In the sporting world, you know you are famous when they make a bobble head of your character. The Philadelphia Phillies have many bobble heads, such as: Jimmy Rollins, Maikel Franco, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton just to name a few. So to be anybody you need to have a bobble head. In the world of theology – John Wesley has a bobble head.
Today begins a series of sermons on Methodism. Today we are looking at John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism around the world.
John Wesley was the moving force that created the church body that is designed to worship the God of Creation, the God that gave us the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and the God who is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. John Wesley was the 15th of 19 children of Samuel and Suzanne Wesley. John was born in Epworth, England in 1703 and grew up in the church parsonage as his father was an Anglican priest of the Church of England. He was home schooled in his early years by his mother, Suzanne, and he learned to be very methodical with his life, learning the Holy Scriptures and the importance of worshipping God. John went on Christ College, Oxford University, studying for the ministry and was ordained an Anglican Priest like his father.
John’s younger brother, Charles, born 4 years later in 1707, was the 18th child of the family and he also went to Oxford where he also was ordained as a priest of the Church of England.
Charles, while at Oxford started a study group which became known as the “Holy Club”. This club usually met daily to pray and to read and study the scriptures. This club was not accepted by the other students and they were called a derogatory name, calling them “the Methodists”, because of the way they patterned their life. Eventually, John joined the club, became the leader and turned the negative name into a positive one.
Charles had a gift from God that he used to bring honor and glory to God. This gift was the writing of hymns and poetry. Charles wrote over 6,000 hymns, many of which the world sings today. Every Christmas throughout the world, you can hear Charles’ Christmas Carol, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”. Today we are singing two of Charles’ hymns, “Ye Servants of God” and the #1 hymn in the Methodist hymnal, “O For a Thousands Tongues to Sing”.
John and Charles teamed up together and formed a ministry. They were challenged by George Whitefield to take their ministry out of the church setting and directly to the people. This was a radical change and the Anglican Church did not approve of this type of worship. John and Charles took the Word of God directly to the people who worked in the mines, or who were on street corners, into the prisons and to wherever people gathered together publically.
Eventually, John’s ministry became mobile, no he didn’t use a cell phone, he used his horse for mobility. His ministry was to the people of England and Wales as he travelled by horseback bringing the Word of God to the people he came in contact with. He became very well-known and at times he would preach to 2 to 3,000 people.
John was a prolific reader and writer, the Bible was his source book and he called himself “the man of one book”. As a writer, he published many of his sermons and today they are the source of his theology to the Methodist Church. His ministry grew to the point where he trained people to be lay preachers and this eventually led to the forming of the Methodist Church in England.
The ministry became so popular that it migrated to the colonies, where lay preachers, known as Circuit Riders, took the gospel beyond the towns and cities to the people in the outlying countryside. John never became a bishop, but he ordained Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury to lead the church in America.
Today’s text of 2 Timothy, I believe is one that John used to propel his ministry. Verses 16 & 17 reads, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. John used the word of God to preach to the people about their sinfulness, teaching them, rebuking them, correcting them that they may learn about salvation and righteousness.
The Psalm 119 passage may of laid heavily on the heart of John as he travelled the countryside and was quoted as saying, “the world is my parish”. He wanted the world know about the God of scripture. This Psalm says: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, according to your word”.
John took the word of God to the people of England and Wales until he died in 1791, at an age of 88 years. His brother Charles died 3 years earlier in 1788.
Dr. Albert Outler, an American Methodist theologian and a Wesley scholar, in 1985 published in the Wesleyan Theological Journal a paper about the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. This four sided figure illuminated the core of Wesleyan belief and faith. The 4 sides are (1) scripture, (2) tradition, (3) reason and (4) experience.
For United Methodists, Scripture is considered the primary source and standard for all Christian doctrine. Outler stated that scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself “a man of one book”, as I stated earlier. Tradition is the experience and the witness of development and growth of the faith through the past centuries and in many nations and cultures. Experience is the individual’s understanding and appropriating of the faith in the light of his or her own life. Through Reason the individual Christian seeks to grasp, express, and live out the gospel in a way that will commend itself to thoughtful persons who are seeking to know and follow God’s ways. These four elements taken together bring the individual Christian to a mature and fulfilling understanding of the Christian faith and the required response of worship and service.
John and Charles were students of the scriptures and Dr. Outler saw their reliance on scripture as the power of their lives and the very source of their faith. Hebrews 4:12 leaves us with this thought. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”.
What can the Word of God do in our life? It can penetrate our lives and divide and separate our soul from our spirit. We being made in God’s image are a triune being – consisting of body, soul and spirit. Our body is what you see, our soul is who we are, our intellect, our knowledge, our understanding, our personality, and our spirit is that part of our being that communicates and has a relationship with God.
God’s word is able to divide our soul from our spirit. We are to be led by our spirit, which is of God, and not by our soul which wants to satisfy only our physical or fleshly needs and wants, for the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within our spirit. Paul tells us about this in Galatians 5:16-18. “So I say, walk by the (Holy) Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.
The Word of God also judges our thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts. This is why the unbelieving world detests the Word of God. John Wesley saw how powerful the word of God is to all believers.
I trust you have a better insight about John and Charles Wesley. In the coming weeks Pastor Monica will enlighten us more about the theology of John and how it relates to our faith as United Methodist.
Please join me in prayer. Lord God, we thank you for raising up the Wesleys and giving them the ability to lead us in our way of worshipping you as our God. Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 119:105-112
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to observe your righteous ordinances.
I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O Lord, according to your word.
Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
and teach me your ordinances.
I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts.
Your decrees are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
I incline my heart to perform your statutes
forever, to the end.
New Testament Lesson: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, July 1 ~ Saturday, July 7
Sunday: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119: 105. Where have the scriptures shed light unto your life?
Monday: “I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances.” Psalm 119: 106. Pray for all those serve in elected and appointed office under oath to care for others.
Tuesday: “Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances.” Psalm 119: 108. Consider what offerings of your praise you are giving today.
Wednesday: “Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.” Psalm 119: 111-112. God calls us to serve God above all others. Contemplate on this day whom you will serve.
Thursday: “Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” 2 Timothy 3: 10-11. Where can you tell the stories of how God has seen you through the trials and tribulations? Tell your stories of great things God has done!
Friday: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3: 14-15. Pray today for those who preparing for VBS next week, children, youth, and adults.
Saturday: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16. Consider where God is calling you to be in scripture for teaching, reproof, correction, and training.