Study Guide "Wesley and Sanctification"

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

OPEN:

As we've already learned during this "Summer with the Wesleys," John Wesley surrendered his life to Christ in Aldersgate Chapel on May 24, 1738. On New Year’s Eve, 1738, Wesley went to another society meeting. It was an all-night prayer vigil to bring in the new year of 1739. In the early hours of January 1, 1739, something dramatic happened to Wesley. He received a sanctifying experience where God re-oriented his heart and life. Listen to Wesley’s own words:

“On Monday morning, January 1, 1739, Mr. Hall and my brother Charles

were present in Fetters Lane, with about sixty of our brethren. At about

three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power

of God came mightily upon us insomuch that many cried out for exceeding

joy and many fell down to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little

from that awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.’”

Wesley had been exposed to teaching about this full surrender for a number of years previous to his conversion:

"In the year 1725, being in the twenty-third year of my age, I came across Bishop Taylor's 'Rule and Exercises of Holy Living and Dying.' In reading several parts of this book, I was exceedingly affected, that part in particular which relates to purity of intention.  I instantly resolved to dedicate all of my life to God: all of my thoughts and words and actions, being thoroughly convinced there was no middle way; but that every part of my life (not some only) must either be a sacrifice to God or myself; that is, in effect, to the devil."

- Strongly influenced in the year 1726 by Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ. 

- Introduced the next year to William Law's, Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.

- "In the year 1729, I began not only to read but to study the Bible as the one, the only standard of truth, and the only model of pure religion.  From this I saw in clearer and clearer light the indispensable necessity of having the mind which was in Christ and of walking as Christ also walked.  Even of having not some part only but all the. Ind that was in Him, and of walking as He walked not only in most respects but in all things."

What changed everything for Wesley is that he went from attempting to obtain holiness by his own strength of determination, to receiving holiness from Christ as a gift and then living in the reflection of that gift.

I. Wesley Lived and Preached a Message of Grace.

1. Prevenient Grace

- Wesley understood grace as God's active presence in our lives. God's grace stirs within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to God's invitation to be in relationship with God. Prevenient grace is the prodigal son in Luke's gospel became aware that he had abandoned his father. "Longing for home, awareness of betrayal, prompting to repent-- these are manifestations of grace preparing us for the future" (Bishop Kenneth L. Carder).

2. Justifying Grace

- God's justifying grace points to reconciliation, pardon and restoration. Through God's work in Christ, our sins are forgiven, and our relationship with the Father is restored.

- According to Wesley, the image of God, which sin distorts, is renewed within us through Christ's death.

- In justifying grace, the Christian acknowledges his or her lost condition, makes a conscious decision to turn toward Christ, and takes appropriate responsibility in shaping the life of discipleship. This process of salvation involves repentance (turning away from sin), and a change in us that we call "conversion." Conversion may be sudden and dramatic, or gradual and cumulative. In any case it marks a new beginning.  Wesley called this process "justification."

3. Sanctifying Grace

- Salvation is not a static, one-time event in our lives. It is an ongoing process of God's presence transforming us into whom God wants us to be.  Wesley described this dimension of God's grace as "sanctification" or "holiness."

II. Wesley Understood Sanctification as Intentional Holiness.

"May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely." (verse 23)

Lenski commenting on 1 Thess 5:23, "Paul says, may he finish his work by sanctifying you each in totality, i. e., set you apart for himself in toto. Some think the adjective denotes quality, but the thought is evidently one of extent: sanctify your complete being. No nook or corner of your life is to be left where the peace of God does not penetrate; it is to reign undisturbed in every province of your being. Many are satisfied with a partial Christianity, some parts of their life are still worldly. The apostolic admonitions constantly prod into all corners of our nature so that none may escape purification. Here sanctification refers to the whole work of God, which follows the kindling of faith in our hearts."

1. Wesley came to call this Christian Perfectionism, patterned after the term used by Anglican William Law.  It was a concept not always well understood, but it came to form the essence of Methodism in Wesley's understanding:

"A Methodist is one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart and the desire of his soul, which is continually crying, 'Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You' (Ps 73:25).... He is therefore happy in God; yes, always happy, as having in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life and overflowing his soul with peace and joy. Perfect love having now cast out fear, he rejoices evermore."

