Susannah Wesley

In what ways was Susanna a woman ahead of her time, and what characteristics do you particularly admire? Why?

Susanna knew how to build connections with people through kindness and gracious responses. She was able to build community in their parish when Samuel was not.  She believed in the education and spiritual upbringing of her children, and she devoted herself to this goal.  She did not exclude her daughters from this endeavor, believing their intellectual development was more important and a higher priority than their domestic development.  She was organized: Rev. Alfred T. Day, III, General  Commission on Archives and History, said, “She had a spreadsheet before there were spreadsheets.”

 

Earlier this year, I participated in the Women Speak of Faith class in this series (great course).  One week we read and wrote about Susanna Wesley, particularly her written commentary of the Apostles Creed.  I admire the theology she outlines in that commentary.

 

There is a story told of Susanna Wesley. When her husband was absent for a long period of time, out of dissatisfaction with the substitute priest in the parish, she began teaching and preaching to a group of people in her home. Eventually, over 200 gathered. There were complaints to Samuel, her husband. She wrote to him, “If you do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me that you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience: but send me your positive command, in such full and express terms as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity of doing good when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

She was a woman of grace, faith, and intellect.  She was devoted to her family but also to the community in which she lived.  I find much to admire about her. 

 

Time Management and Holy Living

I’m currently reading Wesley and the People Called Methodists by Richard P Heitzenrater. I’ve registered for my next Wesley / Be A Disciple class for the Wesley Academy for Advanced Christian Studies.   My experience with these classes is that they do not require a large amount of outside reading, but by adding an optional book reading to the class, I greatly enhance my experience and learning. 

Anyway, today I read this:  "Jeremy Taylor provided one of the most crucial suggestions that Wesley adopted: the first rule of holy living is care of your time."

I’ve known for a while that John Wesley kept a diary of the use of his time (among other things).  Also, one of the historical questions is:

“Will you observe the following directions? A) Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never trifle away time; neither spend any more time at any one place than is strictly necessary. B) Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our rules, but keep them; not for wrath, but for conscience’ sake.” 

I’ve never really considered why Wesley placed such a value on managing his time until I read the first sentence I quoted: the first rule of holy living is care of your time.

How aware are we of how we spend our time?  I manage my time at work with the goal (in my mind) of both being aware of the goals/tasks I need to accomplish that day, prioritizing them, and then managing my time in order to accomplish them.  That’s not working toward holy living, but it’s what I consider to be time management.

But how often do we say, “I would do that, but I just don’t have the time.”  Are we aware of how we spend our time? Do we prioritize holy living? Time in prayer and study? Time in service?

I for one do not think it is healthy to always be pushing to get things done.  We all need down time.  That said, do we prioritize our time for holy living? It’s an interesting question to me.

Voting

In Sunday school a few weeks ago, a member of the class read a quote from John Wesley taken from his journal, dated October 6, 1774:

"I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them,

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy:
2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And,
3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

I've been thinking about those words.  Do you find them difficult to put into practice?  When they were read in Sunday school, another member said, "Well, one out of three isn't bad."

We would all agree, I think, that we shouldn't sell our vote, and that we should make a judgement and vote.  But what about the other two?

I admit, I do speak negatively words about the person against whom I vote, and I do probably have sharp words to say about the people who do not vote the way I do.  And yet, I do think there are times when one must stand up and speak against the people and ideas that we believe are wrong, or even evil.  

In a country that is so divided politically, and in a church that is divided by one particular (that we are currently noticing) issue, how do we implement Wesley's advice while still acting and speaking with integrity?

I don't have the answers, and I confess I've not been able to follow Wesley's advice, but I do think we need to see the other person as a person.  Once we change that person into an issue or into an obstacle, and no longer see him or her as a child of God, we lose the ability to act in Christ's healing peace.

Talk about God?

To continue yesterday's quote from Wesley's sermon, Scriptural Christianity:

Can you bear, unless now and then in a church, any talk of the Holy Ghost? Would you not take it for granted if one began such a conversation that it was either "hypocrisy" or "enthusiasm"? In the name of the Lord God Almighty I ask, What religion are you of? Even the talk of Christianity ye cannot, will not, bear.  O my brethren! what a Christian city is this? "It is tie for thee, Lord, to lay to thine hand!"

Do you talk about God?  Do you talk about God outside of church? Do you witness to your faith? Do I?

I think many of us (including me) would answer no, or not often, to this question. The teacher of a preaching class I attended asked us to consider the question: What did life used to be like? What happened to change it? What is it like now?  He said if you could answer those three questions about your faith journey, telling others the change God has made in your life, then you would find it easy to prepare an authentic sermon for when you were called on a Saturday night to preach on Sunday morning.

