Book Review: John Wesley's Sermons

Information about the book

Outler, Albert C. and Richard P. Heitzenrater. John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology. Abingdon Press, Nashville. 2010.  Cokesbury. Amazon.

Summary

From the Amazon Description: Adapted from Albert Outler's 4-volume text The Works of John Wesley, this anthology of 50 of Wesley's finest sermons. Arranged chronologically with introductory commentary by Richard Heitzenrater.

Impressions

I chose to read this book in along with two classes from BeADisciple class Methodist Identity:  Beliefs and Methodist Identity: Our Story.  I read sermons (about three a week for each 8 week class) that pertained to the topic each week (for the Beliefs class) and then the rest mainly chronologically for the Our Story Class.  I completed reading the 50 sermons by the end of the second class.

Of course, Wesley preached more than 50 sermons, and I don't have the expertise to tell you if the editor chose the most advantageous 50 to include.  The sermons are arranged chronologically, and cover the entirety of John Wesley's life from early in his ministry through the end of his life. 

I particularly liked the Introductory Comments that the editor included.  These introductions were short - about a page each - but they set the stage for the sermon, place it in context in Wesley's work, and helped me to identify themes throughout the sermon.

I would recommend this book to someone who would like to explore Wesley's work.  I would add that all of Wesley's sermons are now available online at this link.

Link: Wesley Sermons

 

The Wesleys in and after Georgia

 How did John and Charles' respective experiences in Georgia contribute to the May 1738 experience? Why was this conversion so significant for each of them? What did it change?

 

John and Charles had different experiences in Georgia.  Charles spent his time on St. Simon’s Island, serving as secretary to General Oglethrope and as the priest for the new town of Frederica. Oglethorpe and Charles had a rocky relationship, and Charles’s health did not seem equal to the rough conditions of the colony.  As he left, after only six months in the colony, he wrote in his journal, “I was surprised that I felt no more joy in leaving such a scene of sorrows.”   John’s mission to Georgia was less structured than Charles.  He stayed in Georgia for two years, leaving when he was facing charges related to a young colonist named Sophy Hopkeys.  Both brothers left the colony with convictions that their missions had failed or had mediocre success at best. Their experiences were humbling. 

 

Both brothers also came to the conclusions, after conversations with Moravaians on the ship and in the colony plus after their return to England (Peter Bohler), that their faith was only based on an agreement with theology and not on an experience of assurance.  They did not feel as if they believed that they were children of God’s grace, forgiven and loved.  This is what their conversations supplied them. 

 

Charles experienced a conversion on May 21, 1738 (Pentecost).  He wrote that the Spirit of God had chased away the darkness of his unbelief.  Three days later, John experienced a heart strangely warmed.  Richard Heitzenrater wrote, “Faith as trust and confidence was no longer just a propositional truth but rather an experiential reality.”

Perspectives: Mural

 Mural in Cincinnati, I think.

Say Thank You

One of the Lectionary readings for Thanksgiving Day is Luke 17:11-19.  This is the story of the 10 lepers who approach Jesus in the region between Samaria and Galilee.  They cry out, and Jesus heals them.  One of the ten, seeing that he was healed, turned back and praised God, thanking Jesus. 

I remember this story as a kid as sort of a morality play, encouraging us to use the "magic words" - please, thank you, etc.  Not only that, but I saw it as a story that taught that God/Jesus EXPECTS us to say thank you - to be grateful for our blessings, and to say so. As an adult, I see so much more in the story.

Is it important that the story identifies the thankful healed leper as a Samaritan? I think it must be.  The Samaritan would have been the outsider. He probably wasn't really expecting Jesus, the Jew, to heal him, so when he found himself healed, maybe he was moved to gratitude.

What is really interesting to me is not just that the man was grateful, but that in receiving the healing, his eyes were opened and he recognized in Jesus the presence of God.

Did Jesus need gratitude? No.  But I think we do, right? In the ex-leper's gratitude, he found the grace of the unexpected blessing and the recognition of God. Gratitude does something to set ourselves aside and to focus on the external - on the one who is blessing us.

 

The Promised Land

 Read these words from Exodus 34:1-5:

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain -- that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees -- as far as Zoar.  The LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."  Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at  the Lord's command.

I've always thought this passage was a sad.  Moses has been leading the Israelites, following God, for so many years, and yet he only gets to SEE the promised land - not go there. 

