Episode 96
Lenten Book Study - Part 2: Multiplying Love A Vision of United Methodist Life Together By Dr. Paul W. Chilcote
Bishop Julius C. Trimble is the Resident Bishop of the Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church.
Bishop Trimble has the personal mission to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential. It is his commitment to his personal mission that led Bishop Trimble to create the “To Be Encouraged” Podcast along with co-host Rev.Dr. Brad Miller.
Bishop Trimble says, “I am compelled by Jesus to share with you an encouraging word or two about Jesus, theology, the Bible, the pandemic, the environment, racism, voting rights, human sexuality, and the state of the United Methodist Church.”
To Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble is to be published weekly and is available at www.tobeencouraged.com and all the podcast directories.
https://www.inumc.org/bishop/office-of-the-bishop/
Episode 097 is the recording of Bishop Trimble live teaching on the book "Multiplying Love A Vision of United Methodist Life Together" By Dr. Paul W. Chilcote. This podcast was recorded live on March 10, 2024 and is the first of four part Lenten Book study.
https://www.cokesbury.com/Multiplying-Love
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Transcript
So United Methodist and and around the Indiana conference,
Speaker:you're able to offer your insights to this conversation. We're going to
Speaker:be faithful to the time. We're going to start, and we're going to end on
Speaker:the times for which we have shared. I'll invite you to
Speaker:remain muted until Bishop invites us to unmute and
Speaker:share. To unmute, please raise your digital hand
Speaker:or wave your hand, and we will invite you to unmute. You
Speaker:are also able to utilize the chat feature. If you have
Speaker:a question or a comment that you would like for the collective to be
Speaker:aware of, please do not hesitate to utilize the
Speaker:we say we are listening, Bishop.
Speaker:Greetings. Greetings. Good afternoon, early evening to
Speaker:everyone, beautiful people of Indiana, and
Speaker:we, give thanks for this time together. We are we are in the
Speaker:2nd week of of our Lenten study of Multiplying Love,
Speaker:a Bishop of United Methodist Life Together. I wanna
Speaker:emphasize the the book itself. It's Multiplying
Speaker:Love, and the subtitle is A Vision of United
Speaker:Methodist Life Together. And we reflect that
Speaker:even as we pray our way towards the Holy Week,
Speaker:What does life together as United Methodist mean in this
Speaker:particular period of time? The character of a Methodist
Speaker:1742 from John Wesley. And in just a minute, I'll begin with
Speaker:prayer, and we'll look into chapter
Speaker:3 and 4. But in the character of a Methodist, which he
Speaker:says, Methodists are those who have the love of God shared abroad in
Speaker:their hearts by the Holy Ghost. What
Speaker:is the essence of our life in God? First
Speaker:John 4 19, we love because God
Speaker:first loved us. Now over the course of
Speaker:4 weeks, we're gonna hear the word love quite a bit and re
Speaker:repeat it in ourselves quite a bit because that is the essence
Speaker:of our life together and God according to the Trimble and
Speaker:according to Paul Chilcot's book. It was the
Speaker:favorite text of both John and Charles Wesley, 1st John
Speaker:4 19. We love because God first loved us.
Speaker:And here's the prevailing question I raised it last
Speaker:week. I think I will be raising it, doctor Fulbright, every week.
Speaker:What if the United Methodist Church were to establish
Speaker:a reputation as the most loving community
Speaker:in the United States, in the world?
Speaker:What if the United Methodist Church were to establish a reputation that we
Speaker:would be known for the most loving community in the United States
Speaker:or even across the globe. Let us pray.
Speaker:Loving god, for the gift of time and the gift of
Speaker:community and the gift of trust in you and trust
Speaker:in each other that we can journey together during this season of
Speaker:Lent, Help us to grow closer to you, oh god.
Speaker:Help us to find quiet moments and moments when we connect
Speaker:both with nature and with silence.
Speaker:Help us, oh god, not to just focus on things that we might have
Speaker:chosen to give up for the season of Lent, but
Speaker:our commitment to take on this
Speaker:book study during these 4 weeks together.
Speaker:Bless us as we journey deeper deeper into multiplying
Speaker:love. And help us, oh god, to participate in the
Speaker:future vision of The United Methodist Church, that
Speaker:indeed we might be known by our love and our commitment
Speaker:to the communities where we have been placed to serve. In Jesus'
Speaker:name, for all of God's beautiful people, those who are sharing
Speaker:tonight and those who could not participate, and for the places
Speaker:where we find ourselves in ministry. Amen.
Speaker:So good afternoon again, friends.
