Brewing Theology With Teer

Lent 42 Corinthians 5:16-21The difficulties we carry from our past – the things we wish we had not said even if it was OK to say those things back then, the doors we locked while at traffic lights, the streets we crossed to avoid walking past someone, or the people we misidentified because of the nothing more than the color of their skin – were taken to the cross with Christ and buried. The result of this is God reconciling creation to God so that we can become instruments of God's reconciling work.We have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation.A message of love.A message of hope.So, what are we to do?Trust in the promises of God. Trust that we have not been left alone to figure this out. Trust that through "self–examination and repentance; prayer, fasting, and self–denial; and reading and meditating on God's Holy Word," God has reconciled us, and God is reconciling us. To one another – to those, we hold dear in our memories, those we have unknowingly harmed, those we have knowingly harmed, and those who continue to live with their backs against the wall.Subscribe to Brewing TheologyFollow on Instagram

February 26, 2023Psalm 13 The help we expect, the help we so desperately need, does not come from ourselves. The track record of human history tells this to be true, and yet time and time again, we turn to ourselves to make right that which we continue to taint with our sin. Cries of lament are our turning toward God, acknowledging our humanness, and opening ourselves to being transformed. It is in being transformed that we can act first by setting aside empty platitudes like “racism is too much, we have to give it to God,” and second, by actively working to correct generations of harm that was done in Christ's name through acts of supposed mercy and compassion. The very things the Church has been called to do since the disciples were first called away from their fishing nets.The transformation that comes, the coming reality of Dr. King's dream, the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, the Kin-dom of God, is a gift to us by the One to whom we pray, the One who is actively working to transform his body, and the One who assures us we are never beyond the reach of God's grace.Subscribe to Brewing TheologyFollow on Instagram

February 19, 2023Matthew 17:1-9The transfiguration of Jesus Christ, God's shining glory and splendidness, was not a one-off event. Every time the Word of God is proclaimed, every time water is blessed and falls over a person's head, every time we gather around Christ's table of grace, and every time we act wither mercy and compassion, we experience what John Wesley called means of grace, and we are transfigured.Many voices, too many to list off, tell us we need to transform ourselves.“Make yourself better,” they say.“Improve this so that you can...”As Jesus was glorified at the Transfiguration and set his sights on Jerusalem, we know the heavy lifting has been done. Making his way to the cross, Jesus carried the weight of our sin and guilt, as well as the glory that can only belong to the second person of the Trinity.As he exited the tomb, the weight of the guilt of our sin was left behind so that his righteousness would be ours. And it is the righteousness of God, revealed in Christ – born, transfigured, crucified, and resurrected – that transforms us, transfigures us, from the inside out.Subscribe to Brewing TheologyFollow on InstagramFor us, for you, on a hard wooden pew or sitting in a church basement… As we prepare to enter the season of Lent, as we trade the bright light of epiphany and journey toward the cross, we are blessed because we get to experience this journey in light of the transfiguration, as we journey toward the light of the resurrection. The way the means of Grace work, is they reveal to us the person and work of Jesus for us. Beholding his glory on the mountain, and then on the cross, and then in the empty tomb, that all of this is done for us, that is what ultimately changes us as the hymn says, “from glory into glory.”

The darkness of our world pushes those who feel isolated, alone, or forgotten further into the shadows, where it can seemingly feel impossible to see or experience and source of hope – a source of light.Rev. Fleming Rutledge wrote, “Jesus is calling us to let our light shine in a world often shrouded in darkness. Our good works, acts of kindness and compassion, can bring light into the lives of those around us.”The things we do in the church – the hymns we sing, the meals we share, the sacraments, the mission work, the committee, and council meetings – are not things we do to make ourselves feel better or to check a box on the list of good things we are supposed to do. No, what we do here matters because, in everything we do – in the hymns, meals, sacraments, mission work, and yes, even the meetings – we are bearing the light of Christ into a world in desperate need of light.Being bears of the light of the world makes us a source of hope and positivity, even in difficult and trying times, because our world can feel hopeless and dark. But, when we step out, of this physical space and out of the comfort of our preferences and desires, we are beacons of hope, beacons of light, shining the grace of Jesus Christ for all to see.Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”The good news for us and the world is that the light we bear is not our own; thus, our effectiveness is not entirely up to us. The yous in Jesus' “you are” is singular, yes, but it is also plural. We “are the light of the world” because we have been formed by Christ, because Christ sustains us, and because we are sent into the world in the name of Christ.We are not doing this on our own. Christ is with us, before and after us.The light shines in the darkness, sings the psalmist, “They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.” We get to be a part of the grand crescendo of God's kingdom-building work in the world, but more urgently in the dark corners of our community. This sounds like a mighty, seemingly impossible task, but by God's grace, a light shines from within us, even on those days when the world's chaos appears to have the upper hand.Subscribe to Brewing TheologyFollow on Instagram

January 8, 2023Matthew 3:13-17Baptism is not reserved for those who have unwavering faith, those who perfectly understand the church's doctrines, or those who have accomplished every act of works righteousness declared to be required by someone wearing a robe or headset attached to a mic pack. The “belovedness” bestowed upon the baptized is for everyone.Every single one of us.For those we forget or say are unworthy.For those in the cheap seats and those who sit in the front row.For the scoundrels and losers.For the sinners and saints.Your “belovedness” is to be celebrated with childlike wonder and awe.Brewing Theology on Spotifywww.teerhardy.com https://instagram.com/teerhardy https://twitter.com/teerhardy https://teerhardy.substack.com/

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13For all our strengths and abilities are not gods and will never know the right time. The best we can do is mark time in the ways Jesus instructed us: in worship, around Christ's table, and in remembering that the author of time has called each of us beloved, forgiven, and free. The good news is this – wherever we are headed this year, in the seasons that lay ahead of us, we are held in the hands of God, and by God's grace it will be well.Brewing Theology on Spotifywww.teerhardy.comhttps://instagram.com/teerhardyhttps://twitter.com/teerhardyhttps://teerhardy.substack.com...

