Celebration at General Conference
The Rev. Kimberly Scott and others celebrate outside the Charlotte Convention Center on May 2 following a decision by the 2024 United Methodist General Conference to approve a revision of the denomination's Social Principles. The newly approved document eliminates a statement that the practice of homosexuality was incompatible with church teaching. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey/UM News)
June 8, 2024
Jeannie and I have sensed the note of joy running through the emerging United Methodist Church, evidenced so clearly in the recent General Conference and now reverberating through the subsequent Annual Conferences. The note of joy is palpable and powerful, not only in the restoration of a denomination, but also in the renewal of all spiritual life. The note of joy is being heard in the land in this time of new awakening, as God does a new thing in our midst (Isaiah 43:19).
In this post I am thinking of the note of joy in its large significance for us all, but illustrating it in its current resounding in the UMC. When the note of joy sounds, we find important things happening…..
First, we find that love prevails. I do not believe that the nine words describing the fruit of the Spirit follow a formal order. But neither do I discount the fact that Paul put joy immediately after love in the list. The note of joy is an early sign of love. Indeed, as John Wesley noted, “Sour godliness is the devil’s religion.” He often looked at alleged godliness asking, “Where is the joy?”
We must not miss the fact that the resurgence of a full-bodied love in the Wesleyan tradition and its multiplication across the UMC is being accompanied with joy [1] E. Stanley Jones saw the connection between love and joy, writing, “It is no accident that joy follows love. Joy is a by-product of love.” He went on to say that a sign he saw in Los Angeles had the words that described his inner life: “Jones Jolly Joint.” He wrote, “That’s me on the inside.’’ [2] Indeed! It is what’s on the inside when we are filled with the Spirit, and it spills over onto the outside, again as John Wesley observed, holiness is happiness. When the note of joy sounds, love prevails.
Second, we find that strength revives. When Nehemiah told the people, “The joy the Lord is your strength,” it was a summons to move into a new day. It was a renewal. It was a strength that gave rise to hope and which engaged the people in words and deeds that revived them.
In a similar way, we are experiencing a revival of joy in the UMC that evokes a way forward in us, both in words and deeds. It is a time when the “future filled with hope” announced by God through Jeremiah (29:11) is being reannounced by prophetic leaders in the UMC today. One of the ways we are already seeing this is in the strong/courageous acts of reconciliation with and restoration of those who were excluded/expelled because of our previous retributive polity. But those days are in the past, replaced by celebratory inclusion and reunion. When the note of joy sounds, strength revives.
Third, we find that surprises happen. Jesus spoke about such a time in John 16:22, a time currently filled with pain, but one that would soon give way to joy—a joy he said that no one could take away. He was telling them that surprising things were ahead. And the next fifty days proved him right.
His words shine light into our present moment. There are those (I have read their social media comments today) who are trying to steal our joy through judgmentalism, falsehood, and deceit. But we stand close to Jesus who said that godly joy cannot be taken away, and like those first disciples, we are only days away from having surprising experiences (indeed, they are already happening), days when the fresh Wind of the Spirit fills our sails and sends us out to do more than we can ask or imagine. When the note of joy sounds, surprises happen.
Finally, we find that ministry occurs. Paul sounded the note of joy in his ministry in the opening verses of his letter to the Philippians (1:4), praying for them with joy as he remembered their partnership with him in the gospel. His exhortation to continue that ministry was set in the context of joy.
Those who called in 2014 for a cage match in the UMC have left, establishing a new denomination some of them have wanted for 52 years. Those who falsely likened the UMC to the Titanic, have moved on. The way is now cleared, and the path is filled with unencumbered opportunities to engage in the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world in deeper and wider ways. When the note of joy sounds, ministry occurs.
And so, here we are—in general as a people experiencing a new awakening marked by joy, and as United Methodists now free in Christ to bear witness in the world with the note of joy characterizing us. With this note we sing, “We have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back!”
[1] Paul W. Chilcote, ‘Multiplying Love’ (Abingdon Press, 2023).
[2] E. Stanley Jones, ‘Growing Spiritually’ (Pierce &Washabaugh, 1953). It is still in print from Abingdon Press.