Wesley on Christian Perfection:

1) In what sense they are not. They are not perfect in knowledge. They are not free from ignorance, nor from mistake. We are no more to expect any living man to be infallible than to be omniscient.... Neither can we expect them to be wholly freed from temptation, for the servant is not above his Master. But neither in this sense is there any absolute perfection on earth. There is no perfection of degrees, none which does not admit of a continual increase.

2) In what sense then are they perfect? This great gift of God, the salvation of our souls, is no other than the image of God fresh stamped on our hearts. It is a renewal of believers in the spirit of their minds, after the likeness of Him that created them.... Having this hope, that they will see God as He is, they purify themselves even as He is pure and are holy as He that called them is holy, in all manner of conversation and behavior. Not that they have already obtained all that they will attain, either are already in this sense perfect. But that daily they go on from strength to strength--beholding now, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.

2. Methodists build on the Reformers’ understanding of “imputed or alien righteousness” by declaring that we must not only be declared righteous, we must increasingly live righteous lives. Luther famously declared that Christians are “dung hills covered in snow.” Wesley would not disagree, but would assert that salvation is about more than justification. Righteousness for Wesley is more than God just looking at us through a different set of glasses, i.e., we are filthy rags, but God sees us through the blood of Christ and, thereby, sees the alien righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Wesley argued that alien, imputed righteousness must increasingly become native, actualized righteousness; wrought in us not by our own strength but through the power of the living God. We are marked, oriented, and re-oriented by love.

- We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, but we are sanctified by faith as we enter into full relationship with the Triune God. 

- Wesley taught that we are justified by faith and we are sanctified by faith. - As a relational term, entire sanctification means that your whole life, your body, and your spirit have been re-oriented. Entire sanctification means that our entire heart has been re-oriented towards the joyful company of the Triune God. It was, for Wesley, not the end of some long, drudge out of the life of sin, but joining the joyful assembly of those who have truly found joy. For Wesley, holiness is the crown of true happiness.

"To be sanctified is to receive a gift from God which changes our hearts and reorients our relationship with the Triune God and with others, giving us the capacity to love God and neighbor in new and profound ways. The language of “entire sanctification” in Methodism uses the word entire in reference to Greek, not Latin. In Greek entire or complete can still be improved upon. It is a new orientation which no longer looks back on the old life of sin, but is always looking forward to the New Creation. It is a life which has been engulfed by new realities." (Timothy Tennent)

CLOSE:

Wesley: "This one can now testify to all mankind 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me' (Gal 2:20). He is holy as God who called him is holy, both in heart and in all manner of conversation."

Are you moving forward intentionally unto holiness in light of that which God accomplished in you in salvation?

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Study Guide: Wesley on Discipleship

Text: Philippians 2:12-16

OPEN:

If you were forced to use one word to summarize John Wesley, what would you choose?  Without hesitation, I would choose the term, 'discipleship.'

Founded on Jesus’ blueprint for discipleship, John Wesley developed a simple plan for maturing and equipping the saints. Wesley said, “The Church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples.”

Wesley was unashamedly disciplined in his approach to following Christ.  

- His approach had its origin in the spiritual accountability group started by Wesley when he was a student at Oxford — a group that detractors called "The Holy Club." Critics made fun of the Holy Club. There was a popular ditty that went:

"By rule they eat, by rule they drink,                                                                                                             By rule do all things but think.

Accuse the priests of loose behavior,

To get more in the laymen’s favor.

Method alone must guide ‘em all

When themselves “Methodists” they call."

But criticism didn’t stop the Wesleys. They went on to practice their accountability and eventually began a movement that now includes millions of Christians around the world. - Holding each other accountable without unchristian judgmentalism. This was John Wesley’s secret to making reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ.

