Bishop Jeremiah J. Park
Once again, we gathered virtually because of circumstances beyond our control. I hope and pray and trust that this is the last time we will need to meet as an annual conference this way. As far as the pandemic of COVID is concerned, thanks be to God, we are turning the corner. Please know that we secured the contract with Hershey Lodge to meet there in-person for annual conference next year.
Virtually or in-person, we gather as the Susquehanna Conference to give witness to the world that we are a church alive in Christ together.
The theme of our gathering this year is: “A Vision of the Beloved Community”. It reminds us of the vision statement of our conference: “Alive in Christ together, Susquehanna Conference will embody the Beloved Community of disciple-making congregations.”
Our world, our nation, and our church are going through a profoundly liminal time with lots of uncertainties and anxieties. We hear seriously concerned voices of frustration, despair, and fear from all over the place.
However, this unprecedented time we are living through could be a once in a lifetime moment for God’s people to catch up with the new things that God is doing among us and in the world. This may be a revolutionary moment of opportunity when history and hope and dreams meet together.
We are lifting up a vision of the beloved community for such a time as this.
The vision is about the coming of the Kingdom of God.
What will the world look like when the reign of God is realized as Jesus envisioned it?
My answer? Beloved community. The Beloved Community of Christ, to be more precise. I believe that is the closest thing that Jesus had in mind when he talked about the Kingdom of God.
Jesus proclaimed, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” The coming of the Kingdom is inevitable.
We are here as a church to enhance and expand the Beloved Community of God’s reign.
The vision is about the common destiny of the human community.
Martin Luther King, Jr. made that point when he said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
No matter what race or ethnicity we may have, we are one family of God. No matter what different geographical location we live in, we share the common destiny as one human race. All must be in the journey together toward the world we want to live in where God’s love, justice, and peace prevails for all and true reconciliation among all creation is realized like the vision of the peaceable kingdom of Isaiah.
The vision is about love.
It’s about the greatest commandment: “Love God and love others as yourself.” It’s about the new command from Jesus: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35).
It’s about the perfect love of God in Jesus Christ as 1 John says:
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God…. since God so loved us, we also love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and God’s love is made complete…. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him or her…. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…We love because God first loved us.” (selected verses from 1John 4:7-21)
The Beloved Community of Christ is about a love like that.
This is the time and we are the people to be a living witness of “A Vision of the Beloved Community of Christ”. Once again, we are the people of a vision of the Beloved Community: “Alive in Christ together, Susquehanna Conference will embody the Beloved Community of disciple-making congregations.” Amen and Amen.
