Jesus Unmasked

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace... for my eyes have seen your salvation." Old Simeon says these words when he sees eight-day-old Jesus presented in the temple. He has been waiting to see the hope of the world before he dies... and now he can go in peace. The sign from God that all will be well, that redemption for a hurting and broken world is at hand, has finally come... in the form of a tiny baby. That's the wonderfully subversive message of Christmas. God's redemption for the world doesn't lie in conquering armies, but in fully sharing our embodied humanity, starting as a completely helpless, vulnerable infant. It's amazing to re-read the Christmas story and see anew just how weird it is. In Luke 2, we get an overview of the cosmos. The reign of Emperor Augustus, the governorship of Quirinius... we see big important people in big important places. But then we zoom in on a barn in the middle of nowhere. God is making a grand entrance not in imperial halls, but in a feeding trough for beasts of burden. The first witnesses to the miracle of Christmas are those the world doesn't usually see: an unwed mother and her faithful fiance, a bunch of farm animals, and some shepherds. Shepherds weren't rich or powerful. They spent their nights in the fields, fending off occasional wolves, so they were rough, tough, and probably smelly to boot. And they are called to bear witness to the birth of God in flesh. Picture a gang of bikers showing up in the delivery room. That's an element of weirdness to this story, and a reminder that God comes first to those we might least expect, with a message of love, healing, and peace. And this message of love, peace, and hope for the whole world is a baby. God comes not in power and might, but complete and utter vulnerability, depending upon a violent humanity to care for him. As one of our listeners said, "We are drawn, in love, to the most vulnerable," so God becomes vulnerable so that we can be drawn in love to God. And through the incarnation, through the vulnerability, we can come to recognize the divine spark in one another and be drawn to love each other. God's plan to bring out our love for each other was to become Love embodied in fragile flesh. It's an amazing modeling of love and trust and hope so that the love, trust, and hope within each of us may be catalyzed. God saves us by placing God's own self in our hands, and showing us how to Love through loving us. Every newborn child is a magnet for our love and compassion and care. Like Jesus, we are all image-bearers of Love. Like Mary, we are all carriers and bearers of Love. And the hope for the healing of the world, the hope Simeon saw in the infant Jesus... we can see that hope whenever we recognize God within ourselves and one another, as the Incarnation invites us to do. Simeon can go in peace, for he has seen the sign of God's love in the most beautiful and subversive way possible. As we conclude Jesus Unmasked in this, our final episode, we know that we have also seen signs of God's love through walking this journey with you. Merry Christmas, and God bless you, friends.

"An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham..." Wait! Don't roll your eyes! We tend to skip the genealogies when we read scripture, but family trees tell stories. What story does Jesus' tell? Basically, it tells the story that God chooses to be born through messy, complicated people into a messy and complicated humanity. Adam and Lindsey discuss some of the stories of the people in Jesus' lineage to show how the Bible is direct about the scandalous nature about some of these people in Jesus' family tree. In Matthew's genealogy, Jesus is traced back to Abraham. Abraham is known for his loyalty to God; to his credit, he sets out into the unknown at God's direction. He also passes his wife off as his sister on multiple occasions in order to keep other men from killing him in jealous, lustful rages. So... he's complicated. David, the great king of Israel and the source of the Messianic title "Son of David" is also mentioned in this genealogy... along with the allusion to one of his most shameful crimes: arranging to have his soldier, Uriah, killed so that he could take his wife, Bethsheba, for himself. So Matthew's genealogy of Jesus does not gloss over the injustices committed by his ancestors. This genealogy also mentions some kickass women by name. First Tamar, who is nearly killed for becoming pregnant out of wedlock but then praised for her cleverness and resourcefulness. (Check out her story in Genesis 38). Then there's Rahab, a Cananite prostitute whose shrewdness saves Joshua and his soldiers. Then Ruth, a Moabite who shows tremendous dedication and love to her mother-in-law. Both Tamar and Rahab could be condemned by a patriarchal society, but they are held up as models. Both Rahab and Ruth are foreingers coming to nations thought to be condemned by God. Their presence in Jesus' lineage reinforce God's love for the immigrant and foreigner and are part of a trajectory of understanding God from exclusion to full inclusion. And, of course, there's Mary. Pregnant by the Holy Spirit before she is married to Joseph, she might have received a lot of grief and scorn from her contemporaries. But in referencing other women whose sexuality is not condemned but praised in scripture, Matthew's Gospel subtly begins to subvert some the patriarchy. This genealogy is not only scandalous and subversive. It also tells a story of redemption. Jesus' family tree isn't pristine... neither are ours. We are all messy, complicated people and products of messy, complicated families. Even so, during Advent, we remember that we are all nurturing the living God inside us. God doesn't withdraw from messy, complicated humans, but grows within each of us. Whatever our past, whatever others may think of us, even (or especially) if we are rejected or misunderstood by the world around us, we are still nuturing the living God within ourselves. Our Christmas episode of Jesus Unmasked will be next Wednesday at 9 PT, 11 CT, live on the Raven Foundation Facebook page. Please join us.

"Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name." That's a powerful self-affirmation for an unwed pregnant teen! An umarried teen girl, from long before Jesus until, sadly, today, could be called many things, but blessed isn't usually one of them. Mary was truly a badass. We begin with this Advent Season with the Magnificat because Advent is a time of pregnancy. We are all Mary right now. It is a strange and even fearful as well as wonderful thing to recognize that God is growing within us, preparing to burst forth and be born anew. But Mary isn't afraid. Despite the risk, despite the fact that carrying a baby with no biological connection to her betrothed could be life-threatening (though there is no evidence that first-century Judaism carried out the most stringent penalties of the Torah), despite the fact that even if her life were spared, a single mother's life was even harder then than it is now... despite all of this, Mary is not afraid. Mary is empowered. Her "yes" to God is not meek submission to patriarchal authority. It's an enthusiastic agreement to partner with God in overturning the powers of oppression. "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." Mary is empowered to carry God within her and bear God to the world because Mary knows God. While the Powers that Be try to claim that a world of oppression and sacrifice and violence is righteous, Mary knows that God is coming to turn that world -- turn our world -- upside-down. God is with the marginalized, vulnerable, and oppressed. God is in the most vulnerable of us, even as God was in Mary. The transformation of an oppressive world will not come through violence, but through fearless love. Mary's love for God, for the poor and vulnerable of the world, and for herself, is powerfully subversive. God's love doesn't exclude the powerful and the rich, but it does humble them and empty them so that they can find worth not in status or material Gods, but in the image of God within their fellow human beings. Mary might have endured scorn and ridicule from the outside world, but she loves herself because she knows that God within her loves her. Let's follow Mary's example by loving ourselves and one another and throwing down the gauntlet on a world of oppression. We are getting ready to bear the new life of God into the world. Join us this Advent Season for more Jesus Unmasked, Wednesdays at 9 PT/ 11 CT live on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