A great many Christians are in a state of confusion today when it comes to understanding the meaning of discipleship.  A flood of discipleship materials has swept over the church in the past 40 years and yet people today seem as confused as ever as to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. If I were to ask how many of you can say confidently that you are a convinced disciple of Jesus Christ to raise your hand, few hands would go up.  Then if I were to ask how many of you are convinced you are a true Christian, the majority of the people here would raise their hand.  People are sure about being a Christian, but they are confused as to whether or not they are a disciple of Christ.

“Perhaps the greatest single weakness of the contemporary Christian Church is that millions of supposed members are not really involved at all and, what is worse, do not think it strange that they are not. As soon as we recognize Christ’s intention to make His Church a militant company we understand at once that the conventional arrangement cannot suffice. There is no real chance of victory in a campaign if ninety per cent of the soldiers are untrained and uninvolved, but that is exactly where we stand now.” -Elton Trueblood

Christian Discipleship is God's desire for each of us, and it's goal is nothing less than the transformation of society.

I.   God's Great Pleasure is to Produce Christian Disciples (vv. 12-13).

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

1. Christian discipleship is a personal responsibility for every believer to grow in Christlikeness.

D. Bonhoeffer: “When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to his person.  Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

Christian Discipleship, then, is not a program, it is an intense, intimate, constant, radical walk with the Person Jesus Christ.

2. God is the driving force behind our desire to grow in Christlikeness.

3. God gains pleasure from our growth as disciples, and we should too.

II. Christian Disciples Produce Personal Holiness for the Purpose of Transforming Society (vv. 14-16).

“So that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life...”

Wesley took his approach to discipleship from the way Jesus developed his followers:

- Jesus ministered to the multitudes at least 17 times according to the Bible. 

- However, there are approximately 46 mentions in the Bible where He spent His time in private with His disciples. In those smaller group settings He trained His committed followers for their own ministries. He ministered one-on-one, one-on-two, and one-on-three. At other times His ministry was conducted one-on-twelve. 

- He also provided on-the-job training with the 70; and spent some apprenticeship time with the 120 as well as placing some emphasis with the 500 in Galilee.

Wesley’s Four Basic Convictions for Discipleship:

(These thoughts inspired by http://www.transformativechurch.org/2013/01/23/john-wesleys-secret-to-making-disciples/)

1. The Necessity of Discipleship:

John Wesley wrote, “I am more and more convinced that the devil himself desires nothing more than this, that the people of any place should be half-awakened and then left to themselves to fall asleep again.”

2. The Necessity of Small Groups for Discipleship:

- In 1743 John Wesley organized a society. “Such a society is no other than a company of men having the form and seeking the power of godliness, united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their own salvation.” 

- Discipline was the key to this level of holy living. 

- Wesley created 3 strands of discipleship: Societies, Classes, and Bands.

1) Society: Strand 1 - The Crowd (these were the multitudes)

Purpose: To Bring About A Change in Knowledge

- This meeting included those in a geographical area, much like a typical, congregational meeting in today’s church. These large groups of people met once a week to pray, sing, study scripture, and to watch over one another in love. There was little or no provision made at this level for personal response or feedback. John described a society as "a company of people having the Form, and seeking the Power of Godliness."

2) Class: Strand 2 - The Cell (these were Jesus’ 12)

Purpose: To Bring About Behavioral Change

- A class was the most basic group structure of the society. The class was composed of 12-20 members, both sexes, mixed by age, social standing and spiritual readiness, under the direction of a trained leader. It was not a gathering for academic learning. They met weekly in the evening for mutual confession of sin and accountability for growing in holiness. This group provided the structure to more closely inspect the condition of the flock, to help them through trials and temptations, and to bring further understanding in practical terms to the messages they had heard preached in the public society meeting. 

- Membership in a class meeting was non-negotiable. If you wanted to continue in the society you had to be in a class. In 1742 in one society in London there were 426 members, divided into 65 classes. Eighteen months later that same society had 2200 members, all of whom were in classes. Every week each class member was expected to speak openly and honestly on the true state of his or her soul.

