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.

"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!

"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.

“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!

"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.

"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.

"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!

"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!

"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!

"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!

"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.

"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.

“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!