Speaker:Chapter 3, the title is why we need to
Speaker:embrace unity. Why we need to embrace
Speaker:United? Obviously, there is a a thesis
Speaker:that Paul Chilcot has that we do need to embrace unity.
Speaker:And even though this book was in response to another book several
Speaker:years ago written on why people should choose to
Speaker:leave the United Methodist Church, Chilcote and your bishop
Speaker:and most, if not all of us, we have already made a clear
Speaker:decision that the United Methodist Church is where we have cast our
Speaker:lot. They this is where we are living out our faith with Jesus
Speaker:Christ. So we are expressing and
Speaker:committing ourselves to a certain embracing of
Speaker:unity in Jesus Christ. So the so the,
Speaker:centering scripture is from Ephesians 4 1 through 6 on page
Speaker:33. I will read it, make several
Speaker:other comments, and then allow us to
Speaker:to feed it to be be to comment in the chat or
Speaker:either to make some commentary based upon your own reading. My
Speaker:hope is that by now, most of us have started reading the book
Speaker:or had got a hold of it in in digital form
Speaker:or the actual physical book. And so we are
Speaker:now journeying together reading the same
Speaker:material. Ephesians 4 1 through 6 for the
Speaker:common English Trimble. Therefore, as a
Speaker:prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as
Speaker:people worthy of the call you have received from God.
Speaker:Conduct yourselves with all humility,
Speaker:gentleness, patience. Accept each
Speaker:other with love. Make every effort to preserve
Speaker:the unity of the spirit with the peace that ties you together.
Speaker:Here's the the good stuff. You are one
Speaker:body and one spirit, just
Speaker:as god also called you in one hope.
Speaker:There is 1 lord, 1 faith, 1
Speaker:baptism, and one god and father of all who
Speaker:is overall through all and in
Speaker:in all. Love is the essence of our
Speaker:unity. So how do we make space
Speaker:for our diversity? Paul says Paul
Speaker:says, god is over all, through all, and
Speaker:in all. Chilcot, the author, says how we use
Speaker:doctrine is as important as the doctrine that we use.
Speaker:So his his contention, it is not so
Speaker:much what we memorize as as right
Speaker:doctrine, but how we live out the things that we declare
Speaker:that we believe. Jesus does not give I've said this, and I I
Speaker:preached this morning in Southern Indiana.
Speaker:And John god does not give us a confusing or a
Speaker:conflicting message. In John 17, we know this,
Speaker:friends. Jesus prays for the unity of the church,
Speaker:and he prays for us today. He prays for the present, prays for
Speaker:his disciples, prays for the church, and he prays for those who will follow,
Speaker:meaning the church today, which would include the United Methodist
Speaker:Church. So we've talked about this at the first
Speaker:lesson as well, that when Jesus brought his disciples
Speaker:up close, he shared the vision the
Speaker:vision for his disciples and the vision for us. And that vision was
Speaker:that we would indeed be we would manifest love in our relationships
Speaker:and that the unity of the church, according to the
Speaker:gospel of John, is rooted in god's
Speaker:unity. And what is the essence of that unity?
Speaker:Chilcot and would argue that Jesus is clear
Speaker:that the essence of that unity is love that we have one for
Speaker:another. So as you have been able to embrace
Speaker:the chapter 3, why we need to embrace
Speaker:unity, What questions do you have or comments do you
Speaker:have? Because I I've had conversations with some who have said,
Speaker:maybe we have spent too much time trying to foster
Speaker:and force unity. And maybe what we should do is
Speaker:allow people to go their own way and
Speaker:not really create or what would argue about what some
Speaker:would argue is artificial unity.
Speaker:So I'd like to hear what you think about this and what maybe what you've
Speaker:already what you've already what you've read.
Speaker:The unity of the church, according to John, is rooted in god's
Speaker:unity. Why you think you go ahead and weigh in. What do you think about
Speaker:United, and what does it mean? Why are you thinking about that? Because I can
Speaker:I can I can feel the I can feel the brain cells beginning
Speaker:to generate? John Wesley is quoted to say
Speaker:this. I really like this. And and this is as you've read
Speaker:the book, you may have already. Though we may though we cannot think
Speaker:alike, may we not love alike? May we
Speaker:not be one of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?
Speaker:Without all doubt, we may, herein, all the children of God may
Speaker:unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.
Speaker:It's almost as if John Wesley C the and the early Methodist
Speaker:movement anticipated that Methodist would be a
Speaker:body of followers of Christ who would not necessarily agree
Speaker:on all things. But he said, let me repeat that. Though we cannot
Speaker:all think alike, may we love alike. So
Speaker:it is not true that we are unclear about our mission. Our mission is to
Speaker:make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of
Speaker:the world. And, you know, the commandment,
Speaker:the great commandment is that we would love one another.
