Faith, hope, and love abide

Second Sunday after Pentecost ● June 22, 2025

Rev. Jeff Wells © 2025

Readings: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 (adapted from The Inclusive Bible) &
Colossians 3:8-17 (adapted from The Kingdom New Testament)

The texts of the readings are in the worship bulletin linked here.

Watch the worship video recording on the Church of the Village YouTube channel here.

Please join me in a spirit of prayer:

All-Loving God, I pray that all of us may be open to listening for your beckoning and inspiration that is present within the interaction that takes place as I speak and those gathered hear and feel today’s message. May the Spirit of Jesus dwell in our hearts through faith, so that, being rooted and grounded in love, we will grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of your compassion and your desire for our common thriving. Amen. 

Today I am delivering my last message in worship as your pastor. This is a big day for all of us. So, my message is part love and gratitude, part inspiration and exhortation, and part appeal to hold on to hope and keep dreaming. 

Right up front I want to express my gratitude to Jorge Lockward, Pastor Alexis Lillie, Kelsey Evans, Martha Chapman, and others who put together today’s worship and also planned the retirement celebration for me this afternoon. The specific plans for that event have not been shared with me. I do know there is going to be a great lineup of speakers. And while the event is not a “surprise,” Jorge told me there will be some surprises. So, don’t miss it!

Also, I want to thank Katie Reimer, Alfida Figueroa, and now Kelsey Evans for their leadership as chairs of the Worship Committee, which evolved into the worship teams we have today. They served and Kelsey serves on the Worship Vision Team, as well, which meets at least biweekly and sometimes weekly to broadly shape the amazing worship experiences offered by the Church of the Village. 

I have to thank all of those – too many to name – who have served as Lay Leaders, chairs of the Vision & Ministry Council, and chairs and members of all of our committees and ministry areas over the years. COTV would not be what it is today without the dedicated leadership of dozens of lay members who served this church over the last 10 years. Even if you never served in a formal leadership position, every one of you has contributed your spirit, your love, your friendship, your prayers, and your dreams. Thank you so much for your commitment and your willingness to journey with this band of God lovers and justice seekers.

I am so thankful for and so in love with this congregation. And I will forever be grateful to Bishop Jane Middleton for appointing me here in 2015. I love every one of you and every member or active participant who has come before and is no longer with this church. I cannot fully convey to you how important and meaningful in my life it has been to serve as a pastor with the Church of the Village. You have profoundly shaped me. Without this experience in this particular community, I would not be the pastor or the person I am today. I might never have had the chance to know what it is like to help lead such an open, expansive, and inclusive community. I might never have found my way to Process Theology or known what it feels like to lead a congregation in embracing that perspective. I might never have met John Cobb and Tom Oord or co-edited the book, Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God, which was directly inspired by our experience together in this congregation. In fact, it includes sermons or essays by me, Pastor Alexis, Jorge Lockward and Katie Reimer, as well as sermons preached at the Church of the Village by Ignacio Castuera, Catherine Keller, John Thatamanil, John Cobb Jr., and Thomas Jay Oord. I am so thrilled and proud that I have been able to contribute to shaping what the Church of the Village has become and is still becoming. 

Okay, now we need to address some of the hard stuff. We have built relationships – you with me and Diane and we with you. We have come to love one another. And now, we are not going to be around anymore. Some of you may see me at joint church events or Annual Conference sessions, but I won’t be back here in this space any time soon. And there is a very good reason for that. It is crucial when a pastor leaves for another church or for retirement that they get out of the way – that they make emotional space for the new person coming in to become your new pastor – in your minds and in your hearts. You are going to have feelings about that. I have feelings about that. My absence will be a source of loss and sadness, and maybe even grief for all of us. So, I encourage you to be alert to those emotions that will accompany this period of transition. Be aware that these strong feelings may move you to act out in ways you are not conscious of. If you feel reactive around this, find someone to talk with. I encourage you not to reach out to me, but to talk with the leaders who are here. You will have many sources of support for whatever you are going through.

