WEBVTT 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:17.760 Welcome to the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast. I'm 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.460 John, Father John Deere, and today I'm going 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:24.039 to reflect with you on carrying on Jesus's grassroots 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:28.280 movement of peace and nonviolence from Luke chapter 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:34.100 10. This podcast is a project of www .beatitudecenter 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:37.500 .org. where you can find many other podcasts 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:40.299 and regular Zoom programs on the nonviolence 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:43.240 of Jesus and practicing nonviolence and working 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:46.820 for a more just, more peaceful world. So let's 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:49.619 begin with a little prayer. So I invite you, 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:52.280 wherever you are, just to take a deep breath 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:58.979 and to relax and to recenter yourself and to 00:00:58.979 --> 00:01:01.939 enter into the presence of the God of peace who 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:06.129 loves you infinitely and personally. and every 00:01:06.129 --> 00:01:10.290 human being as well. And let's welcome the nonviolent 00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:13.909 Jesus here with us and ask for the grace to follow 00:01:13.909 --> 00:01:17.189 him more faithfully and to do God's will of peace. 00:01:21.629 --> 00:01:24.290 God of peace, thank you for all the blessings 00:01:24.290 --> 00:01:27.609 of life, love, and peace that you give us. Be 00:01:27.609 --> 00:01:31.459 with us now as we reflect. on the nonviolent 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:34.019 Jesus and how he built a grassroots movement 00:01:34.019 --> 00:01:37.819 of nonviolence from Galilee to Jerusalem when 00:01:37.819 --> 00:01:40.459 he sent out 72 disciples to proclaim your reign 00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:44.700 of peace. Bless us, inspire us, disarm us, strengthen 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:48.900 us, and send us out all over again into this 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:52.299 turbulent world as lambs into the midst of wolves 00:01:52.299 --> 00:01:56.569 to proclaim. your reign of peace and love here 00:01:56.569 --> 00:01:59.670 at hand, that we might be your holy peacemakers. 00:01:59.769 --> 00:02:04.909 In Jesus' name, amen. So welcome, dear friends. 00:02:04.989 --> 00:02:08.250 As I said, today I want to look at Jesus as a 00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:11.789 movement organizer and how he organizes a bottom 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:14.550 -up, people -powered, grassroots movement of 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:17.370 nonviolence from Galilee to Jerusalem and how 00:02:17.370 --> 00:02:20.289 we might carry on his grassroots movement of 00:02:20.289 --> 00:02:23.939 nonviolence today. In the last few episodes of 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:26.599 this podcast, I've talked with my friends Brian 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:30.300 McLaren and Shane Claiborne about the rise of 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:33.280 authoritarianism, oligarchy, white supremacy, 00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:38.180 corporate greed, and permanent war making, and 00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:40.840 how Jesus responded to that during his own life. 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:44.000 Today, I want to look specifically at the story 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.960 of Luke chapter 10 and propose that text as a 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.650 framework for our response. So this is all from 00:02:50.650 --> 00:02:53.469 Luke chapter 10, verses 1 to 22. If you want 00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:55.729 to go deeper into this, you might check out my 00:02:55.729 --> 00:02:59.330 recent commentary, The Gospel of Peace. So Luke 00:02:59.330 --> 00:03:03.409 says Jesus sends 72 disciples in pairs ahead 00:03:03.409 --> 00:03:05.669 of him to whatever town he was going to visit 00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:08.729 to lay the groundwork and prepare people for 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:11.830 nonviolent resistance to the empire and God's 00:03:11.830 --> 00:03:15.270 coming reign. In effect, he creates 36 teams 00:03:15.270 --> 00:03:19.370 of nonviolent trainers. and sends them out into 00:03:19.370 --> 00:03:23.069 the war -torn countryside to invite people out 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:26.569 of the culture of war and empire, out of the 00:03:26.569 --> 00:03:29.689 poverty that they're suffering, and into the 00:03:29.689 --> 00:03:33.610 new life of loving nonviolence. So I think he's 00:03:33.610 --> 00:03:36.590 not just a community organizer or even a movement 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:39.669 builder. He's a nonviolent general who commands 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:42.650 a nonviolent army. But instead of waging war, 00:03:42.810 --> 00:03:46.539 he wages peace. He sends them out to disarm everyone, 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:50.580 dismantle the empire, and lead humanity into 00:03:50.580 --> 00:03:53.580 the peace of God's reign, to welcome Jesus and 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:58.860 his gifts. So he's mobilizing a real grassroots 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:02.500 campaign of active nonviolence, an authentic 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:06.000 holy peace movement that marches from Galilee 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.939 to Jerusalem, where he will undertake nonviolent 00:04:08.939 --> 00:04:12.740 direct action. It's totally like Gandhi. on the 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:16.360 1930s salt march across India, and the same as 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.139 Dr. King on the Selma to Montgomery march for 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:21.120 civil rights. That's why I always joke, you know, 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:23.779 Jesus thinks he's Gandhi. He thinks he's Dr. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:27.160 King. He's just like them, and we're supposed 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:31.019 to be like them too. So I propose that the best 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:33.540 way to respond to the crisis we're all dealing 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:36.790 with right now to oligarchy, corporate greed, 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:40.329 the culture of lies, white supremacy, permanent 00:04:40.329 --> 00:04:43.529 warfare, nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, 00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:47.269 to the Trump administration, Republican Party, 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:50.889 Fox News, and this rising authoritarianism and 00:04:50.889 --> 00:04:55.790 global chaos, is to carry on Jesus' grassroots 00:04:55.790 --> 00:04:59.250 people power movement of creative, organized 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:03.970 nonviolence today. We need to join these movements. 00:05:04.949 --> 00:05:07.850 to join similar movements and campaigns today, 00:05:07.930 --> 00:05:11.050 or to start one locally, nationally, and globally. 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:13.889 That's what I think it means to follow Jesus 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:18.250 in this world. To put it almost stupidly, Jesus 00:05:18.250 --> 00:05:21.189 did not sit under a tree and pray throughout 00:05:21.189 --> 00:05:24.930 his life. He got up and took public action and 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:27.449 organized and led a grassroots movement to confront 00:05:27.449 --> 00:05:32.930 the empire, which is daring and dangerous. and 00:05:32.930 --> 00:05:36.509 public, and ultimately a threat to the status 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.170 quo, to the rich, to the empire, which is why 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:42.509 they killed him. If we really are his followers, 00:05:42.810 --> 00:05:48.209 I propose we too have to get up, get moving, 00:05:48.470 --> 00:05:52.230 start marching, start organizing, and start speaking 00:05:52.230 --> 00:05:55.829 out in similar campaigns of daring nonviolence 00:05:55.829 --> 00:05:59.120 today. So let's look at the story. I'm just going 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:02.060 to walk through it, and I hope folks will return 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:04.600 to it later and study it. So the first thing 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:08.459 he says, according to Luke chapter 10, is go 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:13.480 on your way. So it's the imperative tense. Get 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:17.579 going. Go forth and make peace. That always sounds 00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:21.100 to me like Jesus. He's always empowering people 00:06:21.100 --> 00:06:25.000 and urging us to get up and get moving. He wants 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:30.480 the movement moving. In Matthew, he says, be 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.339 wise as serpents and innocent as doves, which 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:38.040 I always thought meant we get, at times, we get 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:41.699 to coo, and other times we get to hiss. That's 00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:44.399 what people of nonviolence do. We coo and we 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:47.699 hiss, but we don't hurt anybody. But Luke says 00:06:47.699 --> 00:06:53.279 something even more challenging. Behold, I'm 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:58.439 sending you like lambs among wolves. Wow. So 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:01.560 let's think about that. That's the teaching right 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:04.139 there. That's the way we're going to live for 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:07.139 the rest of this year as we go into the future. 00:07:07.709 --> 00:07:11.009 Jesus is sending us into the world of permanent 00:07:11.009 --> 00:07:14.449 war and empire and oligarchy and violence as 00:07:14.449 --> 00:07:20.149 peaceful, gentle, unarmed people. We are to be 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:24.389 as vulnerable and harmless as lambs. Imagine 00:07:24.389 --> 00:07:27.610 a little lamb surrounded by a pack of wolves. 00:07:28.129 --> 00:07:32.329 That's Jesus' image of the life of his disciple. 00:07:32.910 --> 00:07:35.810 That's us. That's the life of nonviolence in 00:07:35.810 --> 00:07:38.370 a culture of total violence. That's the image 00:07:38.370 --> 00:07:40.829 of a peacemaker in a world of permanent war. 00:07:41.209 --> 00:07:44.290 What can we expect when we go forth to make peace? 00:07:44.430 --> 00:07:48.389 To be eaten alive. Are there any questions? You 00:07:48.389 --> 00:07:50.610 know, this is the job description, and this has 00:07:50.610 --> 00:07:54.769 been my experience. If you speak out for peace 00:07:54.769 --> 00:07:57.769 and justice and creation, you will get pushback. 