Speaker:The great commission is that we would go forth, Matthew 28, go forth
Speaker:and make disciples and remember the g to to teach and
Speaker:baptize. And remember the promise that Jesus made is that he would
Speaker:be with us always. So we've got a mission.
Speaker:We've got a mandate, and and some would
Speaker:say one of our man our mandate is from Micah, the
Speaker:6th chapter, the Old Testament, verse 8, to do justice,
Speaker:love mercy, and walk humbly with God. May
Speaker:we not may we not be of one heart, though we are
Speaker:not of one opinion? With all doubt, we may,
Speaker:herein, the children of God may United, not with man
Speaker:withstanding these smaller differences.
Speaker:It's just there's a couple of comments in the chat when I invite,
Speaker:Jan and Diane in that order. If you
Speaker:All things or many things, whether it's sports or politics
Speaker:or or or calendars or when we when we should all meet
Speaker:to have have a family gathering. But
Speaker:but we love that there's a love that doesn't that make that doesn't go
Speaker:away even though we may not be able to agree on on on
Speaker:all things. Other comments.
Speaker:Steve, are you waving your hand, or do you do you need to unmute?
Speaker:I can't hear you. Thank you, fella. I know I'm there. Alright. There
Speaker:we go. Yeah. Well, I'm, dating myself a little bit, Bishop.
Speaker:But, back in the seventies, there was a secular
Speaker:book that came out called I'm Okay. You're Okay. I
Speaker:remember that. And, updated Yeah. And the the point
Speaker:was that it's not about uniformity. It's about
Speaker:United. That you accept people for who they
Speaker:are, where they are. And it just it
Speaker:it reminded me of what we're going through with the with the church
Speaker:now, and, you know, I appreciated Chilcot's reference to,
Speaker:Luther and Zwingli when they just instead of
Speaker:meeting each other in the spirit of Christ, they decided they could
Speaker:not be together. And that's
Speaker:that is anything but love. And I think Shellcutter's done an excellent job at
Speaker:bringing out the difference between Methodism
Speaker:and more docturnal groups
Speaker:of people. So but I think I'm okay, Eladio.
Speaker:You're okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker:Darren? Yes. I I'd like to piggyback on what
Speaker:Steve just said about something Chilcote brought out on page
Speaker:34 that kinda opened up a new way of thinking about
Speaker:this for me. In the middle of the page, he talks about
Speaker:only reconciliation can restore peace and unity
Speaker:in our lives. And that led me to believe that without peace and
Speaker:unity, we can't fully be justified. We can't fully be
Speaker:aligned with God's will. We separate ourself, if you
Speaker:will, from God if we're not embracing the
Speaker:spirit of unity. And, that
Speaker:helped me read the rest of the chapter a lot different. Yes. Thank you so
Speaker:very much. That was highlighted several places,
Speaker:and I really, really appreciate really
Speaker:appreciate your comments there. What about
Speaker:question for discussion for part 1?
Speaker:The the scripture we read at the beginning was Ephesians 41
Speaker:through 6. Accept each other with love, make
Speaker:an effort to preserve the unity of the spirit with the peace
Speaker:that ties you together. You are 1
Speaker:body, 1 spirit, just as god also called
Speaker:you in one whole. There was 1 lord. You've heard this
Speaker:before in liturgy and other times. There's 1 lord, 1 faith, 1
Speaker:baptism, one god and father of all who
Speaker:is overall to all and in all. The apostle
Speaker:Paul really, like, wanted to emphasize this in the churches,
Speaker:bring about some sense of unity. So on the point
Speaker:of unity, what do each of these ones mean
Speaker:to you? One body, one spirit,
Speaker:one hope, one lord, one faith, one baptism, one god,
Speaker:our father. How can we live into this Bishop? How can you live
Speaker:into this vision? What what when you think about these ones, what
Speaker:do they mean to you? When you hear that you are one body
Speaker:and one spirit just as God called you in
Speaker:one hope? Is it even possible for us to live into to
Speaker:this vision? I like I like to say it's all with god, all
Speaker:things are possible. I really believe that. Go ahead. I can
Speaker:see some feel free to put in a chat
Speaker:or take a think out loud or question out loud.
Speaker:I appreciate Karen lifting up that that phrase
Speaker:there and and and how peace and United go handed
Speaker:him. Because I think another big piece of this is
Speaker:is fear. When we fear those who think
Speaker:differently, who have different interpretations,
Speaker:it creates this fear that disrupts
Speaker:peace, which then destroys
Speaker:unity. It it just has a ripple effect
Speaker:that starts in that place where difference doesn't
Speaker:provoke curiosity, but rather provokes
Speaker:fear. And I think, you know, you had spoken
Speaker:about diversity and and how important it is for us in
Speaker:all situations to to approach diversity
Speaker:from a place first of curiosity rather than
Speaker:fear. Because maybe we won't understand.
