"Broken hearts don’t get fixed. They become the soil for a new heart to grow." // Matthew 9:36 When 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 a...
Mar 21, 2018•7 min
"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 12:20-33 Now 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 Jes...
Mar 20, 2018•8 min
God is inclining us as new covenant keepers to look for these holy moments all around us. // Jeremiah 31:31-34 The 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 ...
Mar 19, 2018•10 min
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 19:1-10 He 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...
Mar 18, 2018•8 min
"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 8:31-38 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, an...
Mar 17, 2018•7 min
"The wilderness led Jesus towards a love that would save the world." // Matthew 4:1-11 Then 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 t...
Mar 16, 2018•6 min
God’s goal is to heal the world and to liberate the world from oppression that enslaves and violence that kills. // John 3:14-21 And 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 ...
Mar 15, 2018•8 min
"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 13:8-14 Owe 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 ...
Mar 14, 2018•9 min
"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, 17-22 O 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 trouble and gathered in from the lands, fr...
Mar 13, 2018•11 min
"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 21:4-9 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but t...
Mar 12, 2018•12 min
"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 19 The 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 thro...
Mar 11, 2018•9 min
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.
Mar 11, 2018•5 min
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 .
Mar 10, 2018•9 min
"We need a theological whip where drive the arrogance out of our spirits." // John 2:13-22 The 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 th...
Mar 09, 2018•8 min
"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 ....
Mar 08, 2018•7 min
"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. ...
Mar 07, 2018•6 min
"What do we sacrifice today for the idols that we worship? Who do we sacrifice today for the idols that we worship?" // Exodus 20:1-17 Then 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 ...
Mar 05, 2018•6 min
"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 51:10 Create 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 ....
Mar 04, 2018•5 min
"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 .
Mar 03, 2018•5 min
"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 8:31-38 Then 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 quit...
Mar 02, 2018•7 min
"The God in whom Abraham trusted is a God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things which do not exist." // Romans 4:13-25 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends ...
Mar 01, 2018•6 min
Your work for social justice is important and you belong in the greater movement for social change. // This episode was written and recorded by Kate Werning, the creator and host of the Healing Justice podcast. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Associate Minister of Digital Strategy and Online Engagement at The Riverside Church. Find out more about Be Still and Go at www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo . Find out more about the Healing Justice podcast at www.healingjustice.org ....
Feb 28, 2018•9 min
"Maybe we don’t need complex theories or volumes and volumes of dense theological reflection to explain a reality we know to be true: we can lament and praise in the same breath." // Psalm 22:23-31 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congrega...
Feb 27, 2018•12 min
This is the story of God doing what God does best: making a promise and keeping it. // Genesis 17:1-7 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name b...
Feb 26, 2018•7 min
Lent is about reconciling realities: the me on the inside and the me on the outside. The world in all of its brokenness and the world in its most creative and generativeness. // This episode was written and recorded by Cameron Trimble, Executive Director of The Center for Progressive Renewal. 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 ....
Feb 25, 2018•11 min
The juxtaposition between Lent, a time of renewal for my commitment to God, and a red roadster launched by a business man into eternity — this is disorienting. Humans might build rockets and red convertibles, but God breathes life into the dust and I am here but for a little while. // This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Liz Wheeler, 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 Churc...
Feb 24, 2018•5 min
"It is not enough to stay quiet and comfortable while the world around you goes to hell. You must leave the confines of heaven and place your feet in the flames, to stand with the oppressed and silence your voice to make room for theirs." // Mark 1:9-15 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “Yo...
Feb 23, 2018•8 min
God is utterly in control. Jesus taught that all is forgiven for those who love him and grace will be sufficient to heal each wound. My task is to sit with that. Admittedly, I sit with it uncomfortably. // 1 Peter 3:18-22 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not o...
Feb 22, 2018•9 min
Dark nights are going to come. The question is how we will spend them. When love hurts us so much we are sure that our shattered hearts will never mend, will we love anyway? When doing what is right and just isn’t what is easy or popular or expedient, will we do right anyway? When living the good news can lead to a cross, will we live it anyway? // This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Rachel Johnson, the Executive Minister of Communication at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev...
Feb 21, 2018•8 min
"Trust is built in small moments." // Psalm 25:1-10 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast lov...
Feb 20, 2018•6 min
