Rev. Joan Pell Sierra Pines United Methodist Church Sermon: 5/21/2017 Sermon Resurrection Stories Scripture: Romans 5:1-11 <Romans 5:1-11> John Wesley s Legacy 1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. In this Easter season, we are sharing resurrection stories of Biblical characters, historical characters and our own stories too. Today, it is Heritage Sunday, a day that United Methodists churches remember the past by committing themselves to the continuing call of God. 1 Heritage Sunday is also the Sunday closest to Aldersgate Day which commemorates the events of May 24, 1738, the day when John Wesley experienced assurance of his salvation. 2 So, I thought that we would look today at John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, who left such a strong legacy for us. John Wesley was born in 1703 to Samuel and Susanna Wesley. Samuel was a rector in the Church of England serving a parish church in the small town of Epworth in the north of England. 1 http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/glossary-heritage-sunday 2 http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/what-is-aldersgate-day -1-
I went there last summer. This is the church. And the family lived a few minutes walk away in the rectory (parsonage). Fire age 5 John missing neighbors rescued. Perhaps, his first moment of resurrection. Mother called him brand plucked from the burning & said saved for something. Zechariah 3:2 Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire? Visited rectory last summer picture now on stairs original painting is B&W. Rectory was rebuilt after fire. This is the rectory now it has been extended a lot over the years. College at Oxford University. Called to ministry. Brother Charles got John involved in leading small groups. Studied. Visited the sick. Called Bible moths or Methodists (methodical). In 1735, John Wesley (age 32) and his younger brother Charles answered a call to be missionaries in Georgia, taking the good news to the colonies. John was having a faith crisis of his own, feeling that the more he pursued Christ and longed for holiness, the further away Christ seemed. He was terrified of the sea, and there were many storms on the four month trip and JW was certain they would die his fear contributed to his sense of lacking faith. Wesley saw the faith of the Moravians who sung and prayed and were not at all concerned about the weather and the possibility of sinking. He saw their trust in God, and was aware of his own lack of trust. Yet, survive they did! In Savannah, Georgia, he led the folk methodically and rigorously and also shared the gospel with the Native Americans. His time there was cut short when his heart was broken by a young woman Sophia Hopkey; who married another. In his hurt, he claimed she had gone away from the faith and so refused to serve her Eucharist. He was brought up on charges; he returned to London, age 35, discouraged and thinking that he had never converted to God. He wonders if he really is a Christian, whether he has done enough to please God, in other words whether his good works and spiritual actions have saved him. Not long after his return to England, he has an experience where he comes to an understanding of God s grace. An understanding that was reflected in the scripture that we just heard read today. -2-
I m going to let Rev. Adam Hamilton tell you about John Wesley s experience on Aldersgate Street. This photo is of Aldersgate Street in London and the buildings that stand there now. The park that you will see Rev. Adam Hamilton standing in is here <large red circle> and the plaque that is on your bulletin today is here <small red circle>. Rev Adam Hamilton is a UM pastor of a large UM church in Kansas.He went on a Pilgrimage tour of England and wrote a book and DVD about it called Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It. 3 Let s take a look at what he says about JW s experience on Aldersgate Street! <SHOW VIDEO> 4 [In the video, Rev. Adam Hamilton describes how: On May 24, 1738 Wesley was at a meeting on Aldersgate Street studying the preface to Romans when he found his heart strangely warmed and believed himself saved. Wesley wrote in his journal that at about 8:45 p.m. "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."] Wesley s mind/head knew that salvation is a gift from God but Wesley s heart had him constantly striving hard to seek God s acceptance. But God used those difficult times of struggle to point out to JW the inadequacies of his cerebral and works-oriented faith and that working harder and harder to earn love is not the way to salvation. The embarrassment of his relationship with Sophia Hopkey and the resultant charges against him meant he experienced the power of resurrection as he honestly assessed where he was and invited God to teach him, shape him, and forgive him. Healing and grace come to us when we let go of the right to be angry, when we accept God s forgiveness for ourselves. God s aftermath is better than our plans. As the Apostle Paul said: (Romans 5:3-5) suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God s love has been poured into our hearts. God s love for us is like a parent s love for their child. Our children get it wrong as they grow up and do things that disappoint us, but that doesn t remove our love for them. We love them and we bless them all the same. Similarly, with God s love, we are accepted, as we are. 3 Adam Hamilton, Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2014). 4 Adam Hamilton, Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It DVD (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2014). We played a small portion of Episode 3, A Crisis of Faith. -3-