"Then Jesus began to weep." Jesus weeps with all of us. On All Saints Day, we remember our loved ones who have gone on before us. In some ways, this past year has been one of extraordinary loss. Covid-19 and other diseases have robbed us of beloved friends and family members. This pandemic has also taken some of our sense of normalcy and security. It has been hard, and Jesus mourns with us in our loss. Jesus also wept for Lazarus. When Jesus arrives at the home of Lazarus' sisters, Mary says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." It's a poignant statement of faith and blame and heartbreak... and it's probably true. Jesus had been told of Lazarus' illness days before, but he had taken his time getting there. Was there remorse mingled with Jesus' heartbreak when he saw how devastated Mary and Martha were? Perhaps. Whenever scripture leaves us wondering if there had been a more compassionate path to take, that's the Holy Spirit guiding us. I think it's good to question even Jesus sometimes. But when Jesus weeps, his tears show us that it's never too late for compassion. I wonder, are tears part of the miracle? Could Jesus have raised Lazarus from the dead if he had not first wept for him? I don't know. One thing we can know is that Jesus' tears helped raise Mary and Martha from the dead. To see compassion to the point of tears in one's hour of despair is a great, healing comfort. Jesus showed his love not just for Lazarus, but for Mary and Martha too, in that moment, and that probably helped them to carry on. That probably helped roll the stone of grief away from their hearts even as the stone was rolled away from Lazarus' tomb. When we suffer loss and grief, it can feel like a stone is sitting on our hearts too. Despair can crush and numb us, making us feel like we aren't worth while. This passage shows us that even when things feel too late, it is never too late for compassion. It is never too late to help roll the stone away from someone's heart. In reaching out to others in their time of pain, even if all we can do is weep with them, we participate in little, daily resurrections. Every day, we have opportunities to give each other hope. Every day, we can follow Jesus in rolling away the stones and helping people walk through the miniature deaths of despair back into life. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, but Lazarus still lives in a dangerous world where he will die again. Jesus raises us back to life again and again not to escape the risks and challenges of this world, but to face them, and to follow him in infusing more compassion so that our small deaths can be transformed into deeper, richer, more abundant life. Lindsey and Adam talk about why grief and compassion -- co-suffering with the vulnerable -- are necessary for the transformative work we are called to do as we follow All Saints Episode of Jesus Unmasked. We also lift up our prayers for those who have died who are on our hearts and minds, and affirm that we are connected to them in the embrace of Love which bridges life and death. Join our community and conversation Wednesdays at 9 am PT/ 11 am CT live on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"Go; your faith has made you well." Jesus says this after he heals the blind beggar Bartimaeus. What are we supposed to make of this verse? Faith healing verses have been grossly abused. Sometimes, the idea that faith can heal has been used to shame and frighten those who most need comfort and love. Saying "if you only believe and pray hard enough" can actively harm. In the midst of a pandemic where some have opted for prayer over masks, well... But maybe there are some ways in which faith can heal. A closer look at the context is illuminating. "Bartimaeus" means "son of the unclean one." Ouch. He calls out to Jesus as "Son of David." There's a lot going on there. The one deemed "unclean" reaches out to the son of the great king, a Messianic title. So Bartimaeus, while blind, recognizes Jesus as Israel's great hope, the one who will restore Israel to her glory and usher in the Messianic age of peace. Between the "son of the great king" and the "son of the unclean," most people would expect there to be an insurmountable chasm. But Bartimaeus believes in himself enough to call out to Jesus. And when others try to silence him, he calls louder. Jesus subverts expectations of cleanliness and worthiness. He is David's ancestor not by blood but adoption; to those skeptical of the virgin birth, Jesus would have been the "unclean" one. Also, he was born in a barn. Jesus' own cleanliness and righteousness and worthiness were rejected when he was killed as a criminal on the cross. So Jesus was in solidarity with Bartimaeus and others deemed unworthy. This turns ideas of "worthiness" upside-down. Injury, disability, illness... none of these are punishments for sin, and none of these make us less worthy or less loved. Jesus followed merciful, compassionate interpretations of Judaism. (Lest we read this text antisemitically, merciful interpretations of Judaism were not rare; mercy was the faith of the prophets.) Those who would try to say that Bartimaeus was unworthy of mercy because his blindness was punishment for sin might try to suggest that they were the faithful ones. But faithfulness isn't limiting mercy or compassion, and it isn't shaming others. Faithfulness is showing active mercy and love. If faith means not giving up on yourself when things seem bleak and knowing your infinite worth even when others deny it, then faith can indeed help to heal. Jesus' healings weren't so much miraculous as compassionate. To use these stories judgmentally or predatorily is to get it precisely backwards. Do we, not just as individuals, but as a nation, treat those who are disabled or ill as if they deserve their fate? When people are denied medical care for lack of affordability, when a world of inequity prevents people from even seeking the help they need, then we haven't learned enough from the story of Bartimaeus and Jesus. I pray one day our faith in each other drives us to replace systemic greed and apathy with systems of compassion. Adam, Lindsey, and friends discuss about how to understand faith healings – and how not to – this episode of Jesus Unmasked. Come join the conversation every Wednesday at 9 am PT/ 11 am CT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" That's an ominous question if ever there was one. John and James want to share in Jesus' glory, but little do they know what they are asking. The reality they are living through must be so disconnected from their expectations that they can't even process what Jesus is telling them. After all, Jesus has just said he is going to be killed, but James and John are asking for key roles in his cabinet in a newly appointed kingdom after enemies are vanquished and Jesus and his followers come out "on top." That's not going to happen. Jesus isn't trying to come out on top of the world's power structure; he's overturning it completely. Jesus's glory isn't a throne or a seat of power; it's a cross. Complete solidarity with and compassion for the outcast and despised and demonized and criminalized means that Jesus will take his place among them. He will drink the cup of wrath that humanity pours out on those who challenge the powers of greed and empire, and be baptized into death and burial. Are James and John ready to follow in Jesus' footsteps? Are we? Jesus tells James and John that they will indeed drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism, but to sit at the right and left of Jesus isn't up to him, but is for those "for whom it has been prepared." Literally, two people will die on crosses on either side of Jesus. Who "prepares" them? The violent world prepares crosses and other terrible fates for people. Jesus is saying that the violence that happens to us when we follow him is beyond our control. We can't control the violence of others. To transform a world of violence, we are called to transform our own violence and then live in such a way as to bring more love, more trust, more compassion into the world. We can only control our own violence... and our own love... by the grace of God. Finally, James and John seem to think there will be power and status on the other side of the ordeals they will follow Jesus into. But according to Jesus, those who would be great must become servants. God's Kingdom, the Beloved Community, doesn't have high-ranking officials, but mutual servants. It's a place where we care for each other, not have others wait on us. After all, God in flesh came to earth not to be served, but to serve. Lindsey and Adam and friends discuss all of this and more in this episode of Jesus Unmasked. Join the conversation live every Wednesday at 9 am PT, 11 am CT, on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” And it's probably easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is to resolve the technical difficulties that came along with this particular episode, too! At any rate, Lindsey lost first audio and then video, so Adam was flying solo for this episode! And he did a great job! Maybe God was having a little bit of fun behind the scenes, too… and driving the point home. After all, this passage is about the willingness to give up everything that we think matters when it comes to making a name and identity for ourselves and instead finding that we have all we need, and can be all we are meant to be, in the love of God and each other. Lindsey discovered that as much as she wanted to join in the conversation and make brilliant points, she felt loved and blessed to have compassionate, understanding friends and a cohost who could carry the show on his own. The rich man wanted to do something to get into heaven. Maybe he wanted something to make him feel valiant and heroic. Jesus reminds him of what is written in the law, all the commandments that have to do with human relationships. Are you doing what you can to make sure your relationships with your fellow human beings are in good shape? The man replies that he is. Then Jesus looks on him, loves him, and tells him that the one thing he still needs to do is sell everything and give all the money to the poor. The man goes away sad, because his possessions have possessed him… that is, he has made his wealth a cornerstone of his identity and self-understanding. Maybe Jesus pitied the man because he knows how hard it is to give up the self-centeredness that holds us back from the sheer joy of finding our truest selves in love. He loved the man's enthusiasm and desire to prove himself, but knew how hard it would be for the man to accept that he didn't have to prove himself. He probably wasn't so attached to his possessions as he was to the pride he had in earning them. But in a world where we take care of each other, we don't have to rely on earning anything. When we love as God loves, it's not because anyone “deserves” it. It's because in God's kingdom, love is who God is and love is who we will be. There, we won't need “ownership” of anything. We won't need an economy of exchange where some are left out because they can't “earn” their living. We will have an economy of mutual care and compassion instead. It might take some longer to get there than others. The more we have to lose of the things of this world that make for wealth and success, the harder it is to let go. But God makes all things possible. The last may be first and the first last, but the Beloved Community awaits us all. Imagine all the people sharing all the world, as John Lennon, and Jesus before him, said. And imagine a world in which audio and video work for both cohosts! Hopefully you won't have to imagine it, and you can join in and make that world all the more wonderful with your presence, next week on Jesus Unmasked at 9 am PT/ 11 am CT on the Raven Foundation FB page!

“Let the children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” These words of Jesus, so often repeated by well-meaning adults, are not always the most comforting words to children. When children sense the implication that they are supposed to have the most trusting, unquestioning of faiths, some children (including at least one of the podcast hosts as a child) might feel left behind. Children, like adults, can have plenty of doubts, and plenty of questions. Maybe that's the point. Maybe the faith of a child is one that questions everything. Children are naturally curious, and often don't feel as if they know all the answers. Maybe the faith of a child is the kind of faith that doesn't presume to know but is open to idea, wonder, and discovery. There's also a fascination and a joy in the children who come to Jesus. Loud noise, running, laughter, fun… Jesus welcomes all of this. When children know they are loved, they are free to be their fullest selves: noise, questions, and all. Children found love in Jesus. What if this is the kind of environment the church should provide for children and adults? What if we should come baring, not masking, our full selves? If we approach the rest of this passage with the questioning faith of a child, well… then we'll have a lot of questions. Jesus's words on divorce are hard and severe. What do we make of this seemingly absolute prohibition on ending a marriage? First, we should understand these words in the context of the loving, harmonious relationships Jesus wants us to have. Jesus is absolutely clear that we should do nothing to harm one another, going so far as to say that we should cut off our own hands, feet, and eyes before we use them to hurt someone else. Therefore, Jesus is absolutely against abusive marriages and abusive relationships of any kind. Second, unquestioning acceptance, and imposing an unquestioning acceptance, of an interpretation of Jesus' words is not child-like faith. We are meant to question. If a literalist view of this passage keeps someone in an unloving or destructive marriage, then we should seek different understandings. Ultimately, Jesus is saying that our responsibility to each other doesn't end with a piece of paper. Divorce doesn't dissolve our call to care for each other. But if the call to care for someone means allowing for divorce due to the particular circumstances, we shouldn't be judgmental of that, either. When it comes to our relationships and the relationships of others, we are always called to responsibility and compassion. Adam and Lindsey and friends ask tough questions about Jesus' sayings on divorce and relationships in general with the boldness and lack of restraint of children who know they are loved. Come wonder and explore with us at Jesus Unmasked every Wednesday, at 9 am PT/ 11 am CT live on the Raven Foundation FB page.

"Whoever's not against us is for us." It's refreshing to hear these words from Jesus, especially when we so often hear the opposite from our culture. The disciples try to stop someone from casting out demons because he isn't an official disciple, but Jesus stops his disciples from stopping him. Is the goal to compete and gain followers to your "side," or is it to actually cast out demons... that is, help people heal from their trauma? How often do we get caught up in rivalry when the very goals we claim to seek would be reached so much more efficiently and thoroughly if we work together? Jesus is telling his disciples that the work they do and the love they give is for the sake of the people they serve, and not to be in competition with anyone else. Whoever is not against us is for us. We would all do well to remember that. Then Jesus goes on to more frightening language... at least at first. If your hand or foot or eye causes you to sin, cut it off... it is better to enter into life broken than to go intact to hell. Yikes! The word Jesus uses for "hell" is "Gehenna," a literal garbage heap where, in generations past, children were sacrificed. In Jesus's time, it was a garbage heap that was always aflame. Jesus is saying to harm someone is to create cycles of violence that continually rekindle themselves. That is what he means by hell. It is not a place created by God (look for it in Genesis and you won't find it) but by humanity. Do whatever it takes to avoid harming someone else. It is better to stop yourself from committing harm by any means necessary than to pass harm along to someone else. How do we avoid harming others? By remembering that we don't need to be over and against others. Back to the beginning, where we realize that whoever isn't against us is for us. We hear about fires that burn, but Jesus also speaks of fires that purify. Everyone -- everyone-- will be tested with fire, not for punishment, but for refinement. We'll probably get ourselves into fires of conflict, fires of trial and tribulation. In spite of Jesus's words, we will probably stumble or cause others to stumble? What then? We keep going. We take a deep breath and breathe in the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Love. We remember that when the fire burns away all the mess that has accumulated in our lives, we are stripped back down to our core, which is Love. For we are made in Love's image. So, "if you're going through hell, keep going," as Winston Churchill said and Rodney Atkins sang. Adam and Lindsey further flesh out these ideas in this week's episode of Jesus Unmasked. Our friends helped us through the fiery challenges of this passage to find the blessings, and we are grateful. We would love for you to join the conversation every Wednesday, at 9 am CT/ 11 am PT for Jesus Unmasked live on the Raven Foundation FB page.

"Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” I can't help but feel sorry for the disciples in this passage. By turns, they're bewildered and then mortified. First, Jesus tells them that he'll be killed and rise again three days later. What could he mean? The Messiah, the one who will lead them out of Roman rule and into an era of harmony and peace, will be killed? How can anything good come from that? They don't know, but they're embarrassed to ask. I would be, too. Then Jesus calls them out for bickering about who among them is the greatest. It must have dawned on them how petty they must have seemed to a man they admire, follow, and are probably more than a little intimidated by. Maybe they're wondering what important or heroic deeds they will have to do, or which great leaders they would have to attract to their movement, in order to prove their worth. But Jesus turns the tables again. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. … Whoever welcomes one such child in my name, welcomes me…” Servant of all? Welcoming children? This may not be the power and prestige the disciples associated with leadership. Children are powerless and vulnerable, and leadership is associated with others serving you, right? Today, when leadership is supposed to be about public service, many seem to be out for themselves. Or, perhaps, some seek to acquire the wealth and power and connections for a greater purpose, but compromise in small or gigantic ways in order to ascend to or stay in power… and service to the most vulnerable largely falls by the wayside. Jesus says greatness comes through love and service to the most vulnerable, represented by a little child. Instead of seeking your own glory, or even seeking glory for the sake of others, let go of needing glory or power or status, and go love and serve others. Love is multiplied and extended through acts of loving, and this is how a world broken by desire for wealth and power is healed. Jesus's glory will come not through self-aggrandizement, but through complete self-giving, loving a humanity that would take everything from him, including his life. He will become servant and last and least and die. But in giving himself away through Love, he will show that Love defies death. When we seek to defend ourselves by setting ourselves up against others, we get trapped in cycles of death, but when we lovingly serve others, we open ourselves to life. When we give ourselves away for love's sake, the best of who we are is magnified forever in Love. Adam and Lindsey and friends discussed this and more in the latest episode of Jesus Unmasked. Catch new episodes every Wednesday at 9 am CT/ 11 am PT live on the Raven Foundation FB page.

"Get behind me, Satan!" Ouch. This is how Jesus answers Peter when Peter expresses that he doesn't want Jesus to die? Sounds rather harsh. Actually, a lot of Jesus's words in this passage sound harsh and hard ... There is no sugar-coating either his fate or that of his followers. How are we supposed to find blessing and "good news" when Jesus speaks of Satan, crosses, and shame? Jesus's words begin to make more sense when we realize that he is subverting the most common human ideas of how to bring about peace and justice in the midst of an unjust, violent world. He tells Peter to tell no one that he is the Messiah because many expect the Messiah to violently overthrow the Roman Empire in order to usher in the Messianic age, where the lion will lie down with the lamb and there will be peace, harmony, and justice. How do most people think a violent empire or system must be overthrown? Through superior violence! Jesus doesn't want to rile up an army, or have followers who use him as a rallying point to be over-and-against not only Rome, but others who don't accept Jesus's Messiahship. Jesus wants to subvert "over-againstness" against people altogether. He wants to show that the only way to peace is through radical forgiveness which stimulates repentance: change of heart and mind and vision.goin So when Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that the Son of Man must be killed, he isn't just saying that he doesn't want Jesus to die... although I'm sure he is concerned for his friend and leader. He is also asking, "How can the Messiah die? What good could possibly come from this? How is this going to help us against Rome?" And Jesus is saying that responding to violence with violence can only lead to more violence. He is rebuking the false way to peace: accusation and violence. That is what he means by "Satan." And there is a degree of "Satan" in all of us. Satan isn't a horned demon -- it's that voice in all of us that tries to solve problems through blame, scapegoating, exclusion, and violence. Jesus isn't going to lead people to take up swords. To follow Jesus, we have to turn our swords upside-down into crosses. Instead of returning violence for violence, we are called to forgive, to see the potential for redemption and goodness in everyone. (Please note, that doesn't mean continue in abusive relationships. We talk about that extensively in these podcasts.) The cross is an instrument of shame as well as death. In a violent world, pacifists and people who forgive are often shamed. But when Jesus says, "Those who are ashamed of me... of them will the Son of Man be ashamed," he is not speaking only of himself. He is saying that the shame we pour onto victims of violence and marginalization will return to us when we understand our violence and exclusion for what it is. This isn't punishment, but a consequence of love... when hearts break open, remorse is the natural result. That remorse gives way to better when we move beyond our violence to understanding our interconnection. It's that fundamental interconnection, to each other and to God, that Jesus shows us in his life, death, and resurrection. Adam and Lindsey further flesh out these ideas in this week's episode of Jesus Unmasked. Our friends always help us wrestle blessings from these difficult passages, so please join us every Wednesday, at 9 am CT/ 11 am PT for Jesus Unmasked live on the Raven Foundation FB page.

"For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come... and they defile a person." Some pharisees and scribes are wondering why Jesus's disciples don't wash their hands before they eat. Jesus scolds them for teaching "human precepts as doctrines" and then explains that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile, but the evil that defiles comes from the human heart. Is Jesus anti-hygiene? More like, Jesus is anti-exclusion and anti-judgmentalism. He doesn't want us to make judgments of who is in and who is out. He doesn't want us look at our fellow human beings with disgust just because they may be unwashed. Jesus wants us to truly love everyone, particularly the vulnerable not just in theory but in the full reality of dirt and sweat and smell. When we make judgments about who is "clean" versus who is "unclean," who is "righteous" and who is "sinful" based on rituals and purity standards, we forget that the incarnation broke every purity rule imaginable. Cleanliness is good and healthy, but is it really next to Godliness? God was born in a barn! God was born among the dirt and sweat and filth of humanity and all creation. God continues to be in solidarity with the vulnerable, the poor, the marginalized. And we can't follow God unless we're willing to get our hands dirty! But we also need to be humble enough to remember that every human community has rituals and traditions, including ourselves. Sometimes people interpret this text as anti-ritual and anti-Jewish, thinking that Jesus came to get rid of rituals. But rituals are part of human life, both religious and secular. The point is not anti-ritual, it's anti-exclusion and judgment. Exclusion and condemnation themselves are the sins of the human heart that Jesus warns us to guard against. When we judge who is "in" or "out" based on conformity to our standards, we devalue and dehumanize others. Every sin of Jesus mentions -- murder, licentiousness, avarice, envy, etc. -- starts with forgetting the humanity of the "other" with whom we interact. Thus, this a call to humility, to refrain from judgment, and to reorient ourselves from "calling out" to "calling in." Adam, Lindsey, and friends discuss these verses as they apply to the pandemic today. Even with the real risk of Covid 19 for ourselves and others, how is Jesus calling us to remember the humanity and image of God in those who are skeptical or reluctant when it comes to masks and vaccinations? This is a difficult conundrum, because the call to from condemnation is clear, but exactly how to lovingly persuade may not be so obvious.We ponder and pray on the issue. And we invite you to ponder and pray with us not only on our podcast, but every Wednesday, live, at 11 am CT/ 9 am PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"Those who eat of my flesh and drink of my blood abide in me, and I in them." Okay, Jesus. You've been going on about eating your flesh and drinking your blood for a while now, and it's getting weird. "The Jews" aren't the only ones asking, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 2000 years later, plenty of Christians and people of other faiths baffled by this metaphor. Implications of cannibalism may not be that far off. Jesus says this knowing that his body will literally be torn apart. He will be whipped and humiliated and his body will be broken on the cross. And through it all, he will be in solidarity with those who are also marginalized, abandoned, condemned, and broken. In this graphic metaphor, Jesus exposes the way human beings have "cannibalized" one another. When we live over and against each other -- exploiting, oppressing, or demonizing others -- we feed our sense of identity with a false sense of division. We believe that we are "us" because we are not "them." Sometimes enmity gives us a sense of who we are. Less consciously, apathy often blinds us to our connection with those we take for granted. Those who live in relative comfort can be unaware of the hardship imposed on the poor and vulnerable. But in so many ways, poor and vulnerable people are "consumed" -- utterly spent and depleted, while so many live at their expense. How much "nourishment" do we feel like we get from finding our identity against enemies or at the expense of the vulnerable? Jesus institutes communion as anti-cannibalism. In offering his body, he says, "Don't take your identity over and against others. Find yourself in me, and let my spirit dwell in you. Find your identity and your belonging in the God who loves you unconditionally and provides freely for all your needs. And as you find your belonging in God, you will recognize each other as members of God's body, interconnected and interdependent." In gathering us together, in calling us to "re-member" him, that is, put his broken body back together in the communal act of consuming the bread and wine, Jesus is calling us to know who we are not because of our division from others, but because of our connection. When we divide, marginalize, exclude, and harm others, we diminish ourselves. We cut off our own limbs. When Jesus calls us to put his body back together, he is calling us into the restoration and healing of a broken humanity. We know this is a lot to chew on, so we're giving you (and ourselves) a couple weeks to digest! Adam and Lindsey invite you to join them again on Wednesday, August 25, at 11 am CT/ 9 am PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

New Time! Join Jesus Unmasked on FB live Wednesdays at 11 am CT/ 9 am PT! Start your morning with Jesus and friends! "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." More Bread of Life this week, but also more opportunities for exclusive interpretations of scripture that don't affirm life for all. The words of Jesus have been interpreted in ways that make it seem like the fates of our souls depend on a theological test. "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me." This scripture has been interpreted in ways that can leave us feeling empty, malnourished, and hungry for something better. What if the Bread of Life isn't about exclusive beliefs, but something else altogether? What if it is about seeing that there is a way to be human that doesn't exclude anyone? When Jesus calls us to believe in him, he is asking us to believe in the way of generosity and abundance. That's why it is particularly egregious to use these passages in a stingy manner that demands conformity on threat of hell for nonbelievers. As Adam, Lindsey, and friends discuss in this episode, there is no hell except what we put ourselves and each other through by believing that God's love has limits and then trying to impose those limits. Jesus is calling us into the fullness of life by recognizing that God's love is for everyone. When Jesus calls himself the bread that came down from heaven, he references the manna in the wilderness. He reminds the people how they came to know that God loves them, through liberating them and providing for their needs. He explains, "The way you experience the fullness of life is by remembering the love of God that provided for your material needs and understanding that that love is for everyone. I am the Bread of Life for the whole world. Anyone whom you may have considered excluded from God's love -- the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the demon-possessed, the tax collectors, everyone... God's love is all-inclusive. And that means you are to live as if all people are your brothers and sisters, because they are." Jesus says the bread he gives for the life of the world is his flesh. That means God cares about flesh, and that means we are to care for each other not just as if our souls, but also as if our bodies and minds and all our human needs matter, because the do. Jesus gives his flesh unto death to show us that God's love extends even to those executed in God's name, and its from our forgiving victims that we recognize and are set free from cycles of violence in which we have been caught up. But Jesus's flesh does more than die -- it embraces, breaks bread, washes feet, and is physically present with the most vulnerable. Feasting on the Bread of Life is about living in the kind of love that feeds and heals and befriends all. Adam, Lindsey, and friends know that we are called to feast on the bread of life together, so join us every Wednesday at our new time, 11 am CT, 9 am PT for Jesus Unmasked on the Raven Foundation Facebook page. Jesus Unmasked is also available whenever you are wherever you listen to your podcasts.