Speaker:We might never reach a place where we can fully intellectually
Speaker:comprehend. Mhmm. But if we're curious rather than fearful,
Speaker:at least then we can maintain that unity. Thank
Speaker:you. Thank you. Other comments or questions? Have there been
Speaker:part if there's been a part of the book that maybe you've already read that
Speaker:you wanna reflect on or comment on, feel free to do that even though we
Speaker:may have already passed that. Or any and if anything,
Speaker:I'm I'm a person. I'm on the line, and I I put a yellow
Speaker:line through things, and I said, well, I can't share all of this. We that
Speaker:would take up all the time. But I have different things that I've kinda pointed
Speaker:out and said, I wanna make sure I bring this one up. You may have
Speaker:some as well that you that you may want to repeat
Speaker:or or share. So feel free in our time to do that.
Speaker:We are each other member of the ones, each with an important,
Speaker:unique, and neat role to play. I guess,
Speaker:I wonder if we could if we could take doctor Fulbright at some point,
Speaker:this would be a different time. You know, to compare, like, this Ephesian
Speaker:text and that text is is it 1st Corinthians 12th
Speaker:chapter where it talks about, you know, we're all part of the
Speaker:body, the hand cannot say to the to the foot?
Speaker:And in this text, it says, you know, we are 1
Speaker:in the following, in the declaration that there's one
Speaker:lord, one faith, one baptism. We are
Speaker:a a a denomination that believes
Speaker:in the triune god. So we are we do
Speaker:have a sense that, you know, that there are things that we
Speaker:declare along with other Christian
Speaker:Christian communities that are that are in common.
Speaker:We celebrate 2 sacraments. If we were Roman
Speaker:Catholic, I think we would have 7
Speaker:sacraments, but ours are the 2 that Jesus
Speaker:participated in in holy baptism,
Speaker:Eucharist and Eucharist, the holy holy
Speaker:communion and and holy baptism. We kinda hit the halfway
Speaker:mark, are we not? So we're gonna make a transition to
Speaker:chapter 4. And I wanna begin chapter
Speaker:4 with a prayer that is on
Speaker:page 42, and I also would like
Speaker:to to make an invitation for
Speaker:us for the rest of our time together going
Speaker:forward. If we would commit ourselves to praying this
Speaker:prayer on a a daily basis for the remainder
Speaker:of our time in Lent. It's on page 42. New
Speaker:every morning to is your love, great god of lights.
Speaker:And all day long, you are working for good in the world.
Speaker:Stir up in us desire to serve you, to
Speaker:live peaceably with our neighbors, and to
Speaker:devote each day to your son, our savior,
Speaker:Jesus Christ, the lord. Amen.
Speaker:United Methodists have an opportunity to pray the following prayer
Speaker:from our hymnal at the beginning of each day, And I
Speaker:would invite us as we go forward for the remainder of
Speaker:Lent. If you would make a note to pray that prayer
Speaker:every morning when you get up at some point in the morning,
Speaker:anew every morning is your love, great god
Speaker:of light. So god invites us to live into
Speaker:a vision of unity. And I
Speaker:wanna make this comment about general conference. We have a general
Speaker:conference that's coming up in, it seems like in a few
Speaker:weeks, actually. And we will be meeting in
Speaker:Charlotte, North Carolina. It's a it's the 2020
Speaker:Postpone General Conference. Lord, have mercy. Here we are
Speaker:in 2024, and we're having a meeting that
Speaker:was scheduled for 2020 because of the pandemic.
Speaker:And here's what I said in a meeting I was in a couple of days
Speaker:ago. I said I said, while the general conference is
Speaker:important for the denomination, I do not believe it's the most
Speaker:important thing for the church. Because at the
Speaker:general conference, we have resolutions
Speaker:and legislation. We have worship.
Speaker:But one of the primary things that happened is all of these
Speaker:delegates come from around the world and vote
Speaker:on things, on whether or not they agree with this statement or that
Speaker:statement or this change to the book of discipline or this addition
Speaker:to the book of resolutions or this this
Speaker:way in which we will organize the church structure,
Speaker:local church and otherwise. We will vote on those things.
Speaker:I don't believe we can vote our way into unity or
Speaker:vote our way into faithfulness to to the gospel.
