had a quality that began with John the Baptist in Luke 3. John’s repentance was not for…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Jesus Story and Living with Disabilities
John 5:1-9 “Healing or removing a disability as Jesus did for so many in these stories is not an option for many if not most of us today. But we can take a cue…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Loving One Another and Distributive Justice
John 13:31-35 Before I became an ally to trans people, and before falling out with many of our early followers, I had spent years speaking, writing, and…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
A Shepherd Restoring Paradise
John 10:22-30 The good shepherd imagery in the synoptic gospels is referencing verses like these in Ezekiel where the leaders were censured for becoming an…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Justice Work is Holy Work
John 21:1-19 The needs of the people are holy. Their needs were holy for Jesus, and they must be holy for Jesus followers today, too. Working for people’s…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
So Send I You
John 20:19-31 “The reality is that those who bear Jesus’ name in the world often represent him to those around them whether they want this burden or not. Over…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Original Good News of Easter
Luke 24:1-12 “The cross has been the symbol of salvation in Christian history for two millennia. The apostle Paul was among the first to define the good news…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Peace Through Justice Doesn’t Need A War Horse
Luke 19:28-40 What would our local communities look like if each person simply had enough to thrive and we all were committed to making sure we were taking…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Mary, Christian Patriachy and the Existence of Poverty
John 12:1-8 Our story this week involving "Mary" was used to historically disparage women leaders within Christianity toward a purely patriarchal form…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
We Won’t Be Great Until Everyone Is Great
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Today Christians pick something that triggers our own bigotry and attach moral value to it, describing it as sinful when intrinsically there…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Social Repentance Not Private Piety
Luke 13:1-9 Here in the U.S., we are witnessing the gutting of programs that help our society’s most vulnerable. All of this is so that, under the guise of…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Courage to Stand Up to Harm
Season 2 Episode 11: The Courage to Stand Up to Harm Luke 13:31-35 All of this causes me to consider those today with the courage to speak out against harsh…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Temptations and the Rise of Authoritarianism in America
Luke 4:1-13 The current political environment in the U.S. has given us a different lens to read Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness through as this text, once…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Lessons of Justice from the Transfiguration
Luke 9:28-36 We are living in a time when systemic protections for the vulnerable among us are being dismantled. Collective sustaining aid is being slashed or…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Insights on Turning the Other Cheek, Enemy Love, and Judging Others
Luke 6:27-38 “Pam McAllister expressed the tension well as she explain the teachings of Barbara Deming: ‘Barbara wrote about the two hands of nonviolence . . …
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Blessing and Cursing of the Gospel
Luke 6:17-26 “Rather than the gospel being universal good news, the first shall be last and the last shall be first sounds quite the opposite. The equity that…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Fishing for People and Speaking Truth to Power
Luke 5:1-11 “Fishing never works out well for the fish! and fishing for people instead doesn’t fix that. The examples in Jeremiah, Amos, and Ezekiel, give…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Confronting the Discomfort of Our History and Our Present
Luke 4:22-30 “Today we need to pay close attention to responses that answer justice and reparations movements with rage and responses that define these…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
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…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Water, Wine and Human Beings Fully Alive
John 2:1-11 “I like the image of turning water into wine. It reminds me of the saying in the womanist tradition of making a way out of no way. The story asks…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Spirit, Love, Justice and Truth
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 “Establishing justice on Earth is the result of the Spirit. In our reading, that Spirit descends in the bodily form of a dove, which many…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Wisdom and Understanding Give Birth to Social Justice
Luke 2:41-52 “Any Christian teaching, action, or movement that disparages, discourages or prevents adherents from caring about social justice rejects Jesus’…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Mary’s Magnificat and the Intersection of Faith and Social Justice