3) Band: Strand 3 - The CORE (these were Jesus’ inner circle made up of Peter, James, and John)

Purpose: To Bring About A Change of Direction, Heart and Position

- Composed of 4 members, all the same sex, age, and marital status. They were voluntary cells of people who professed clear Christian commitment, who desired to grow in love, holiness, and purity of motive. The environment was one of ruthless honesty and frank openness. 

- There were specific rules about punctuality and order within the meeting.  - He introduced accountability questions which everyone answered openly and honestly in the meeting each week:

Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?

Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?

Can I be trusted?

Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?

Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

Did the Bible live in me today?

Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?

Am I enjoying prayer?

When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?

Do I pray about the money I spend?

Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

Do I disobey God in anything?

Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

Am I defeated in any part of my life?

Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?

How do I spend my spare time?

Am I proud?

Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?

Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?

Do I grumble or complain constantly?

Is Christ real to me?

- You can see from these questions that there was no place to hide in a Band. Bands became the training ground for future leaders. This group held to extreme confidentiality in a “safe place”, mutual submission where matters of indifference were yielded to the released leader, and godly stewardship. This was the group that could intensively pursue goals and vision together.

3. The Necessity of Leadership in Discipleship:

- A small army was needed to provide the leadership for this 3-Strand Discipleship Model, and, just as is true today, professional paid staff simply was not available. Wesley trained and mobilized a massive army of leaders, putting as many as 1 in 10 of his members into leadership roles - barbers, blacksmiths, bakers, men and women. The job description of those who looked after societies and classes was: “preach, teach, study, travel, meet with bands, classes, exercise daily and eat sparingly.”

4. Holiness and Service as the Goals of Discipleship:

- Wesley’s goals for this entire process were: godliness and goodwill - spirituality and service to others. 

- This system and process produced a new kind of citizen at a period of history when crime and every form of public sin were rampant. These men and women reformed both the church and the society in which they lived.

- The end result of Christian discipleship is the transformation of society modeled after Jesus' own declaration of purpose in Luke 4:18:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

CLOSE:

Are you personally experiencing transformation and growing in Christlikeness?

- Why or why not?

Are we individually and collectively seeking and influencing transformation of our society?

- Why or why not?

What would change if we made the following our criteria for everything we do: 

"How will this contribute to making disciples; How will it help transform society?"

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Study Guide: "Wesley on Heaven"

Text: Luke 16:19-26

OPEN:

John Wesley was singularly focused on the salvation and sanctification of sinners like him, and like you and me.  This led him to preach on the great themes of Scripture towards that end:

"Every truth that is revealed in the Word of God is undoubtedly of great importance. Yet it may be allowed that some of those that are revealed there are of greater importance than others, as being more immediately conducive to the grand end of all: the eternal salvation of men."

In light of his preoccupation with leading men and women to faith in Christ, I find it interesting that Wesley spoke more about hell than he did heaven. 

Why would someone so focused on the present reality of salvation give attention to the prospect of future punishment?

Because recognition of a future negative alternative encourages the present embrace of the positive.

Again, Wesley underscores the importance of considering these huge themes of heaven and hell:

"And let it not be thought that the consideration of these terrible truths is proper only for enormous sinners.... It behooves, therefore, not only the outcasts of men, but even you, His friends, you who fear and love God, to deeply consider what is revealed in the oracles of God concerning the future state of punishment."

Wesley did not preach an entire sermon on heaven, but he did on hell.  He did, however, make mention of heaven in other sermons and writings. Using his thoughts as light on Scripture, we can confidently state the following:

I. Heaven and Hell are To Be Understood Literally.

John Wesley on the parable–

"But is the subsequent account merely a parable, or a real history? It has been believed by many, and roundly asserted, to be a mere parable, because of one or two circumstances therein, which are not easy to be accounted for. In particular, it is hard to conceive, how a person in hell could hold conversation with one in paradise. But, admitting we cannot account for this, will it overbalance an express assertion of our Lord: "There was," says our Lord, "a certain rich man." -- Was there not? Did such a man never exist? "And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus."- -Was there, or was there not? Is it not bold enough, positively to deny what our blessed Lord positively affirms? Therefore, we cannot reasonably doubt, but the whole narration, with all its circumstances, is exactly true. And Theophylact (one of the ancient commentators on the Scriptures) observes upon the text, that, 'according to the tradition of the Jews, Lazarus lived at Jerusalem.'"

