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Charles Wesley had returned from the
Georgia Colony in complete despair, just like his brother,
John—struggling, doubting, longing for a new relationship
with God. Then on May 21, 1738, the day he would call his
“conversion day,” he discovered the amazing gift of God’s
love in Christ made known for him. He opened his scriptures
to Psalm 43 and read: “God hath put a new song in my mouth.”
He picked up a pen and never put it down. By the time of his
death, he had written no fewer than 8,989 poems, including
about 6,500 singable ones. That works out to be about twelve
lines of text every day, seven days a week for fifty years.
He and Brother John published 39 hymnals which became the
songbooks of the revival, and from the very beginning, the
hymnals began with John Wesley’s “Directions for Singing”:
I.
Learn these tunes before you learn
any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
II.
Sing them exactly as they are
printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and
if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as
soon as you can.
III.
Sing all. See that you join with
the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight
degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross
to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
IV.
Sing lustily and with a good
courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half
asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more
afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being
heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.
V.
Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as
to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the
congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but
strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one
clear melodious sound.
VI.
Sing in time. Whatever time is
sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay
behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move
therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing
too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are
lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing
all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
VII.
Above all, sing spiritually. Have
an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him
more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do
this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see
that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but
offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as
the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in
the clouds of heaven.
(From John Wesley’s Select Hymns,
1761)
Let’s bring it up to date: different
times, different culture, different setting. What does it
mean today to “worship like a Wesley”?
1. IT BEGINS WITH A LOVE FOR
LITURGY, a love for the traditions for the church.
True to their Anglican background, both
Wesleys died as loyal priests in the Church of England, with
a high view of the sacraments, an appreciation for
tradition, a love of the liturgy, the beauty and the depth
of meaning in the worship experience, and a sense of awe,
wonder and dignity in worship. And in our day, when it seems
that the growing churches are the churches with nondescript
buildings and shallow music, where it sometimes feels like
we are making it up as we go, I celebrate a church which
holds on to a love of tradition, the beauty of holiness and
the holiness of beauty, a richness which grows out of two
thousand years of Christian history and two hundred years of
Methodist history. I mean, just look at this place! Look at
what we do here. We are deeply rooted in a love of the
traditions of the church and the beauty of worship.
This fall we will be launching our new
Mid-Day Worship Service. We are calling it “relaxed
traditional.” It will be rooted in our traditional space and
music, but with a freshness of spirit and a new feeling. It
will model a love for the liturgy and a creative new
breath.
But even though Methodist worship was
born in the bowels of an Anglican rectory and was formed in
the halls of Oxford University, it grew up on the American
frontier.
2. OUR WORSHIP HAS ALWAYS BROUGHT
TOGETHER A LOVE FOR LITURGY WITH THE REVIVAL FIRE OF THE
FRONTIER.
Here, on this continent, Methodist
circuit riders spread the message of personal salvation and
the warm heart of the Wesleys, with a passion and vitality
that ultimately reshaped the American frontier—an
evangelistic revival of the spirit which was carried in the
hymnals stuffed in the saddle bags of the circuit riders who
moved from town to town with the message of personal
experience and a fiery faith. They went wherever the people
went, “to spread through all the earth abroad, the wonders
of Christ’s name.” Actually, there was a common expression
back then. When the weather was really bad, they would say:
“It’s so bad that no one is out except the crows and the
Methodist preachers.” Nothing could stop their passion to
spread the Word and their willingness to break with
tradition and create new ways of worship.
There is no better example of this than
the Methodist camp meeting of the 1800s. One historian
called them the great “prolonged outdoor extravaganzas,”
perhaps lasting several weeks at a time with powerful
preaching, communal living, the call to conversion and great
food. One of the songs from that era which described the
camp meeting was called “Methodist Pie.” I first came across
it at Lake Louise Camp some years ago, but when I went
“googling” to find the full text, I ran into a fascinating
online conversation.
The first writer said: “This song has
been sung by the likes of Grandpa Jones and the Greenbrier
Boys. It is a fine example of those
‘sing-all-day-and-dinner-on-the-grounds’ songs.”
Another said: “As a Methodist, I always
thought the song was kinda like cowboy humor in its blend of
braggadocio and self-deprecation.”
Another blogger named “Arkie” took the
title a bit too literally and much too seriously. He wrote:
“I am inclined to believe that the term refers to pies baked
by those devout Methodist ladies who express their deep
theological concerns through a wood cook stove. Any
confection that came from a Methodist oven would have been
Methodist Pie.”
Well, the verses of the song, even in
their humor, do in fact describe the camp meeting, the
strong preaching, the power of the Spirit and the frontier
fire of the Methodists:
Went down to camp meeting just the other
afternoon
just to hear ’em shout and sing;
for to tell each other how they love one
another
and to make the hallelujahs ring.
Well, they all got there just to have a
big time
and to eat their grub so sly;
have applesauce butter,
sugar-in-the-gourd
and a great big Methodist pie.
Well you ought to hear the ringing when
they all get to singing
that good old bye and bye;
see Jimmy McGee in the top of a tree
saying, “How is this for high?”
Then they all join hands and dance around
a ring
just a-singing all the while;
you’d think it was a cyclone coming
through the air
you could hear about half a mile.