A few other thoughts, though (although I don't offer these as an explanation of why Moses didn't get to go to the Promised Land):

1. Some of us are called for a particular time - "for such a time as this."  Moses certainly was. He led the people through the wilderness to the promise.  What situation have you been called to? What is your "such a time as this?"
2. I've seen churches become dependent on a particular long-time pastor. The church flourishes under the pastor's leadership, but isn't equipped for when the pastor leaves.  Imagine the transition to Joshua in this story. Perhaps this change of situation was the best time to change leaders?
3. The first thought I had about this passage today was that we often are called to plant seeds.  When you plant seeds, sometime you are not there to see the trees grow.  The trees are for another generation - a generation that will rejoice that you planted seeds.  What seeds are you planting? What trees are you grateful someone else planted?

Perspectives: Lamp

Speaking of perspectives, what does this remind you of?  It reminds me of this guy: Pixar Lamp  This one is living in a hotel room.  Do you think he hops around when no one is there?

Course Review: Methodist Identity: Our Story

 Information about the Course

This is a course offered by BeADisiciple.com called Methodist Identity: Our Story. This is a course offered as part of the Wesley Academy for Advanced Christian Studies, created in partnership with Wesley Theological Seminary and BeADisciple.  The course instructor is Rev. Dr. Kristen Burkhart. The course is eight weeks long. Each week a video of different experts in the field of Methodist history.  Each week students are asked to do some additional readings, post answers to 3 questions on a Discussion board, and participation in online discussion. 

The course can be part of a certification called Certificate in Advanced Christian Study.  The certificate involves completion of six courses such as this one.  The course can also be taken as a stand alone option.

Summary

From the website:  What does it mean to be Methodist? The first of Wesley Academy’s two Methodist Identity courses guides learners through a series of lessons from leading Methodist scholars and features Christian historian Justo Gonzalez. Methodism is traced through its roots in Wesleyanism to its growth as a movement in the North Atlantic and, eventually, the world. Supplemental materials cover Methodism’s growth in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Join us in this exploration of Methodist identity, which will benefit the lifelong Methodist, the armchair scholar, and the simply curious.  

Lessons Include:

1. John and Charles Wesley: The Early Years – Paul Chilcote
2. Methodist Beginnings: 1725-1737 – Amy Oden
3. Aldersgate and Its Results: 1738 – Steve Rankin and Methodist History: 1739-1744 – Henry Knight
4. Early Methodist Revival: 1740-1760 –Hoo-Jung Lee and Methodism in Britain: 1760-1791 – Peter Forsaith
5. The Legacy of Charles Wesley – S. T. Kimbrough
6. American Methodism: 1740s-1860s – Douglas M. Strong and African Methodism in Early America – Dennis C. Dickerson
7. The Holiness Movement and Missions – Steven O’Malley and Global Methodism – Robert Hunt
8. Methodism and Social Holiness – Wendy Deichmann Edwards

Impressions

This course is one of two required courses for a Wesleyan Emphasis for the Advanced Studies certificate. 

I enjoyed the course, and am glad I signed up to complete it.  It presents United Methodist history is an organized way, which is helpful for my understanding of it. 

I believe this course will be beneficial both to my work at the Foundation and as I teach the Conference CLM Course.  I also think that it will be beneficial to me in my work as a reserve delegate to the General Conference.

In the past, I have participated in at least two courses with low enrollment;  this complicates my goal of responding to at least two other people's posts since one of the four was me.  That was not a problem with this course. There were many students, and it was easier to find posts to which to reply.  As usual, the leader's participation adds to the course.

Prior to starting the course, I read the book Wesley and the People called Methodists by Richard Heitzenrater and read at 2-4 of John Wesley's sermons each week.  I would recommend doing this if you have the time. It adds more dimensions to the course - although the course would stand alone without it.

Great course - I recommend it.

Posts about the Class

Posts about the class will have the tag Methodist Identity: Story

The Fruit of Failure

 

One of the questions we discussed in the Methodist Identity: Our Story class was how John Wesley's experience in Georgia prepared him for fruitful ministry later. 

Wesley’s experience in Georgia – his failure in Georgia – prepared him in at least two ways for a fruitful ministry later.  On the way to Georgia, he encountered a group of Moravians.  Watching them and their devotional practices during frightening ocean experiences helped him to see that his relationship with God could be closer.  He believed if his faith had been stronger, he would have been less frightened as he saw the Moravians were.  Whether this is true or not, it did create in him (or enhance) a yearning for something more.  Secondly, his failure as a missionary, even up to and including legal charges, created a new humility in John.  He left Georgia less reliant on himself and his own beliefs and abilities.  Amy Oden calls it a “heart broken open.”  He is more prepared to rely on God than he was before.