1. Wesley describes what hell is like by calling it "the punishment of loss."

1) Loss of pleasure

"This commences in that very moment that the soul is separated from the body; in that instant the soul loses all those pleasures whose enjoyment depends on the outward senses. The smell, the taste, the touch delight no more. The organs that ministered to them are spoiled, and the objects used to gratify them are removed far away. In the dreary regions of the dead all these things are forgotten; or, if remembered, are only remembered with pain, seeing they are gone forever."

2) Loss of loved ones

"They are torn away from their nearest and dearest relations: their wives, husbands, parents, children, and their friend which was as their own soul."

3) Loss of physical comfort.

Lk 16:23, "In hell, where he was in torment."

"Consider that all these torments of body and soul are without intermission.  They have no respite from their pain.... Suppose millions of days, of years, of ages, elapsed--still we are only on the threshold of eternity! Neither the pain of body nor of soul is any nearer an end than it was millions of years ago."

4) The greater loss of God

Lk 16:23, "he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side."

"They have lost their place in Abraham's bosom in the paradise of God."

2. The opposite may be understood of heaven.

A place where there is no loss.

"No tears..."

2) A place where there is no pain.

Lk 16:25, "but now he is comforted here and you are in agony."

3) In the presence of God

Lk 16:22, "The time came when the beggar died and the Angels carried him to Abraham's side."

II. Heaven is a Prepared Place for a Prepared People.

What is heaven like? Time does not allow an adequate description.

illus:

I love the old story of the rich man who, on his death bed, negotiated with God to allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him when he came to heaven. God’s reaction was that this was a most unusual request, but since this man had been exceptionally faithful, permission was granted to bring along just one suitcase. The time arrived, the man presented himself at the pearly gates, suitcase in hand– BOTH hands, actually, since he had stuffed it with as many bars of gold bullion as would fit. St. Peter said, “Sorry, you know the rules–you can’t take it with you.” But the man protested, “God said I could … one suitcase.” St. Peter checked, found out that this one would be an exception, prepared to let the man enter, then said, “OK, but I will have to examine the contents before you pass.” He took the suitcase, opened it, saw the gold bars and asked quizzically, “You brought PAVEMENT?”

[Note: This story is from the sermon “Heaven” by Dr. David Leininger, March 30, 1997]

When John writes about a street paved with gold, I do not doubt his words. He simply reports what he saw in his vision. Thus his words are literally true. They are also meant to tell us that the things we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.

2. Jesus has prepared Heaven for those who have made the ultimate preparation.

Jn 14:1-7, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

III. Heaven is our Primary Motivation for Evangelism.

1. Personal motivator.

“I want to know one thing, the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. Give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God!” 

― John Wesley

2. Our greatest motivation to share with others.

“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.” 

― John Wesley

If hell is as bad as the Bible says it is, and heaven is as good at Christ says it is, we should do everything within our power to insure individuals avoid the one and embrace the other.

CLOSE:

Heaven is where God is, and that is motivation enough for me to want to go there.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Wesley on Salvation

Text: Ephesians 2:8,9

Open:

If you spend any time at all in church, you will quickly acquire a whole new vocabulary.  In no time at all, you'll begin speaking the language of Zion, vocabulary all too familiar to Christians, but not so understandable to the uninitiated.  Take for example the following terms: salvation, absolution, atonement, repentance, redemption, propitiation, justification, sanctification, etc.

Understanding the meaning behind the words is as important, if not more so, than knowing the vocabulary itself.  This is especially true with one of the most important words in the Christian language: "salvation."

"It is easily discerned that these two little words, I mean faith and salvation, include the substance of all the Bible, the marrow, as it were, of the whole scripture.  So much the more should we take all possible care to avoid all mistake concerning them and to form a true and accurate judgment concerning both the one and the other." (J. Wesley, The Scripture Way of Salvation)

What does the Bible say about salvation? Does Wesley have any light to shed on what it says?  The answer to both questions is 'Yes.'

