Ep50! Seven Last Words with Seven Great Guests

To celebrate 50 episodes of the Love Rinse Repeat podcast, I interviewed seven guests about Jesus' seven last words from the cross. We discuss what we hear in these words, and how Christ’s final words might speak to a church distanced, isolated, and disrupted. Due to size, the episode is split into 7 parts. Thanks to all those who have guested on, or listened to, Love Rinse Repeat over our first 50 episodes!

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Read more about the guests and topics below.

Here, Grace Ji-Sun Kim discusses the first words, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing" in the context of rising anti-Asian racism during the COVID19 pandemic. She reminds us that, as participants in unjust systems we all sin in ways that we do not see, and so all have need of forgiveness.

Grace Ji-Sun Kim received her M.Div. from Knox College (University of Toronto) and her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She is Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion.

Kim is the author or editor of 18 books, Reimagining Spirit, Keeping Hope Alive (Orbis Books),  Intersectional Theology: An Introductory Guide (Fortress Press) cowritten with Dr. Susan Shaw; Healing Our Broken Humanity, co-written with Graham Hill, The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to the Holy Spirit, Mother Daughter Speak, co-written with Elisabeth Sophia Lee; Planetary Solidarity (Fortress Press) co-edited with Hilda Koster; Intercultural Ministry co-edited with Jann Aldredge-Clanton (Judson Press); Making Peace with the Earth (WCC); Embracing the Other (Eerdmans); Here I Am (Judson Press); Christian Doctrines for Global Gender Justice (Palgrave) co-edited with Jenny Daggers; Theological Reflections on “Gangnam Style” (Palgrave Macmillan) co-written with Joseph Cheah; Contemplations from the Heart (Wipf & Stock); Reimagining with Christian Doctrines co-edited with Jenny Daggers (Palgrave Macmillan); Colonialism, Han and the Transformative Power (Palgrave Macmillan); The Holy Spirit, Chi and the Other (Palgrave Macmillan); and The Grace of Sophia (Pilgrim Press).

Here, Laura Jean Truman discusses Jesus' words to the man next to him on the cross, "today, you will be with me in paradise" and importantly the words of the two criminals preceding this promise. Repentance, solidarity, welcome, and a strange kind of presence are all concepts illuminated and provoked in this most powerful scene.

Laura Jean Truman is a queer writer, preacher, and former chaplain living in Atlanta, GA. Originally from New England, she has a BA in Philosophy from the University of New Hampshire and an MDiv from Emory University: Candler School of Theology, with emphases in Hebrew Bible, monasticism, mysticism, and existentialism. She supports her itinerant chaplaining and writing by slinging drinks at a local historic bar in downtown Atlanta! Follow Laura Jean on social media at @laurajeantruma, and become a regular supporter of her work through Patreon!

Here, Tau'alofa Anga'aelangi discusses the third words "Woman, here is your son... here is your mother". We talk about different cultural experiences of family, how these words shape the way the churches engage intergenerational and intercultural encounters, and resisting obligation with a view to seeing people as gift.

Rev Tau'alofa Anga'aelangi is an Ordained Deacon in the Uniting Church in Australia, currently in placement as a Tertiary Chaplain at Charles Sturt University in Port Macquarie.

Here, David Congdon discusses the scandal of the words "my God, my God, why have you foresaken me?" Why there is hope in allowing these words to ring out a true disruption, resisting the urge to incorporate them neatly into our theology, piety, or liturgy.

David W. Congdon is acquisitions editor at the University Press of Kansas (overseeing the publishing program in political science and law) and adjunct instructor at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. His books include, The Mission of Demythologizing: Rudolf Bultmann’s Dialectical Theology, Rudolf Bultmann: A Companion to His Theology, and The God Who Saves: A Dogmatic Sketch. He also coedited (with W. Travis McMaken) Karl Barth in Conversation.

His current research explores the intersection of hermeneutics, intercultural theology, and modern Protestant theology, particularly the work of Rudolf Bultmann and Karl Barth. He is currently working on an introduction to Bultmann for Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, a Bultmann reader for Fortress Press, a volume of Barth and Bultmann’s writings during the height of their debate for Cascade Books, and an edited volume on universalism for Baker Academic. Follow him on Twitter @DWCongdon

Here, Sean Winter reflects on the words "I thirst", and both their simplicity, as a basic human need for a small mercy in the midst of trauma, and their powerful symbolic and theological overtones. We explore what the words teach us about presence, absence, and the completion of Christ's work. And how Jesus' own thirst shapes how we read the many other times thirst is employed in the Gospel of John.

Rev Associate Professor Sean Winter is currently the Academic Dean, Co-ordinator of Studies in New Testament, at Pilgrim Theological College and Associate Professor within the University of Divinity. He teaches across a range of New Testament subjects, is involved in the formation of candidates for ordained ministries within the UCA and speaks regularly at conferences, churches, and other events within and beyond the Uniting Church. To explore studying at Pilgrim visit: https://pilgrim.edu.au/

Here, Lauren Larkin discusses, with care and passion, Jesus declarative words "it is finished" and its relation to what has past, what is, and what is possible - both cosmically and personally. A decisive shift has occurred and we should think carefully before trying to go back to before - which has potent implications for a post-COVID society.

Lauren R. E. Larkin is a PhD candidate at the University of Aberdeen. Her academic work engages with the writing of Friedrich Gogarten, Dialectical Theology, Personhood and Embodiment, and Political Ethics. She is the host of Sancta Colloquia. Her blog is: http://LaurenRELarkin.com.

Here, Travis McMaken discusses the final words, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit". This commendation signifies the climax of the relationship between the Spirit and Jesus throughout Luke, and the shift to the ongoing role of the Spirit in the lives of those who follow after.

W. Travis McMaken is Associate Professor of Religion, Chair of the Interdisciplinary Studies program, and Assistant Dean of Humanities in the School of Humanities at Lindenwood University's St. Charles, MO campus. His engages primarily with 20th century theology (esp. Protestant theology, with specialization in Karl Barth, Helmut Gollwitzer, and T. F. Torrance) while working constructively on the subjects of sacramentology, ecclesiology, and political theology.

He is the author of Our God Loves Justice: An Introduction to Helmut Gollwitzer (Fotress Press 2017), The Sign of the Gospel: Toward an Evangelical Doctrine of Infant Baptism after Karl Barth (Fortress Press, 2013), and coeditor of Karl Barth in Conversation (2014).

Follow him on Twitter @WTravisMcMaken, check out his website: https://derevth.blogspot.com/ and listen to The McKrakenCast on Spotify.