00:07:58.649 --> 00:08:01.709 or opposition, or full -on rejection, or much 00:08:01.709 --> 00:08:06.170 worse. So get ready, and now we get to respond 00:08:06.170 --> 00:08:09.649 with non -violent love, because Jesus has been 00:08:09.649 --> 00:08:11.810 training us in the Sermon on the Mount to be 00:08:11.810 --> 00:08:14.949 as gentle as lambs. So then he gets very specific 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:18.189 in the instructions to the 72. Take nothing for 00:08:18.189 --> 00:08:21.350 the journey. Isn't that powerful? No money, no 00:08:21.350 --> 00:08:24.410 sack, no sandals, and greet no one on the way. 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:27.920 So when we remember that Jesus is sending his 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.180 followers into the Galilean countryside where 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:34.440 the Roman death squads are roaming around on 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.299 alert to kill anyone who's stirring up the public 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:40.460 with talk of revolution, then his teaching makes 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:44.980 perfect sense. He's organizing an illegal underground 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:50.460 movement. So his advice is very practical. Be 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:55.139 on alert. Be ready to go. You know? There's nothing 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:58.940 really idealistic about this. This is very serious 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:02.259 and down to earth, this mission. And I'm sending 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:04.679 you to proclaim peace and bring peace and make 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:08.980 peace and welcome God's reign of peace. And that, 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:13.019 in this kind of environment, it means the movement, 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:16.639 you all are going to be a threat to the ruling 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:21.559 imperial war -making establishment. That's why 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:27.070 I always ask myself, And my friends, how urgently 00:09:27.070 --> 00:09:29.750 are we taking this work of justice, disarmament, 00:09:29.750 --> 00:09:33.350 and creation? And are we a threat to the ruling 00:09:33.350 --> 00:09:36.490 oligarchy today? That's what I learned from the 00:09:36.490 --> 00:09:39.690 Barragans, you know, and why I've been in and 00:09:39.690 --> 00:09:45.990 out of jail for 40 years. Next, he says, Into 00:09:45.990 --> 00:09:48.649 whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to 00:09:48.649 --> 00:09:51.370 this household. If a peaceful person lives there, 00:09:51.570 --> 00:09:54.470 your peace will rest on him. But if not, it will 00:09:54.470 --> 00:09:57.350 return to you. Stay in the same house and eat 00:09:57.350 --> 00:09:59.889 and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer 00:09:59.889 --> 00:10:02.929 deserves his payment. Do not move about from 00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:05.450 one house to another. Whatever town you enter 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:07.629 and they welcome you, eat what is said before 00:10:07.629 --> 00:10:12.070 you. Cure all the sick and say to them, The reign 00:10:12.070 --> 00:10:16.399 of God is at hand for you. And whatever town 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.940 you enter and they do not receive you, go out 00:10:18.940 --> 00:10:22.440 into the streets and say, the dust of your town 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:24.779 that clings to our feet, even that we shake off 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:27.659 against you, but know this, the reign of God 00:10:27.659 --> 00:10:31.379 is at hand for you. I tell you, it will be more 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:34.700 tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that 00:10:34.700 --> 00:10:38.860 town. So this is very rich. If we're going to 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:42.620 be living out this mission today and be joining 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:45.149 the... bottom -up, people -power, grassroots 00:10:45.149 --> 00:10:48.350 movements of nonviolence. As followers of the 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:52.210 nonviolent Jesus, that means we are from now 00:10:52.210 --> 00:10:57.769 on only speaking the language of peace. We use 00:10:57.769 --> 00:11:01.029 nonviolent communication. We use the words of 00:11:01.029 --> 00:11:04.809 peace and invite people out of this insane culture. 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:08.690 Here and now to live in God's reign of peace. 00:11:08.950 --> 00:11:11.690 And we try to make people feel at peace, to be 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:14.509 a peaceful presence in their midst, and to affirm 00:11:14.509 --> 00:11:18.169 their peace, and to lead people deeper into God's 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:22.710 peace. I think, you know, by being calm and peaceful, 00:11:22.990 --> 00:11:27.230 that's how we continue Jesus' gift of healing 00:11:27.230 --> 00:11:29.909 one another. And this was at the heart of the 00:11:29.909 --> 00:11:32.870 teachings of my friend and teacher Thich Nhat 00:11:32.870 --> 00:11:36.350 Hanh. who once put it this way, if you are a 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:40.490 rock of peace, if you attend to that first and 00:11:40.490 --> 00:11:43.750 foremost, you will always bring peace to everyone 00:11:43.750 --> 00:11:46.850 around you. And you will be mindful of every 00:11:46.850 --> 00:11:50.330 word you say so that you're always using nonviolent 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:53.750 language and so that your presence and your words 00:11:53.750 --> 00:11:59.309 always serve and heal and disarm others. And 00:11:59.309 --> 00:12:02.490 in that way, you become what St. Francis calls 00:12:02.490 --> 00:12:06.019 us to be. instruments of God's peace. And that's 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:09.899 what the ideal of movement people is supposed 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:11.899 to be about. We're supposed to be like Gandhi 00:12:11.899 --> 00:12:15.679 and Dr. King. So then next, Jesus issues, notice 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:19.179 these blessings to those who welcome people of 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:22.080 peace and warnings to those who reject peace. 