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." -- Jesus. "I am here because I stole something that was never mine to take -- precious human life." -- Daniel Hale. Whistleblower Daniel Hale is feasting on the bread of life. This week's Gospel has a powerful message, but too often it has been interpreted through a dogmatic, exclusive lens. Like many of Jesus's statements in John, it has been used as a proof text for Jesus's divinity and a condition of salvation. But this verse is not about belonging to a particular religion or affirming a particular creed. It's about trusting in the forgiving, nonviolent love of the crucified and resurrected God. When Jesus says, "Whoever believes in me," he isn't asking for intellectual or emotional assent to any kind of theological doctrine. He is asking us to trust in his all-inclusive, all-forgiving love. The way of Jesus is love for all, including enemies. It is subverting the Powers that Be in order to go beyond all limits and conditions placed on love, erasing lines between "us" and "them" that divide the world into worldviews, tribes, or nations. Jesus asks us to trust in this boundary-defying love where we find our belonging in the universal Love of God and come to recognize those we had once feared or despised as children of God just like us. Daniel Hale, who exposed the high civilian casualty rate of the US drone program, partook of the Bread of Life when he repented of his role in killing defenseless individuals as a drone-target identifier for the US military. He has been sentenced to four years in prison for exposing classified documents that show, among other things, how for a 5-month period, 90% of the people killed by drones were not the intended targets. He is being slandered as a threat to national security, when in actuality, he has made us safer by exposing and trying to stop the terrible cycles of violence that drone warfare perpetuates. Living at war is feasting on the bread of death. We believe that violence toward our enemies will make us safer, when it instead plunges us all into destruction. The Bread of Life is the love of the forgiving victim. On the cross, Jesus shows us that all harm done in the name of God is actually done to God. When we truly see the humanity of those we harm, when we truly see the image of God reflected in the people we exclude, oppress, fight, or kill, we are shocked out of our violence and into repentance, into a turning around that restructures our world on a foundation of togetherness and love rather than opposition and fear. Can we see the Bread of Life not only in Jesus, but in the victims of our drone bombings? Can we, like Daniel Hale, take in the truth, feast on the bread of coming to terms with our violence, repenting, and living lives of courageous peacemaking and love? Adam and Lindsey and friends invite you to chew on this mystery with us, and feast on the life-giving wisdom of Jesus on Jesus Unmasked every Wednesday. Please check us out at our new time, 12 CT/ 10 PT, on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

"Who are my mother and my brothers? ... Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." Jesus's family is trying to "restrain" him, because rumors are starting to fly. He and his disciples are healing the sick and casting out demons, and the scribes are saying that the demons are only listening to Jesus because he has Belzebub, the prince of demons, within himself. To avoid this scandal, Jesus's blood relatives are trying to quiet him down, but Jesus won't stop and he won't shut up. He's going to keep healing, keep casting out demons, and keep loving everyone. Is Jesus out of his mind? Of course not. But by spreading love to the most marginalized, by embracing demoniacs to cast out demons and expanding the definition of family to all who follow in his way of Love, he is breaking down the boundaries that have made "insiders" feel protected and special. What authorities are calling irrational is simply Jesus's universal, unconditional love in action. This is the perfect passage to kick off pride week. Family goes far beyond blood. Can't you just hear Jesus singing Sister Sledge's, "We! Are! Fam-i-ly!"? Jesus also brings the logic in addition to the love. When he's accused of casting out demons with his own demons, he asks, "How can Satan cast out Satan?" But the truth is, that's been happening for thousands of years. Fighting fire with fire. The problem with that, though, is that it leaves the whole world in flames. Jesus comes to teach us another way. Jesus transforms violence by stopping it in its tracks. By embracing the marginalized and healing the sick and casting out demons but restoring the people who had been haunted by demons, Jesus transforms a whole world built on sacrificing outcasts into a world of mercy. And by answering violence with forgiving love. He "binds the strong man" by putting Satan, the spirit of accusation, in a bind. By refusing to return violence for violence, Jesus stops violence in its tracks. He renders it impotent with the resurrection. The flames of violence burn themselves out, but the fire of the Holy Spirit ever kindles new life. There's a disturbing verse about how those who blaspheme against the Spirit can never have forgiveness. It sounds scary, but what does it mean? It doesn't say God doesn't forgive. Rather, continuing to live in accusation and blame is refusing the Spirit of Forgiveness. The question becomes, how do we live into the Holy Spirit so others may dare to as well? How do we transform a world of blame and violence into trust, vulnerability, and compassion? Once again, friends helped channel the Spirit and guide the conversation this week. If you'd like to join Adam, Lindsey, and friends, your presence would enhance our dialogue! We welcome you every Wednesday on Jesus Unmasked at 5 CT/ 3 PT on the Raven Foundation FB page!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but so the world might be saved through him." These verses fall on Trinity Sunday, and the combination of the most famous Bible verses with one of the most bewildering doctrines may trigger salvation anxiety for many. So often, John 3:16 is used as a litmus test for faith. The key to not perishing is believing in Jesus. And what must we believe? That Jesus is God and the Son of God and that he died to satisfy God's wrath and there's a Spirit too and one plus one plus one equals one and if we can only force our minds and hearts to accept all this contradictory and impossible information, we can go to heaven, but if not... Breathe. That is not what this means. If we unlearn exclusive, violent interpretations attached to these verses, Love really does shine through and cast out all fear. God loves the whole world, utterly and completely. So much that God comes and shares our human nature, to show us perfect love in the language we can best understand -- embodiment. Beyond words to presence and action and heart-to-heart connection. Relationship. God "gave" his Son doesn't mean God "killed" his Son. Usually these verses take us straight to the cross. But before we get there, Jesus embodies love for everyone, especially the marginalized, throughout his life. He embraces women and children and lepers and the poor. He heals the sick. He feeds the hungry. He casts out demons... rather than cast out people haunted by demons. He shows that no one is beyond redemption. "Eternal life" is not "afterlife." It's full, rich, meaningful, courageous life. Life not circumscribed by fear of death. What would we do for each other if we weren't afraid of losing or dying? That's the kind of life we can live now if we trust in Jesus. To trust in Jesus is to trust in the one who destroys all the limits to love. We set limits to love, love those in our "in groups," and know who we are by who we keep out. But by going to the margins and loving enemies, Jesus shows that true love is boundless. Even when he is so thoroughly dehumanized, shunned, abused, and publicly executed, he rises from the dead to say, "I love you." Nicodemus learns this love. Utterly clueless when Jesus first speaks to him of "flesh" and "Spirit," he comes to see the true love of God in Jesus. He comes to Jesus first by night, unwilling to be seen. But after Jesus has died, he helps to bury the body in broad daylight. Moved by love to courage beyond shame and fear. And that's what it means to be born "of the Spirit." That's the kind of Love that Jesus shares with God the Father, a perfect relationship of trusting, mutual, non-rivalrous love. And it's the Love the Holy Spirit opens to us. God is the Relationship of Love that empowers us to love fearlessly. Lindsey and Adam invite you to join us and share the love every Wednesday on Jesus Unmasked at 5 CT/ 3 PT on the Raven Foundation FB page!

"When the Advocate comes... he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment." The Holy Spirit is Coming! Fire and speaking in tongues and a heavenly Advocate. What does it all mean? Pentecost was an ancient Jewish celebration before it became known as the birthday of the Christian church. It refers to 50 days after Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, when he delivered the 10 Commandments. So when the Holy Spirit descends upon Jews gathered from every part of the known world, a connection is made between the Law and the Spirit. But what is the Spirit? The Spirit is the Holy Wind that carries the message of God's redemptive love in Christ to the ends of the earth. It is wild, free, uncontainable. It is the Spirit of Compassion. Connecting the Law to the Spirit means understanding God through the lens of Love. The Law cannot be an instrument of condemnation when is carried on the life-breath of mercy. Jesus says that the Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, because from the beginning, people have set themselves up over and against "sinners," when the original sin is over-againstness, or accusation, itself. God Incarnate is judged to be a sinner and is condemned, ridiculed, and murdered. The world was wrong about sin. The world is also wrong about righteousness when we think we find it in condemning, incarcerating, executing, or going to war with others. Judgment itself is judged, and condemnation is sentenced to transformation. The Holy Spirit is the Advocate, the Heavenly Defense Attorney, who sees through all our mistakes and shortcomings to the core of who we are - reflections of Love. The Holy Spirit is the power that brings out the best within us and shows us the best in one another, so that we move from conflict to cooperation, from enmity to embrace. Even before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends upon the Roman centurion, a member of the army of Jesus's executioners. He gazes upon the cross and sees Jesus as the Son of God. Truly, God is in every condemned person, and the centurion finally saw that in Jesus. An "enemy" recognizes the truth of who God is. That is the Spirit blowing where it will. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends in tongues of fire upon all the people gathered. Then they hear each other in their own native languages. That's what the Holy Spirit does... it allows us to hear and understand one another. "Speaking in tongues" is not about babbling, but about communicating through Love, so we finally understand one another. Happy Pentecost! Adam and Lindsey invite you to many more fiery conversations every Wednesday on Jesus Unmasked at 5 CT/ 3 PT on the Raven Foundation FB page!

