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Harry Binford
is one of those folks who periodically tried to improve my
preaching. Harry is a member of the Ann Arbor church, a
retired nautical engineering professor who, well into his
eighties, still walks three miles each way to his office
every day, rides his bicycle and scuba dives! He is also an
expert on Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and has written the
definitive Gilbert and Sullivan lexicon of all the esoteric
images and figures of speech in the operettas.
Every now and
then, he would send me clippings from British newspapers,
passed on from friends in England, concerning the doings of
British Methodists. Once he sent me an article entitled
“Charles Wesley’s Body on the Move.” I filed it and figured
it would make a pretty good sermon title some day. So here
it is. The article reports:
More than two centuries after his death,
the great Epworth-born hymn writer, Charles Wesley, may be
on the move again.
It seems his
actual burial place is now beneath the playground of a
school which is planning to expand. There is a statue of
Wesley on the grounds and lots of folks think he is buried
there, but he’s not. He is under the playground…which itself
is a bit interesting! Now that the playground is going to be
dug up, Wesley’s bones are being moved to holier ground.
So Charles Wesley’s
body is on the move.
I like that.
I hope it’s true. I hope his body, the Methodist Church, is
on the move. Still, if you want to find Wesley’s bones,
you’ll find them in his music. In his bones are those core
themes which ring throughout Methodism. You can hear the
song of God’s grace, the music of the spirit, the good news
for the world.
Had Charles
Wesley written only two hymns, “Christ the Lord is Risen
Today” and “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” he would be
recognized as one of the greatest hymn-writers of all time.
But in fact he wrote over nine thousand poems and hymns,
many of which are still sung today. On the American
frontier, the hymns of Wesley carried the witness of the
“singing Methodists” to every village and town.
Those
bones…the basic themes which run through his music…begin
with a song of God’s grace.
1. His hymns
celebrate the wonder of God’s grace.
One of the
over-arching themes of Methodist hymns is the sense of
wonder, amazement and gratitude at God’s love: “Love
divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven to earth come
down.” Charles Wesley was simply amazed by the grace of
God.
You see, he
had tried everything else, every other way to earn God’s
love. He had tried the path of disciplined living in the
Holy Club at Oxford with disciplined devotion, serving,
studying and praying. They were so methodical, in fact, that
they were nicknamed “Methodists,” and the name stuck! He had
tried the path of missionary service in America, which ended
in disgrace and despair. He had tried the path of academic
theological pursuit and ordination. He had tried it all.
Then he discovered the miracle of God’s redeeming, saving
love in Jesus Christ as a free gift. Charles never lost his
sense of wonder at God’s amazing grace.
One of his
greatest hymns has always been sung on both sides of the
Atlantic to a tune with a stirring, almost martial beat:
And can it be that I should gain an interest in the
Savior’s blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain! For me? who him to
death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst
die for me?
He left his father’s throne above (so free, so infinite
the grace!);
emptied himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s
helpless race.
’Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found
out me!
(UM Hymnal #363, “And Can It Be that I
Should Gain”)
Bishop Dwight
Loder was Michigan’s Bishop when I began my ministry here.
He was a great church leader, an outstanding preacher and
theologian, a saint of the church. Even in his old age, his
quick mind and sharp wit came through. I remember hearing
him say in his later years, with a twinkle in his eyes: “I
am amazed by life. I am even amazed on the golf course. If I
hit the ball, I am amazed. If it stays on the fairway, I am
amazed. And if it actually goes in the hole, I am filled
with wonder and amazement.”
Charles
Wesley would understand. This song of praise, this awe at
God’s grace, is central to Wesley’s hymns and central to our
worship—a sense of wonder at God’s love, God’s salvation, an
overwhelming amazement at God’s goodness.