Speaker:I think we really have to live our way into that, learn our way into
Speaker:that, and really exercise the muscles, if you will,
Speaker:of loving our neighbor and loving each other. And most
Speaker:of that happens at the local church level, at the
Speaker:local it doesn't happen at a a even at an I love annual conference,
Speaker:and I think we do great things at annual conference. We baptize. We
Speaker:preach. We worship. We adopt a budget. We
Speaker:celebrate the ministries and the new fresh expressions of ministries.
Speaker:But I really believe that disciples discipleship
Speaker:growth and our growth in terms of
Speaker:love takes place in smaller community connections
Speaker:in our local churches, our local communities, and in
Speaker:our homes. God invites us to
Speaker:live into a vision of unity
Speaker:and to embody this vision. Page 43, we are
Speaker:god's ambassadors of peace and reconciliation.
Speaker:And we heard some there were some comment about that. But what
Speaker:does reconciliation what does that look like,
Speaker:and what does that mean for you? That's a that's a powerful
Speaker:word, reconciliation. And some says there is no there
Speaker:is no lifeblood in the church unless there's a commitment to
Speaker:reconciliation to be what does it mean to be reconciled or
Speaker:brought back in proper relationship with God and
Speaker:with others? You need to help your bishop with that one.
Speaker:Reconciliation is is a heavy lift. I think that is a strong
Speaker:commission that we have been tasked with to be ambassadors.
Speaker:That means you are representing being that representative,
Speaker:being that advocate for peace and reconciliation.
Speaker:And it's unfortunate that when we hear some of the anecdotal
Speaker:stories of those that are unchurched, de churched, they want nothing to do with
Speaker:the church, that is the very last thing they think about the
Speaker:church and the people of the church is of peace
Speaker:and reconciliation. Mhmm. In the chat, I think Tracy
Speaker:men mentioned the the possibility and the of
Speaker:regionalization as a key to potential unity.
Speaker:You wanna comment on that? Yeah. As I'm reading this
Speaker:Chilcote book, it it seems to me that although we
Speaker:may think like, oh, regionalization is just everybody wanting to do their
Speaker:own thing. But in fact, what it would allow for is
Speaker:diverse social cultural expression of our common
Speaker:faith, which seems to me like
Speaker:that would actually bring us to that place of unity that is
Speaker:proposing that's grounded not in
Speaker:interpretation and ideas, but rather in love of
Speaker:Christ and one another and the indwelling of the spirit.
Speaker:Amen. I I I I tend to to agree
Speaker:I tend to agree with that. Anything that I
Speaker:think anything that allows us to really free I
Speaker:say free up local churches and local communities
Speaker:to to to exercise, I I call, our love
Speaker:muscles and our our gifted our ability to
Speaker:really create welcoming
Speaker:communities is a good thing. Page 42, the
Speaker:Hebrew word shalom. You've you've heard that word
Speaker:shalom probably for many, many years.
Speaker:A vision of caring, sharing, rejoicing community
Speaker:with with none to make them afraid. Doctor Fulbright,
Speaker:you wanna comment on that? Yeah. What I appreciated with
Speaker:this definition that choke hold offers is so oftentimes when
Speaker:we think about or when we hear the word shalom, we automatically
Speaker:assume that it talks about just peace. Peace as if there's no
Speaker:conflict, peace as if there's nothing wrong. And I appreciate
Speaker:him elevating this understanding of shalom that means so much more
Speaker:than just a non conflicted situation or non
Speaker:conflicted environment, where he talks about, you know, a vision
Speaker:of a caring, sharing, rejoicing community with none to make them
Speaker:afraid. And it reminds me of, like, Acts 2.
Speaker:Everyone came together. They were in various
Speaker:languages, but yet they understood one another, praying,
Speaker:worshiping, sharing so that everyone had enough.
Speaker:Peace I've said this on a on numerous occasions.
Speaker:Peace and I got I think I've got this actually from my mother,
Speaker:in in a in a United Methodist Bishop study years
Speaker:ago when I first served this. But peace is not the
Speaker:absence of conflict, but the presence of Christ.
Speaker:So it's not that, you know, or it's no or it's not the it's not
Speaker:the exemption from problems, but, again, it's the presence of
Speaker:the love of God. So we really experience peace,
Speaker:not because the not because we don't there might not be a storm
Speaker:or or tornado or hurricane, and
Speaker:literally, but we can experience it when there's a presence
Speaker:of hope and the presence of of of community.