"The world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world." Ah, the infamous "Be in the world but not of it," saying. How dangerously these words have been misunderstood! In this final discourse to his disciples before his death, Jesus has a lot to say about contrasting his way with the way of the world. His words have been twisted to make it seem as if God hates the world and has destined it to burn, except for those who are raptured out or otherwise "saved." It can set up an us-against-the-world mentality -- judgmental and condescending. This can't be what Jesus meant. If God so *loved* the world, what do these words mean? What does Jesus mean by "world" and "hate" and "joy?" The Powers that Be are about to crucify Jesus for being in solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and exploited. Jesus has shown the powerful and the vulnerable alike a way of living in love that defies the powers of exploitation and marginalization. He has shown that poverty is not punishment or condemnation from on high, and that a status quo of excessive power and wealth for a few at the expense of many is not God's intention. He has shown a new way of living, and a path to that way that comes not through violence -- a tool of the fallen Powers -- but through love. And the Powers want to crush this new way to maintain control. That's what Jesus means by "the world." Jesus is not talking about the planet or creation or even the people who uphold systems of injustice, but the injustice itself when he speaks of the "the world." Even the people who wield power unjustly are made in the image of God, the image of Love. If by "Powers," we mean the way in which people structure and organize themselves in order to live together, then the Powers -- human relationships -- have been corrupted, and must be redeemed. A broken humanity can be redeemed when people live in love. Jesus prays that the disciples will live in love and not succumb to the temptations of the fallen powers which set people up over and against one another. He prays that the disciples will find unity in Love just as Jesus and God the Father relate in such perfect love that there is no rivalry between them. A note on Judas -- John sets Jesus and the rest of the disciples over and against him, in a prayer about resisting the temptation toward over-againstness! Adam and Lindsey and friends discuss further. As our friends point out, Jesus demonstrates trust and vulnerability toward his disciples with this prayer. In fact, our friends at our Facebook Live conversation shared so many insights and taught Lindsey and Adam much this week. We encourage you to add your voice and wisdom to the conversation every Wednesday at 5 CT/ 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." What a beautiful commandment! But when you're struggling in your faith, especially when you're most familiar with exclusive interpretations that seem to shut most of the world off from God's love or salvation, and these interpretations cause anxiety or even dread... when you long for comfort but feel uncomfortable in your faith... even a commandment as beautiful as this can carry the dreaded unspoken words "or else." So forget the word "commandment." Jesus EMPOWERS us to love one another. When we understand God not as a judgmental deity who rewards obedience and punishes disobedience or doubt, but rather as Love dwelling within and surrounding us, Love as the ultimate power in which the universe abides, everything changes. Abide in love. Let love be your state of being, the lens through which you see the world. Jesus is saying that we have the power to love and enjoy one another as God loves and enjoys us, and he is unleashing that power within us. Jesus loves us no matter what. But we are his friends when we live in friendship, abiding in the trust of love so that our actions are moved not by fear or guilt or even duty, but the sheer love of helping and uplifting one another. "I do not call you servants any longer... but I have called you friends." The disciples were never chosen to be mere servants. But Jesus was teaching them to serve, to live lives of service. Feeding the hungry, healing the sick, comforting the poor and marginalized. Now Jesus is taking it to the next level, modeling to the disciples not only how to serve the world, but how to befriend it. Befriend the poor. Befriend the marginalized. Be in such solidarity and comradeship that social distinctions disappear. And build up a world from this foundation in which everyone has enough, and everyone thrives. The powers and principalities of a fallen world will rail against all you. The risk to reputation, livelihood, and life itself is great. But to abide in God's love is to know that you are so dearly loved, and that love sustains you even through death, that joy is not diminished. We follow the way of Jesus not because we are afraid of what will happen when we don't, but for the joy that comes when we do. Also, a blessed Mother's Day to all. Mother's Day is meant to celebrate the motherly love that makes the killing of any mother's child anywhere in the world unthinkable. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"I am the Good Shepherd... And I lay down my life for the sheep." Jesus the Good Shepherd serves, protects, and lays down his life for the sheep. At its best, policing is meant to serve and protect. Yet sheep are often not safe in the hands of most shepherds (who would look after them but also lead them to be sacrificed) and policing does not always make people more safe. As Derek Chauvin is convicted for the murder of George Floyd, we recognize that so much more must be done to bring about healing, restoration, and justice. The deaths of Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo and Ma'Khia Bryant at the hands of police are the most recent of millions of reminders that so much more work needs to be done. Not only must our police and criminal justice systems be drastically reformed, but we must see ourselves as bound together, shepherds to each other who recognize our mission to care for and serve one another. That means doing our part to dismantle racism and transform systems of poverty and violence. It means making sure what happened to George Floyd and so many others never happens again not only because police are held accountable, but because we, as Christ's hands and feet on earth, create a world of such deep compassion that that kind of cruelty and indifference are unthinkable. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who calls everyone from everywhere. Not everyone recognizes the Shepherd to be this marginalized Jew who lived 2000 years ago. But the voice of Love embodied in vulnerable people everywhere, the voice of Love speaks in the language of compassion -- suffering with others to alleviate the suffering of others -- that voice calls to all of us. Universal Love is calling us to be shepherds to one another, to care for each other, to protect each other. And we protect each other from the forces within and around that tempt us to fear, greed, and dehumanization. The "wolves" are not flesh and blood, but the powers and principalities that have created a world of deception, where our perception is scarcity and the need for lethal force. The reality is that we are unconditionally Loved, and when we live into that Love, we will become all that we are meant to be. Our Good Shepherd is leading us out of the world of fear and hatred and racism into greener pastures of love and abundance, into the Beloved Community where all are welcome. Let us follow and shepherd one another along the way. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"Peace be with you." For what may be the millionth time, Jesus greets his disciples with these words of comfort and love. And they need it, for they were heartbroken and afraid. It's the first Easter evening, and Jesus's disciples are shut up away, when Jesus comes among them. "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?" Jesus asks. Maybe because they think they are seeing a ghost, and ghosts mean vengeance. It's one thing to be afraid that authorities will find you. It's another thing to be confronted by a man you have abandoned in death. But it's more than his physical body that makes Jesus not a ghost. It's also the fact that he returns with forgiveness and love that extends the death-defying life he embodies to his disciples. And when he eats fish with them, he is not just proving that he has a working digestive system so that the fish doesn't fall through his appearance onto the floor. He is saying: "Relax, friends. It's me. Let's eat." The disciples who write the Gospels are not ashamed to admit that they had everything wrong. They didn't understand Jesus' mission or his death or his resurrection. They didn't understand that Jesus was not there to conquer with violence, but to conquer violence, and the cycles of death that arise out of it, itself. But when Jesus comes back to them, he explains everything, and a new understanding begins to take hold not just because of his words, but because of everything that his life has shown. New life comes from welcoming the marginalized, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and proclaiming good news to the poor. Moreover, new life comes from realizing that the Source of All Life is Love. God is not violent power that conquers, and those who suffer are not being punished by God. Rather, God is with the suffering, embodied in the suffering, and loving the suffering into new life from the inside-out. Repentance -- a new mind that comes from recognizing God's solidarity with the poor and recognizing the power of Love to bring life from death, abundance from poverty, flourishing from suffering -- is a gift to all. Forgiveness -- the grace to be more than our mistakes, to live into the Love in Whom we have our being -- is a gift to all. Repentance and forgiveness are to be proclaimed to the whole world. Lindsey, Adam, and friends talk about the meaning of all of this in our world of racism and greed and us vs. them? How does knowing that we are Loved, that God is Love, and that life comes from and through Love, empower us to confront the sins of systemic racism and dehumanization and transform them from the inside out? We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Far, far too often, these words, spoken to Thomas, are used to shame doubt and extol the virtues of an unquestioning faith. But deep faith seeks, explores, and questions, and that is exactly what trust-but-verify Thomas does. He has a scientific mind, and his need for evidence is a good model for us. And once he sees and touches Jesus's wounds, he is the first to proclaim, "My Lord and my God!" And those words have extraordinary meaning. God bears the wounds inflicted by human violence and injustice, the wounds of conquest and empire and oppression. God bears them in vulnerable flesh just like ours. God bears the wounds we endure and the wounds we inflict. And God responds to them all with mercy and healing and reaffirmation of human goodness and blessings and peace. All of the disciples, not just Thomas, were shaken by Jesus's death. That first Easter, the rest of them were locked away for fear of the authorities, religious and political. (Fear of "the Jews" is a poor translation for religious authorities that has tragically perpetuated antisemitism. Furthermore, John's Gospel downplays the fear of Rome that was very real to the disciples who had watched their lead suffer a Roman execution) Thomas, at least, was not locked away with them. Perhaps there's a faithfulness in not being shut away in fear. Jesus comes into that room and breathes the Holy Spirit upon his disciples. This is the spirit of forgiveness, the strength to return mercy for hate and fear and failure, so that cycles of violence can be broken by compassion. The power to forgive or retain sins has always belonged to us, to humanity. The culmination of retaining sins is the crucifixion, but the culmination of forgiveness is abundant life and joy. Bonus: Who is the Beloved disciple? The answer may delight you! We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page.

