Carriers of the Gospel
Let us be carriers of the gospel. The gospel of the revolutionary, brown-skinned Palestinian Jew who made it very clear that he didn’t come to be status quo. He wasn’t a chaplain of the empire but a prophet of God.
—Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar, We Pray Freedom
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Dr. Charon Hribar describe crises as opportunities to work for justice, as Jesus did:
As our society continues to be engulfed by crises, the time for complacency has passed. From the lack of health coverage for tens of millions of Americans to the tragic death toll of endless wars and environmental disasters; from the assault on democracy to the glaring inequalities laid bare by the pandemic, it is clear we stand at a generational crossroads. This is a kairos moment—a time of crisis and opportunity. In biblical terms, it is a moment when the foundations of injustice are exposed, prophetic voices call for change, and movements for justice take root.
Luke 4:14–30 is known as Jesus’ first sermon, delivered in his hometown of Nazareth. It marks the beginning of his public ministry during a kairos moment not unlike our own…. Jesus announces his mission of societal transformation [quoting the prophet Isaiah]. He proclaims: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18–19).
Too often, the Bible’s good news is reduced to matters of individual salvation and detached from Jesus’s goal to transform the world. But a close reading of the Bible, including the teachings of Jesus, reveals a vast antipoverty program and social justice mission, which call on us to resist unjust economic practices and build a society in which everyone’s needs are met.
The Freedom Church of the Poor provides resources to empower prophetic and hopeful movements for justice:
Drawing strength from these biblical principles, the Freedom Church of the Poor tradition teaches us to stand up for one another, care for the least of these, and dismantle laws that perpetuate injustice. If we believe that God stands with the oppressed and that Jesus preached liberation, then collective action by those most impacted by injustice is imperative. By taking collective action with and as poor and dispossessed people, we bridge our spiritual convictions and our hunger for transformative change….
In the Freedom Church of the Poor tradition, we envision a world where every life is sacred and every need is met. This vision challenges the normalization of injustice and the valuing of profit over people. Through nonviolent, moral direct action—marches, boycotts, sit-ins, and more—we reject the status quo and reclaim the moral narrative. We create spaces where justice is reimagined and a moral revolution of values becomes irresistible.
Reference:
We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor, ed. Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar (Broadleaf Books, 2025), 93–94, 97.
Image credit and inspiration: Elijah Hiett, untitled (detail), 2017, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. As students of Jesus the prophet, we touch the soil of our time, recognizing suffering not in isolation but as a shared cry, and through His incarnation we are called to ponder, to speak, and to choose the path that heals.
Story from Our Community:
Minister Elle Dowd’s meditation about “niceness” certainly rang true for me. I grew up in the far northwest corner of the country, and being nice was the norm. If anyone disrupted this norm, they could become ostracized from family and friends. The reason was simple: They didn’t conform. Anyone or anything that didn’t live up to the expectations of society was considered disruptive, even if they were standing up for justice. They were expected to be “nice” at all costs.
—Dave A.