Speaker:We can experience that that peace. On 42, you
Speaker:make reference to Martin Luther King Julius, and and and
Speaker:I really love the this whole notion that
Speaker:the direction that the church should always be pointing in, and I think this is
Speaker:also very resonated, is towards beloved community,
Speaker:beloved community. And beloved community is where where
Speaker:it it it really is consistent with the general rules of the
Speaker:Methodist Church. Bishop, what are what are the general rules of the
Speaker:Methodist Church? Well, I'm glad you asked that question. Do no
Speaker:harm. Do good. And in the in the way
Speaker:the Bishop Reuben Joe put it, stay in love with God or or
Speaker:Wesley would have said, pay attention to all the ordinances of
Speaker:God, meaning prayer and bible study and fasting.
Speaker:And where Charles Russell would say singing and caring
Speaker:for the poor. So our general rules are that we should be doing no
Speaker:harm. We should be doing all the good that we can. I really I
Speaker:just preached today at one of our churches, and they're doing great work in
Speaker:the Jeffersonville, New Albany area. And I said, I
Speaker:I am inspired every time I go to a local church. I said,
Speaker:this church is doing what churches should be doing, making a difference
Speaker:in their community with the resources that they have
Speaker:before them. So doing all the good that we can in all the places
Speaker:that we can. And I think that is in pursuit of beloved
Speaker:community beloved community. Any other comments about
Speaker:shalom? There's some songs we used to sing. I know it camped too
Speaker:around shalom. I know there's Tracy probably could pull them
Speaker:up. But, so do all my friends. So
Speaker:the vision of caring, sharing, rejoicing.
Speaker:Page 45. Far from something to be celebrated,
Speaker:the church and heart of the vision
Speaker:should bring us to our knees. So the very the
Speaker:very notion and the very experience of the vision should drive
Speaker:us to drive us to prayer and repentance
Speaker:and confession. Lord, you know, the the the the most powerful
Speaker:prayer that many of us, maybe our grandparents taught us
Speaker:was, lord, have mercy. Three words. Lord, have
Speaker:mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Speaker:And Lamont, the writer, I don't agree with everything she said, but I love
Speaker:some of the little books she's written. She said the 3 most important
Speaker:prayers she's prayed is, wow, thank you, and
Speaker:help. And and how many of us had not at some
Speaker:point prayed, lord, help. Lord, help me. And today, my sermon was
Speaker:on on on giving thanks, the importance of giving
Speaker:thanks. God calls us to love all
Speaker:our siblings in the in a united family of
Speaker:love from John Wesley's sermon, the Catholic
Speaker:spirit. What really matters is having a heart rooted in
Speaker:love, believing in Christ, and filled with the
Speaker:energy of love demonstrated through concrete actions.
Speaker:Someone's it has been said, love is not what we say,
Speaker:but what we do and how we
Speaker:express ourselves in relationship with others.
Speaker:Any comments or questions? Anne, are you still with
Speaker:us? Anne Dempsey? Tara, any comments
Speaker:or questions or any parts of the book that you've had a chance to embrace?
Speaker:Tim, is that, Tim and
Speaker:Tim's spouse? Alright. Tim
Speaker:Glinton in the East District. Woo hoo.
Speaker:Any any comments or questions? Bishop, we have about
Speaker:10 minutes remaining. I see pastor Ron Marcoux. He is waving
Speaker:his hand. Alrighty. Ron's a Ron's a great theologian. Let's
Speaker:hear from Ron. Yeah. I just keep hearing love and talk about
Speaker:unity. Somebody said it may have been my mother. I don't know. But somebody
Speaker:said our actions would be so loud that folks can't hear the words that
Speaker:come out of our mouths. My gosh. I think I think about that.
Speaker:Say say that again, Ron. Say that again. I did our actions rooted
Speaker:in love should be so loud that people can't hear the words that come out
Speaker:of our mouths. Wow. They will know we are
Speaker:Christian by our love, not by our not by our sermons.
Speaker:They will know we are Christian by our love. It's
Speaker:interesting because some people are are not in the church because they
Speaker:they experience hurt in institutions, including
Speaker:the church. But many people and I I
Speaker:would be in in that crowd, I can remember that when my father
Speaker:died, my mother raised he had 6 children raised,
Speaker:and the church came with so and we didn't have a big congregation,
Speaker:but the church was so alive. And I I'm a I'm a I'm an older
Speaker:guy now. I'm getting ready for the retirement journey, but I
Speaker:still remember how potent and
Speaker:palpable was the love of the church during
Speaker:that time of and, obviously, many people had many
Speaker:people had died before, and they died since then.
Speaker:And I don't think it was just I I think
Speaker:the church was literally just being the church.