Through his faith crisis, that s what Wesley came to realize God accepted him as he was. It was a moment of transformation or new life or resurrection in JW s life. But then JW wondered if he was truly a Christian before, and upset others in the process of his theological searching. He preached a number of fairly scathing sermons about those who were almost Christian and not altogether Christian that got him thrown out of a few churches. Eventually his theological wrestling led him to realize that yes, he had been on the path all the time - this heart-warming experience on Aldersgate Street was another moment in a long chain of understanding on his journey of faith. Many Christians have wrested over the question: are we saved by faith or works? Or does one lead to the other? We cannot save ourselves by good works, and yet it is through doing good works that we are often drawn towards God and find ourselves experiencing those heart-warming moments. And when we are saved by faith, then we are drawn into doing good works because that is what living a life of faith looks like. John Wesley described God s grace as a three-fold action. God s prevenient grace being there for us long before we realize it. God s justifying grace that we accept as our lives are made in right relationship to Christ and we know we are forgiven. And God s sanctifying and perfecting grace that continues to make us more and more holy and Christ-like. I love being a Methodist and the balance of Acts of Piety and Acts of Mercy. We need both. We need to believe, to trust, to have faith in God s saving grace and love and forgiveness; -without God we are nothing. And we need to share that grace and love and forgiveness with others through works of compassion and justice. That s how I ve experienced my faith. Like John Wesley, I was born into a Christian household and brought up in the faith. I was baptized as an infant, and confirmed those promises for myself as a teenager. I ve been on a steady faith journey, but every now and then, I find my heart is strangely warmed and I take a huge leap in my understanding or my actions. From that moment as a six year old, when I realized who Santa was, and declared that God was real. To the time as a teenager at a youth conference where I suddenly found my faith had moved from a head-faith to a heart-faith and a relationship with Jesus. To the time after graduating High School as a helper at a Camp in the countryside for Inner City children where I stepped outside my comfort zone to serve others and found Christ was there too. To teaching Sunday School to young children and to Youth and finding their simple questions sent me searching for answers and I grew as much as they did. To serving meals to the homeless and seeing Christ in each face. To the ah-ha moments in Bible Study or while listening to a sermon and the many ah-ha moments in Seminary, my faith has grown and been challenged and changed. To going to Africa and meeting victims of genocide and those living with AIDS and those who have so little, and hearing their testimonies and seeing their trust and faith in the midst of such adversity that challenged me to trust more and pray more. -4-
And then there are the simple moments of joy & delight of sharing in the achievements of our church community. Last week I accepted Kayla s invitation to her art show, and had the touching experience of seeing these awesome special young adults go up to the microphone and sing to their peers and then enjoy a carefree time of dancing themselves as their parents and guests stood around and watched. And Jesus was certainly there too. So how about you? Have you accepted that God loves you just as you are, and that even the worst mistakes you make can be forgiven? Are you living as an altogether Christian with a passionate faith in which you seek to love God with everything that is within you as a response to God s love for you? Perhaps you have had an experience that totally changed your faith and your way of thinking, or perhaps things changed really gradually for you. Whichever it is, know that you are loved and you are forgiven. We give thanks for the legacy of John Wesley s ministry and witness. And may it inspire us to rest in the assurance of God s grace for us, and to live our lives in a holy way asking God to continually sanctify and perfect our lives. Thanks be to God. Amen. Let us pray. God of resurrections and new beginnings, we give thanks for the lives of the saints of the past and all that they can teach us. Transform us into the new creations that you are calling us to be. Help us to walk with certainty putting our whole trust in you, while we reach out to others with your compassion and justice. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. -5-