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.860 To his disciples, he's advising them to shake 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:29.700 off the dust from the places that reject them. 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:33.929 But I... Having wrestled with that for 40 years, 00:12:33.970 --> 00:12:37.429 it took me a long time to realize it's not about, 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:42.610 ah, that'll show you. No. It's now that we're 00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:47.830 not tainted by the rejection, that the dust that 00:12:47.830 --> 00:12:50.529 reminds us of being rejected doesn't cling to 00:12:50.529 --> 00:12:55.169 us so that we won't waste our time holding on 00:12:55.169 --> 00:13:00.850 to resentment and grudges and hurts. So he's 00:13:00.850 --> 00:13:02.889 telling them to keep their focus on God's reign 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:05.529 and on proclaiming God's reign, not on being 00:13:05.529 --> 00:13:07.769 rejected if that happened and your hurt feelings. 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:10.929 And notice that his warnings to those who reject 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:14.690 the peacemaking disciples are addressed not to 00:13:14.690 --> 00:13:18.889 individuals, but to communities and cities. Now, 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:22.129 this is very instructive, too. The villages which 00:13:22.129 --> 00:13:25.029 reject his peacemaking disciples will suffer 00:13:25.029 --> 00:13:27.830 worse consequences than the mythically sinful 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:32.509 city of Sodom. So that's a serious warning. And 00:13:32.509 --> 00:13:35.889 by the way, folks, what was the sin of Sodom? 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:39.470 The sin of Sodom was economic injustice. And 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:43.710 it's much easier to name it in other ways. They 00:13:43.710 --> 00:13:47.110 were oppressing the poor and stealing all the 00:13:47.110 --> 00:13:49.889 riches for them. That's what's going on. And 00:13:49.889 --> 00:13:52.649 Jesus is condemning that behavior, which is what 00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:56.679 he would do today to our culture. Whoever listens 00:13:56.679 --> 00:14:00.259 to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:03.000 me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.360 sent me. I think these teachings promise that 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:11.120 if we are sincerely, honestly, prayerfully, and 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.779 non -violently going forth as his followers, 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:18.100 proclaiming the gospel message and God's reign 00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:23.740 of peace, well, then we speak for him. Wow. And 00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:26.600 if someone is speaking this gospel message, the 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:28.980 good news of the Sermon on the Mount, we should 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:32.159 listen and take that message to heart because 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:35.840 Jesus is speaking to us. So is the God of peace. 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:39.210 That makes me think, well, we should only be 00:14:39.210 --> 00:14:42.070 listening to the voices that speak words of peace 00:14:42.070 --> 00:14:44.470 and nonviolence, those who are calling for an 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:47.850 end to all the war and the greed and oligarchy 00:14:47.850 --> 00:14:50.149 and nuclear weapons and environmental destruction, 00:14:50.149 --> 00:14:53.690 and turn off the voices that serve the culture 00:14:53.690 --> 00:14:56.830 of war and greed. But here's the thing that gets 00:14:56.830 --> 00:15:00.500 me so excited about this text. What is so shocking 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:05.340 is that the 72 returned rejoicing. Apparently, 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:08.860 they fulfilled their mission. And the word joy 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:14.379 is used about five times. Lord, they say, even 00:15:14.379 --> 00:15:16.779 the demons are subject to us because of your 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:20.039 name. They had gone out into the villages, met 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:22.399 the people, talked with the people, spoken about. 