As far back as I remember, the Christmas story has not changed. A mash-up of Luke and Matthew's accounts is etched into my mind: Mary and Joseph are both greeted by the angel Gabriel, wise men traversing a far, shepherds keeping their flocks by night, no room in the inn, and the manger. Oh yeah, and sweet baby Jesus. I could tell you the story and leave out one or two parts, and you wouldn't miss a beat. Everyone knows this story.Every year, regardless of national or global events – during war and peacetime; before a pandemic and during; as a child, adult, or slightly older adult – the story is read, “pageanted” and preached around the world. We did this last year and the year before, albeit online, we are doing it tonight, and if I did the math correctly, we will do this again in 365 days.So, what is it about the story of the birth of the Messiah that brings us back year after year?Brewing Theology on Spotifywww.teerhardy.com https://instagram.com/teerhardy https://twitter.com/teerhardy https://teerhardy.substack.com/

The turkey will be dry.Your end-of-the-year bonus may come in the form of a jelly subscription you did not want.The relatives you dread seeing will overstay their welcome.And, that powder room appliance might be full.No matter how much we try to avoid the broken and messiness of the world and our lives, the birth of Joseph's boy tells creation that we are not separated from God. Our story is not Jesus' story; instead, Jesus takes the world's story, our Sin – our the messy side of ourselves that we try to hide during the holidays – upon himself.The peace we want on earth, the peace we will attempt to create for ourselves is here, through the grace of God, through a child, through a family as messed up as mine or yours.

December 4, 2022Luke 1:26-38“Let it be with me according to” the will of God, according to the grand plans of God's earth-shaking in-breaking. “Let it be with me according to” the Creator of Heaven and Earth. That's what she said. With three words, “Let it be,” Mary reveals to the world that the way things are is not how things will be when the will of God is followed when the Kingdom of God is fully realized. Let it be.________________________________Join me on Substack - https://teerhardy.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram - https://instagram.com/teerhardyFollow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/teerhardy

Luke 21:5-19The Church has a word to speak in the face of rising Christian Nationalism and all the bigotry that comes with it. The One through whom all creation has been saved has a word for us.Paul wrote to the church in Rome, facing down persecution themselves, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.”The church tells the story that evil does not get the last word.The light of Jesus Christ shines brighter than any of the shiny distractions in Herod's temple – 2000 years ago and today – because all creation is God's dwelling place.Live with the knowledge that we have a word to speak today in the race of rising Christian Nationalism, and that word is that death, destruction, and evil do not hold the last word.Jesus promises to set the world right.Jesus promises that work has begun through his church, no matter how flawed or lost we become.Christ is Lord. We are not.He has come. And he will come again.________________________________Join me on Substack - https://teerhardy.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram - https://instagram.com/teerhardyFollow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/teerhardy

November 6, 2022Ephesians 1:11-23While we want to control, guide, and strategize our way into what is to come, the truth is that God is the One at the wheel.The role of the saints – past, present, and future – is to praise God, soak up God's amazing grace, and be open to being used as vessels of mercy, grace, and compassion.Our story, saints of yesterday, day, and tomorrow is wrapped in the unifying salvific work of God in Jesus Christ.Freedom from sin.A life shaped by the fullness of God's grace.An invitation to “saintliness” today, just as we are, just as you are, because of who we are in Jesus Christ; beloved.

October 9, 2022Luke 17:11-19Because we are recipients of a supernatural Grace, something we a difficulty naming but once we have experienced it, we are never the same, our posture and response to God are one of gratitude, shifting our worldview entirely.Worship goes from being a 60-minute weekly hostage situation to being the posture we assume throughout the week. Stewardship becomes joy-filled generosity instead of being a fundraiser where the giver is constantly on the lookout for a return on their investment.Jesus told the Samaritan man, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” A better translation of this is, “Get us and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.” The mustard seed-sized faith that the man had transformed him from the inside out.The same is true of us – the sinners and saints of the church. In his book, Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment Robert Farrar Capon wrote, “Grace perennially waits for us to accept our destruction and, in that acceptance, to discover the power of the Resurrection and the Life.”God's generosity produces gratitude in us, moving us from wondering what's in it for us to seeing the Kingdom building we are called to as an opportunity to be an extension of the generosity of God's Grace.Grace, Gratitude, and Generosity – they begin with and return to God. Such is the Kingdom of God.

Luke 16:19-31Jesus is not telling a parable about Hell, the final judgment, or heavenly rewards. Our lesson is not a story about the afterlife and how to get to where we all want to go. Jesus is extending an invitation to the Pharisees then and today, to his followers then and today, to live as though the Kingdom of God (his kingdom) is already among us. The Kingdom of God broke into the world through Mary's womb, which the cross or grave could not snuff out.It can feel as though the chasm is too great. But church, we bear witness to Christ's chasm crossing, Kingdom ruling, and grace extending every time we gather for worship – proclaiming Christ resurrected and ascended. In our witness to Christ's Kingdom, we flip how we view the world, setting aside the worth of material lives and instead choosing to put our faith in God's Grace.Jesus say sthe rich man's family wouldn't believe a dead man walking into their living room with a Jacob Marley-like warning.Lucky for us, death did not hold back Christ and does not hold back Christ's body – resurrected, ascended, and gathered here this morning.

Luke 16:1-13Through Grace, Jesus saves those respectability says are beyond saving. This parable is not about finances or management. It is a parable about new life. New life free from the weight and guilt and consequences of our sin.New life that comes to us by way of the unjust steward's death to self.New life that is a gift from God, given to respectable people but also to the people ignored, exploited, and forgotten by the respectability our world demands.The unjust manager is inviting us to love God where we love wealth, to love God where we love security by relying and trusting upon the Grace of God given at no cost to us.Grace, love, and mercy for scoundrels like you and me.

