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Bishop Alfred Johnson preaches hope at NEJ

July 12, 2024 / By Rev. Erik Alsgaard, Daily Christian Advocate contributor / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Editor's Note: The Rev. Erik Alsgaard is a Daily Christian Advocate contributor and serves as the pastor at the Community United Methodist Church of Crofton.

Bishop Alfred Johnson, who proved that he is retired in name only, delivered a powerful morning message on hope yesterday as the NEJ began its day with worship.

Preaching from Romans 5:1-5, Bishop Johnson, who retired 20 years ago but has continued to serve in local church settings since then, took up the theme of the Jurisdictional meeting by preaching on how the waters of baptism initiate us into a revolution, and that leads to hope.

“I had no idea that those words spoken at my baptism inducted me into a revolution,” he said. “It was prevenient grace. When those waters hit my head, I didn’t know I was in a revolution.”

That’s because, as part of the baptism, we all become one in Christ, the bishop said. That’s different than how the world operates, he offered, and that’s revolutionary.

“Hope overflowing comes out of the revolution. I can have hope because of the revolution,” he proclaimed.

Hope is also subversive, he said. 

“Abraham hoped against hope,” he said. “Romans talks about affliction… Hope flies above suffering, circumstance, disappointment, and has the power to turn disappointment in to seasons of dance and joy in spite of itself.”

And because our hope is rooted in Christ, not ourselves, God can make a way out of no way; hope will rise above anything and then try to get to overflowing, he said.

Hope, he said, “is defined in the dictionary as ‘a desire or wish to make something happen … an expectation that something that might happen.’ But from the biblical view, hope is built on Jesus’ blood and righteousness. It is something that goes down deep that you can’t you get under it, so high that you can’t get over it.”

Preaching in the service set aside for a retired bishop to preach, Bishop Johnson not only thanked his colleagues for the honor of preaching, but also stating that just because a bishop is retired doesn’t mean they are sitting around in rocking chairs.

Bishop Johnson then quoted from several retired bishops without naming them, each one sharing how they continued to offer hope in new ministry settings.

“I’m in my 20th year of retirement,” he said, “and I ain’t tired yet. We’re still serving.”

The bishop closed by noting how Eugene Peterson does Romans 5 in “The Message,” saying that hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured into us and there’s no containers big enough to hold it all.

“Quite the contrary, we can’t round up enough containers,” he said. “We need to be those containers. Don’t be stuck at the door of grace, but go in to the room. Sometimes we want to stay at the door. Get inside the room and you find out there are other people in the room. Our cup runneth over all over the place.”

Bishop Johnson is a child of Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, and said that he can’t far away from those old Charles Tindley hymns.

“Charles Tindley reminds us,” he said, “that we will understand it by and by because we have hope. Some of you do not know that the storm is passing over … let us journey on through the night.

Borrowing from a poem by Amanda Gordon, Bishop Johnson said that The United Methodist church isn’t broken, “it’s just unfinished.”

In response to the sermon, the NEJ rose as one and sang, “Hope Will Not Fail,” from Mark Miller.

The service ended with a renewal of baptism lead by the bishop. People came forward to dip their fingers in bowls of water while singing, “Let’s go down to the river to pray,” and “Wade in the Water.”

Worship closed with singing of “I am a Child of God,” also by Mark Miller.