April 10 - Strangely Warmed

April 10 – Strangely Warmed

Every time I read about John Wesley, I find it easy to be proud of the heritage of faith I grew up in. I’ve grown up knowing his stories, how he was pulled from a fire in the rectory at age five and recognized that he was a ‘brand plucked from the burning,’ that God had a purpose for his life. I knew that his mother, Susanna had 19 children, seven of whom lived, that she educated the children at home in their early years, that his father was a pastor who had graduated from Oxford, that he had gone to school and come away without his faith because of the things that had happened to him there and his doubts that God loved him.

He and his brother, Charles, started a religious club at Oxford and were laughingly called ‘Methodists’ because they were so methodical in their approach to learning and to God. I learned about his trip to America with the Moravians and how their deep faith shook him because he was unsure that he had that faith. When he doubted his faith, upon his return from America to England, he returned to the Moravians and attending a service one evening, was struck by teaching from Romans and felt his heart ‘strangely warmed.’ At that moment, he realized that God loved him.

John Wesley spent time studying in Herrnhut with the Moravians and came back to England. He wasn’t allowed in many of the churches, so began preaching outside along with his friend, the evangelist, George Whitefield. He used his organizational skills to begin gathering groups of people wherever he preached into societies. These societies multiplied throughout England and Scotland and soon garnered the attention of the Anglican Church.

While Wesley never separated from the Anglicans, he also recognized that they weren’t reaching the populace. They also had refused communion to Americans following the Revolutionary War because they were no longer sending ordained pastors to America.

Wesley ordained Thomas Coke (who later ordained Francis Asbury) and gave them the charge of training and ordaining pastors in the United States. He did the same in England and Scotland and soon created an ecclesiastical system outside of the Anglican Church.

Wesley and Whitefield disagreed quite strongly about Calvinism and the argument spread to other leaders within their scope of reference. Whitefield ended up founding the Calvinistic Methodist Church. While this argument was made public, the two men came together and re-established their friendship. It is John Wesley who first put into print the words, “agree to disagree.”

Wesley traveled over 200,000 miles on horseback. He gave away nearly every cent he ever owned and died a poor man. Through his entire life, he continually doubted that God could love him and constantly strived to make his life worthwhile. He was a prolific writer and his teachings are still used throughout the world. Wesley spoke out strongly and clearly against slavery. With his brother, Charles, he introduced hymn singing into the church, once again separating himself from the Anglicans.

John Wesley’s greatest gift to the world was his teaching on personal holiness. His life was lived to fulfill God’s purpose. He died at the age of 87, surrounded by friends and family. His final words, “The best of all is, God is with us.”