Jeremiah 2:4-13According to Swiss theologian Karl Barth, all scripture and the entire Christian faith hang on the integrity of four little words from our text today: “Thus the Lord said….” Everything we believe as Christians stems from these four words. “Thus the Lord said….” God said creation would happen, and it did.God said Israel would be the shining star to the nations, and it is. God did not forsake or abandon Israel when they turned to the gods of Baal or ignored their set-apartness.God has spoken a promise, and, in the church, we believe that promise is fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The loquacious God took on human flesh and showed us what faithful life to the Lord looks like to the point of death, and then showed us that even death cannot separate us from the Lord.

Isaiah 5, Isaiah 27, Jon 15Parables of judgment always feel like a smack on the nose. Like a teammate, launch a firm chest pass your way when you are not ready, and instead of a quick layup, you have a broken nose and blood on your new sneakers.But the Good News in the doom and gloom of the parables of judgment is that judgment does not equal punishment. God does not tear down the walls of the vineyard and allow the beasts of the wild to trample the vineyard.Isaiah does not forget the second part of his prophetic task – to energize and announce the good news of God's justice and new creation. Building up after tearing down.

Hosea 11:1-11We often turn toward God's love or God's justice. This leads us to the thought that the God of the Hebrew Bible and the God of the New Testament are somehow different – the God of the Hebrew Bible is focused on justice and vengeance, while the God of the New Testament is concerned with love.Ignoring this tension ignores that tension reveals even more to us about God than we imagine. We know that God does not seek justice at the expense of love, nor love at the expense of justice.Jesus holds this tension in perfect harmony.He invites himself to dinner at the home of tax collectors who cheats their neighbors, extending grace and an invitation to repentance.He drew in the dirt to disperse a rock-wielding mob and then told a woman to go and sin no more. As he took his last breaths on the cross, Jesus extended forgiveness to the man next to him and invited the man to be with him in paradise.That is gospel Good News. That is the good news revealed from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21.

Amos 8Amos declared that the superficial religion of many – their Sunday morning best while not caring for the poor, going so far as to make a profit off the backs of the poor – was about to end. Resulting in their destruction. While it may not seem like it, the sending of Amos by God to the northern kingdom was an act of compassion and grace.God was all out of patience, and the summer fruit represented Israel's end, looking delicious and inviting on the surface but rotting from the inside out.Their temple praise – their Sunday morning songs – would turn to wailing and sadness.Reading like Amos eight makes us, or at least me, uncomfortable because we do not like to think of God being anything but patient, loving, and kind; full of grace, and slow to anger. A critique of me is that, as a preacher, I lean too much into the grace of God at the expense of holiness. I do not like the critique, but it is probably fair.The problem Israel faced is similar to one we wrestle with daily – trampling on and taking advantage of the poor instead of with the people God sends to us; instead of being the people God has called us to be.

Amos 7The prophets point out to the people of God where God is calling us to go when complacency takes root, and we miss the movement of God happening before our eyes. The prophet, then and now, has the task of bringing a word from God to the people. In the case of Amos, this word from God was to return to the will of God.Amos is one of six minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. “Minor” describes the length of Amos' writings compared to the more loquacious “major” prophets. Still, it does not diminish the word he brings to the people of God.The prophet's work disturbs those in power or places of comfort when those in power act in ways contrary to God's will for all creation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the ministry of Christ. In the church, we believe Jesus to be more than a prophet. Christ is the Word of God Made Flesh, the Loquacious Word of God. We believe Jesus came to inaugurate God's rule on earth, to set right the human propensity to set ourselves against God's will, and to fulfill all of the requirements of the Law.The rejection of Christ by the nations was foreshadowed when he was rejected by his hometown, nearly run off a cliff by a congregation made up of his extended family, for proclaiming God's word.But the Good News is that no matter how often we reject those called to deliver God's word, no matter how often we reject the One who fulfilled God's word, God does not stop sending the prophets. Christ does not abandon us.Prophets sent to our nation during the civil rights movement of the last century were rejected, even killed. Still, today, people like William Barber and Liz Theoharris call our nation to God's will.Prophets are being sent to the church today advocating for the inclusion of people God has already called to ministry, whether we like that calling or not.“I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'”God continues to call and equip the prophets today in the same way God calls and equips disciples – calling upon imperfect, untrained, unprepared people like Amos to go to new places and lead the people of God to God's will. It sounds like an impossible task, and it would be if not for the grace of the One doing the calling and equipping.

Galatians 5Paul's letter was not written for you.Paul's letter, Paul's letters, and all of the Holy Scriptures were written for the Church. The Body of Christ is assembled through the love of God our Creator, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.Paul writes, “the fruit of the Spirit is.” Singular. Not the “fruits of the Spirit are.” Do you notice the difference? The Fruit of the Spirit is one gift, requiring one another, produced through the Holy Spirit and not individual Christians. Through Christ's body. The Fruit of the Spirit – the Spirit-Filled Life – is to learn to be a disciple and live a life where we require others in our lives.The Fruit of the Spirit describe the Body of Christ, made flesh in the world through the work of the Holy Spirit.We need one another.Life centered on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.Life made possible through Word and Sacrament.Life free from religion for the sake of self-improvement instead freed to live a life only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. Life centered on who you are – beloved and free – where who you are not is no longer interesting.Life where I need you, and you need me. We need one another.Life, new life, in Christ.