I think it might also be one of the keys to speaking about God to other people. Do we know our faith story? Can we tell it? Do we know the difference God has made in our lives? Why is being part of a church important to us? Don't put off answering the questions for yourself so that when you are asked you have no answer. If you are prepared, I think God will lead you to opportunities to tell the story.

Vile

John Wesley visited George Whitefield in Bristol and witnessed how Whitefield preached to thousands of people in the fields.  According to Adam Hamilton (Revival), Wesley wrote in his journal:

I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in fields ... having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order that I should have thought that saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church....At four in the afternoon I submitted to "be more file," and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people.

I'm amazed that the person who said, "the world is my parish," at first found this it to be almost sinful, not because of scripture, but because of what he had been taught as a priest.

What is there in the way we are taught faith "should be" that we need to let go of so that God can use us more?  I can think of so many "shoulds" that the list would be incredibly long - what we should wear (and what others should wear), what the music should be, what the order of worship should be, where we should have church, how we should worship together, how we should treat others, etc. What do we need to release that isn't a teaching of God so that the teaching of God can be heard by those who need to hear it?

Living Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:1-3)

What does it mean to be a living sacrifice?  How does this differ from sacrificing?

The phrase 'living sacrifice' often stops my reading.  What does it mean to be a living sacrifice?  That's different from offering a sacrifice.  I can sacrifice my time or my money, but that's not offering myself as a living sacrifice.

My first thought when I hear it is that the sacrifice is what dies.  Think about a battle.  The commander may know that his plan means that 1,000 soldiers will die, but that is an acceptable sacrifice because of the greater cause.  To sound like Star Trek, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

It all comes down to trust.  In order to offer myself - me -  not my time, not my gifts, not my money - as a living sacrifice, I have to trust God.  I have to believe that I am loved by God.  If I trust God enough, then I can say, as Wesley did:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Tools for Discernment

Question from my Certified Lay Minister training material: Read “Our Theological Task,” Part II, Section 4, The Book of Discipline and Chapter 10, “Doctrinal Faithfulness and Continuing Exploration” from Bishop Carder’s book. Four “tools” – scripture, tradition, reason and experience – are proposed as a way of engaging in theological discussion for the twenty-first century while maintaining sound doctrine. Discuss these tools. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?

There is a somewhat trite saying expressed often on t-shirts and posters that reads, “God isn’t finished with me yet.” The saying has become trite and overused because it contains a grain of truth. God is still active in the world, and God desires us to be in mission with him. Since that is the case, we need a way by which to discern truth in a modern world. Wesley offers us a method that employs four tools for us to use in our attempt to discern the will of God and in our theological discussions: scripture, tradition, reason and experience.

“The primary source and criterion for determining doctrine and engaging in theological exploration is the Bible.” (3) Our Articles of Religion state that “the Holy Scriptures containeth all things necessary to salvation….” This is an echo of 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. It is necessary for us to undertake a serious study of the Bible, both individually and in community, so as to allow God’s grace to work through the Word. We do so taking care to interpret scripture in its many contexts, including historical, cultural and biblical. Citing a single passage in isolation can lead to dangerous misuse of the Word of God. According to Bishop Carder, “scripture does not yield its divine secrets carelessly or casually.”(3)

Because “the theological task does not start anew in each age or each person,”(4) we are instructed to recognize the role tradition can play in our theological explorations. It is important to use the light previous theological thought to illuminate our interpretation. The dangers in the use of this tool are an overreliance on tradition – allowing it to negate our own experience and reason as well as a reliance on a narrow traditional source instead of a broad range of interpretations.

Our use of experience is twofold. We are called to rely on our experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the confidence that we are becoming a new creation through God. Our relationship with God should aid us in discerning God’s will. Our life experience is the second facet of this tool that is important. We gain wisdom and understanding throughout our lives. The drawback of this tool is that we can elevate our personal experience above the guidance we receive from scripture, resulting in rationalization or distortions of God’s word.

As United Methodists we are called to bring reason into play. “The human mind is one of God’s most precious gifts and an important means of exploring, discerning and sharing God’s truth and mission.”(3) According to Wesley, religion and reason go hand in hand, and “an irrational religion is a false religion.”(3) As with any of the other tools for discerning God’s will, reason can be misused and abused.

3 - Carder, Kenneth L., Living our Beliefs, Chapter 10 (Doctrinal Faithfulness and Continuing Exploration).
4 - The Book of Discipline, Part II: Doctrinal Standards and our Theological Task, Section 4: Our Theological Task.