CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter
LISTENING TO THE FIRST METHODIST [Su, 11-22-20]
When I was growing up, I knew I was a Methodist, but I’m not sure I’d even heard the name of John Wesley. When I was confirmed at East Park Church in Indianapolis, at age 9, I cannot remember that we studied Wesley at all, even though we would not have been called Methodist without him. It was really at IU, taking History of Christian Thought from D.J. Bowden, that I got acquainted with the man I think is the most important person of the 18th century, his years from 1703-1791 spanning almost the entire century.
He is rightly credited, I think, with saving England from a bloody revolution like that of France in the 18th century, because so many folks in the beleaguered revolutionary classes became involved in the methodical, highly-organized, Methodist movement that they didn’t have time or interest in bloody revolution.
Some would count that against him, for there were plenty of English Lords and moguls who deserved to lose their heads for the ways they treated the lower classes and “foreigners,” like the Irish. Of course, Wesley wasn’t trying to prevent a revolution. He just wanted to help people live the Jesus way.
In addition to helping people organize to live their faith, he was a remarkable thinker. He was the great advocate of free will, over against the predestination that dominated theology in his day.
I recall in senior honors English with Miss Grace Robb, in Oakland City High School, she asked Bill Burns what Emerson was noted for, he said, “Quotes.” Those may not be Wesley’s major accomplishments, but he left us plenty of them, and they’re worthwhile for any Christian person to peruse…
He is probably most famous for his simple rule for Christian living: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
He was very much into practical medicine, as one of his most famous statements indicates: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” [Yes, he’s the one who said it.]
So, I think he would say these days: “Avoid all the people you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, as long as ever you can.”
When he discovered the medical uses of electric shock, he said, “Christians should be electrified daily.” [Preachers have used that forever in a symbolic way.]
He advocated free thinking as well as free will: “If your heart is with my heart, then give me your hand.” Not all Christians had to think alike.
Nonetheless, he wanted Christians to be thought-full: “Let us unite the two so long divided, knowledge and vital piety.”
The “vital piety” part meant that following Jesus wasn’t just a theological exercise: “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles around to watch you burn.”
And faith wasn’t just about heaven and hell. In fact, despite the prevailing theology of his times, heaven and hell didn’t figure very much into his thinking. “Whosoever will reign with Christ in heaven must have Christ reigning with him on earth.”
And all that organization, doing things methodically, wasn’t just for obeying the rules. The rules had a purpose, nothing less than changing the world. “The church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples.”
His last quote, his dying words: “The best thing is, God is with us.”
I’ve studied Wesley a lot through the years. Been going back to him again now that I am old and trying to make sense of my life and my future. Methodist or not, it’s a good thing to listen to John Wesley as you do that.
John Robert McFarland
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