Strangely Warmed

I understand that UMC General Secretary Gere Reist has called John Wesley’s sermon “A Caution Against Bigotry” required reading in preparation for the United Methodist Church's quadrennial General Conference which convenes in May. So, even though I am not a delegate, I accepted Mr. Reist's challenge and read Mr. Wesley's sermon. You can too. The text is here . Before looking at the text in some detail, here are my takeaways: The bigotry against which Wesley cautions does not require one to turn a blind eye to sin. On the contrary, the behavior Wesley is trying to encourage demands that Christians recognize the difference between sin and holiness. Respecting and honoring God’s work among those who are “not of us” does not require all Christians to belong to the same institutional expression of Christ’s one church. Wesley explicitly states that some differences in practice will require Christians to belong to separate institutions. By the power of the Holy Sp...

Why have I begun to hear the public reading of the holy scriptures so frequently prefaced by the command, “Listen for the word of God?” Dear lector, what on earth do you mean? What is this liturgical innovation supposed to accomplish? Are you implying that I need to sift through the chaff to find the grain of wheat in this reading? May I simply discard the parts I find distasteful or unworthy of my expectations of the deity? Or are you telling me that I can read whatever subjective meaning I might find uplifting or helpful into the text? Is it only the word of God in my personal, subjective encounter with it? Sorry, I don’t get it. Of course the assembly has to interpret the word it has received within the context of scriptures’s grand narrative and the great tradition of the church, but it must begin that process at a point of confidence in the divine authority of the text. If you are ever forced to hear to me preach, please, listen “for” the word of God. If you are fo...

How do we read the Bible in public worship? Here's how Nehemiah describes the public reading of scriptures. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Nehemiah 8:5-6 Standing, offering responsive prayer and praise, and bowing to the Lord: this is how the assembly liturgically surrounded the reading of God's word in the post-exilic age of Ezra and Nehemiah. And, the Book of Nehemiah tells us, "all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (8:3). How should we respond when the God of the universe speaks? We should probably listen to God speaking through his written word differently than we listen to the announcement of the upcoming bake sale. ...

John Wesley gave Methodists 25 of the 39 Articles of Religion of the Church of England. Here's one he omitted, that I wish he had included. XXVI. Of the unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacraments. ALTHOUGH in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometime the evil have chief authority in the ministration of the word and sacraments; yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by His commission and authority, we may use their ministry both in hearing the word of God and in the receiving of the sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such as by faith and rightly do receive the sacraments ministered unto them, which be effectual because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men. Nevertheless it appertaineth to the discipline of t...

No man living is entirely destitute of what is vulgarly called natural conscience. But this is not natural: It is more properly termed preventing grace. Every man has a greater or less measure of this, which waiteth not for the call of man. John Wesley, On Working Out Our Own Salvation Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian "conception" of God.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship The doctrine of prevenient grace is not a quick and easy solution to the problem of divine election. The power of God’s grace is no less mysterious and unfathomable in Wesleyan thought than it is in Calvinist theology. Arminianism is the name given to a theological framework that diverged from the Calvininst (or Reformed) tradition the late 16th century. John Wesley’s 18th century doctrine of prevenient grace developed out of an Arminian perspective. In ove...

It sometimes helps me to sketch out ideas as I think through them. I recently posted excerpts from John Wesley's writings on prevenient grace -  God's work to free people from their bondage to sin and make it possible for them to respond to the gospel with repentance and faith. This post briefly sketches three different ways of looking at how God's gracious power leads people from spiritual bondage to salvation through a living faith in Jesus Christ. First, one might think of God giving people the power to act and decide for themselves. God brings them to the point at which they can see their own sinful condition and the possibility of faith. It is up the individual to jump across the gap between belief and unbelief on their own. I remember frequently using the term "leap of faith" when I was a very young Christian, and that term captures the essence of what I am describing.  At any point in my lostness and bondage to sin, however, am I capable of simply decid...

I posted the text of John Wesley's Covenant Renewal Prayer on New Year's Day. Within Methodism, the prayer has come to be used primarily in "Watch Night" worship services held on New Year's Eve or in other services held around the first of January. For catholic Christians, however, every Sunday is Covenant Renewal Sunday. The sacrament of Holy Communion is a weekly renewal of the new covenant in Jesus' blood (Luke 22:20). Holy Communion, no less than Christian baptism, is an act of death to self. In baptism, we are united to Christ's death (Romans 6:3-8), a fact which has consequences for how we must live. In communion, we participate in the living memory of the death (Luke 22:19) to which we are united in baptism. Paul calls the Eucharist a "participation" ( koinonia ) in the blood and body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16).  For Paul, Christ's death and resurrection set the pattern for the Christian's life. I want to know Chri...

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.