Speaker:So there have been times when I've been disappointed in the church. This
Speaker:is before I was a pastor or before long
Speaker:before I was a Bishop, but I never never
Speaker:not had memories what I thought
Speaker:was love expressed. And and,
Speaker:you know, I I don't there are lots of sermons I don't remember, but I
Speaker:do remember, people coming alongside
Speaker:our family and and our and others coming alongside families
Speaker:and individuals who needed to experience
Speaker:Christian community. You you experience Christian community
Speaker:not by reading a book, but by
Speaker:being in close proximity with others who, as
Speaker:Rhonda's just saying, that that the love with in the heart is so loud
Speaker:that you don't hear what they're saying. You just experience it.
Speaker:Bishop, I appreciate what you just said, and I'll give a shameless plug
Speaker:here. Go ahead. But this is my passion around a
Speaker:place for you and Lifehouse churches, is making sure
Speaker:that that everyone knows that they're welcome.
Speaker:And and I find it ironic that sometimes those of us who have the
Speaker:most say about the work of the Holy Spirit are
Speaker:quickest to want to correct everyone else's
Speaker:wrong ideas or opinions or beliefs. And I think if we really
Speaker:believe that that firmly in the
Speaker:indwelling work of the spirit, of the power of the
Speaker:spirit, then shouldn't we be trusting the
Speaker:spirit? Simply praying for people and trusting that the
Speaker:spirit will do the spirit's work.
Speaker:Amen. Thank God for agape love
Speaker:as demonstrated by Jesus Christ. All we need to embody is
Speaker:the self sacrifice and love we see in Jesus. And we read
Speaker:about it. We preach about it. We we pray it, and we we proclaim it
Speaker:in our hymns. We really need to and that's, I
Speaker:think, what Wesley talked about through the power of the Holy Ghost. It's some of
Speaker:the things we we're talking about, we can't really make happen
Speaker:apart from God's from God's power. I said we can't do God's work
Speaker:without God's power and God's presence. We can't even love God's people
Speaker:without God's love, you know, pouring through
Speaker:us. We need to take what we believe about essential matters
Speaker:seriously, but never make our own opinions
Speaker:the rule for all. We must enlarge our hearts to
Speaker:all God's children despite our differences, Catholic spirit.
Speaker:The Catholic spirit, meaning the generous
Speaker:spirit, defends a generous orthodoxy in the service of
Speaker:unity and diversity. There have been others, bishop Ken Carter and others,
Speaker:mister Ken Carter in his book, unlevered unrelenting grace. There are others
Speaker:who've written on this whole notion of what is a generous
Speaker:orthodoxy meaning, meaning that, you know, what we define to be
Speaker:important for the church should be generous enough where it allows
Speaker:us to really experience unity and
Speaker:diversity. Bishop, I heard a quote the other day, and I I would like to
Speaker:offer it for the collective. The quote, I forgot where
Speaker:who I was speaking to, but I did write down because it came to my
Speaker:mind and said, could we agree on essentials,
Speaker:create space for non essentials, and offer
Speaker:grace in the difference. Can we have agreement on
Speaker:essentials, provide space on non
Speaker:essentials, and extend grace in the difference.
Speaker:I preach Christ crucified, grace from the dead
Speaker:on the third day. Amen.
Speaker:Separation hurts everyone. This is from page 50.
Speaker:Separation hurts everyone. Unity, on the other
Speaker:hand, bears testimony to the triumph of love and
Speaker:the possibility of beloved community, Coach Jean
Speaker:Hockhurst. Jean Hockhurst is one of the
Speaker:ex what we call ecumenical staff persons for the United
Speaker:Methodist Church out of the office of the Council of
Speaker:Bishops. The United Methodist Church has a powerful
Speaker:opportunity. This is a witness witness
Speaker:from page 50 from Gina Hawkins.
Speaker:The United Methodist Church has a powerful opportunity to
Speaker:witness to the world that the love of Jesus Christ is
Speaker:stronger than disagreements that threaten to divide
Speaker:us. Clearly, we are called to let our relationships
Speaker:be governed by Christ like love. Staying together is the
Speaker:only witness that lives up to that high calling.
Speaker:Now we need to put the context of the comments
Speaker:we make, in time.
Speaker:So this this book and some of these the research, obviously, for this
Speaker:book is the we're dealing with what I call the
Speaker:lag of of of book study in Lentils.
