Brewing Theology With Teer

The problem, like the religious leaders, we cannot come to faith through knowledge and empirical truths. Every time we approach faith in this manner we come up short because the answer given by Jesus does not fit in our empirical truth box. Our faith in the messiahship of Christ, what we believe to be true about who Jesus is and what Jesus is doing today, is only possible through G-d’s faithfulness. Jesus told the religious leaders, “the works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” (John 10:25) Everything Jesus did connected him intimately to the One who sent him. They, Jesus and G-d his Father, our Creator, are one.The faithfulness of the One who sent Jesus is just as assured as the faithfulness of the One who overcame the power of death. The faithfulness of Christ reveals the faithfulness of G-d. Listen to him. We are not separated from G-d because of our sin. We find eternal life not because of our attempts at faithful living or to prove the Messiahship of Christ. We have been saved because Jesus wa

The calling extended to Peter, “Follow me,” is the same calling extended to each of us when we emerge from our baptismal waters. This calling - “Follow Me” -  is an invitation to meet Christ at his table, but “Follow me” is also an invitation to experience the fullness of the freedom extended to us by the power of Jesus’ Easter victory - the final victory over our captivity to sin and death.

Thanks to preachers and fresco artists, Thomas has carried a bad reputation for 2000 years.Because of people like me using the doubter to convince you not doubt but to have faith, Thomas is known for something not entirely accurate to who he was or what he was doing in his moment of infamy. “Doubting Thomas” was simply asking for something he had been accustomed to receiving. Because the crucifixion itself was a sign - “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,” (John 17:1) - a sign confirming Jesus’ resurrection was/is not an unreasonable request from someone who had been receiving confirmation of what was being taught for the past three years.The signs performed by Jesus - wine in Cana (my favorite), healings, feedings, walking on water - were confirmation of what Thomas along with the other disciples had been taught by Christ.

When the Kingdom of G-d and earthly realms collide, it is not always immediately apparent, but the Kingdom of G-d is always victorious. We have seen these collisions throughout Christ’s ministry but now on Palm Sunday as the shadow of the cross begins to appear on the horizon we may not be so sure of what is to come.The prophets foretold what would happen - “despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.”Jesus told his disciples exactly what was going to happen - “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.”“Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”The crowd's proclamation, an echo of the angel’s announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, points to the promised peace of G-d through Christ. The coming collision between the Kingdom of

Because we live on this side of the empty tomb we have the ability to see the new thing the Lord did in Christ Jesus and yet still, we still stand with our arms folded, hardened to the possibility that this new thing really changed the world. We find it hard to believe the new thing the Lord has done is still changing the world.Jesus told his disciple in orders to experience the newness of what the Lord is doing we are to assume the posture of a child. Meekness in the sense that we are open to joyful possibility and not despair caused by the current state of society or the church. Jesus invites to open ourselves to experience the fullness of new creation. We find it hard to experience the new thing promised to us by G-d through the prophet and realized in Jesus Christ because the institutions charged with cultivating and nurturing our childlike openness have at some level fundamentally failed. Doctrine and polity have taken the place of promise and experience, the surprise of the new thing the Lord has promis

Reconciliation with one another - which enables us to gather around Christ’s table - cannot happen without forgiveness. After all, if we have been reconciled to G-d by Jesus and G-d is no longer “counting people’s sins against them” then we are a community called to the same work. We are a community seeking reconciliation but without forgiveness, we cannot be reconciled to one another.

Luke 13:1-9For Jesus - his life, death, and resurrection - the Kingdom of G-d is always at the forefront. The Kingdom of G-d is priority number one for Christ. When we accept Christ’s invitation to repent w are intentionally turning towards his kingdom. In this turn, we begin to see, experience, and become a part of the healing, liberation, and compassion extended to all of creation by G-d through Jesus Christ. The Good News is that in five weeks, through the emptiness of his grave, we see the healing, liberation, and compassion of G-d in its fullest. In the empty tomb we find the extravagant grace of the Gardener - G-d Almighty - as the healing grace of Christ is extended to us regardless of our ability, and willingness, to repent with all our heart.

Philippians 3:17-4:1, Genesis 15Pauls’ words speak life to Mount Olivet. We are reminded that in all we do, everything, we are to imitate Christ’s love. No exceptions. This work is not easy, and like the Philippians, we will miss the bar established by Christ. We will fall short. In our shortcomings, G-d’s grace - the love unmerited love of G-d - is still ours. That never changes.So whether we are engaged in acts of justice and mercy - not just speaking and marching but engaging in meaningful change in the lives of those who are experiencing persecution, exclusion, or violence, or mudding through doctrinal and theological impasses, Christ not only remains with us, but also continues to extend an invitation to Mount Olivet, and to each of us. There was no skill to be learned before this invitation was extended. No degree or piece of church legislation can change our calling. We are imitators of Christ. Whatever the perceived distance between us and G-d is gone. The truth is through Christ’s faithfulness the pr

