Super Heroes of Methodism Theme: You can be a Methodist Superhero This week is Vacation Bible School, and our theme this year is Super Heroes. Well, this morning we want to kick all that off with a look at some very particular heroes. We are going to meet some of the Super Heroes of Methodism. SUSANNA WESLEY And we begin with Super Mom, also known as Susanna Wesley. Susanna was the daughter and granddaughter of Anglican pastors. She was extremely well educated especially for a woman living in the 1600 s, but she is best remembered because of her influence in the lives of her children. Susanna gave birth to 19 children. 13 lived and Susanna taught all of her children at home. It was a busy household for sure. Two of Susanna s children grew up to help establish the movement we call Methodism. We will meet them today, too. Because of Susanna s influence and the care she gave to her children, because she was a true Super Mom, she is known as the mother of Methodism. Now, I want you to remember Susanna so we have a little chant we are going to use. Children, Children Everywhere. JOHN WESLEY Next we meet her son John. He is known as the founder of Methodism. And his super power was organization. But first, you
know many superheroes have what is called an origin story that tells something special about their birth or childhood. John Wesley has a powerful origin story. John was just a child of 6 or 7 when a fire broke out in the Epworth parsonage in the middle of the night. When the parents gathered all the children on the lawn, they discovered that little John was missing. Then, they saw him appear in an upstairs window. The fire was raging all around him. That s when the men in the community made a human ladder and climbed up to lift young John from the flames that raged around him. When he was delivered to his mother safe and sound, Susanna told her son that God had saved him for a special purpose. John was greatly shaped by this experience, called himself a Brand plucked from the burning fire. He might not have been saved from a crumbling planet call Krypton, like Superman, but John Wesley knew he had been saved to do special things. And he did. John never wore a powdered wig. Most men did, but not John. He was good at many things. He was a scholar a good student. Not just of Bible and Religion. He studied and wrote many books on a variety of subjects including Chemistry and Medicine. He traveled many miles on horseback and most of the time had an open book in front of him. Studying was one of his superpowers. And John Wesley was a good preacher. At first he preached in churches. But when he was not allowed to preach in churches, he preached outdoors. People thought that was a terrible thing to do, but John knew he could reach more people with the Good News of Jesus Christ by going outside the walls of the church. He even stood
on his father s grave to preach. That tomb is still there. I saw it last year when I visited England. John traveled many miles on foot, on horseback and in wagons to preach. He spoke to crowds of thousands, averaging 3 sermons a day and was still preaching right up to just days before he died. Many lives were changed because of his preaching. Preaching was one of his superpowers. But there were other great students and preachers in his day. The gift that set John Wesley apart from all the others was his ability to organize. That was his greatest superpower. He organized the preachers and he organized the laity. He formed them into classes and societies. He organized rules for how they were to support one another, learn Scripture and serve people in need. And perhaps best of all, he organized his own life so that he did the most good possible with the time he had. John Wesley greatest superpower was his ability to organize. So we need a chant for John Wesley. Here it is: Study, Preach and Organize. CHARLES WESLEY John had a younger brother who was also a superhero of Methodism. His name was Charles. He too was a preacher but his real superpower was his ability to write music. In fact, Charles Wesley was so good at writing hymns that he wrote over 6000 hymns. We are using his songs in worship today. Many historians believe that Charles hymns were just as important as John s preaching and organization to establishing and sustaining the Methodist Church. It s been over 250 years and we are still singing the songs Charles wrote. My favorite is Love Divine All Loves
Excelling. That s the song we are using this morning as we meet our superheroes. It celebrates God s great love. In fact, that s the phrase we are going to use as our chant for Charles Wesley Love Divine All Loves Excelling. Here are the words to that age old hymn: Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down; Fix in us thy humble dwelling; All Thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation; Enter every trembling heart. Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit Into every troubled breast! Let us all in Thee inherit; Let us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be; End of faith, as its beginning, Set our hearts at liberty. Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive; Suddenly return and never, Nevermore Thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above, Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love. Finish, then, Thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation Perfectly restored in Thee; Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise. Now John and Charles both spent a little bit of time in the United States but most of their work was done in England. But we ve got some American superheroes of Methodist, too. Let s start with Francis Asbury. FRANCIS ASBURY He was the first Bishop of the Methodist Church. He was born in England. He began preaching at the age of 18 and was appointed by John Wesley as a traveling preacher at the age of 22. But at the age of 26, while worshiping in the New Room (the church), he volunteered to come to America. He went home to tell his parents what God had called him to do. Set sail for America from a place called Pill and he never went home again. He spent the next 45 years sharing the good news of Jesus Christ all over America. He was a good preacher and a good leader but his Superpower was riding horseback across the frontier. He averaged over 6000 miles a year --- on horseback. That s over 250,000 on horseback or in a carriage. That would be 130 times across our whole country on horseback! Now for Asbury s chant Clop, clop. Clop. Clop.
Now we come to our final pair of American Methodist Super Heroes. BARBARA HECK I ll bet very few of you have heard of this woman. But in the same way that Susanna Wesley is known as the Mother of Methodism, Barbara Heck is remembered as the Mother of American Methodism. Now to fully understand the difference Barbara made, I want to tell you a story about her. Barbara and her husband Paul came from Ireland to New York. They had converted to Methodist while in Ireland, moved by the preaching of John Wesley himself. Here in their new country the Hecks went to work helping the Methodist movement. It wasn t easy. It took much commitment. Barbara became very frustrated because of the failure of the men around her to lead. One day she came into a room to find them playing cards. She knocked over the cards and challenged them to get up, get out and preach. And at least, her cousin Philip Embury did. Barbara went on to design the first American meeting house. Her cousin alternated preaching there with another colorful character. CAPTAIN THOMAS WEBB Captain Webb had been an officer in the British Army. He wore an eye patch and always preached in his regimental uniform a red coat AND he put his sword on the pulpit. (Bet no one fell asleep when he preached.) Lay preachers like Captain Webb and committed leaders like Barbara Heck are the reason the Methodist church grew in our country. Their chant? No more gambling, let s build a church.
In Galatians 6:9 we read these words: Let s not get tired of doing what is good for we will reap a harvest time if we do not give up. That my friend is what makes a true superhero they just keep on doing what is good. That was true of these superheroes of Methodism. And there are many more superheroes of Methodist to be found in the pages of history. But perhaps even more important, there are superheroes of Methodism to be found right now on every pew of every United Methodist Church. The only problem is that some of those superheroes have not yet decided to put their superpower to work for the good of the church, God s people and God s kingdom. In fact, seems to me that we ve got a few superheroes hiding out on our pews right now. Could one of those missing superheroes be you?