Speaker:So at the time the book was written, this affiliation
Speaker:hadn't come to the this current completed state that
Speaker:we're in now. But it had already started,
Speaker:and it still was the the the the call for the for
Speaker:for this for for unity. I still believe that the
Speaker:call that that doesn't change, you know, the the essential
Speaker:message of unity and love. In fact, doctor Fulbright, when you mentioned
Speaker:being at the funeral, to me, that's an expression of what
Speaker:what the goal is. It is not that we all would
Speaker:necessarily be in the same space and even stay in the same space,
Speaker:but that we would not stray from our love for Jesus Christ or our
Speaker:respect and love for each other. Because there there's always a possibility
Speaker:and a hope of reconciliation at some other point. And
Speaker:reconciliation may not necessarily mean we we decide to live
Speaker:on the same block, but that we we but we agree on
Speaker:the essentials, particularly on the love of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Other comments you wanna put in the in the, chat
Speaker:for our our final minutes or questions or comments you may
Speaker:have or something you may wanna ask me
Speaker:and say, Bishop, I'm a I'll give you till next week to work on this,
Speaker:but this is what I like us to I'd like you to reflect
Speaker:on. Anything you in in light of this in light
Speaker:of what we're talking about, in light of our journey together, multiplying
Speaker:love. Anybody remember the assignment I gave you, the invitation?
Speaker:Someone remind me what it was. Please raise your hand. What was this
Speaker:invitation I asked? I made an ask today.
Speaker:Karen, you remember what it was? It's on page
Speaker:42 at the top of that's what it was. Yeah. It was to pray
Speaker:that prayer daily. Amen. I pray that prayer
Speaker:daily. Thank you, friends. Bishop, just a concluding
Speaker:thought. I remember my home church, Jubilee United Methodist Church in
Speaker:Duncanville, Texas, every Sunday, we would sing a song. It didn't matter
Speaker:what the, what the Sunday, every song, it was the invitation. It was a
Speaker:welcoming song, and it was the Jesus in me loves the
Speaker:Jesus in you. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus
Speaker:in you. So easy, easy to love.
Speaker:And I just remember some of the most conflicted meetings
Speaker:on Thursday at council meeting came on the heels
Speaker:as of Sunday that we knew we were gonna be singing that song. And I
Speaker:was, like, with the at a at a game with my popcorn ready
Speaker:just to see if people were gonna sing the song and hug each other, and
Speaker:it never failed. Every time we would sing that
Speaker:song, and the differences didn't matter because at the end of the
Speaker:day, it's the Jesus in me loves the Jesus in
Speaker:you, and it's so easy to love. Now you won't believe this,
Speaker:and we did not confer before this meeting. You're not
Speaker:gonna believe this, friends. You can't make this up. But the last church I
Speaker:served before I was elected to Bishop was Albertsgate United
Speaker:Methodist Church in Ohio, Warrensville Heights, Ohio. And that was the song
Speaker:that we sang every Sunday, the welcoming song that we
Speaker:sang these when we invited new people to come to the altar
Speaker:there. And I remember we had a church consultant come, and we're doing a
Speaker:workshop on on strengthening our congregations.
Speaker:And we sang that. We were hosting it at Augustgate. And we sang
Speaker:that song. And a church consultant, you know, it's there's always these
Speaker:professionals think they know church better than than He said, you
Speaker:know, that's kind of a corny song. He said, but you all sing it like
Speaker:you really mean it. And I said, yeah. We do. We really do. I said,
Speaker:say, it may be a little little hopey to you,
Speaker:but it works for us. And it and it's good theology too. It's good
Speaker:theology. I'm gonna invite someone to close this in prayer.
Speaker:I've been preaching today, so I lost I'm losing my voice. Bishop,
Speaker:I'm happy to delegate that to one who will be recommended for full
Speaker:membership and ordained as an elder here in June.
Speaker:You may be looking away, but he knows who I'm talking about.
Speaker:I'm happy to lead us, friends. That means I get to lay hands on
Speaker:him. And you can't believe how happy that I am that it'll be
Speaker:you, Bishop. Mhmm. That is you. That's the same way.
Speaker:I feel the same way, bro. Love this out.
Speaker:Loving and merciful girl who loves us,
Speaker:lord, who has commanded us to love others. Lord,
Speaker:give us the strength to love our brothers and sisters in
Speaker:Christ fully as you love us. As we go out into a world
Speaker:that is so marked by division, help us to be centered in love that
Speaker:our actions do speak louder than any words that we could ever
Speaker:say and that the light of Christ would reflect off
Speaker:of us so we would be hope spreaders and joy
Speaker:givers out into the world. We give this to you, Lord. I
Speaker:pray for all these folks on the call. We can go out and live
Speaker:live all the days as United Methodist called the Global. And
Speaker:I, God's people, say it. Amen.
Speaker:Amen. God of it, your friends. Enjoy your evening.
Speaker:I thank you, Bishop. Thank you, everyone. We will see you back next
Speaker:week. Same bat cards, same bat station, but we won't have to delay
Speaker:an hour as we're trying to figure out what time it is right now. So
Speaker:take good care. Invite someone. Join the
Speaker:fun. That's right. Don't forget to sign up for the podcast too.
Speaker:I'm here.