“Amazing love! How can
it be? That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
Well, they
are digging up Charles Wesley’s bones, and when they do,
they will find a wonder and amazement at God’s grace. That
wonder, that love, propels us for ministry in the world. And
that is the second theme of Wesley’s music:
2. A passion for
the world
Ours is not
an esoteric, otherworldly religion; not just a deeply-felt
spirituality or a warm, fuzzy theology; not a mystical
moment, or just an emotional experience of passionate
praise. In Wesley’s theology, awe and wonder are always
coupled with a passion for the needs of others, the burning
desire to share the love of Christ with the world.
Hymn #650
expresses his desire to use every moment and every means
available to share the Gospel, and to focus his life, to use
every moment, in the service of those who have not yet come
to know of God’s grace:
I
would the precious time redeem, and longer live for this
alone,
to
spend and to be spent for them who have not yet my Savior
known;
fully
on these my mission prove, and only breathe, to breathe thy
love.
(UM Hymnal #650, “Give Me the Faith Which
Can Remove”)
I don’t know how better
to illustrate it than in this church, this summer:
-
At the
same time as our dynamic Vacation Bible School here, our
youth were touching the lives of AIDS patients in
Africa.
-
At the
same time as our warm-hearted worship here today, our
choir members are sharing their song with others in
Eastern Europe.
-
Even
while we were enjoying our fellowship in this house,
members of our congregation were building a new Habitat
for Humanity house for another family.
-
And next
month, this space we claim as our spiritual home will,
for a week, become home to homeless families.
Wonder in worship coupled
with a passion for the world.
They are
digging up Charles Wesley’s bones, and when they do, they
will discover the theme of grace coupled with a passion for
the world, and they will find…
3. A love for the
body, the fellowship, the community of faith
The hallmark
of Methodism as a movement was this deep, abiding sense of
community. Early Methodism grew not in sanctuaries and
cathedrals, but in kitchens and sitting rooms, societies,
bands and class meetings. Like today’s small groups and AA
meetings, they gathered believers in a fellowship connected
by love.
That theme is
important for United Methodists today. We are approaching
another quadrennial General Conference in 2008. Maybe we are
fortunate it only happens once every four years. The last
one in 2004 ended on a contentious note, with some groups
even suggesting schism—deep divisions tearing at the fabric
of the fellowship. But the good news was the final action at
the end of the conference, a resolution written as a witness
to our oneness, even amid our divisions:
As United Methodists, we remain in
covenant with one another, even in the midst of
disagreement, and affirm our commitment to work together for
our common mission of making disciples through the world.
As United
Methodists, we are not all of one mind on many issues. Yet
like conjoined twins, we may fight and argue, but in the end
we are bound together and will learn to live or die
together, realizing that the mission of the church is
greater than our differences and divisions.
Of course, Wesley
would have written a hymn about it.
Hymn #562
must have been written after a particularly contentious
conference like this one. It is a prayer for peace within
the body, unity over strife, and love within our common
life:
Jesus
Lord, we look to thee; let us in thy name agree;
show
thyself the Prince of Peace, bid our strife forever cease.
By
thy reconciling love, every stumbling block remove;
each
to each unite, endear; come and spread thy banner here.
Free
from anger and from pride, let us thus in God abide;
all
the depths of love express, all the heights of holiness.
(UM Hymnal #562, “Jesus, Lord, We Look to
Thee”)
And again,
I’ve seen it here. Haven’t you? In fellowship groups and
Wesley groups, in choirs and circles, in prayer teams and
book groups, we experience the power of the community which
binds us together in love, deeper than our deepest divisions
and differences, one in Jesus Christ.
Well, they
are digging up Charles Wesley’s bones. His body is on the
move again and I hope this body is on the move, too.
Deep in Wesley’s bones—in our bones—I hope our life together
will be marked by:
·
The wonder of God’s amazing grace
·
A passion for the world
·
And a love for the body, the
fellowship, the community of Christ
Charles Wesley’s epitaph
might well have come from the last line of one of his
hymns…
Happy, if with my latest breath I may but gasp his name;
preach him to all and cry in death, “Behold, behold the
Lamb!”
(UM Hymnal #193, “Jesus! the Name High
over All”)
May it be ours, as well. |