"Behold your mother!" When Jesus speaks these words, he uses his dying breath to place his mother in the care of his beloved disciple. But he also declares to the world that he is our mother, giving birth to our new, fully human selves through his blood and labor and breath-taking pain (pain that literally takes his breath away). This year, Transgender Day of Visibility falls during Holy Week. On Good Friday, God the Son becomes God our Mother. And we all behold; we all finally see the true nature of God that has been hidden by clouds of misunderstanding and fogs of violence, fear, and shame. On the cross, Jesus reveals that all the violence committed in the name of God ultimately falls upon God. God is the victim, not the author or commander, of human violence. And on the cross, every victim of human violence is vindicated, because Jesus suffers in solidarity. And as our Mother, Jesus empowers and teaches us how to live into our full humanity through service, solidarity, and mercy. Our transgender siblings have suffered condemnation at the hands of the church. Our transgender siblings are loved exactly as they are and exactly as they are becoming. On Transgender Day of Visibility, we celebrate our transgender siblings as they are: beloved children of God. And during Holy Week, we remember that the monstrous identity assigned to God by violent theories of atonement is not God's true nature. God's true nature, revealed through all of human history and particularly on the cross and in the resurrection, is life-giving Love. Holy Week is when everything is revealed: the shame of human violence and the glory of God's love. Condemnation against our LGBTQIA siblings, against People of Color and all marginalized peoples, condemnation by religious and state authorities -- this is what crucifies the living God. This year, not only Transgender Day of Visibility but also the trial of the officer who took the life of George Floyd fall within Holy Week. Holy Week reveals the divinity of those who are marginalized and the deadliness of our systems of injustice. But Love is stronger than death. Our own violence, condemnation, and systems of injustice are put on trial and deemed guilty, but God answers them with transformational forgiveness. The Body of Christ is transgender. Adam, Lindsey, and friends honor and celebrate this beautiful truth just we celebrate the revelation, through the cross and resurrection, that God is Love. May we come to know God and each other as we truly are. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page. Have a blessed Holy Week and a joyful Easter!

“Jesus Unmasked” is now a FB live as well as a podcast! Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too. “Father, glorify your name.” “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” When we think of glory, we often think of rulers on thrones, or magnificent processions, or dazzling displays of wonder. Triumph, victory, power, honor… But sometimes, glory really sucks. Jesus has only days to live. He has already had his triumphant Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem, and now, he has just been told by his disciples that “some Greeks” wish to see him. Instead of going to talk to them, Jesus takes this as a sign that the end is near and starts speaking about his death. Jesus has been interpreting Torah through a lens of mercy in both words and actions. The Sermon on the Mount and the parables have been an interpretation of Judaism. But he’s about to show a universal message of love to the whole world. Instead of going to “the Greeks” who wish to see him, Jesus will give them, and everyone else, a message on the cross. That message is this: “God is the victim of human violence. Any violence done in the name of God is ultimately done to God. But God’s answer to human violence is forgiveness, mercy, and love.” Jesus is troubled that he is going to die. He is sad and scared, but he knows what he has to do. “Father, glorify your name,” he says. And God reassures him by saying he has already glorified his name, and will glorify it again. Jesus’s self-giving love, which is leading him to the cross, has not been in vain, but has honored the Source of Love. God’s glory is exposing the lie of our faith in violence by revealing it in all of its ugliness and horror. In this moment, our own judgment against each other is judged and overthrown. Humiliated, beaten, naked, and dying, Jesus reveals God’s glory by showing the boundless reaches of God’s mercy. When Jesus dies and rises again, he will draw all people – and all things – to himself. The Love in which we already live and move and have our being will become more clear to us, and we will start to live beyond the boundaries of death and fear that now confine us. If we are drawn to Jesus, we must also be drawn to the victims of violence and oppression and fear and hate all over the world. How are we drawn to the victims of violence today? What does love call us to learn and give and do for the vulnerable and the suffering? Adam and Lindsey and friends reflect on all of this and much more. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life." Have you ever heard these words recited faithfully, reverently, as if they are supposed to be the most comforting words anyone could ever hear... and felt scared and isolated instead? This is perhaps the most famous verse of Christian scripture, and it is meant to be good news. But good news can only be good if it is good for everyone. And far too often, this verse hasn't been interpreted that way. When read through a lens of exclusion, it sounds as if those who cannot believe certain things about Jesus -- and by extension, God, the Bible, Christianity, the Trinity, etc... -- are doomed. But that lens of exclusion and condemnation, that fear-based and frightening understanding of the world that leads to violence and over-againstness... this is exactly what Jesus comes to save the entire world from. For God so loved the world that God came among us as a human being, to love us and model a life of service and compassion. When we trust in that love, and live in love and service to one another, death has no power over us, for love is stronger than death. It is the faith of Jesus, the faith of God embodied, that catalyzes our ability to live into the trust and vulnerability that it takes to live for one another, rather than to live for ourselves over and against one another. Love has faith in us, and love enables to care for one another. And that is how we live into abundant, eternal life. God's love is unconditional, universal, and good news for everyone. Whatever spiritual language we may speak, whether or not we even believe in God at all, Love is at work within all of us, transforming our world of violence and exclusion into the Beloved Community. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

“Making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle.” It’s raging Jesus! This is the fiery, zealous Messiah we’ve been waiting for, bursting in, whips blazing …right? Every now and then, a meme of this scene pops up in social media, with a caption: “When asking ‘What would Jesus do?” remember that turning over tables and chasing people with whips is within the realm of possibilities.” Because, you know, Jesus could get violent when he was pushed far enough. Except… no. This is a kickass scene, but it’s kickass mercy. Jesus is shutting down the system of sacrifice. The temple is supposed to be where people come to experience God. In order to sacrifice in the temple, people would have to buy animals if they weren’t able to raise their own, and inflated prices exploited the most vulnerable. Beyond that, to make impoverished people feel as if they had to purchase sacrificial animals in order to experience blessing is hypocritical. Yes, Jewish law laid out provisions for sacrifice, but it also laid out provisions for caring for the poor and forgiving debts… and those mandates were not being fulfilled. There was poverty, exploitation, corruption… and Jesus comes to shut it all down. This is a prophetic act of mercy. Mercy doesn’t always look like meekness. Sometimes, it looks like turning the tables, overthrowing the powers of greed and violence, and setting everyone free. The whip? It wasn’t for hitting people. It was for driving out animals… so that they can’t be slaughtered. They, too, are being freed from a sacrificial system. The temple is where God was to be found insofar as where ever people gather, God is there. God is with us and reflected through us as human beings. But God is most especially reflected in the vulnerable, the poor, the marginalized. And God is in Jesus because Jesus is in complete solidarity with the most marginalized. “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.” The place where God is now located is not within walls, but within flesh. And God is still to be found within the most vulnerable. Whatever we do to one another, we do to God. A note of caution: John’s Gospel uses the words “the Jews” a lot. It is the religious and political elite that he is referring to, not the whole of the Jewish people. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

“Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Ouch. This is probably one of the harshest things Jesus says. Maybe even harsher than “Get behind me, Satan!,” which he also says in this passage. This is a tough one, friends. We’re deep into Lent now, with all this talk of Satan and shame and crosses. What does it all mean? Well, Jesus has just explained that he will have to go and suffer and be killed by the Powers that Be. And Peter is stunned and terrified and probably ashamed too. He doesn’t want Jesus to die, and he doesn’t want to follow a failed Messiah, for what success could possibly come from Jesus’s death? How would that overthrow the Roman occupation and usher in an age of peace and prosperity? Jesus then calls Peter “Satan,” and basically says that he will return shame for shame. The NRSV translation removes some key words here. Jesus says to Peter, “You are a stumbling block for me.” Jesus isn’t rebuking Peter simply from a place of moral superiority… Jesus doesn’t want to die! And the more Peter balks at the idea of his death, the more Jesus agrees that dying sounds terrible and painful and shameful, so he is tempted to walk away. That’s why he bursts out and calls Peter Satan. He snaps back so that he won’t be able to entertain the idea of escaping his fate. Because the only way to escape his fate is to stop doing his work. Jesus isn’t going to stop feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and building community around the marginalized. He’s going to continue to create a new world that doesn’t depend upon the imperial powers keeping some inferior so they can be superior. He’s going to continue to live in such a way as to anger the Empire… and that is what will get him killed. He calls us to follow him in his way of solidarity and service. The outcasts and marginalized aren’t marginalized anymore when we go into solidarity with them. And the Powers that Be, who depend on being able to cast people out to threaten and punish and keep their power, don’t like that. So they impose the cross… an instrument of torture and shame. And Jesus says, “Take up your cross. Live in such a way as to piss off the Empire, and when they shame and punish you, refuse to feel ashamed.” It’s actually pretty badass. It has nothing to do with romanticizing suffering, and everything to do with counting the cost of service, and being brave enough to bear it. Jesus says in no uncertain terms that he will be ashamed of those who would rather willingly participate in hurting others than be hurt for the sake of others. But what is the result of this shame? It’s not hell or punishment, but just the call to do better. Jesus will continue to tell us that there is more to us than our fears, and he will continue to push us to deeper levels of Love. That Love will inevitably lead to suffering, but it will also transform the world and ultimately lead to joy. So live in such a way as to piss off Empire, and give up shame for Lent. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too. Good news; it’s Lent! What, Lent doesn’t sound like good news to you? Actually, we’re not sure if Jesus considered it “good news” either when, just after his Baptism, “the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus isn’t gently “led,” but “driven.” Whether he likes it or not, he’s going out alone into the wild. But he has just received good news – the best news ever, actually. “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Those are the last words he hears before he goes into the wilderness, and they will sustain him all the way through. Mark doesn’t elaborate on Jesus’s temptations as other Gospels do. So how does Satan tempt Jesus? Perhaps the temptation is to doubt what he has just been told: that he is Beloved. Maybe the temptation is to flee from the desert and prove he is loved, seeking validation from the world instead of knowing it deep within himself. Jesus is in the wilderness with the “wild beasts.” No shelter, no food… and yet he emerges unscathed. The beasts are tame in his presence. Is this a miracle? Is it a foreshadowing of the harmonious living that comes when we all know we are loved as Jesus is loved? Forty days in the wilderness with wild beasts – we recall Noah’s journey on the ark. The whole world was re-built in forty days. Perhaps a new world is being built within Jesus too. He is testing his faith in being loved. He must believe he is loved when he is poor, when he suffers the heat of the day and the chill of the night without shelter, when his belly aches… And that experience of solidarity with the poor, homeless and hungry sharpens his compassion. He probably becomes more aware, on an intuitive level, on a heart level, of God’s love for the whole world. So when he begins his ministry, he has more of himself to give. Perhaps his capacity to heal as a fully human being came from this time in the desert. This year especially, isolated and anxious because of this Global pandemic, we are all in our own wildernesses. So, while Lent calls us to follow Jesus, this year especially, we can see that Lent is Jesus coming into our own wildernesses to meet us. Jesus meets us in the deserts of our hearts, in the dark corners of our souls, and as we walk with Him, we exercise and strengthen our trust in the truth that we are loved. And that is good news indeed. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