Trinity SundayJohn 16:12-15June 12, 2022The Holy Spirit will guide us.Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit will “take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.” The Holy Spirit will not “draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen, indeed out of all that” Jesus “has done and said.”Jesus tells his disciples that they, we, will not be left on our own to make sense of the work of God. We are not left to ourselves to decipher what a faith-filled life looks like or how to respond to the call Jesus has placed on each of our lives.

Pentecost Acts 2God takes the most fragmented parts of our modern “post-Babel” lives and makes them whole. This is part of God making all of creation whole. We bear witness to this when we gather around Christ's table. This is our witness in our worship, mission, and teaching. The unification of the Church is the work of the Holy Spirit – bringing people who speak different languages or only listen to siloed voices together to speak the one language of the Holy Spirit, the one language of God. The language of Grace.

May 22, 2022Acts 16There is no such thing as a “self-made Christian.” A heart opened to the works of God, along with our conversion or faith, are acts initiated by God. This is why when the church speaks of repentance, we remember that we have been repented, that it is the inward working of the Holy Spirit that enables us to turn toward God.Jesus' life and ministry testify to this.Jesus called his disciples. They did not seek him out. People would come to him only after he began his ministry and word spread.In situations and places where hope and the presence of God seemed to be surely gone – a possessed man chained up among the tombs or at the grave of Lazarus – Jesus, the Lord, imitates what is needed for us to be open to the good news of new life that can only be found in him.New life that calls us beyond the city gates. Moving us away from the safety of our comfort and into the lives of the people we least expect.New life that opens our hearts and minds to receive the good news of the gospel. And in turn, we hear, once again, the good news of our salvation.New life that breaks through the barriers of race, gender, identity, and more! Remember, Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth, meaning she was a rich woman. While just a few weeks ago, Tabitha or Dorcas was caring for the poor and forgotten. There is no one outside the reach of the movement of God.

Acts 10 and 11; Revelation 21May 15, 2022“Will we allow the Holy Spirit to prod us today, to give us a vision, to drag us, as it dragged our apostolic forebearers before us, kicking and screaming, all the way toward the wideness of God's mercy?”[7]In just a few minutes, we will pray that Charlie is so filled with the same Holy Spirit that moved the home of Cornelius that he is never the same. And because he will not be the same, we pray that we will not be the same. The work of the Holy Spirit moves us beyond our bolted down pews, and our Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy toward the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, toward the wideness of God's mercy.Do not misunderstand. Doctrine, disciple, and practice are necessary for the church, just as the law was necessary for Peter and Israel. But our attachment to constancy in doctrine and practice puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to the work of God because we often see the way things are (or the way things were) to be more powerful than what God is doing before our very eyes.Still, the witness we bear to the world is to the One who does not see our comfort in constancy as a hurdle to the wideness of God's mercy.This was the case when Peter received a vision, and Holy Spirit descended upon the home of Cornelius.It was the case when Jesus dined with Zacchaeus, extending grace to a man who had cheated his neighbors.It was the case when the power of Sin and Death could not hold back the gravestone.And it will be the case in just a few moments when the waters of baptism clothe Charlie in new life. And oddly enough, new life that all of us have been clothed in as well because of the wideness of God's mercy.

May 8, 2022Acts 9:34-34Our fixed structures often lead to paralysis and death for those on the margins or lower rungs of the social ladder. But the One who ordered the chaos of creation, was worshiped in a manger, and carried a cross telling fishermen to drop their nets, and the ill and dead to get up.In Aeneas' healing and Tabitha's rising these social systems have been rendered null and void.And church, we bear witness to this. We are witnesses to how Jesus Christ has overcome the power of Sin and Death. In the empty tomb, leaving his burial clothes behind, Jesus tells the world no more with we be separated from God or one another.It is not that the last shall be first; they are.It is not that the dead shall live; when we were dead to our Sin Jesus offers us new life.In Christ no one stays in their place: fishermen will preach, the paralyzed walk, and the dead live again.From death in Sin to new life through Grace.

May 1, 2022Acts 9:1-20Our stories of encountering the risen Lord are how we bear witness to Mary's Easter morning discovery of the empty tomb. We are witnesses to the very voice that knocked Saul on his behind, who spoke to Ananias, who overcame the power of Sin and Death, and who continues to speak to us today.Luke tells us Saul was completely changed – from Enemy-Number-One to being the person who would carry the Good News of God in Jesus Christ to the Gentile world. To people like you and me.We stand today as witnesses to the awesome work of God along the Damascus Road. It would have been easy, maybe even justified, for God to write off Saul. After all, Saul was Enemy-Number-One of the Church. But as we read each year on Good Friday, God is not in the business of writing people off. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, he prayed for the forgiveness of the very people who killed him.And that is Grace – the nothing you can do to earn or lose it love and forgiveness of God. Right now, it is yours, just as it is Saul's and Ananias'.Right now, it is yours, just as it was extended to the soldiers who put the nails in Jesus' hands and who mocked him.Right now, this amazing Grace is yours just as it is for the person you might believe deserves it the least.The conversion of Saul is a story of God's Grace before it is the story of Saul being converted or changed. A story of the work of God in the people and times we least expect. As resurrection people, this is what we bear witness to – the work of God. To one another. To the world.

Today is a celebration of the Gospel Good News that Sin and Death do not hold the last word. The very thing Mary went to the tomb toconfront and mourn is no more because of Christ. Easter is not just the celebration of the tomb being empty. In the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see how the darkness of this world has been and will be overcome and ultimately annihilated by God.Mary arrived in the garden at night expecting to weep and mourn the rising of the sun yet revealed the victory of the Son, living, breathing, with no need for his burial clothes. Jesus' physical presence and emptiness of the tomb echoed what he said to Mary's sister, Martha, at the graveside of their brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives bybelieving in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

April 10, 2022Palm SundayLuke 19:28-40In our procession of fools, we miss that there is so much more to this story.In each stop between the Mount of Olives (Palm Sunday) and The Skull (the cross), Jesus is gathering all of humanity into him. The best and the worst we have to offer. No prayer or ritual must first be spoken or performed on our part.If last Sunday, Mary's anointing of Jesus with perfume was the prelude to Holy Week, then Palm Sunday is Act One of a larger story. A story that we have all been gathered into. Fleming said it best, “the testimony of the four evangelists (gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the testimony of the Christian church, is that in this event, in this godforsaken death, the cosmic scale has been conclusively tipped in the opposite direction, so that sin and evil and death are not the last word and never will be again.”There is so much more to this story.