The Law worked to offer the assurance of G-d’s presence in a period of waiting on G-d to make good on a promise. But as the story continues to unfold we see the generosity of G-d, and the promises of G-d fulfilled as Israel established itself in the promised land and later returned home after the exile.Israel’s response to G-d’s generosity was to give thanks, yet as the early church began to find its way, Israel’s response to the generosity and the ordering of a community began to be used to separate and exclude people from the body of Christ. The early church and we today forget that when G-d makes extravagant promises they are kept. We may have to wait but as resurrection community, we are able to enter periods of wander and wonder knowing G-d’s promises are always kept.It’s not easy. Wander and wonder do make good bedfellows as we are finite creatures and have the tendency to keep our eyes on earthly promises - winter will always give way to spring, even when it seems as though the cold darkness wants to h

We have missed the mark, and so on Ash Wednesday, the marks on our foreheads are a reminder to us to ask for forgiveness and try again. The Good News tonight is that on the cross and in the victorious empty grave we will find on Easter morning we are made righteous before G-d. Lent is not about giving something up so that we can be uncomfortable like Christ spent 40 uncomfortable days in the wilderness. During the season of Lent we remember that which we could not and cannot do for ourselves, Christ has done for us.

While little of what happened in a once indoor NFL stadium resembled a group of people following Jesus, today, a few days removed from General Conference, Jesus is still the transfigured Messiah, guiding his disciples down the mountain, heading towards the cross.

Jesus sought these three men out. Before he was teaching on the banks of the Sea of Galilee they were a group of business partners who had a bad night at work. Before Jesus stepped into Simon’s boat, Simon was just a guy trying to clean his fishing gear and go home. But that’s the way discipleship works. Before you or I decided to be a follower of Jesus, Jesus revealed the awesome abundance of G-d.

Worship establishes in us a new posture to not only approach G-d with but also a new posture for how we approach all of creation. Like the magi, we approach the manger not knowing all of the answers. We approach the manger not having all of the junk in our lives we continue to carry with us not quite figured out. We approach the light of the manger still struggling to over come the curse of sin that we fall back into no matter how many times we think we have overcome it.

The reality of what happened in Emmanuel trading the clothing of royalty for bands of cloth and laying in the manger is found in those who had forgotten or ignored the promise made by G-d. The good news changes the reality for all people, and invites all of creation to enter into the grace of G-d regardless of what the powerful say. Regardless of what the darkness of sin says.

December 23, 2018 - Advent 4CMicah 5:2-5Luke 1:39-55

The entire prophetic tradition culminates in John the Baptist’s words, and we convince ourselves that what we’ve done is just too much. John knew the time had come. He knew the Messiah was here and that it was time to change. Things were already changing. The coming of Christ is good news. It is awesome news, yet due to the “darkside of ourselves” we see the darkside of creation and think there is no changing this. Things are too far gone for G-d to work through a baby or a grown man. We see war after war and think things are too far gone for repentance. We see an environmental disaster on the horizon and think it is just too much, nothing can be done. We see poverty, racism, classism, extremism, homophobia, nationalism, and violence and think that creation is too far gone. It seems creation as a whole cannot even praise G-d let alone prepare the way of the Messiah. We see these things, we think it is too much, we become crippled by fear, and then the preparations that were underway cease.

It is easy in Advent to become so focused on the babe in the manger that we forget Christ’s promise of return and vindication. The shininess of the tinsel and glow of the lights make it easy for us to lose focus. It is easy in our attempts to control the peace, hope, joy, and love of the season through packages from Amazon and Target we forget G-d is in control, holding all things in a vision that is boarder and more intricate that we can either think or enact on our own. Advent is a time when we remember the Kingdom of God is coming, it is not just a season for the gathering of a family celebrating and making memories together. Through the manger and in the return of Christ we see the fulfillment of a promise “made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” A promise that has already been fulfilled and not fully realized. A promise that will be celebrated by all of creation.

November 25, 2018 - Mount Olivet United Methodist ChurchLuke 18:33-37, Christ the King SundayWhen we are baptized, named and claimed as beloved by our Creator, we proclaim Christ as our Savior and promise to serve Him as Lord. That was a bold profession to make 2000 years ago and it continues to be so today. It is a declaration that Christ is Lord and everything else is secondary. Our allegiance lies with Christ, because of the promises made at our baptism which means the truth for our lives looks different from those who do not make the same proclamation.

November 4, 2018 - Mount Olivet United Methodist ChurchMark 12:28-34, All Saints SundayThe saints of the past and us today have flaws. They, we, fell short of what Christ describes as the greatest of the things we are supposed to do. But in Christ loving us as himself, the saints and each of us are made righteous. What once was thought to separate us from the love of G-d is no more and Christ invites us to join him and the saints around His table. Clothed in the righteousness of Christ through our Baptism into His life, death, and resurrection, and not our own self-righteousness, we are declared holy. The greatest commandments, loving “the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” and loving your neighbor is a little less daunting knowing that before we ever attempt to fulfill it, Christ first loved us.

In the darkness we experience today, a world-wide refugee crisis, a criminal justice system in desperate need of reform, wars that seem to have been accept as the status quo without end in sight, bigotry and hatred that has percolated out of the holes it had been hiding in, and a children who still have not been reunited with parents, in these situations it easy to allow the darkness to adjust our vision so that we miss what John told us from the very beginning, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” In the darkness each of us experience the grace of our Lord and Savior is present. The Light will not give way to darkness.