My leaving is occurring alongside other challenges for COTV, too. But you know what? The Church of the Village has never not faced challenges. For that matter, neither was there ever a time when any of its predecessor churches did not face challenges. The key to life is how we meet the challenges that continually arise. How do you meet this moment? In this context, I urge you, “Do not be afraid!” You’ve heard that phrase before. That and similar phrases appear over 100 times in the Bible. Do not fear because Jorge and Pastor Alexis will be with you during this transition and reinforcements are on the way, which you will hear about shortly. Do not be afraid because this community is strong. The Church of the Village has very strong lay leadership – as strong and capable as any I have ever experienced. I know Pastor Alexis and Jorge would say the same. Finally, ultimately, the strength of this church resides in all of you. You are strong, capable, and committed to this place of radical welcome and mutual love and you desire to see it continue to thrive. Do not be afraid because you have each other to face the challenges together and to hold one another in loving kindness and compassion.

Love and support one another. Love and pray for those who have taken on the responsibilities of serving in leadership positions. They are big responsibilities, especially at times like these. Yet, it has been my experience both for myself and in observing others, that in times of great challenge, God’s call and inspiration helps us find within ourselves the strength, courage, and capacity to meet the challenges. This does not mean everything will go the way you hope, but you can always trust that God is with you and working for the best possible outcomes. God can help you make a way out of what feels like no way.

And remember what the Bible teaches about how to live this life together. The passage Diane read from the Letter to the Colossians is one of my favorites on this subject and bears hearing again: 

Be tender-hearted, kind, humble, meek, and ready to put up with anything. You must bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against someone else, you must forgive each other, just as God forgives you. On top of that, put on love, which ties everything together and makes it complete…. Let the self-giving spirit of Jesus dwell richly in you and among you.

I urge you, beloved, to hold on to faith, hope, and love. In the Church of the Village, we give thanks every week that God is in us and we are in God. To me, that means we can have faith – that is, we can trust – not that God can take away all the difficult parts of our lives, but that God loves us deeply and accompanies and guides us every moment. That faith makes it possible for us to maintain our hope and continue to strive for the common good of all creatures, even when it feels like we are working against the odds. And love in action is the engine that both flows from and fuels faith and hope. Thank God for love – literally – because without love, the rest won’t make a difference. If we are going to have any chance of transforming the world, our actions have to be grounded in love. That does not mean we should not exercise self-defense or defend and stand in solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized – those ARE acts of love. But even those have to be rooted and grounded in our fundamental love for our fellow creatures. So, love yourself. Love one another. Love your neighbors. Love your enemies. Love the Earth.  

Finally, never forget that you can rely on God to guide you and co-create the future of this beautiful community with you. I have always loved the sentiment expressed in the Book of the Jeremiah, where the prophet imagines God speaking her commitment to her people: 

“Surely I know the plans I have for you, says YHWH, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” 

Now, being the prophet of Process Theology that I am, I update that translation this way: 

“Surely I know the dreams I have for you, says the all-loving God, desires for your well-being and for the common good, to co-create with you a future with hope.”

So, draw strength and courage for the journey by holding tightly to faith, hope, and love. Hold on to one another, too, and keep dreaming big. It is so much better to dream big and not realize all of your dreams than to dream small and never come close to reaching your potential. The Church of the Village has always dreamed big. And even though COTV has never been a very large congregation, it has had a reach and influence far beyond its size. And I believe it is stronger and more vital than most of the churches in our regional conference of the UMC. God dreams big and never gives up working in and through us to turn God’s dream into our reality. 

So, I feel confident about the future of the Church of the Village. I can’t wait to see how you will grow and impact the world in the next ten years and beyond. My dream is that you will carry on in faith-infused hope and continue to strive for God’s dream and ours of not only a church but of a whole world in which everyone is welcomed, celebrated, and cherished and where love reigns among all peoples and all creatures. That’s what I will continue to work for. With God’s help, may it be so.

1  Jeremiah 29:11 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)