April 3, 2022Luke 12:1-8I want to be Mary, we should all want to be Mary, but none of us are., all the time.Yes, sometimes we are Mary but other times we are either Martha busying ourselves with work, or we are Judas, wanting to attach Jesus to our political agendas. Nevertheless, Christ gathers all to himself when he goes to the cross.Adoration, gratitude, and worship while in the next breath being made righteous, still being a recipient of the grace of God when we reject or betray the gift afforded to each of us.And still, Jesus is gathering us in. Jesus is gathering you in.Grace is and always has been extended to the faithful and unfaithful – to Martha, Mary, and Judas, to you and me. Inclusive of all people, Christ is gathering us into the transforming light of his grace. A light so bright that the darkness of this cross cannot drown it out.

March 27, 2022Lent 4Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32Both sons forgot who they were, first and foremost, who they were before the world applied its labels and new identification.The father in this parable must have been looking for him, Junior, to see his son returning. On top of the family home, he watched, looked, waited, and then ran; in the same way, God continues to seek us out, gathering us in, calling us child, calling us beloved.This is the same Father who at his Son's baptism shouted, “You are my Son, the Beloved,”[7] and at the Transfiguration said, “This is my son, the beloved.”[8]Howard ThurmanTheologian Howard Thurman wrote, “you don't need to leave home to forget”[9] who you are.Junior and Senior forgot, but the one who sought them both would not let them forget.The world will call you many things. Your sin will call you many things. But the One who insists on embracing you and throwing a banquet in your honor will not allow you to forget and is calling you beloved, a child of God, even when we forget.

March 20, 2022Luke 13:1-9Lent 3, Year CThe hope we need in a world broken by sin is that our fruitfulness comes by the laboring of the divine gardener, the One who is devoted to the flourishing, the fruitfulness of all creation, despite what our sin says about us.By gathering all of creation up in his mercy and grace, Jesus is cultivating us toward fruitfulness, answering the question pastors love to debate with one another in large arenas and dank church basements – “how has God has dealt with our sin?”The starting point for us is to repent, turning away from the bright lights of sin and toward the faithfulness of the gardener. The One who promises never to forsake or abandon. The One who has covered us in the manure of his divine grace so that we are made clean by his righteousness.Grace and mercy.Mercy and grace.https://www.facebook.com/realteerhardyhttps://www.twitter.com/teerhardyhttps://www.instagram.com/teerhardy

March 13, 2022Luke 13:31-35Transformation through the faithfulness of the One who did not turn his back on us after lamenting that we had turned our backs on him.And the good news is that as you have been gathered and sent, you are not sent out covered in the dirt the world has smeared on you by puppets who would like to think they can leave a lasting impact on your life.In Jesus gathering us up, we are made clean.The cause of Jesus' lament, our sin, does not hold the final word. Jesus has invited us to stop the puppet show and to step into his grace under his wing of love, protection, and transformation.

Luke 4:1-13Lent 1, Year CThe Gospel good news is that there are no ifs. There are no buts. No fine print.We have begun our journey through Lent in the wilderness because Lent is a time of being in the desert, being in the wilderness. We live in the wilderness. We live in a world where the temptation to assume Christ's throne as our own is always present. We opt for the most reasonable decision, planned entirely, leaving nothing to chance, and in doing so, push God entirely out of the picture. God, relegated to the private, while we wander the wilderness seeking ways to ascend when the truth is that God has already descended to us.Jesus Christ has descended to us, bring the divine gift of grace: unmerited, nothing you can do about it, no if/then's attached love, forgiveness, and mercy.Many people view Lent as a season to get better through piety. So often, our Lenten practices are laden with the same temptations presented to Jesus in the wilderness – if you do this, then you will ascend, you will achieve, you will be blessed. And if you don't, then you are less than, not worthy of ascension or achieving. The good news for us, during Lent and year-round, is that the One tempted in the wilderness is also the crucified One, sacrificing himself in your place, and the one who rose on the third day. The One in whom new life is made available, without prereq, no if/then's, for those who cannot resist the temptation. He gathers us up in his grace.

Luke 9:27-36Listen to him.Though we are shaped by social, cultural, and economic pressures that tell us we must ascend, if we listen, if we set aside our own noise, we hear words of grace. A word that tells us God will not be confined to the mountain-top, theology, or Law. A word that tells us God is present with us now, in this sanctuary, in our homes, in the places we feel most alone.God has come down, dwelling among us in flesh and blood, a holy and living tabernacle, and is not set apart from us. God is seeking us, giving us something different from G-law-spel – a law-filled list of you must X, Y, and Z to receive grace. Jesus is speaking to the church today.Listen to him.Set aside the Law and follow, for the Law of Moses and the words of the prophets have been fulfilled. God has come to us. God continues to come to us. Because God is continually seeking us out, the love of God, the amazing grace of our Lord and Savior is always yours. It never ends.