“Jesus Unmasked” is now a FB live as well as a podcast! Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too. O, Shiny Jesus! This is the Gospel for Transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday before the Lenten journey begins. Coinciding this year with Valentine’s Day, it’s a magnificent day to remember that the light of love shines through all of us. What is the Transfiguration? Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up to the top of a mountain, and there he is illuminated. As he radiates near-blinding light, suddenly at his side appear Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets. It is a mystical experience in which Jesus’s disciples see Jesus at the center of their past and future; for a brief moment they see a flash of who they are and what life means in Jesus’s light. Jesus stands in continuity with the law and the prophets, but also in contrast. For after the clouds pass, Moses and Elijah disappear and only Jesus remains. He has taken the best of all Moses and Elijah stand for into himself, without the violence or bloodshed of their stories. A voice from heaven speaks, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” And Jesus’s light guides our understanding of all that has happened and all that is to come. The illuminated Jesus guides us through our Lenten journey, our dark night of the soul. When Jesus comes down from the mountain, he is headed to Jerusalem, where he will die. Lent is our journey to Jerusalem, when we take a hard look at the injustice in the world that continues to harm God’s living image (all people)… and when we open our eyes to the ways we participate in this injustice. But along the way, we follow the immense beauty and love radiating from Jesus, taking that light into ourselves until it shines from the inside-out. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too. “Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” Couldn’t they just let the poor woman rest? When we hear “service” in a context like this, a woman in a house full of men, we might think Peter’s mother-in-law is making dinner. But what if it’s much more than that? Jesus came to serve. He came to show us that human community is mutual service, and that we live into our fullness as God’s image-bearers when we live not for ourselves, but others. Peter’s mother-in-law chooses to serve, not out of a sense of patriarchal duty, but because she is following Jesus. She is a disciple. She is actually the first disciple we truly see following Jesus in his way of service. This leads Adam and Lindsey to reflect on how, when it comes to following Jesus, women always get it first. Jesus also cures the sick for free. This is important, because, just like today, the need for medical care often left people in Jesus’s time destitute. And even more so than today (though things haven’t changed nearly enough), poverty was a death sentence. The point of Jesus curing for free is not that doctors don’t deserve compensation, of course. The point is that Jesus is creating a world where we serve one another, giving what we can and bringing out the best in each other by living into our best selves. This is the Beloved Community. He casts out demons and commands them to be silent. What if that means Jesus is silencing all those forces that tell us we are not enough, or that make us seek to enhance ourselves at the expense of others? What if those demons are all the lies we swim in that prevent us from living into the fullness of Beloved Community? We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too! “What is this? A new teaching – with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him?” What in the world does this mean? What kind of authority does Jesus have that is apparently lacking in the scribes? Why are the people so impressed even before he casts out an unclean spirit? And how should we understand what an “unclean spirit” is in our modern world? The first words Jesus hears in Mark’s Gospel are, “You are my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” What if Jesus’s authority comes from knowing that is enough? He is absolutely and unconditionally loved; therefore, he does not have to prove himself within a hierarchy or power structure. That kind of absolute security and understanding of one’s own worth must have been exceedingly rare in a world of violence, occupation, and fear. Is it Jesus’s fearless confidence pouring out in love that healed the man, that drove the unclean spirit away? Unclean spirits may be internalized violence, trauma, the indescribable effects of living in a world of injustice and oppression. Could it be that Jesus’s self-assurance was contagious, casting out demons of insecurity and worthlessness? Was Jesus helping only this one man, or was he teaching and healing a whole community by restoring one member? If we are all interconnected, then we know what the answer must be. Adam and Lindsey and friends discuss the authority of Love that has the power to cast out all the forces that not only divide us from each other, but deceive us into disbelieving our own value. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too! “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately. That’s how quickly these fishermen leave their nets and their families and everything they know to follow a poor Nazarean on what is essentially a suicide mission – a death to the world they knew and literal death to follow… to find abundant life beyond the death of oppression, exploitation, and violence. Fishermen of Jesus’s time were lowly and marginalized, literally pushed off the land, their essential work heavily taxed by the Roman Empire so that they would be kept in poverty. When Jesus comes to them proclaiming good news and calling them to repent, he is not telling them they have done anything wrong, but rather showing, through his faith in them, that there is life beyond exploitation and oppression, and he wants them – those the world didn’t believe in – to usher in this new life. Repent – change your thinking – recognize your worth and your calling and the wonder that life can be when it serves the needs of all rather than the greed of the powerful. He’s calling on them to go and feed and heal the world with him – literally and figuratively, caring for all humanity in their full humanity. “Fish for people” rather than an exploitive system; by caring for physical and material needs, fulfill the deeper spiritual need that we all have to be loved and cherished as children of the God who is Love. In this special Inauguration Day episode, Adam and Lindsey talk about the call we all have to help heal and transform a world aching under the powers of greed and violence. No matter who leads our nation, the call to transformation is ever before us, and real change comes not from a ceremony or ritual, but from doing the work the Spirit calls us to do. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too! “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Can’t you just hear the skepticism and disgust in Nathanael’s question? How could the leader Israel has been longing for, the Messiah come from such a backward, middle-of-god-foresaken-nowhere place? Nathanael certainly doesn’t hide behind diplomacy! Maybe that’s why Jesus declares that there is no deceit in him. And it doesn’t take much to turn Nathanael from skeptic to devoted disciple! Jesus is doing the on-the-ground organizing necessary to build a movement that will change the world. The savior of the world, the one who will lead us all into a new life, a new way of relating to each other in compassion and cooperation, comes from the margins and gathers unlikely followers. “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” What a bizarre metaphor! What is Jesus talking about? The link between heaven and earth, bridge that collapses the distance between them, will not be a temple or a ritual, but Jesus’s own Self. But more than that, the disciples will become part of Jesus’s body. All who follow Jesus become the bridge, the means by which God’s will will be done on earth as in heaven. Jesus calls his followers with the astounding message that the distinction between heaven and earth will be dissolved within them as they live into their full humanity, their full expression of God’s essence of Love. Lindsey and Adam explore this bizarre of Jesus calling us all to discipleship. As we we remember Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend, we recall that it takes not only a leader, but many, many dedicated people to change the world for the better. e warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too! “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” The heavens are being ripped open, and God is descending upon us. Before our very eyes, the Ultimate Power tears through the skies. Do we tremble? Do we wish we could run away? Or do we open our ears and our hearts and our souls to the message that breaks through our structures of chaos and violence and vengeance to declare the glorious truth: “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased?” The Ultimate Power bursts through a world order shaped by violence and reveals its divine Self to be Love. The message we hear, the message that commissions us on our lifelong journeys to , is that we are loved. At the time of this recording, the United States was reeling from armed insurrectionists who had tried to assert the power of force to overturn the 2020 election. What if they – what if we – knew that true power was found not in violence but in love? What if we knew that all of our ultimate identities are unique expressions of Love, bound together to need and serve one another? What if our actions sprang from this ever-flowing river of Love. Baptism is the immersion into a new life of Love. Adam and Lindsey kick off the new year with this commission from the Holy Spirit, to know we are loved and to let Love guide our actions as we go forward. As the nation and world unravel in chaos, Love is the ever-flowing water that quickens new life out of the ashes of destruction. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

We begin with an overview of a vast, sweeping Empire and an Emperor who wants to tax all whom he has conquered. In the Roman world, Caesar was understood to be the Son of God…But we quickly zoom in on a tiny barn in the middle of nowhere. Our focus is redirected; our perspective shifts.God comes not in the form of power, but in the form of a tiny, humble, vulnerable baby.It’s a frightening world when you live on occupied land. It’s a frightening world when you’re a shepherd, condemned as a criminal. It’s a frightening world when you’re an unwed teen mother. It’s a frightening world when you’re 9 months pregnant, you’ve been traveling all day, and you can’t find rest when you feel the life inside you bursting forth…But the wonder of God, the Love that transforms the world, breaks through all the fear. In the bleak darkness, the light breaks forth.Lindsey and Adam and friends celebrate the hope of Christmas that banishes all fear.

“My soul magnifies the Lord,” Mary sings with joy, “and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. … Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”What extraordinary words from a newly pregnant, unmarried 14-year-old girl at a time when such a condition could mean death or shunning!It’s amazing to meditate on Mary. Even before pregnancy, the living God who is Love must have filled her being so much to cast out the fear that would otherwise come with such a precarious situation. What must the whispers and rumors have been as her belly began to swell? The world is not a place for young pregnant girls – not then, not now.But the systems of violence that make up the world – all of the hierarchies that oppress, all of the power structures that prey on the vulnerable – Mary could feel them coming to an end with the new life inside her. Her song is deeply personal, deeply political, and also universal and holy. Pregnancy can be a scary time, but to have the faith that the life inside you can truly change the world for the better… that’s a miraculous joy.Mary’s incredible faith nurtured Jesus’s. It took her whole being to nurture the fully human embodiment of Love, whom we follow into new life and transformation of the world. Lindsey and Adam meditate on her world-upending love.  

“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” These are the first words of the first Gospel (historically, not in order of appearance), and it’s so easy to miss their subversive power. But make no mistake: these words are a political throwdown! In the time of the Roman Empire, the “gospel” was the message of a conquering army to those it had invaded: “Good news; you have been conquered.” The “Son of God” was the Emperor, and the “pax Romana” (peace of Rome) was enforced by killing dissenters.Now a poor, homeless carpenter is about to begin a ministry of healing, teaching, and forgiveness.  Could this Jesus of backward, nowhere Nazareth truly be the Son of God?John the baptizer says so, and calls us to prepare our hearts not only for a new Lord, but for a new kind of Lord. One who turns our ideas of kings and conquests completely upside-down. To hear his message, people must follow him into the wilderness. The good news is first proclaimed on the outskirts, away from the centers of power, where scapegoats and exiles are cast.God comes to us in the wilderness of our lives, the places where guilt or grief have stripped us bare. Jesus comes to heal where we are most broken, in the violence of our cultures and the pain in our hearts. Adam and Lindsey reflect on John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way.

