Last Sunday's Thought: singing and giving thanks to God at all times

The writer of the preface to Methodist hymn book of 1933 wrote these words. ‘Methodism was born in song. Charles Wesley wrote the first hymns of the Evangelical Revival during the great Whitsuntide of 1738 when his brother and he were “filled with the Spirit”, and from that time on Methodists have never ceased to sing. Their characteristic poet is still Charles Wesley. While for half a century hymns poured continually from his pen on almost every subject within the compass of Christianity, and while no part of the New Testament escaped him, most of all he sang the “gospel according to St Paul”. He is the poet of the Evangelical faith. In consequence Methodism has always been able to sing its creed.’

         John Wesley produced a hymn book for the ‘use of people called Methodists’ in October 1779. In these hymns, he said, ‘there is no doggerel; no botches; nothing put in to patch up the rhyme; no feeble expletives. 2. Here there is nothing turgid or bombast, on the one hand, or low and creeping on the other. 3. Here are no cant expressions, now words without meaning… We talk common sense, both in prose and verse, and use no word but in a fixed and determinate sense. 4. Here are, allow me to say, both the purity, the strength and the elegance of the English language; and at the same time, the utmost simplicity and plainness, suited to every capacity. Lastly I desire men of taste to judge… Where there not be in some of the following hymns the true Spirit of Poetry… That which is of infinitely more moment than the Spirit of Poetry, is the spirit of piety… It is in this view chiefly that I would recommend it to every truly pious Reader, as a means of raising or quickening the spirit of devotion, of confirming his faith; of enlivening his hope; and of kindling and increasing his love of God and man.’

         What makes the Wesleys’ hymns so compelling is their knowledge of the Biblical text and their ability to place it into poetry. In Ephesians 3:18 Paul prays that we may have the power to comprehend ‘what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge’ so that we may be filled with the fullness of God. Here is how Charles Wesley translates this into poetry for song, with allusion to the refiner’s fire (Isaiah 48:10):

         O that in me the sacred fire / might now begin to glow, / Burn up the dross of base desire / And make the mountains flow!

         O that it now from heaven might fall / And all my sins consume! / Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call, / Spirit of burning come.

         Refining fire, go through my heart, / Illuminate my soul, / Scatter thy life through every part, / and sanctify the whole.

         No longer then my heart shall mourn, / While purified by grace, / I only for his glory burn, / And always see his face. (Paul Wesley Chilcote, The Song Forever New. Lent and Easter Meditations on Charles Westley’s Hymns (2009), pp. 97-8.)

         And we have also encountered Paul stating in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that ‘if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!’

         Charles Wesley translates this sentiment into poetry thus:

         The gift unspeakable impart, / Command the light of faith to shine, / To shine in my dark drooping heart, / And fill me with the life divine’ / Now bid the new creation be, / O God, let there be faith in me!

         Thee without faith I cannot please: / Faith without thee I cannot have: / But thou has sent the Prince of Peace / to seek my wandering soul, and save: / O Father! Glorify thy Son, / And save me for his sake alone! (Chilcote, p. 72).

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God while in prison when there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken and everyone’s chains fell off. The jailer was about to kill himself, but Paul shouted out that he should not harm himself because no one had escaped. Then the jailer brought them outside and asked what he had to do to be saved: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household’, Paul declared (Acts 16:31).

In Charles Wesley’s great hymn, ‘And can it be’, the incident is taken as the paradigm of Christian conversion and was written immediately following his own conversion on 21 May 1738:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, / Fast bound in sin and nature’s night: / Thine eye diffused a quickening ray; / I woke; the dungeon flamed with light; / My chains fell off, my heart was free, / I rose, went forth, and followed thee (Chilcote, p. 89). 

It is God who sends ‘the Prince of Peace to seek our wandering souls and save’ (Chilcote, p. 73). That is why we always and everywhere should be ‘…filled with the Spirit, as [we] sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among [ourselves], singing and making melody to the Lord in [our] hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 5:18-20). Amen.

Note: your blogger will be on leave for a couple of weeks but will return with renewed zeal on 9 September at the latest, depending on internet connections.

Last Sunday's Thought: On personal accountability

‘We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry’ (2 Cor. 6:3). St Paul’s words to the Corinthians move from the negative to the positive: he goes on to say that he has worked with ‘purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; [and] with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left…’ There is, he says, ‘no restriction in our affections’.