I. The Key Word in Understanding Salvation is Grace.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." (v. 8)

The United Methodist heritage is rooted deeply in a deep and profound understanding of God's grace.  This incredible grace flows from God's love for us.

1. Grace may be defined as the love and mercy God gives us because God wants us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it.

Frederick Buechner: "Grace is something you can never get, but only be given."

In Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way, Bishop Kenneth Carder writes: "Grace is God's presence to create, heal, forgive, reconcile, and transform persons, communities, nations, and the entire cosmos. Where God is present there is grace, God's power to to renew and transform."

Wesley preached a sermon entitled "Salvation by Faith" on June 18, 1738, at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University. He preached from this same text, Ephesians 2:8:

"All the blessings which God has bestowed upon man are of His grace, bounty, or favor; His free, undeserved favor; favor altogether undeserved; man having no claim to the least of His mercies.  It was free grace that formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into him a living soul, stamped on that soul the image of God, and put all things under his feet. For there is nothing we are or have or do which can deserve the least thing at God's hand.  You, O God, have wrought all our works in us."

II. The Key Moment in Salvation is Now.

"It is (present tense) the gift of God."

Wesley: "And, first, whatever else it implies, it is a present salvation.  It is something attainable, furthermore, actually attained, on earth by those who are partakers of this faith." (Sermon: Salvation by Faith)

"What is salvation? The salvation that is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by the word: the going to heaven or eternal happiness. It is not the soul's going to paradise.... It is not a blessing which lies on the other side of death or, as we usually speak, in the other world. The very words of the text itself put this beyond all question: 'You are saved.' It is not something at a distance; it is a present thing, a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, you are now in possession of." (Sermon: The Scripture Way of Salvation)

1. Grace is what makes each moment sacred in its own way.

F. Buechner: "All moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."

My blog from Saturday morning:

Our four-year-old grandson spent last night with us, the sleepover his reward for making it through his Friday night t-ball game without the usual late inning meltdown. He came close to losing it when the final out was made before his time to bat again, but pulled it back together enough to slouch back to centerfield, sniffling and insolent, but there. As the game was pronounced over by the umpire, life was good again, the future bright, and the sleepover at Papa and Jo Jo's back on.  To the casual observer, Joshua Dane is a bundle of energy, emotion, intelligence, charm, temper, and humor.  To me, he is all of those elements and more -- he is a goodly measure of God's grace. Josh is named after me, proudly wears a shirt proclaiming 'I Love Papa' (I'm Papa), loves to ride with me in my Jeep Rubicon that he affectionately calls "Ruby," but Josh is technically not my grandson.  He is my step-grandson. We do not share DNA; we share Jo Jo, the mother of Joshua's mother. Apart from divine orchestration, this little boy would be named after someone else, call some other man Papa, and I would be the lesser for it. Like his grandmother (Jo Jo), Josh is a constant reminder that I am the recipient of grace beyond comprehension, mercy exceedingly great. I am the least deserving of any child's affection, but Josh doles it out in large measure and I greedily accept it, and am different because of it. That's the way of grace-- grace changes everything and never allows us to remain the same.

2. This present-emphasis is described by two companion terms: justification and sanctification.

Wesley: "Justification is another word for pardon.  It is the forgiveness of all our sins, and our acceptance by God.  The price by which all this has been procured for us is the blood and righteousness of Christ....  The immediate effects of justification are 'the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding' (Phil 4:7); and a rejoicing 'in hope of the glory of God' (Rom 5:2)."

"And at the same time we are justified, yes, in that very moment, sanctification begins.  In that instant we are born again, born from above, born of the Spirit; there is a real as well as a relative change."

3. The means of salvation is faith.

"Not the result of works, so that no one may boast." (v.9)

Wesley: Sermon, Justification By Faith

"The only instrument of salvation is faith, that is a sure trust and confidence that God both has and will forgive our sins, that He has accepted us again into His favor for the merit's of Christ's death and passion.... By affirming that this faith is the term or condition of justification, I mean, first, that there is no justification without it.  He who does not believe is condemned already (John 3:18).... Faith, therefore, is the necessary condition of justification; furthermore, it is the only necessary condition."