February 20, 2022Luke 6:27-38Blessed are the poor.Blessed are the hungry.Blessed are those who weep.Blessed are you when you are hated.Woe to the rich.Woe to the full.Woe to those who laugh or mock.Woe to those who are falsely propped up.Blessed are you, the one overlooked by the world.Woe to you who cannot see beyond your pride and self-interest.Blessed are you, the one deemed a loser by the standards of the world.And woe to you who insist on those standards being kept.In this flip, Jesus declares a new way of living and being. Jesus is not offering a list of character qualities for us to aspire toward. No, Jesus' opening words in the Sermon on the Plain create a new list of contrasts between the kingdom of Caesar and the Kingdom of God with the implications of Jesus' flip detailed in our scripture reading.Love your enemies. No thanks. I can barely love my neighbors.Bless those who curse you. I would rather pass. They can have their blessing when they stop their cursing.Pray for those who abuse you. Maybe next week, Jesus.Do to others as you would have them do to you. How about doing to others as they have done to me.These tongue-in-cheek responses better match the game we all have been playing since birth. This is a game where getting even, settling the score, are preferred norms. Instead of being merciful just as God is merciful, we trick, deceive, and get even. And if we do not do those actions, someone will surely, do it to us.

February 13, 20221 Corinthians 15:12-20“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ… the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ and the resurrection assured to us is an affirmation of the whole life of Jesus. The resurrection of Christ offers us hope when we cannot see the fruits of our labors today. An affirmation of the significance of every human life.An affirmation of our hope placed in the news that our sins are forgiven, a place at Jesus' table is prepared for us, and that the anxieties of this life caused by pain and death do not hold the final word. Paul is making an argument. He is not relying on testimony from the tomb, that will come later from the gospel writers. For Paul, not having seen the empty tomb himself, Paul did Jesus on the Damascus Road must be empty, and because of the FACT that Jesus is resurrected. And because Jesus is risen, we too can live with the hope given in the FACT that the same resurrection is assured to all of creation through the grace that goes before us. The grace that overcomes rumors to the contrary. The grace that forgives.The rumors, according to Paul, are false. Christ is risen, and so shall we.

February 6, 20221 Corinthians 15:1-11The Gospel Good News of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's vindication over the power of sin and death in this life. It is Good News.It is Good News because what happened on the cross and because Jesus Christ is risen, all of your failures to adequately answer the question “What Would Jesus Do?” are forgiven. Once-for-all forgiveness for you.The tomb remains empty so that you will remember that all of your sins – the ones they will not let you forget and the ones you cannot forgive yourself for – are forgotten. Buried with Jesus Christ in his death were all of your sins. And in the light of the Good News of his resurrection, his perfect righteousness is now yours. The best news.Good News.This Good News is the news that is proclaimed week after week, the best kind of broken record because it does not matter if you are an orthodox stick in the mud or an unorthodox heretic. It does not matter if you cling to the resurrection news or find it impossible to believe because you are not who they say you are, what you do, or what you believe. Because of the Good News encountered by the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus – Jesus Christ, resurrected – witnessed by the Church for over 2000 years, you are who Jesus is – a beloved child of God. You are what he has done. You are perfect – made perfect by his righteousness and unwavering love.

January 16, 20221 Corinthians 12:1-12The lordship of Christ is not a declaration the church can make on its own or a declaration the church can sustain over generations without the help of God. And this is where we find the gospel good news – regardless of what gifts the Spirit has given you, regardless of whether you think you are worthy of such a gift, and regardless of the priority others might place on those gifts God is going to use you to further God's kingdom. Buckle-up because God promises to use the gifts God has given to individual members of Christ's body to build up the entire body, and in building up the whole body, the Kingdom of God is advanced, revealed a bit more as we await Christ's promise to return, and the Kingdom of God is fully revealed. Christ has leveled the field. He is Lord, and there is no hierarchy. No one higher than the other because the lordship of Jesus Christ, a gift to all of creation, refocuses the attention of the church away from division and conflict, pointing us toward the salvific work that began in the manger, was revealed in a star, and was realized when Mary and Mary found the tomb to be empty.

January 9, 2022 - Baptism of the LordLuke 3: 15-17, 21-22Patterns are changing whether we want them to or not. We observe the patterns of life in the church differently. But because Jesus is lord and because what happened in the Jordan cannot be undone just like what happened at your baptism cannot be undone even though the patterns of our lives may change the call to discipleship and the pattern of following Christ's example does not. We may gather online or at home for worship, we may have small gatherings in sanctuaries, and what we do today might shift in the weeks to come and our call to follow is the same. This is why the patterns of the church; the liturgy of our shared life is so important. These things give us an unmovable guidepost by which we can keep moving onward toward what John Wesley called Christian perfection, perfecting our lives in Christ because by Christ's actions we have been right before God.

Micah 5:2-5aLuke 1:39-45, (46-55)While the Good News of Christ's embodied life fills me with joy, it is even better news for the people of a nowhere village than those living in an empire like, well, us. For people who live in the empire, with all the privileges of Pax Romana, those same privileges can blur our vision and prevent us from seeing that Christ would not be born and Virginia Hospital Center. Mary's Magnificat was not sung in the Temple or National Cathedral. No, her song of praise and servanthood was sung in the backwoods as she and her cousin lived under the boot of the empire. We often say that God does not take sides, but God has done just that in Bethlehem and through Mary. In flesh and blood, God has taken the side of those on the margins.With those pulling a double-shift only to be barely able to put food on the table.With those working in the fields, feeding the empire while not being able to come out of the shadows.Mary's boy with a birth certificate stamped in a one-donkey town takes the tidings of comfort and joy we sing of and amplifies them to those who are overlooked, forgotten, and ignored.God is revealed in the places, and in the people we least expect. We might expect God to be announced in grand or ornate spaces, and God is revealed in these spaces, but, as the prophet Micah said, and Mary and Elizabeth reveal the embodied presence of God, God in flesh and bone, will take place in a town of little consequence and through a person that many might overlook. This is what makes the Good News of the Gospel good news for all creation: God did not enter human history through power and influence as we describe those terms. Mary's song of faithfulness, along with the words of the prophet, invites us to look for the hospitality, love, and redemption of God in the people and places we least expect. Off the map places.People overlooked.