Then a bell rings loud and the great big
crowd
breaks ranks and up they fly;
while I took board on the
sugar-in-the-gourd
and I cleaned up the Methodist pie.
O little children, I believe.
O little children, I believe.
O little children, I believe.
I’m a Methodist, Methodist!
’Tis my belief I’m a Methodist till I
die.
Till old grim death comes knockin’ at my
door,
I’m a Methodist till I die.
On a more serious side, I can remember
the days at Cherry Run Camp Meeting, singing the great
gospel songs of faith:
Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me.
O Lamb of God, I come.
Or:
O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever,
he sought me and bought me
with his redeeming blood.
Or:
At the cross, at the cross where I first
saw the light,
and the burden of my soul rolled away;
it was there by faith I received my sight
and now I am happy all the day.
The camp meeting movement evidenced the
creative spark, the willingness to try new forms and break
old patterns, to go where the people were and sing songs the
people could sing, and it carried the good news of personal
salvation across the frontier and ultimately around the
world.
And today, that is why we do things like
“Sunday Night Alive” with video screens and praise bands,
drama and dance, fellowship dinners and pig roasts. Like
camp meetings and revivals of old, they reflect the creative
spirit which is willing to do whatever is necessary to reach
people with the message of Christ.
To worship like a Wesley is to have a
deep love for liturgy coupled with frontier revival fire...
3. AND METHODIST WORSHIP IS
ROOTED IN A COMMITMENT TO THE GATHERING.
Somebody said about 90% of success is
just showing up—being present in worship, being committed to
the gathering, being there.
Have I told you the story about the guy
who woke up one Sunday morning, rolled over with a groan and
said, “Ah, Ma, do I have to go to church today? The service
is boring, the choir sings flat, the people are unfriendly.
Give me three reasons why I should go to worship.” His
mother answered, “Well, first, because it’s Sunday and
you’re a Christian. Second, you’re 35 years old. And third,
you’re the preacher!”
In Britain, Wesley insisted that his
followers be faithful in their attendance in the parish
church to receive the sacrament weekly (and sometimes daily)
as a disciplined pattern of worship and a consistent nurture
for their spiritual life. The early Methodist “class
meetings” had tickets which had to be stamped showing that
you were there, and if you missed, someone came to find out
why, concerned about your soul. And to this day, everyone
who joins a United Methodist Church promises to support it
with our “prayers, presence, gifts and service.” Whether in
the solemnity and liturgy of a sanctuary or on the sawdust
trail or at Sunday Night Alive, Methodists commit to be
present in worship, present in fellowship, committed to the
gathering.
Somewhere, I still have my string of
Sunday school pins. Back then, for your first year of
perfect attendance you got a round pin, then the second
year, a small wreath to go around it. Then each year
following, you would get a little bar to hang off of it
marking your years of perfect attendance. And if you were
going to miss, you would visit another church and get a
visitor’s card to turn in the next Sunday. I remember an old
man in my first church who was proud of his long string of
pins for thirty years of perfect attendance. That love of
the fellowship, that commitment to the gathering, the
promise to be there is part of what it means to worship like
a Wesley.
My mother came up from Florida this week
so we could go to a family reunion back in Clarion,
Pennsylvania with over fifty of my relatives. One of the
people who wasn’t there was my grandmother. Grandma lived to
be 100. I remember the year we celebrated her centenary on
her birthday, Groundhog Day, February 2. She had never been
in the hospital until a month or so after her 100th
birthday party. She went into the hospital that month, and
by April, she died. I guess she just felt a hundred years
was long enough and she was ready to go.
One time I was invited to return to my
home church to preach, and my Uncle Frank brought Grandma to
hear me. Every Sunday he faithfully went to his own
Presbyterian church first, then he would pick up Grandma and
take her to her Lutheran church. But this Sunday, they all
became Methodists for a day. After the service she came out
to greet me. She was so proud. With a smile she said, “That
was real nice.” And I asked, “Grandma, were you able to hear
me?” And she smiled and said, “No, not really...but then I
can’t hear my pastor, either.” Yet Sunday after Sunday,
there she was, faithfully in her pew. Because she promised.
Because it was her church. Committed to the gathering.
Charles Wesley would have understood. He
described the shared worship life of the community in a
hymn:
Jesus, united by thy grace
and each to each endeared,
with confidence we seek thy face
and know our prayer is heard.
Help us to help each other, Lord,
each other’s cross to bear;
let all their friendly aid afford,
and feel each other’s care.
(United Methodist Hymnal, page 561)
Well, that’s what it means to worship
like a Wesley. And that brings me to the text of the
morning, in case you thought I forgot. It comes from St.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians and is a description of the
spirit of worship:
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I
say, rejoice. Let your requests be made known unto God with
thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which passes all
understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in the
knowledge and love of God the Father through Jesus Christ.
NOTES:
There are several items in the Wesleyana
collection in the Ward Library and Wright Parlor which
relate to the sermon. First, we have a class meeting ticket
which was used to record attendance at the early class
meetings. Second, there are several etchings related to the
early camp meeting movement. And third, we have several
early Methodist hymnals reflective of the Methodist musical
tradition.
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