1) The gateway to faith is repentance.

"It is generally supposed that repentance and faith are the only gate of religion.... And this is undoubtedly true that there is a repentance and a faith which are more especially necessary at the beginning." (Sermon: The Repentance of Believers)

"Repentance frequently means an inward change, a change of mind from sin to holiness.  But we now speak of it in a quite different sense-- as it is one kind of self-knowledge, the knowing of ourselves sinners; guilty, helpless sinners."

2) Notice that nowhere does the Bible or Wesley mention anything about church membership as a part of salvation.  Church membership & participation or a result of salvation, not a means of salvation.

Close:

So, what is Wesley saying? More importantly, what is the Bible saying about salvation?

- That, it is the gift of God, purchased by the sacrifice of Christ.

- That it is obtained simply by accepting the gift.

- That the attitude of heart that prepare us to accept the gift is repentance, and the attitude of mind that recognizes the present possession of the gift is faith.

- That this great salvation is a present possession, transforming us right now into the likeness of Christ.

Have you understood your desperate situation apart from Christ?

Have you recognized the grace gift of salvation in Christ?

Have you turned from your sins and turned to God?

Have you accepted God's gift of salvation by faith?

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Bosqueville High School Baccalaureate 2014

Bosqueville High School Baccalaureate

Address to Families

Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor of Bosqueville United Methodist Church

"The Tight Rope"

Proverbs 22:6

Open:

"Sermons are like jokes; even the best ones are hard to remember. In both cases that may be just as well. Ideally the thing to remember is not the preachers' eloquence but the lump in your throat or leap of your heart or the thorn in your flesh that appeared as much in spite of what they said as because of it." (So writes novelist Frederick Buechner)

I realize that most likely you graduates will not remember anything said here today, nor will you parents.  But you will remember that you were here, and that's something significant.  You are part of a small community and equally small school that values not only your accomplishments in the classroom and athletic field, but the person you are becoming.  And faith plays a major role in determining the outcome of that personal journey.

Many of you have a decided advantage over me today.  I am not indigenous to this place, but your roots may meander back through a generation or multiple generations in Bosqueville.  I will say that when I put down my own roots in this community eight years ago, I set them down deep. I quickly fell in love with the place and its people. I have substitute taught for junior high and high school, been D.O.G. At the elementary school, attended athletic contests, cheered at Homecoming parades, and served as pastor of one of the local churches in the community.

I wrote this a couple of months ago about Bosqueville:

I reside as part of a small community and I'm a member of an even smaller community of faith. I live here because my wife lived here before me, and over the past eight years I've grown not only accustomed to these surroundings, but to care for the people who are fixtures in these surroundings. Two such residents who mean a great deal to me are our landlords and neighbors from down the simple country lane I now call home.  This relationship led last year to my agreeing to preach at their small historic church that stands near the geographical gateway to the modest region. The white clapboard church building wears the label 'Methodist,' but consists of parishioners who are primarily not Methodists -- a denominational Heinz 57.  So, in an oddly unpredictable way, I fit - in this church, in this community, in this home. I have been thinking lately that were you granted the opportunity like the one given Karen Blixen by Denys Finch Hatton in "Out of Africa" as he flies her in an open cockpit biplane over her beloved Ngong Hills, you would peer down over the side and notice a quilt-like pattern spread out below you, a fitting image for a quilting people. Like the land, we are pieced together here, somewhat akin to gingham patches in an antique quilt.  This is a locale where the cemetery reveals as much about the community as anything living. In the overall scheme of things, not many have lived and died here over the past one hundred and sixty years. A relatively few familiar family names are etched in stone, scattered throughout Bosqueville cemetery like a circling of the wagons, a community's last stand against the onslaught of life and death. In the end, Bosqueville cannot be understood by GPS coordinates or surveyor's stakes; it is defined by its residents. The community persists along family lines, where neighbors know one another, attend each other's funerals, and applaud one another's children at school celebrations and athletic contests.  This is not a place for strangers. It is a place for friends, a place for family, and, above all else, it is a place for being known.

