Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:00:00]:

Hello, good people, and welcome to the To Be Encouraged podcast with Bishop Julius C. Tremblay. This is the podcast where we look to offer an encouraging word to an often discouraged world. My name is Reverend Dr. Brad Miller, your co-host, and today, Bishop Tremblay, we are talking about hope. Is hope in short supply? What say you, my friend?

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:00:22]:

Well, you know, I like to quote now deceased, the former Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, who said he is a prisoner of— he described himself, Brad, as a prisoner of hope.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:00:39]:

Yes.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:00:40]:

And I like to consider myself a prisoner of hope. And I know I have a colleague that I used to say this, your words come back to haunt you, that hope is not a strategy. And while that is true, hope is not a strategy, but I don't think we can live without hope. They say you need to have water, you need to have food, you need to have oxygen, you need to have sleep, but I think you also need to have hope. And people who have survived, whether it was concentration camps or prisoners of war or people who've been in survival situations on the ocean or islands, they've all held onto a hope, something to look forward to, something that could keep them, help them stay alive. But I'm curious right now, I'm concerned, Brad, whether or not hope is in short supply with so many things happening. Gas prices are up.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:01:42]:

Yeah.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:01:44]:

It seems like we say we don't want to have wars, but it seems like We keep getting in these wars where, you know, and war in Ukraine and, uh, you know, Yeah, it's a mess. There's so much uncertainty, um, and while some people are doing well, it seems the eradication of, of, of rights, the attack on the freedom of, uh, thought at universities, and so, you know, the attack on the diversity, equity, and inclusion I'm wondering if hope is under attack as well.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:02:19]:

Say more about that. So you mentioned about the economy, wars, and so on. Have you seen how it's affecting people personally? Are people individually or as families, are some of them losing hope? What's going on with that?

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:02:34]:

Well, I think those of us who are followers of Christ, we believe You know, that our hope is secure. You know, the Bible said, the Apostle Paul says that, for in hope we are saved.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:02:49]:

Yes.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:02:50]:

You know, it's by God's grace, but for in hope we are saved. Hope that is seen is not hope. This is from Romans, the 8th chapter. Hope that is seen is not hope, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it in patience. So the Christian anticipation of the future fulfillment of God's purpose So we kind of believe like, we know everything's gonna work all right eventually. And so that's what our hope is. You know, we sing the great hymn I grew up singing, my hope is built on nothing less.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:03:21]:

Yes.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:03:21]:

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. So, you know, hope is something that we need. You know, there was a theologian, Moltmann, who came up with the whole 20th century theologian who proposed a theology of hope that really emphasized God's future actions. People talk about eschatology, the things.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:03:52]:

Mm-hmm.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:03:53]:

But there also was many who said, but hope is not just predicated on what will happen in the by and by, like the promise of heaven. Hope is that we know that the future has a promise for things actually being fulfilled to become better. So when we're not satisfied with the way things are, our hope is, and we've got evidence that I hope that things can and will get better. But sometimes, Brad, we have to help make them better.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:04:23]:

Right, right, right. And so that means that hope to me is not just a passive kind of an ethereal thing out there. Hope is a way of living life right now. It's kind of an attitude or an approach to living in the present, not the sweet by and by, as you said, but the present. Can you say a word about that, how we can live in hope right now and still aspire to something greater down the road?

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:04:53]:

Oh yeah, I think we can live in hope, particularly if we invest in righteousness, or if we invest in, you know, some say that the word for righteousness can be translated as justice as well.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:05:05]:

Right.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:05:05]:

So if we invest in justice, if we invest as in David Field and others who've written about God has a mission and at the center of that mission is God's love. And so I believe that, you know, my hope is, you know, tied to God's love, which I think is a foundation for us investing in works of righteousness, works of holiness, works of justice. So there's an Ethiopian proverb that says, Brad, that which we hope for is always better than what we have.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:05:41]:

Hmm.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:05:41]:

But we also need to work for making things better. So hope is not a strategy in and of itself, But it keeps us going. It keeps us going.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:05:55]:

Well, when you lose hope, I'm just reminded of stories of people who have survived great catastrophe, crashes and hunger and things like that. And I was reminded, one of my sons reminded me recently about some of the stories. We were watching some information about World War II, about the Holocaust, about how so many people were lost when they lost hope. And those who did get through that, Elie Wiesel, that's what I'm thinking of, got through because they had just power, they just willed a strong will of hope into their lives. And so what I wanna ask you about then, along the same areas, how do you see, what are some tangible things that you've either seen or people can do to make hope really, really tangible? What is something physically or emotionally or interrelationally they can do to manifest hope?