December 5, 2021Luke 1:68-79The peace Zechariah prophesied has no meaning apart from the will and purpose of God. Let me repeat it; the peace Zechariah prophesied has no meaning apart from the will and purpose of God. The church cannot make sense of peace and pursue justice in the name of peace, apart from the peace of God embodied in flesh and blood and laid in a manger. The peace of God was proclaimed and prophesied by Zechariah and Elizabeth, "an old couple, an old, hopeless, powerless, futureless couple. The peace of God was embodied by a helpless child, dependent on his poor parents, not born into a politically influential family. Jesus was born into a world where the sword achieved the peace of an empire. Peace by the pointy end of a sword, gun, or any instrument of violence exemplifies how well we do not understand the very thing we all want for ourselves generations to come. Humanity was and continues to be unable to save itself or secure its own peace, so much so that God broke into human history in a manger in Bethlehem, "among the poor, lonely, old and impotent" and saved us from ourselves.The prophetic hymn of Zechariah and his son's voice crying from the wilderness calls into question whether we know what we are talking about when we use words like justice and peace. The word “peace” appears 329 in the Christian Bible; 91 times in our New Testament. Each New Testament reference to peace points toward the salvific word of God in Jesus Christ – explicitly or implicitly by pointing to humanity's inability to secure peace on our own. God did not enter human history through the door of Caesar or influential politicians, and this is where we find the Good News of Zechariah's hymn, Advent, and the gospel. Peace is something God makes, something God has done. Peace, is a gift to all creation to be sure, and something God promises is coming again. And in the church, we live as a viable alternative to peace through any means apart from God. That we might be saved from the consequences of our attempts to take matters into our own hands, creating justice and peace through means that lead us to anywhere but the peaceful life we desire. Through the tender mercy of God, giving light to all who are in darkness, and guiding our feet on the path of peace. Christ is coming. Amen.

Jeremiah 33:14-16The good ole days and even the status quo may be OK or even great for us, but for many, the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, Christ's return cannot come quickly enough. What we may long for could be a return to pain and suffering for others. So, what are we to do? What is to be done? This is the rub; there is nothing for us to do. The prophet Jeremiah did not leave a checklist. I checked the gospels, and Jesus did not leave five easy steps to the second coming. All we can do is look forward, not backward, waiting, anticipating, and trusting the coming reality embodied in the promise of Chris's return, proclaiming the reign of Christ.We are living between two Advents. Christ has come; Christ will come. The tension can be unbearable, and this is the life the Church lives. Between the two Advents, we find ourselves between the good ole days and what has been promised by God.The good ole days and status quo are not good news, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we can be proclaimers and a community that embodies the reign of Christ, the Righteous Branch, here and now. A community of people committed to waiting, anticipating, and trusting, all the while knowing that we may look odd or seem out of place in doing so. But our oddness points away from ourselves, and toward the new normal the Christ promises is coming.

Mark 13November 14, 2021Mount Olivet United Methodist ChurchDismantling this world is frightening.  But in Mark 13 Jesus describes a dismantling to realize God's justice and love for all of creation.  God's redemption and transformation of this broken world is good news for all; the comfort and privilege for which we work and to which we cling instantly pale in the light of God's justice and love.Fleming put it best, "No suffering can be properly understood until the Lord comes – but he will come. God is accomplishing his purposes in spite of all appearances to the contrary. Nothing can lie beyond the power of God to redeem and transform. We believe this because we have been seized by the unique authority of the voice of Jesus Christ."Knowing God will get the last word, our acts of mercy and justice, along with our communal acts of faithfulness, become signs of the God Kingdom – Queendom, Kin-dom – that is yet to come.

October 31, 2021John 8:31-36While we may live free to do as we please because of geography, our condition as sinners does not change. There is no amount of flag-draped apparel, apple pie, or fireworks that can undo this condition. In following Jesus, we have been sent from the consequences of our sin. All of them. That is what we mean when we declare our sins to be forgiven. That very declaration of forgiveness is our declaration of freedom, a declaration of dependence, not independence, upon one in who we find freedom. Freedom has little to do with our ability to deserve or earn it, and instead, freedom extended to all of creation, regardless of geography or birthright. Freedom in Jesus Christ is more than forgiveness. Freedom in Jesus Christ is liberation from what we have turned toward at the expense of our relationship with our creation. And this freedom was not bought with military might or thoughtful diplomacy. It is freely offered to us through the righteousness of the One whose righteousness we clothe ourselves in when we are baptized. The freedom transforms us from the inside out when we listen to Jesus and place our whole trust in his grace. In the church, we call this new life. It is what Bartimaeus pleaded for, what the rich young man could not imagine, and what the saints of the past have placed their trust in.The truth revealed in and through Jesus Christ and the subsequent freedom from sin that is ours, we can, like the saints before us, walk in his way of love in the world that others might know that freedom is theirs.

October 24, 2021Mark 10:46-52Generous living as a disciple of Jesus Christ is to be like Bartimaeus, like the saints of the past, to give our whole selves over to being formed, shaped by the one who calls out, over the noise of the world that rebukes us, telling us we are insignificant and not enough, not worthy of someone else's time. Our time, our generosity, our love joins us with Christ. This is what it means in our communion liturgy when we pray that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood in transforming this world, as we work together to ensure all are loved, cared for, and heard. In giving our whole selves to Jesus, we can do what the rich young man could not do and live as James and John could not imagine, but what Bartimaeus the blind beggar did without hesitation. Namely, allowing the establishing and maintaining of wealth and status and prestige to take a backseat to follow the extravagant grace of God in Jesus Christ.Faith in Christ is not simply the conviction that Jesus is our divine errand boy or healer, but instead that Jesus wants us to follow. All of us. Every part of us. Because Bartimaeus followed, his story stands as a rebuke to the world and an invitation to us who may not be as energetic or even as faithful in our following of Jesus. But in following, like Bartimaeus, like James and John, the extravagant generosity of God in Jesus Christ belongs to you, to me, to all of creation. And in that generosity, we are free to live a new life in Jesus Christ, throwing off the garments of this life. A life of sharing our time, our money, our love, sharing our whole selves.