Yet it is clear from what Paul says and implies that there has been only a limited response from the Corinthians in return. He appeals to them to ‘open wide your hearts also’. Affection and open heartedness are two signs of a church which is also open and receptive to God through the working of the Holy Spirit.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2). The 7 gifts are to be distinguished from the ‘fruits’ of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: these are ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are interior qualities, while the fruits of the Holy Spirit are external signs of the workings of the Spirit.

Receiving gifts of the Spirit as interior qualities and these being transformed into fruits, the external and visible signs, is evidence of the transformation that can happen in our Church as we deepen our discipleship and spirituality. Paul and the other apostles in Acts established new churches or brought the Gospel to fledgling churches which were struggling to know what the Gospel was and is. Remember that at the time, it was not yet written down. Now, it is claimed that 40% of born-again Christians don’t even know what the word ‘gospel’ means! (Neil Cole, Cultivating a life for God, 1999: 84).

Paul encountered difficulties at Corinth that he had not anticipated. As one commentator writes:

‘Emotionally they were the polar opposites of the converts Paul had made in Galatia. The Galatians were paralyzed by prudence, afraid to make any moral decision for fear that it might be wrong. They desperately wanted to live by a rulebook.

‘The Corinthians, on the contrary, were bursting with initiative, and joyfully welcomed Paul’s invitation to work out for themselves what Christian living meant. Their enthusiasm, however, was not matched by their sensitivity to the gospel, and their insights were regularly wrong…’

What Paul’s experiences with the early church at Corinth suggest to us is that, though debate and discussion enlivens a Church, there is a point at which it can degenerate into mere speculation and thus become destructive. Similarly, comments about Paul’s ministerial style and the effectiveness of his preaching seemed to serve no purpose other than to undermine his authority in dealing with a profound doctrinal challenge – facing off those who required converts to Christianity to become Jews first. Unity of purpose is essential to a young church or a developing church: there is no substitute for it. Fortunately we learn that in the end the Corinthians calmed down and accepted his authority once more, so that in the winter of 55-56 Paul was able to spend a second visit there, where he wrote his letter to the Romans.  

Making disciples – not just Christians, but disciples who bear fruit – is what being Church is about. Paul’s difficulties with the Corinthians also tell us that things do not work always out as they should. This is not what we want in our Church. But how do we ensure that we don’t backslide and end up with something that is less than we seek? Constant vigilance is one way. We are counselled to open up our definition of church to mean a way of life, not just a location or a timeslot on Sunday. We need to expand our understanding of discipleship. We must each and every one of us to seek to be Good News to someone in need. In prayer we need to offer our hearts and souls to Jesus Christ and recognize that this will involve sacrifice. It may be easier for us to be generous and compassionate than it is to be forgiving. But both issues lead to a contrast between God and ourselves. God is infinitely more generous than I can ever be; He is also far more forgiving.

Another way in which we can make progress is by holding ourselves accountable. This is a process by which we ask ourselves questions that are the relevant ones for each of us. How has God made his presence known to us this week? What is God teaching us? How are we responding to His prompting? Is there someone with whom we need to share Christ this week? Do we have a need to confess any sin? (Neil Cole, Cultivating a life for God, 1999: 65). If you identify in yourself a particular weakness or need, the questions can be specifically directed in that area; all that is required is honesty and frankness to God. For example, did I invest the proper quality and quantity of time in my most important relationships? Did my life reflect integrity? Did I express a forgiving attitude toward others? Did I talk with someone about Christ? (Cole: 128).

The technique of accountability is as old as the Bible itself. It was used by John Wesley in what became his ‘Methodist’ groups. ‘Am I a hypocrite?... Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican? Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what I am going to do about it? Do I grumble and complain constantly? Is Christ real to me?’ (Cole: 125-6).

The questions can be as precise or as open as we choose. The two basic questions that underlie everything else are these: What is God telling me to do? What am I going to do about it? (Cole: 131). If our own lives cannot be transformed first, we have no right to expect to transform another’s. There is a cost involved in seeking the multiplication of disciples in our Church.

Last Sunday’s Thought: are we willing to be on fire for Jesus?

John Wesley tell us in his journal that on 24 May 1738 he had a ‘burning experience’ that changed his life. ‘About a quarter before nine, while [the preacher] was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.’ Others, such as Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century, have had a similar ‘burning experience’. After they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread at Emmaus, Cleopas and the other disciple said to each other, ‘Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’ (Luke 23:32). God’s fire, we are told by the Prophet Malachi (Mal. 3:2, 3, 6), is like the refiner’s fire: it does not destroy us but purifies us, separating the good from the bad. As John the Baptist prophesied, Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11). Are we willing to be on fire for Jesus?