What is the role of failure in our ability to have fruitful ministry? I can see how John's new humility would open him to new ways for relating to other people and to God. When we learn from our mistakes - what we should do and should not do - and when we allow failure to transform us from what we were into something new and better, we are growing, aren't we? We are allow God's grace to sanctify us.

I doubt any of us like the pain of failure or humiliation (John Wesley left Georgia fleeing from legal charges). We should take care not to waste the pain.

Perspectives: Restaurant Restroom

I have no idea.

 

Course Review: Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising

 I decided to take a moment and share with you my experience in earning the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving's Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising.  I'll hyperlink to pages that will provide you with more information.

Lake Institute on Faith and Giving is part of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.  It's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between faith and giving.

One of the ways they accomplish this mission is to offer an educational opportunity called the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising. Before the pandemic, it was offered in various locations, lasting a week at a time. Since the pandemic, they have switched to an 8-week online course.

It has been my intention for several years to complete the course; in fact, I set it as one of two training goals in 2019.  The first was to earn the Certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership (CNEL); the second was the ECRF.  I signed up for the first course in the CNEL as an in-person course, and then the pandemic hit.  The Paul O'Neil School of Public and Environmental Affairs had already been offering the courses as both online and in-person; they pivoted my course to online.  I completed the course, as well as the next three necessary for that certification, doing only one of them online.

Anyway, my plan was to start the ECRF after finishing the first certificate, but I was hesitate to do an 8 week online course that required two 1 1/2 hour classes a week plus an additional small group zoom meeting.  It seemed like a large commitment of time in my work week.  As I was looking at it again, I noticed they were offering an in-person class in Greenville, South Carolina.  This option was two and a half days with a follow-up Zoom call.  It seemed much more manageable, so I jumped at it. I completed that part of the course in May of this year. 

Completion of the in-person course grants access to their online resources in a system called PathWright, so I worked through those offerings as well.

The last part of the Certificate is a practical project.  It requires a proposal submission, the project completion, and a reflection paper.  My project was our in-person Academy of Faith and Generosity, held this past September.  I turned in my reflection paper on November 1, and learned the 3rd that I've completed the Certificate, so yay!

I would recommend it to those who are interested.  It is well planned and executed.

Teach the Story

 Have you read Psalm 78 recently? Psalm 78:1-7 is one of the lectionary readings for November 12 of this year (Year A).

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.  I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.

As I'm writing this post (I write ahead of the blog), it is the Friday before the celebration of All Saints Day in our church.  I think of the people who are no longer with us who were my teachers, and I am grateful for them.

This part of Psalm 78 was written "as a summons to teach the story of God's saving deeds to the next generation " (Note from The New Interpreter's Study Bible).  I love how it starts: listen, I will tell you a story....

Who were your teachers? As we approach Thanksgiving, for whom are you thankful? How will you follow the command of the Psalm to tell the coming generation of the glorious deeds of the Lord?

Perspectives: Wallpaper Faces

 Ok, this is admittedly a weird one.  This is the wallpaper in a restroom I recently visited.  Does it look like faces to you?

This is one of the reasons I post Perspective images each week.  We all see things differently.  I'm just wondering if anyone else sees the wallpaper looking at them, too.

Wesley's Highest Priority

 A watershed for Methodism was the ordination of Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as ministers in America: an act of ecclesial disobedience, even while maintaining Methodists communion with the Church of England. What does Wesley's willingness to bend the rules here tell us about his approach to leadership and authority, and about the character of Wesleyan leadership today?

 

Part of the mission of the Methodists was to reform the Church of England from the inside.  Wesley was an Anglican priest; his goal was never to start a new religion, but to bring the Anglican church to a deeper faith. Separating the Methodists from the Anglican church would have been to admit failure of this original mission.

Wesley spent decades working within the Anglican Church; an earlier separation could have solved problems he faced all throughout this time, but he stood opposed to it.  He published and preached against separation; he saw his work to be to renew the Anglican Church.  At the same time, Wesley saw his call to help others to live a holy life in obedience and under the authority of God.  These were two parts of the mission of the Methodist movement.  For decades, Wesley worked to find compromise solutions that would allow both parts of this mission to continue. 

 

After the Revolutionary War in America, the colonies were no longer part of England.  Why should the Church of England send priests?  Wesley saw the Methodist movement in the new United States as a growing and successful enterprise.  He could no longer fulfill both parts of the mission, and he determined (I think) that the second part, to bring people to a holy life, was more important than renewing the Anglican Church that could not or would not serve them. The people needed priests, so he secretly ordained two of them. 

For me, this look at Wesley's mission and experience building Methodism with its original two-pronged mission, brought to light for me Wesley's highest priority, to bring people to God and a life of holiness. That outranked everything else.