00:15:23.049 --> 00:15:25.110 These Sermon on the Mount teachings on peace, 00:15:25.129 --> 00:15:27.669 love, and nonviolence, they offered themselves 00:15:27.669 --> 00:15:31.929 as peaceful people, would have told them about 00:15:31.929 --> 00:15:34.909 the great teacher. They healed everyone by their 00:15:34.909 --> 00:15:38.149 peaceful presence and message and announced the 00:15:38.149 --> 00:15:40.769 coming of God's reign of peace and, hey, we can 00:15:40.769 --> 00:15:43.450 all live nonviolently and we can resist this 00:15:43.450 --> 00:15:47.230 empire and invited everyone into a new way of 00:15:47.230 --> 00:15:49.870 life. And they were welcomed and their message 00:15:49.870 --> 00:15:52.820 was taken to heart. Well, of course it was, because 00:15:52.820 --> 00:15:56.360 people are sick and tired of empire, and they're 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.440 oppressed, and this is good news. This is true 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:04.399 nonviolent revolution. The disciples were amazed 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:09.340 to find that movements work just as we are. So 00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:11.779 Luke is showing us here the positive spiritual 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:16.639 consequences of joining Jesus' grassroots campaign 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.750 of peace and justice. If we take up his mission 00:16:19.750 --> 00:16:22.929 and go forth and proclaim peace in God's reign 00:16:22.929 --> 00:16:27.169 and heal people, not only will we really help 00:16:27.169 --> 00:16:31.309 others and maybe lead movements of resistance 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:34.370 and actually transform and even disarm this culture, 00:16:34.490 --> 00:16:38.029 we ourselves will be greatly blessed and filled 00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:42.509 with joy. This is a work of God. This is the 00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:47.100 work of the Holy Spirit. we will receive spiritual 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:51.539 consolation. And that's not going to happen if 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:54.960 you're supporting the culture. But what's even 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:58.700 more interesting is Luke goes further and tells 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:03.000 us in one of the few times how Jesus reacts, 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:08.660 and in particular, how Jesus feels, which is 00:17:08.660 --> 00:17:10.880 very important if you're trying to be an authentic 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:13.680 disciple. Like, how does Jesus feel going through 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:17.490 his life? And I want to support him. And I'm 00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:19.630 going to feel like him. This is what I'm getting 00:17:19.630 --> 00:17:23.470 at. And so Jesus says, I observe Satan fall like 00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:26.089 lightning from the sky. Well, that's just the 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:30.130 code word for Roman Empire. You know, Satan means 00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:33.829 empire. I saw eight empire fall because you all 00:17:33.829 --> 00:17:37.210 were built at the beginning of a movement. By 00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:39.869 organizing and launching his grassroots campaign 00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:43.349 of peace and nonviolence, Jesus can see the beginning 00:17:43.349 --> 00:17:46.670 of the end of the Roman Empire, falling like 00:17:46.670 --> 00:17:50.109 lightning from the sky. This is what Gandhi experienced 00:17:50.109 --> 00:17:54.089 in his famous 1930 salt march. Once he arrived 00:17:54.089 --> 00:17:57.430 at the sea and made his illegal salt, breaking 00:17:57.430 --> 00:18:01.430 the British law and monopoly, he set off a grassroots 00:18:01.430 --> 00:18:06.019 movement. But Gandhi could see then, The end 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:08.240 of British rule over India. He said, OK, this 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.460 is inevitable now because nonviolence becomes 00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:14.099 contagious. Grassroots movements of peace and 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:16.619 nonviolence, which announced the end of war and 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:20.319 justice, greed and oppression, always work. I 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:23.779 think if you have the eyes of Jesus, you could 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:27.599 see Rosa Parks, for example, refusing to give 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:31.599 up her seat December 1st, 1955. and segregated 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.240 Montgomery. And when she did that act of civil 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:37.079 disobedience, segregation fell like lightning 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:39.799 from the sky and launched a movement. That's 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:43.509 what we're getting at here. This kind of public 00:18:43.509 --> 00:18:47.029 action of nonviolent resistance erodes the pillars 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:50.069 of the culture of empire and empowers people 00:18:50.069 --> 00:18:53.769 to non -cooperate and then resist until eventually 00:18:53.769 --> 00:18:56.930 the empire collapses and God's reign breaks through. 00:18:57.029 --> 00:18:58.609 That's what we're talking about. And then he 00:18:58.609 --> 00:19:03.509 says, behold, I have given you power. I cannot 00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:07.849 tell you enough how seriously Martin Luther King 00:19:07.849 --> 00:19:11.859 took that. Maybe he was one of the very few people 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:15.599 who did. Jesus goes on, power to tread upon serpents 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.000 and scorpions and upon the full force of the 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:26.000 enemy and nothing will harm you. Wow. This has 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.319 been a key instruction for my entire life. We 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:33.539 have been given power, the power of nonviolence, 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:37.579 power over all the forces of death. That's why 00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:43.150 Gandhi says, Totally studied this text. Active, 00:19:43.269 --> 00:19:46.410 creative, public nonviolence is a force more 00:19:46.410 --> 00:19:49.470 powerful than all the weapons of the world combined. 