Luke 1:39-55 “Few stories in the gospels’ narratives of Jesus’ birth demonstrate the intersection of faith and social justice as much as Mary’s Magnificat…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Advent and Justice Toward One Another
Luke 3:7-18 “Advent isn’t about escaping to somewhere else or about escaping inward either. Advent is about the arrival of justice where we are. And that’s…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Salvation from the Margins
Luke 3:1-6 “This is the theological and political point of the “wilderness” in our narrative this week. Change, liberation, and social salvation has…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Advent of Us
Luke 21:25-36 “This Advent season I’m reminded that Advent is about something finally showing up. We are the ones, especially at this moment, who must show up…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Give Us Barabbas
John 18:33-37 “Again, this kind of language has led to some deeply problematic interpretations. Some Christians completely disregard the injustice, oppression…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Beginning of Birth Pains
Mark 13:1-8 “I think of the economic stress so many are under presently. I think, too, of the political divisions that continue to grow here in the U.S. I…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
When Faith Does Societal Harm
Mark 12:38-44 “Whenever I heard the story of the widow’s mites growing up in church, it was always held up as an example of the piety and fidelity we should…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Two Greatest Commandments and Social Justice
Mark 12:28-34 “Next week is election week here in the U.S. Next week, many of us will be taking our civic (love of neighbor) responsibilities very seriously…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege
Mark 10:46-52 “We create so many lines based on social differences that we must learn to step across. Whether these lines are gender, social class, education…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Participation Not Substitution
Mark 10:35-45 “I too know something of what it means to stand up for justice and love. I know something of pushback from those who are benefitting from an…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
God and Money
Mark 10:17-31 “Will Jesus followers today as a community ever return to these practices and teachings? We live in a very individualistic culture. The first…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Divorce Just Ain’t What It Used To Be
Mark 10:2-16 “Our practice of marriage and divorce in our culture today should be based on the ethics and values of the golden rule, the well being of all…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Inclusivity and Taking Care of the Vulnerable
Mark 9:38-50 "Love, inclusivity, justice, and liberation don’t impose extra conditions, nor do they require everyone to be alike in every detail. Jesus…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Servants of the Most Vulnerable
Mark 9:30-37 “Some may consider this to be a subtle difference, but it makes a huge difference. One way to tell the difference is to ask yourself who is being…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Refusing to Passively Endure Injustice
Mark 8:27-38 “Too often Christians in power have used “bearing one’s cross” to teach that to follow Jesus means to passively and patiently endure whatever…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Jesus, a Greek Woman and a Magical Cure
Mark 7:24-36 “Intersectionality is such a rich lens through which to relate to this Jesus story as we consider how it may inform our justice work today. We…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Morality, Culture Wars, and Consent
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 “Where we get into culture wars today is in how to define sexual immorality in our list. I find it ironic that those who are quick to…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Right Now Matters
John 6:56-69 “These things may or may not have meaning in the future, but they all still have meaning right now. In the present, we are alive, and what we are…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Evolution of the Eucharist
John 6:51-58 “The early Jesus community’s shared meal evolved away from a meal of real bread and fish among a hungry crowd of Jewish Jesus followers where open…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
The Bread of Life
John 6:35, 41-51 “The kind of Jesus following that is only about managing fear of death is also convenient for those in positions of power who benefit and are…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Not Spiritualizing the Material
John 6:24-35 “There is no reason to pit the saving of souls against social justice work. Saving bodies is just as much a part of the Jesus tradition as savings…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Transcending and Escaping or Engaging and Transforming
John 6:1-21 “A focus on transcending this world comes from John’s gospel. But as Jesus followers, we must allow ourselves to be confronted by the fact that…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Jesus Following and Social Justice
Mark 6:14-29 “Rev. Dr. Emilie M. Townes states, ‘When you start with an understanding that God loves everyone, justice isn’t very far behind.’ For those…
- The Social Jesus Podcast
Embracing our Dependency
Mark 6:1-13 “Is our Christianity all about getting to heaven and saving our own individual soul? Or does following Jesus call us at the very first to be…