"Legacy Of Love" — Remarks by Bishop Tracy S. Malone

​Good morning. It is good to be with you this morning. Before I give my formal sharing, I want to take this opportunity to celebrate this bicentennial celebration, and I want to present to Pastor Giles and to the congregation this proclamation of blessing: celebrating 200 years of faithful ministry. To God be the glory for what God has already done, to God be the glory for what God is doing right here and right now, and to God be the glory for that which is yet to come. So I present this bishop's blessing, this proclamation, to your pastor to this congregation. And my prayer is that you will keep it, that you will cherish it, and know that your bishop and all of the churches in the Indiana Conference we are praying and we are celebrating with you today. Amen. 
Beloved of God, we are gathered today to celebrate a sacred milestone, a remarkable legacy of faith, a remarkable legacy of hope, a remarkable legacy of service. For two centuries, this congregation has stood as a beacon of faith, of hope, of love, testifying to the steadfast grace of God and shaping generations of disciples of Jesus Christ. This church founded almost every Methodist church in this Evansville area. Beginning, as it was said earlier, that we heard in the brief historical account of the ministry, as a Methodist class by a licensed preacher. No building, but nevertheless reached people from every walk of life across the generations, and even in the shadows of the Civil War, this sanctuary, this beautiful sanctuary. You cannot walk in this place and not feel the holy of holies. Even when you look around at the windows, I'm sitting here in this chair, and I was literally transfixed on this window, this beautiful stained glass before me. This sanctuary was consecrated and built in the shadows of the Civil War. This church has withstood time, withstood history. And look at God. And look at you. Praise be to God. This celebration, this milestone, is a testament to God's enduring faithfulness and unwavering grace that has sustained this ministry over these many years. And I am claiming in the name of Jesus, yes, in the years to come. To God be the glory for what God has done. Let the people of God say "Amen." 
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the beautiful, wonderful team that has put this celebration together. And oh, it is a celebration. The music, the worship, the liturgy, the luncheon afterwards, the balloons in the parking lot. You know how to throw a party for Jesus. To our pastor, to our staff, to our district superintendent, to all of the clergy who are here, to all of you, to Prez P, to everyone who's here today to be a part of this celebration, praise be to God. 
Let us pray. Most loving and gracious God, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. For the gift of these two centuries of ministry. For your grace that has covered this ministry over these many years. Lord God, we say thank you. And I ask now, oh God, that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts would be acceptable in thy sight, for you are our strength. You are our rock, and it is you, oh God, who continues to redeem all of your creation. Come, Holy Spirit, bless and sanctify your people. Bless and sanctify this word. May this word bear fruit to your goodness, to your hope, to eternal life in Jesus Christ. It is in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit I pray that the people of God say “Amen.”
I want you to reflect with me just for a few moments on the theme: Legacy of Love. It has been said that the greatest, most powerful force in the world is love. And the greatest, most desperate need in the world is love. Pause for a moment and think about that. The greatest, most powerful force in the world is love, and yet the most desperate need in the world is love. This paradox, this reality, speaks to the separation that we see in the world, in our communities, and even in the church. We live in an era marked by division, discord, and disconnection. Everywhere we turn, there are forces that seek to separate, to polarize, and even distort the sacredness of our shared humanity. Turn on the news, scroll through social media, you will see the fractures. We see it in the politics. We see it in theology. We see it in broken relationships. We see it in a vilification of those who are different from us. We are living in a world that is suffering from traumatic levels of lovelessness. But the church, the church of Jesus Christ, is called to be different. We're called to be set apart. We're called to embody and reflect God's love in the world. 
Dr David Field, in his book “Our Purpose is Love,” challenges the church to reclaim love as the center of our identity and our witness. Through worship, and prayer, and in community, we are being shaped by love, by the love of God through Jesus Christ. It is through our worship, and our study of scriptures, and through prayer that we are taught to love. When we come into the house of worship and when we connect in the spirit of God, we are being transformed by love. It is here that we learn to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It is here that we learn to love our neighbors with authenticity. To be able to see people the way that God sees people as a beloved child of God. It is here when we worship together as the body of Christ, when we are edified in our spirits, we learn what it means to show compassion. We learn what it means to extend grace. For there is nothing more profound, nothing more essential than love as the motivating force that guides everything that we do as a people of God. 
It matters how we show up in the world. In the Gospel of John chapter 13, Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples. It is a moment of intimacy, a sacred space, where he prepares them for what is to come. He has washed their feet, which is a radical act of humility, and now he speaks these words, “I give you a new commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. You should love one another, and by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” These words are more than encouragement. This is a commandment. As a matter of fact, this is a mandate. It speaks to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ: to embody love. When we show up in a room, we ought to shift the atmosphere. Because why? They know that love and light is in the room, not because of who we are, but because of the one who is in us. Jesus does not say that we will be known as his disciples by our theological precision or position. He didn't say that they will know that we are his disciples by our beautiful adorned church buildings. As beautiful as it is. He didn't say that you will be known as my disciples by our rich history, and traditions, and rituals, or even our status. He says that we will be known by our love. The defining mark of the church is not our creeds, not our history, not our beautiful singing, not our polity, not our governance. It's how we love. It's how love shows up in the world. 