Mark 10:17-31October 10, 2021Eternal life, salvation, and the kingdom of God are not things to be bought or earned. The rich young man did not expect Jesus to tell him to sell everything. The rich young man wanted to talk about social morality, practical ethics, or have Jesus say to him after bragging about his righteousness that he was good to go, nothing else to be done. Go young rich man, and enjoy your eternal life.The rich young man "lacked one thing.”[iii] This one thing was beyond conventional morality or practical ethics. This man needed to repent and turn away from the one thing preventing him from being all-in with God. The man's conversion was the other of the day, not an impromptu yard sale. This is where we appear in the story.The man's question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”[iv] was faulty from the beginning. You see, eternal life, salvation, and the kingdom of God are not things we receive by doing. There is nothing to be done because to inherit something, as the young man incorrectly stated, is to receive something. The thing you receive is yours, end of the story. The only people who inherit eternal life, or are saved, are those who realize salvation, for all people, is an impossible miracle. Salvation is an act of God, and the ultimate inheritance and a gift we do not deserve, could never buy, and did not see coming. A gift paid for at a great price. Once realized, this gift transforms our hearts, becoming the thing we cherish most so that we do not have any other gods, idols before the Lord.This good news transforms the entire way we live and view the world in such a generous way that we do not ask questions like, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”[v]What percentage do I give?How much do I have to give?Do I really have to give at all?The generous giving we, you, do is not an obligation required to earn favor with God. We give generously, all that we can because Christ has already given everything away for us. A religious person, like the rich young man, may ask, “well, how much is the right amount?” but those who have experienced the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ know generous giving is not about percentages or tax write-offs. This is not a money issue. It is a Gospel issue.Life as a disciple of Jesus Christ is about having your attitude about money, along with everything else, shaped by the good news that Christ has already accomplished all that was required for you to inherit eternal life. Nothing competes for your love of God and neighbor more than money. Nothing works against us growing in faith, following Jesus, maturing as disciples, and surrendering all that we have to God more than money, the pursuit of wealth, and the management of a lifestyle. Jesus did not want the rich young man's money, and God does not want yours. Like the young rich man, God wants your heart, and Jesus has already paid a lot for it. In giving ourselves over to God, our whole selves, we care less about percentages and numbers, knowing that what we generously give pales in comparison to what has already been given for us.

Mark 9:38-50September 26, 2021The methods we follow, proclaim, and serve in Jesus' name may work for us, but the truth is that we do not get to put a trademark on Jesus, and we do not get to copyright the amazing grace we proclaim week after week.Jesus was not interested in squabbling over team affiliation or franchising rights. Instead, Jesus redirected the disciples' attention to something more important than claiming credit for the redeeming work he would accomplish through his life, death, and resurrection. Namely serving the least, lost, and lonely.

September 19, 2021Mark 9:30-37The disciples' missteps are our missteps. Their feet in the mouth moments of embarrassment are our moments. Their confusing, disorienting, and abrupt mistakes and misreading of Jesus based on their experiences of the world mirror the confusion, disorientation, and abruptness we feel when Jesus calls us away from the ways of this world and invites us, after seeking us first, to seek him, to follow, just as the first disciples did, just as disciples have for centuries.

Mark 8:27-38As those who seek Christ, we have been freed, along with all of creation, from the burden of perfection knowing Christ has done for us which we have never been able to do. Peter could not see it and still, he was the rock upon which Christ built the church. God continues to work through those who follow Christ today, proclaiming his Lordship over all creation. God continues to work through you and through me, freeing us to follow. No more. No less.

Psalm 125Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, extending peace that surpasses all understanding to the righteous – the people who follow God's law, loving God and neighbor perfectly – but also to those of us who depend upon grace being extended to us. Through his life, death, and resurrection not only did Jesus display what peace looked like among the nations and neighbors but by taking our unrighteousness upon himself on the cross we have been made righteous. The righteousness of God in Jesus Christ became our righteousness not because of anything we have done or ever could do, not because of our ability to secure peace for ourselves or others, rather because of Christ's insistence that Pax Romana, peace by the sword, would not continue to hold a grip over creation. In the Kingdom of God peace is not the result of the sword or a world at war with itself or human accomplishment. The peace of Christ, extended far and wide, extended indiscriminately, is the result of Christ's faithfulness.

August 8, 2021Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, Arlington, Virginia2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33We are all like Absalom if Absalom had narrowly avoided that tree and was restored to the Father who loves him. And that is because another King's Son rode on a royal donkey to a tree. In his body on the tree, on the cross, he suffers the curse that belongs to every David and Absalom, every Goliath, every apostle, every saint, and every sinner. The curse that belongs to you and me. So, it's not just that our sins have been forgiven. It's bigger than forgiveness. The sword departs every one of our houses at the cross. No more does Nathan say, it will never let up because of what you did.Sin has consequences, yes, but they are borne by another for you.Grace is the opposite of karma. It is offensive sure, but it is also amazing.Grace tells us that the way the world is, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is not what God had intended. Grace defies the logic we have accumulated from the way the world appears to be ordered. Grace interrupts the just consequences of our unjust actions. We would be in big trouble, every one of us, if karma got the last word. But Grace tells us that in the Kingdom of God we will never reap what we sow and that is the best news we could ever hear because for my part I know what I've sown. The Grace of God in Jesus Christ says that we do not have lean on our own religiosity