00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:54.309 He's just saying what Jesus said. We have a way, 00:19:54.329 --> 00:19:57.250 a power to resist every form of violence and 00:19:57.250 --> 00:20:00.430 transform it. Even this culture we're dealing 00:20:00.430 --> 00:20:02.650 with today and the, let's say, nuclear weapons 00:20:02.650 --> 00:20:07.710 and fossil fuels without, you know, using violence. 00:20:08.410 --> 00:20:12.609 If we dare wield this power. So Dr. King defined 00:20:12.609 --> 00:20:18.230 nonviolence as power. That's what he said. Nonviolence 00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:22.190 is power. You are not powerless. I've studied 00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:24.130 his speeches and you can read that in the fine 00:20:24.130 --> 00:20:26.809 prints, which is the exact opposite of what the 00:20:26.809 --> 00:20:31.539 Roman Empire said to what every... oligarch, 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:34.500 dictator, and authoritarian, as said throughout 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:37.460 history, up through today. It's what you hear 00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:39.599 on Fox News and through the Trump administration. 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:43.099 That's what the empire, the war machine, the 00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:47.740 media, the culture of violence wants. They want 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:50.440 us to feel powerless and helpless. That's the 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.259 strategy, and we go right along with it. Hey, 00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:55.759 there's nothing I can do. Ah, that's a shame. 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:59.359 That's too bad. I wish if only somebody had done 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:01.839 something. Well, then, by the way, you end up 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.880 like the pastors by at the cross. Why didn't 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:09.920 he do something? Well, I go astray here. This 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:12.420 is especially the problem with church people. 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:16.359 We do what the culture tells us, not what the 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:20.220 nonviolent Jesus said. And to be really blunt, 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:25.660 none of that is God's will. That's not how Jesus 00:21:25.660 --> 00:21:28.839 wants us to respond to this culture. He wants 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:32.640 us to get up and go forth in small grassroots 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.319 movements for positive social change. And he's 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.140 giving us a weapon, the power of active love 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:41.599 and truth through the grassroots methodology 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:47.269 of courageous, fearless. to organize nonviolence, 00:21:47.309 --> 00:21:49.650 to bring down the structures of violence and 00:21:49.650 --> 00:21:53.349 injustice. In Dr. King's case, to take on segregation, 00:21:53.750 --> 00:21:56.470 racism, and war. I mean, what Dr. King was doing, 00:21:56.569 --> 00:21:59.269 like what the abolitionists did, it's never been 00:21:59.269 --> 00:22:01.529 done before. In Gandhi's case, to bring down 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:03.950 the British Empire. And there have been a hundred 00:22:03.950 --> 00:22:08.210 other successful examples of nonviolent resistance 00:22:08.210 --> 00:22:13.849 movements since Dr. King. So then Jesus says 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:17.440 this. spectacular teaching. I really invite you 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.599 to ponder and experiment with. That's what I've 00:22:20.599 --> 00:22:24.440 done in my life. If you practice and teach nonviolence, 00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:29.900 no harm will come to you. Nothing can truly hurt 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:34.519 you. Instead, you will wield the power of God 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.579 to disarm and transform the world. So here's 00:22:37.579 --> 00:22:42.099 the theory as I understand it. God cannot protect 00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:45.339 us from harm if you're armed and out there doing 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:48.619 harmful things, or you're supporting the culture 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:51.920 of harm and death and destruction through your 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:53.940 apathy and indifference, if you see my point. 