No Experts Allowed

Micah 3:5-12

Micah rails against Israel's injustice as the Assyrian army encroaches. He blames the oppression by influential rulers, priests, and prophets for Israel's situation. We discuss the failure of those in power to listen to the needs of people "who [can] put nothing into their mouths" (3:5).

Matthew 22:34-48

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus answers with two of them: love God and love your neighbor. Jonathan and Seth discuss how these two commandments are intertwined. They also disagree about which gospel is the greatest.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

In what might be the oldest book in the New Testament, Paul praises the Thessalonians for being models to others in their region. Jonathan and Seth discuss what being a model might look like and how the early, persecuted Jesus-followers differ from the contemporary Church.

Philippians 4:1-9

Paul writes to the Philippians from prison; the letter-carrier, Epaphroditus, almost dies during his journey (Phil. 2:25-30). Yet Paul's letter is characterized by joy. Jonathan and Seth discuss what rejoicing in the Lord looks like and how admonitions to "Rejoice!" land differently depending on the position of the sender and recipient.

Exodus 23:10-13

Jonathan and Seth welcome their longtime friend, Jared Lorraine, to the podcast. We discuss how the Sabbath disconnects what people produce from their value and how rest relates to equity and justice.

Our discussion briefly comments on the book Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by Walter Brueggemann, which is available from an independent bookseller here: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780664263294

Numbers 27:12-14

Just after this short section, Joshua is appointed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land instead of Moses. Jonathan and Seth talk about preparing for one's successors and having bifocal-like vision that sees both immediate and long-term goals.

Matthew 19:23-30

When we hear Jesus say, "it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom," we may be stunned like his disciples. Many interpreters try to make this message more palatable, but it is clear that the disciples have given up everything to follow him. Jonathan and Seth discuss what it looks like to take Jesus' admonition to heart today and how difficult that is.

Matthew 6:7-15

The Lord's Prayer comprises one of the most well-known portions of scripture but is often recited verbatim rather than functioning as a model prayer. Jonathan and Seth explore how prayer reorients us from ourselves back to God and how reading various translations helps us see familiar passages in new ways.

Exodus 11:1-10

We discuss God's command to Moses to warn Pharoah about the final plague. But only Pharoah wants the Israelites to stay; even Pharoah's servants respect Moses. This leads us to a discussion about confronting injustice when those in power are unwilling to act.

Jeremiah 15:10-14

Jeremiah pleads for the widows, orphans, and aliens that have been trampled on by Israelite society. In our first episode with guests, our wives, Abby and Patty, talk about how they've seen people in already precarious positions held down and held back.