Some interpretations of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25: 31-46) are downright terrifying. It seems to condemn the “goats” – “accursed” nations – to eternal damnation. Terrible fear-based religious violence and persecution has come from the idea of eternal hell. So where’s the “good news?”Translations and context make all the difference. The judgment in this parable is for the nations, not individuals, although individuals do shape the character of the nations in which they live. And the word translated as “eternal” is better translated as a “time” or “age.”You can reconcile faith in universal reconciliation with this parable, while still holding onto the infinite urgency and dire warning within it. Ultimately, the way we collectively and individually treat the most vulnerable will have lasting consequences. Adam and Lindsey explore further.

In a world where money equals power and upward mobility is the ultimate sign of success, those who seek another way, a message of hope to the poor and downtrodden, would hardly expect Jesus to reinforce a brutal status quo. Yet a surface reading of The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30) might seem to suggest that.A master leaves and entrusts three servants to his fortune, giving 5 talents to one, 2 to the second, and 1 to the third. The first two servants trade and double the master’s money, but the last buries it in the ground. When the master demands a reckoning, the third servant tells his master that he was afraid because he knew his master was a harsh man, so he buried his coin in the ground. The master kicks the “worthless slave” into the “outer darkness” of weeping and gnashing teeth.Was the master, who trusted so much to his servants, generous or brutal? Was the last servant’s judgment clouded by fear, or did he see the most clearly?So often this parable is interpreted to mean, “Don’t waste your talents!” Indeed, a talent is a terrible thing to waste. But Adam and Lindsey look below the surface, for the truth often lies buried under layers of misunderstanding.And, of course, any time someone is cast into “outer darkness,” we must ask ourselves, did Jesus cast anyone out, or was he cast out himself?

In the first podcast after the election, the lectionary gives us the perfect challenging text! The parable of the 10 Bridesmaids (Matthew 25: 1-13) appears to be about being prepared for anything – a good lesson for turbulent times in the wake of the 2020 election! But there’s much more to the parable than might first meet the eye!Lindsey and Adam examine this difficult parable. Who is the bridegroom, and if it’s Jesus, would he really slam the door on the “foolish” bridesmaids who fail to bring oil for their lamps? Would the Jesus who multiplied loaves and fishes condone the “wise” bridesmaids’ refusal to share?There are different ways to interpret this parable, but if it ever looks like the “Christ figure” of a parable is harsh and unforgiving, then either it’s not the Christ figure, or something beyond conventional wisdom is going on.In the end, we’re called to ask ourselves: Do we see life through a lens of winners vs. losers, fend for yourself at the expense of others, some are in and some are out? Or are we being pressed to imagine a better way?We end with a prayer for our nation and world as we seek to apply this wisdom to our lives in the wake of this turbulent election.

It’s the final podcast before the election, the lectionary for All Saints Day. It’s about time for some blessings!All Saints Day reminds us that we are all saints beneath the veneer of ego, since at our core we are made from and for Love. We are called to remember that we are caught up already in eternal life, eternal relationship with God and each other. So we better start loving one another!Matthew 5: 1-12, the Beatitudes, show us the way of sainthood, living into blessing. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who remember their interdependence on one another. Blessed are those who mourn, for Love and Love’s children (that’s us when we live into our vocation as God’s image-bearers) will advocate for them. The Beatitudes may look passive, but they are anything but! Adam and Lindsey explore their radical call to action!As election day looms on the horizon, we remember that no matter who is elected, our work remains the same. We are called to humility, justice, peacemaking, and love. We look not only to Christ, but to the saints on earth and in heaven who model these virtues in action.

Pope Francis has come out in affirmation of same-sex unions! In doing so, he is fulfilling the greatest of the commandments, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That’s what this week’s lectionary, Matthew 22:34-46, is all about, and Adam, Lindsey, and friends are celebrating! Jesus’s interrogators don’t approach him with love, though, when they try to trap him with their question. In response, Jesus challenges their understanding of authority as well. When scripture and tradition are used to trap and to hurt, they are abused, and Jesus counters this abuse by reminding his interrogators that there is a deeper authority than the human interpretation of tradition. Similarly, Pope Francis appeals to a deeper authority than church tradition to affirm same-sex marriage. Because the greatest authority isn’t scripture, the Pope, or the church. The greatest authority is Love.

In this episode, Lindsey and Adam discuss Matthew 22: 15 - 22. Pharisees and Herodians teamed up to entrap Jesus. After buttering him up, they asked him whether or not it was lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor. Jesus has them produce a coin, asks whose image it bears, and then tells them to give to the Emperor what is the Emperor’s and to God what is God.This is mic-drop Jesus at his best! Adam and Lindsey discuss what is so badass about Jesus in this passage, including how he cleverly evades danger, what it means to be made in God’s image, and why Pharisees and Herodians teaming up = scapegoating. They also discuss the noncontroversial topic of the morality of paying taxes, taking care to point out the contrasts between Jesus’s context and our own.

In this episode, Adam and Lindsey discuss Matthew 22: 1 - 14. A king threw a banquet and no one came. So, the king burned the city to the ground, and then invited new guests. No one dared refuse! But one got kicked out for wearing the wrong outfit.What are we to make of this terrifying story? Do we tie ourselves in knots trying to justify the king’s actions because we think the parable wants us to identify the king with God? Is there a Christ figure in this parable, and if so, who? What does this mean for us in tim

In this episode, Lindsey and Adam discuss Matthew 21: 33 - 46. Jesus tells a parable of a landowner who leased his vineyard to tenants. But when the landowner tried to collect the produce, the tenants killed his servants and even his son! What will that landowner do?Does this parable challenge our understanding of a nonviolent God and universal salvation? Lindsey and Adam find hope and a call to responsibility in a parable often interpreted violently, warn against anti-Semitic readings, and discuss the authority of violence versus the authority of Love. We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT /3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!

“Jesus Unmasked” returns, now a FB live as well as a podcast! We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page! Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too! In this episode, Adam and Lindsey discuss Matthew 21: 23- 32. Some of the chief priests and elders demand of Jesus, “What gives you the right?!” What gives Jesus the right to overturn the Temple, turn the world upside-down, and create a new order that centers the marginalized? Adam and Lindsey and friends talk about what authority is, how John the Baptist and Jesus both challenged established authorities without using violence, and why prostitutes and tax collectors are first in the Kingdom of God! “Jesus Unmasked” seeks to remove the masks of exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses that obscure the truth of Jesus’s unconditional love. Scripture passages are read from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. “Jesus Unmasked” is a Raven Foundation production.

Imagine your cousin and friend has just died for speaking truth to power. You know you can’t be silent, and you’re pissing off all the same authorities. So you know your hour is near. You are weary, grieving, and yet you know you’ll have to continue to speak out for a better world. But first, you need to get away from the maddening crowds and spend some time in solitude, where you can remember you’re not really alone, because Love always surrounds you.This is where Jesus finds himself at the beginning of Matthew 14: 13 -21, which Adam and Lindsey explore in this episode.John the Baptist has just been killed, and Jesus is utterly drained. Who knows how many tears he has cried… for his cousin, for a world so caught up in violence that it keeps killing the very prophets who try to lead the way to better?So he goes out in a boat to a deserted place. But when he comes back, there are multitudes of people awaiting him. Thousands and thousands.If I were Jesus, I would probably want to walk away without a word. Or scream, “Why don’t you leave me alone for once?” But Jesus, utterly spent, finds in that moment that he has more to give.His “heart goes out of him” in his compassion. The Greek word used literally means “to rip the internal organs out a victim.” Yikes! But here, as with everything else Jesus does, the meaning is subverted. Instead of a mob coming to rip Jesus apart (as Jesus knows will happen to him as it did to his cousin), Jesus sees a crowd of seeking, vulnerable people, and offers his own heart. He wanders into the crowd and befriends them. He shares wisdom. He cures the sick.And when evening falls and the disciples tell him to send the crowds home so they can find food, Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.”The disciples protest that they have almost nothing. Yet Jesus has just modeled a way to give and multiply blessings even when you feel empty. He has just modeled the way a little bit of love can be multiplied. And he tells his disciples – he tells us – to do likewise.Adam and Lindsey explore this miracle of abundance and all of its meanings. One potential key to understanding: look at those who are almost left out of the story – the women and children. 

“In gathering the weeds, you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both grow together…” If we would only pay attention to what Jesus is telling us to do, we wouldn’t need to worry so much about that scary stuff at the end!For the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Adam and Lindsey reflect on one of the more seemingly frightening parables of Jesus, the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat (Matthew 13: 24-30 and 36-43). There’s even an explanation that seems pretty straightforward. But, as with everything Jesus says and does, it’s subversive, world-turning, and infinitely better news than it appears to be at first glance!The word Jesus uses for “weeds” refers to a type of weed that resembled the wheat so closely that it was hard to tell them apart. When we try to root out evil, we also may have a hard time recognizing it. Scripture and history both testify to humanity’s poor track record when it comes to judgment. Scapegoats have been condemned, whole peoples have been marginalized, tribes and ethnic groups have warred against each other.These words of Jesus recall the utter indiscrimination of war and violence, the all-consuming cycles that spiral out of control. Bombs don’t distinguish between the innocent and the guilty, and what do those words even mean in the context of war when each side loses its distinctions in the violence? That kind of doubling where distinctions are eroded is what Jesus is referring to. If we try to be good and righteous and pull out the weeds, we become weeds ourselves!So, Jesus tells us not to. Rooting out evil with violence is not our job.So Jesus will root out the evil himself, right? He’ll send heavenly armies to burn evildoers, right? Doesn’t it say so right in the text?Don’t be so sure. After all, these words are all being spoke by the one who was himself judged to be a weed! Jesus himself went to the places of weeping and gnashing teeth, to the poor and the marginalized, to the sick and the suffering. He went to heal them, and was himself cast out and killed. And… death did not have the last word. If we are to follow Jesus, but we are expressly told not to root out evil, then what are we to do instead? What is Jesus doing instead? Adam and Lindsey dive deep into the weeds and the wheat, and invite you to join them in this episode of Jesus Unmasked!