I am reminded of a few years ago. A group of seminary students participated in an urban ministry immersion program, and as part of their experience, they were given a simple yet profound challenge. They were told to go and be present of love in places where love seemed absent. One student said, "Well, can you give us more instruction?" That is the instruction. Wherever you think love is absent, we want you to show up. Go and be the presence of love. One student, overwhelmed by the reality of poverty, homelessness, and the brokenness that he encountered, found himself in conversation with a man who had been living on the street for years. And this student sat down to listen to this man's story. Sometimes, that's how love shows up. Just by sitting down sometimes and listening to somebody's story. The man shared his story, and it was a story of deep loss, a story of feeling rejected, and he even said that he had a lifetime of feeling invisible to the world, where people just walked past him. He hadn't heard his name called in years. And at the end of their conversation, the student asked, "What do you need most right now?" And to the student's surprise, the man responded, not with a request for money, didn't ask for no food, didn't ask for any shelter, but he responded with these words,” I just need someone to see me, to know that I exist, to love me like I matter.” The response lingered in that student's heart, and it was a reminder to that student, and is a reminder to us that love is more than just words. It's presence. Love sees. Love acknowledges. Love restores dignity. Love acts. 
We are reminded of God's immeasurable love in the Gospel of John chapter 3 verses 16–17. We know this scripture. You can even say it with me, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That's usually what we know how to quote that we remember, but verse 17 says this, "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.” God's love is extravagant. God's love is boundless, it's eternal, it's transformative. Jesus declared himself when he summed up the entirety of the law He says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength,” and then what, “love your neighbor as you love yourself." Love is the call. Love is the standard, and we're called to love, to live the more excellent way. You have not been here for 200 years if we didn't know how to love. Amen somebody.
But what we cannot do is rest on our past laurels. We're always asking, “Lord, what more do you want us to do?” “How much more of your love that we can share?” Love transforms. Love heals. As we turn this corner, as we celebrate your history and move into the next chapter of your ministry, are we asking the question, “Lord, how might we love even more deeply?” It takes practice to love well. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. So, the hard question for all of us today is, do we love like that? Do we love our neighbors? This is a rhetorical, I'm not asking us to answer this. This is for all of us to ask ourselves. Do we love those who don't look like us, or think like us, or vote like us? Do we love even when it's difficult, and inconvenient, or costly? I'm just asking the question. Barbara Brown Taylor, one of my favorite preachers and theologians, she once said this, "The hardest, most spiritual work in the world is to love your neighbor as yourself. To encounter another person, not as someone you can fix, save, change, or even control, but to simply love them the way Christ loves them.” And Paul speaks so powerfully about love in First Corinthians 13, and we love that scripture. As a matter of fact, I can't even begin to tell you how many weddings that we've heard that passage read. But don't we know that when Paul wrote these words that he was speaking to division in the community. He says, "Love is not self-serving. Love is not performance. Love never gives up. Love cares for more than others than for yourself. Love does not strut. It isn't always me first. It doesn't keep a score of wrongs. It rejoices in the truth. It trusts God is always looking for the best, never looking back, but keeps on going to the end.” Love, not this abstract idea, but I'm talking about the kind of love that Christ is speaking to in our gospel lesson. Love in action. Love that shows up in moments that matter, that move beyond comfort and convenience. Love. Love takes risks. Love shows up.
So my question for us today as we celebrate, how is love showing up? How does love show up in your life when you're dealing with somebody who's very difficult to love? How is love showing up in your life when you engage with people of a different race, a different orientation, a different world view that is different than ours? How does love show up? What about when we're faced with political division and theological disputes, when the world seems consumed with hatred and indifference? How does love show up when we see people in pain, in poverty, in despair? How does love show up when we find ourselves? It's one thing for us to show up and love, but what about when we need people to show up and love on us? When we're feeling worn down. When we're feeling empty and in need of love ourselves. When we are wounded. When you find yourself exhausted and weary, how does love show up? Love shows up when we listen deeply to our brothers, and sisters, and siblings. Love shows up when we acknowledge the humanity of another person, when we refuse to let the forces of fear dictate our relationships. Love shows up when we choose mercy over judgment, reconciliation over retaliation, when we choose peace over polarization. Love, beloved of God, is a high and holy calling, and it is love that is our witness. It is love that is and will be our legacy, not just this building and this beautiful history. 
The question becomes, what do we want people to say about us? When they hear your name, what do you want people to speak about you? Not just about where you traveled, where you were educated, all of the good jobs you had, all of the places you've been, and all the people you met, but don't we want people to say about us that that was a person that you can see the light of Christ in their lives, that love exuded their being, that when you were in their presence, you knew that you felt the presence of the holy. We are unapologetically the very embodiment of the love of God through Jesus Christ, and let it never be lost on us that the way we show up and the way we move in the world, even the words that we speak or even the words that we choose not to speak, let it never be lost on us that the way we live love, and the way we offer love, and the way we embody love matters.
The songwriter said, “How to reach the masses, men and women of every birth?” For an answer, Jesus gave the key. He says, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people unto me." It's easy to love when we're feeling good, it's easy to love when we're feeling holy, but love is our calling, and we have to practice at loving well. It is my hope and my prayer that as the people of God, as the beloved, as we're celebrating these 200 years giving thanks to God for what has been, we have another 200 years before us, and while we still have breath, and while we still have the ability to be present, and while Christ allows for us to rise each day and show up in the world, let us be love in light and hope. Not to draw people unto ourselves, but to draw people to the love and the grace of Jesus Christ. 
Let us pray. Most loving and gracious God, we thank you for being our greatest teacher. For teaching us how to love. Lord God, your word said that the world will know that we are your disciples by how we love, and I just pray, oh God, that you will give us your grace to grow deeper in our capacity to love the way you love. And Lord God, when we find ourselves faltering, give us your grace, oh God, to know that every moment, every hour, and everyday matters. That you are always in the process of helping us to become more like you. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your word. Thank you for the gift of this rich legacy of love. And Lord God, we thank you in advance for what you will do through us, for how your purpose will be lived out through our lives. It is in Jesus' name that I pray. Let the people of God say "Amen."