Be Still And Go

"Broken hearts don’t get fixed. They become the soil for a new heart to grow."//Matthew 9:36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.5://This episode was written and recorded by Amanda Meisenheimer, the Associate Minister of Children & Families at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"Like a grain of wheat falls into a compost pile, Jesus falls into the earth. The damp and still and timeless earth. The quiet earth, accept for the faint percussion of the blind critters who tiptoe over the beads of transforming matter."//John 12:20-33Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me fr

God is inclining us as new covenant keepers to look for these holy moments all around us. //Jeremiah 31:31-34The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Bruce Lamb, the Associate Minister of Youth & Young Adults at The Riverside Church.

The transformation of our spiritual lives during Lent or at any other season of the year is not focused on us. God is at the center of the story. And the healing justice, the lavish generosity, and unfettered welcome is always the gift God has for us.//Luke 19:1-10He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I wi

"Even as we go through this trial and suffering and our nation’s life is laid down, I invite you to look for new signs of life inspired by divine minds that are emerging. Take a moment in your own life and within the news, not just to see the crucifixion, but to recognize and commit to support agents of resurrection that are emerging in every sector."//Mark 8:31-38Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and thos

"The wilderness led Jesus towards a love that would save the world."//Matthew 4:1-11Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will

God’s goal is to heal the world and to liberate the world from oppression that enslaves and violence that kills.//John 3:14-21And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen th

"The night is over and it is time to meet the day. It is time to know the deep rhythms of our soul’s distinct time, to tune into the tempos and patterns of our own communities, to pay attention to the timbre of our political moment, and to arise and respond with faith and courage."//Romans 13:8-14Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness

"If I’m going to attribute every stroke of luck, every gratuitous offering of grace, every open parking space divine intervention, then don’t I also have to assume that the same hand is at work, or choosing not to work, in every illness, every natural disaster, every delay on the 1 train?"//Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from troubleand gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction;they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.And let them offer thanksgivi

"Our job, before doing anything, is to pray with and for the people. I wonder what it must have felt like to be Moses. Moses was also running from bondage to freedom. Moses was also susceptible to serpent bites. But he displays a certain level of calm in this passage. Moses doesn’t try to rush the people through their pain or reduce their concerns. He simply goes to God on their behalf."//Numbers 21:4-9From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the L

"What would it mean for us to shut out all the words, even for just, say, fifteen minutes a day this Lent? To listen only to the heavens? To immerse ourselves in silence? To tune our ears to the still small voice inside each one of us?"//Psalm 19The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;the commandment

This is the upside down kingdom. We must come to the end of ourselves. We must be cracked open to our own sin and the pain of the world in order to begin to allow God’s kingdom to enter in, to redeem us, to redeem the world. It begins with that undoing.

What kind of prayers does God hear?//This episode was written and recorded by Amanda Meisenheimer, the Associate Minister of Children & Families at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"We need a theological whip where drive the arrogance out of our spirits."//John 2:13-22The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples rememb

"We’ve got to agitate for change, organize for justice, change the structures that oppress and destroy, weave the safety net for those who fall."//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Michael Livingston, the Senior Executive Minister at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"The one I follow, Jesus, Immanuel, is marked as a radical lover of the lowly, marked as a revolutionary threat to power and ultimately, because of these things, marked like a tree for cutting down with that crude orange plastic ribbon."//This episode was written and recorded by Farley Lord, the Associate Minister of Stewardship & Development at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"What do we sacrifice today for the idols that we worship? Who do we sacrifice today for the idols that we worship?"//Exodus 20:1-17Then God spoke all these words:I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lordwill not acquit anyone who misuses his name.Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the

"It is here, in the healing of our souls, that we must begin. For in order to heal the brokenness of our world, we must first tend to the brokenness in our own lives."//Psalm 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.//This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"Perhaps all of our talk about prayer and sacrifice and following Jesus is nothing more theological than a simple call to change."//This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Jan Powell, a member of The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church.Find out more at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo.

"True discipleship doesn’t engage empire on the periphery with the hope of of being noticed by other resisters and gaining just enough credibility to acquire a reputation or secure a legacy. It takes on empire in such a way that empire feels and knows it must respond.”//Mark 8:31-38Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For