This year is quite a contrast to last year's baccalaureate service for me. Last year I had a daughter seated with the soon-to-be graduates.  This year, she is elsewhere doing other things that 19 year-olds do. So, perhaps it's appropriate that I address not the graduates this year but the families of these outstanding young men & women dressed in cherished blue & black.

Our Text for today is found in Proverbs 22:6, an admittedly odd text for a message to families of young women and men leaving high school.

I am reading from The Message:

"Point your kids in the right direction-- when they're old they won't get lost."

I like the way The Message translates the verse because it comes close to giving us what the author intended.

- Chuck Swindol, says that the best literal rendering of the verse is "Train up a child according to his bent."

What this means to me is that....

I. All Parenting is a Journey of Understanding.

- Our great task (and at time enormous burden) is to seek to understand the uniquenesses (and sometimes peculiarities) of our children.

- Our great opportunity is to fashion and adapt our training methodology accordingly.

- It is this customized approach that draws out the strengths in our children that set them up for success.

- Intense, hands-on, high control training comes up front.

For example:

When our child is about to sear her or his hand to the stove, we don't say, "Now, Sweetheart, let's stop and think this thing through.  Let's look not only to what we want at this moment, but to what this will mean down the road.  Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

No, we shout, "Don't touch that!" while we spring into action to prevent them from burning themselves.

That kind of parenting is appropriate, effective, and necessary with children.

But our text has a second part that involves a dramatic shift of responsibility, both on the part of the child and the parent.

"when they're old they won't be lost."

II. Parenting Young Adults Is Standing Beneath a Tight Rope.

1. The age implied here is anything after childhood.

- Herein lies a challenge: What forms the boundaries that mark the post childhood stage?

- American society defines adulthood in confusing ways-- drive at 16, vote at 18, buy tobacco and alcohol at 21, if student, can stay on parents' insurance through graduate school to age 25.

2. I may not be able to resolve the confusion over definition, but I can say this with confidence about our text:

- It means, as parents we do take on a different role.

- The initiative moves from the parent to the young person (Point them/ when they are old they will....)

3. Our task is to encourage safe independence.

- To me, this is like standing under a tight rope.

- Our child (at least in our thinking) is on a tight rope called adolescence.  It is fraught with danger and delight, with disaster and exhilaration, with irresponsibility and leadership.

- We stand underneath, forming a safety net. Ours is not to decide for them, intervene in every case, to prevent failure at all costs.  It is to be for them a safe place that emboldens them for the high wire.

- This is much more like training lions than seals.

- What I'm suggesting is that we parent in such a way so that our children become men and women because of us, not in spite of us.

CLOSE:

The post graduation path need not be a walk on the wild side, but it will definitely be a walk across a tightrope. There is room for only one on the wire. Be careful not to crowd them or cast too much weight on them.  But do stand ready to encourage them, listen to them, advise them, warn them, admonish them, coach them, forgive them, trust them, and above all, love them.  Remember that a high wire acrobat will likely never need the safety net below them, but knowing it's there inspires them with the courage necessary to make the journey.

Summer With the Wesleys

Starting today:

"Summer with the Wesleys"

For the next couple of months, we will celebrate the Impact of John & Charles Wesley on Methodism and God's work around the world.

The Wesley family was made famous by the two brothers, John and Charles, who worked together in the rise of Methodism in the British Isles during the 18th century.  John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian.  Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement, which began when he took to riding mile after mile on horseback in order to preach the gospel wherever anyone would listen.  John was the preacher and brother Charles was the hymn writer.

This summer we will hear messages inspired by the preaching and writing of John Wesley, as well as sing some of the hymns composed by Charles Wesley.  The series will include the following:

Wesley and Salvation

Wesley and Heaven

Wesley and Discipleship

Wesley and Sanctification

Wesley and Spiritual Gifts

Wesley and Global Ministry

A dramatic monologue by John Wesley

We hope that you will join us for this rich time of worship.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)