00:22:54.220 --> 00:22:57.019 If you use violence, if we use violence on others, 00:22:57.079 --> 00:22:59.599 we are rejecting God's will, and we're going 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:01.920 to suffer the consequences of our violent actions 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:05.480 or our passivity and apathy in the face of war, 00:23:05.579 --> 00:23:08.599 which is participating in violence. But you see, 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:12.400 what goes around comes around. However, if we 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.259 are unarmed and totally nonviolent like Jesus 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:21.740 and the Galilee 72, we will trust in God and 00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:25.519 go forth. and do the mission, and God will protect 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.720 us because nonviolence is God's will and God's 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:33.839 way and requires our conscious reliance on God, 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.700 and God is there for us. That's just the spiritual 00:23:36.700 --> 00:23:40.039 teaching. If we do harm, harm will come to us. 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:42.319 Violence in response to violence always leads 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:45.099 to further violence, period. If we do no harm, 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:48.819 no harm will come to us. Now, you're going, yeah, 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:52.059 good luck with that, John. I've experimented 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:56.160 that very consciously over 40 years. I can remember 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.980 in 1985 living in the refugee camp in the heart 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:04.240 of El Salvador. We were being bombed every hour 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.200 by the United States and the death squads were 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:08.539 around us. I was under the direction of the Jesuits 00:24:08.539 --> 00:24:11.000 who were all later assassinated, my friends, 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:15.960 and pondering these texts. And I was like, OK, 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:18.299 God, I'm going to be nonviolent here and I'm 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:20.599 going to be very public about it and you're going 00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:23.259 to protect me. And I've been like that ever since 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:26.660 in soup kitchens and shelters and all the hundred 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:29.039 jail cells I've been around the country and all 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.779 the times I've been arrested. And I watched my 00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:36.200 friends, the Barragans and Tutu and so many friends 00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:38.599 getting arrested, how they've been protected. 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:42.740 And it's almost like, you know. Even Gandhi and 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:45.579 Dr. King chose their hour just like Jesus did. 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:48.859 So what I'm trying to say is I think Jesus' words 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:53.779 are true. But here's the final point. It's so 00:24:53.779 --> 00:24:59.420 amazing. Jesus starts talking about joy. What? 00:24:59.980 --> 00:25:02.980 Who talks about joy? We're talking about... Trump 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:06.259 and oligarchy and war and the end of the world. 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:09.500 Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:11.980 to you, he says. Rejoice because your names are 00:25:11.980 --> 00:25:16.480 written in heaven. He wants us to rejoice. The 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:19.259 only suggestion he makes is critically important 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:23.519 and very subtle. Don't focus on yourselves, you 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:28.519 guys. Don't claim any credit for the good you 00:25:28.519 --> 00:25:31.789 are doing. Give all the credit to God. Focus 00:25:31.789 --> 00:25:35.269 on God and God's reign. Even your joy, let that 00:25:35.269 --> 00:25:39.230 be a gift from God and focused on God. So rejoice 00:25:39.230 --> 00:25:41.250 because your names are written in heaven. Well, 00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:46.509 that's a nice thing to ponder. God knows what 00:25:46.509 --> 00:25:50.480 we've done with our lives. And if we're working, 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:53.599 if we're doing God's will and joining God's grassroots 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:57.220 movement, God's peace movement to disarm and 00:25:57.220 --> 00:25:59.980 transform this culture, God is working through 00:25:59.980 --> 00:26:02.880 us. And we're going to feel the spiritual implications 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.900 of that and joy. And we can take heart that our 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:08.619 names are written in God's book. And I think 00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:12.099 that's worth aspiring to, that we might have 00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:19.009 our names in God's ledger, so to speak. I think 00:26:19.009 --> 00:26:23.869 as we participate in all the grassroots movements 00:26:23.869 --> 00:26:26.829 for justice, disarmament, and creation today, 00:26:26.990 --> 00:26:31.990 we should be rejoicing. Even as we grieve, we 00:26:31.990 --> 00:26:35.170 can also rejoice. And then Luke says at that 00:26:35.170 --> 00:26:39.089 very moment, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. 00:26:39.309 --> 00:26:41.569 Now, dear friends who are listening to this, 00:26:41.730 --> 00:26:47.650 I say this with all the solemnity I can muster. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:53.079 This is the only time in the four Gospels when 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:58.920 Jesus is happy. It's the only time when Jesus 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.339 is filled with joy. So this is very important 00:27:02.339 --> 00:27:06.700 for us. Why does Jesus rejoice? What makes him 00:27:06.700 --> 00:27:09.380 rejoice? Because his followers did what he said 00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:13.390 and went forth. in a bottom -up people power 00:27:13.390 --> 00:27:16.529 grassroots movement and proclaimed God's reign 00:27:16.529 --> 00:27:21.329 of peace everywhere they went. So I invite us 00:27:21.329 --> 00:27:24.349 to get on with the movement and help getting 00:27:24.349 --> 00:27:27.470 our grassroots movements moving on all fronts, 00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:31.509 justice, disarmament, and creation, to really 00:27:31.509 --> 00:27:35.349 resist and help end war, end the corporate greed 00:27:35.349 --> 00:27:38.250 and white supremacy and oligarchy and nuclear 00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:40.390 weapons and poverty, environmental destruction. 00:27:41.289 --> 00:27:43.869 maybe even to tithe our time to the movements 00:27:43.869 --> 00:27:47.450 and to do our part to help disarm and heal the 00:27:47.450 --> 00:27:50.829 world. Okay, why? Because it's good and right 00:27:50.829 --> 00:27:54.869 and holy. Things are so bad. What we're going 00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:58.329 to need now is a global grassroots movement of 00:27:58.329 --> 00:28:01.210 bold, active, people -powered nonviolence, the 00:28:01.210 --> 00:28:04.029 likes of which the world has never seen, way 00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:07.470 beyond what Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King could 00:28:07.470 --> 00:28:09.789 have ever imagined. So it's really all hands 00:28:09.789 --> 00:28:14.099 on deck. And I'm recalling as I'm sharing this, 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.500 the story of my dear friend Ken Butikin. When 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:20.640 he was starting out as a young activist, I think 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:25.160 around 1982, he went to New York to see my friend 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:27.519 and teacher Daniel Berrigan. And he said, okay, 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:31.440 Dan, what do I do? How do I do it? And Dan said 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:34.720 to him, all you have to do is find a group of 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:39.160 people you can pray with and march with. And 00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:41.799 Ken said, right. And he's been doing it ever 00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:46.579 since then. He's done amazing work. I think that's 00:28:46.579 --> 00:28:48.420 kind of the way forward for all of us, according 00:28:48.420 --> 00:28:50.640 to Luke 10, that this is going to be the new 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:54.799 normal for us. But the point of Luke 10, if you 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:58.740 really dig deep, if you're interested in discipleship, 00:28:58.740 --> 00:29:03.059 is that on your worst days, as things get worse, 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:06.079 when you want to throw up your hands in despair 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:10.759 and anger and give up, If you have friends to 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:14.660 pray with and march with, even just two or three, 00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:18.160 the little community that Jesus sends you out 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:21.880 with, you stand on the street corner with in 00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:26.119 your public vigil, you can keep on going. You 00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:30.440 keep going anyway, trusting God. Why? I propose 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:34.690 in the end just to make the poor guy happy. Just 00:29:34.690 --> 00:29:37.710 to help Jesus rejoice all over again. We don't 00:29:37.710 --> 00:29:42.269 want to make Jesus sadder or betray him or deny 00:29:42.269 --> 00:29:45.569 him or abandon him or crucify him all over again. 00:29:46.430 --> 00:29:48.950 but to make Jesus rejoice. And to do that, we 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:51.869 do that by carrying on his grassroots movements 00:29:51.869 --> 00:29:54.670 for peace and justice as lambs sent into the 00:29:54.670 --> 00:29:57.670 midst of wolves to our own Jerusalems, to Washington, 00:29:57.849 --> 00:30:01.069 D .C., to all the places of power, oligarchy, 00:30:01.170 --> 00:30:04.829 white supremacy, war, and empire, to speak out 00:30:04.829 --> 00:30:07.690 for disarmament and justice and creation, to 00:30:07.690 --> 00:30:09.769 proclaim the truth to the culture of war and 00:30:09.769 --> 00:30:13.470 lies, to heal all victims of violence, and proclaim... 00:30:13.869 --> 00:30:16.670 that God's reign of universal love and peace 00:30:16.670 --> 00:30:20.509 is at hand. All the best. So thanks so much for 00:30:20.509 --> 00:30:23.470 listening to the Nonviolent Jesus podcast. You 00:30:23.470 --> 00:30:25.890 can hear more podcasts and find other upcoming 00:30:25.890 --> 00:30:30.289 Zoom programs at www .beatitudescenter .org. 00:30:30.750 --> 00:30:33.569 And please consider offering a donation to support 00:30:33.569 --> 00:30:37.089 this free work. And if you can, please leave 00:30:37.089 --> 00:30:39.849 some positive feedback or review or suggestions 00:30:39.849 --> 00:30:44.559 at NCR or Apple or Spotify. or whatever platform 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:47.559 you use. May the God of peace bless everyone 00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:51.420 and keep us all safe and sound as we go forth 00:30:51.420 --> 00:30:54.480 following the nonviolent Jesus. See you next 00:30:54.480 --> 00:30:54.740 time.