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:06:51]:

I think building community is a key part of that. One of the things, I read a book years ago entitled Heat Wave. It was about, I think it was in 1995 or whenever it was, when millions, well, not millions, hundreds of people died in Chicago.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:07:10]:

Right.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:07:11]:

Because there was like 10 days where it was over 100 degrees or 90 degrees. Many people, and they died because they were living in isolation.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:07:21]:

Yeah.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:07:21]:

So nobody was checking on them, Brad. Right.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:07:24]:

Yeah.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:07:24]:

So many of these people, they didn't have fans. They had windows that were locked up with bars. They lived in communities where they were not experiencing community. I think one of the things we can do is really, as much as we can, foster community where people are in connection with other people and also engage in good works. Jesus said, even greater works than these you shall do. And I think as we are engaged in the work of helping others, we foster an ethos of hope that often is missing.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:08:03]:

Seems like it's a great place for the local church to step in. Have you seen evidence of that and how that can be a way where the local church can step up even more with, like you say, checking in on people, building community, doing good work? How can the local church be engaged with being a purveyor of hope?

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:08:24]:

Well, I think we need to be about that business, period. Our prayers ought to be connected to building up community. Our prayers ought to remind us as well that we are the ambassadors of hope and the ambassadors of justice as well. I've been asked over the years, Brad, you know, what's my favorite scripture? I say, well, I have many scriptures that are, you know, my favorite scriptures, but I do have a passage of scripture that's been with me since I was going through the ordination process with the Board of Ordained Ministry, and it stuck with me. It's from the Old Testament, the prophet Nahum. and whose name actually means comfort. The name Nahum means comfort.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:09:15]:

Okay.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:09:16]:

And in chapter 1, he describes God as a God of good news, as well as a God of judgment. But this is what Nahum 1 says, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. God protects those who take refuge in him. And so here's, I would really wanna foster hope for our listeners to realize God is good. God sees you. God sees me. And God is a stronghold in the time of trouble. And that's what our hope is built on.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:09:51]:

Our hope is built on the fact that we are not in this alone. We're not just pawns on a chessboard.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:09:58]:

Sure.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:09:59]:

With some cosmic chess player moving us around from one challenge to another. Again, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. God so loved the world, God wanted it to be hope-filled.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:10:18]:

Yes.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:10:19]:

Hope-filled.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:10:20]:

And if you're hope-filled and you have love in your life and we have faith in what God can do, then that brings fulfillment in life. And I think part of what we've been talking about here today is this epidemic of loneliness, of depression, of people being separated from loved ones, from God. You mentioned people in Chicago who died during the '95 heat wave.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:10:43]:

Heat wave.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:10:43]:

And I remember that well myself. But the response to that, and the gospel clearly is about faith and hope and love, and here we are. We can manifest it by doing these things here. Well, what kind of words would you— what kind of encouraging— you're all about encouragement. And I tell you, one thing that I'd like for you to share today before we end our time together is kind of your mission statement about encouragement, because I think it bears repeating at a time like this. But what is your word of encouragement to those who may be feeling hopeless right now or feeling meaningless right now? What would be your word of encouragement today, my friend, to those who are feeling a little bit hopeless?

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:11:30]:

Well, some of the best quotes that have stuck with me are not always from the scriptures. Sometimes they come from movies, movies that I think that reflect real-life experiences of people that have happened. One of those movies, I didn't wanna go see it, Brad, but one of my church members encouraged me to go see it. I don't know if you saw this movie, The Shawshank Redemption.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:11:52]:

Oh yeah, I've seen it many times. Yeah, I've seen it several times.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:11:55]:

Yeah, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:11:58]:

Right, awesome.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:11:58]:

Well, there's a famous line at the very end of that movie, The Shawshank Redemption, It was about these 2 guys who were in prison for a long time and didn't get out of prison. When Red, who's played by Morgan Freeman, finally gets out of prison, he has a difficult time living outside of the prison because his life had been shaped by being in prison.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:12:23]:

Right.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:12:23]:

But he remembered that his friend had told him if he ever got out of prison to go to this certain place and Under this tree, he would find a box and so forth. So at the end of the movie, he goes to the tree and digs up and finds a box. And in that box is a message. And the message is from his friend Andy. And he says, remember, Red, hope is a good thing.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:12:49]:

Yes, hope is a good thing.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:12:50]:

Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:12:55]:

Wow.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:12:56]:

So I want to end by saying, Brad, hope is a good thing, and no good thing ever dies. My mission is to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential. And I think you can do that, friends, by knowing you're loved by God and that hope is a very good thing.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:13:18]:

Indeed, hope is a good thing. Well, thank you for your message here today, Bishop Julius C. Trimble, here on the To Be Encouraged podcast. It's needed. It's a needed message for us to know that hope is a good thing, because indeed we do live in a world that often experiences a sense of hopelessness. So thank you for our audience for joining us here today on To Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble. I'm your co-host, Reverend Dr.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:13:43]:

Brad Miller, and this is the podcast where we offer an encouraging word to an often discouraged world.

Bishop Julius C. Trimble [00:13:50]:

Word.

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller [00:13:51]:

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