Title: The Spirituality of John Wesley
Contents
2 Timothy 3:12-15
John Wesley's Spirituality
Today's sermon can be called a title sermon. It is because Wesley is trying to find the truth of the Bible that he understood through a person outside the Bible. Although Wesley was the founder of Methodism, he was a man of complete spirituality who essentially tried to live the life of Christ. To examine his spirituality is to see the interpretation of the spiritual life that the Bible teaches us.
When most people talk about spirituality, they ask if it's a 'spiritual movement'. If you go while singing, they will ask you if you are doing a 'praise ministry'. To talk about spirituality is to graft one's life into Christ, and to do worship work, not praise, is to fulfill one's duties.
John Wesley was a passionate evangelist of the gospel that changed an era. So let's take a look at his spirituality and reorient our spiritual life.
Wesley's spirituality comes from a godly life. He does not focus on any mystical acts or gifts, separated from life by spirituality. As with all the Reformers, Wesley emphasized the spirituality that came from a more pious life. Of course, the root started with the Holy Spirit... So, we will not separate Wesley's spirituality and piety, but look at them together.
1) Wesley's piety spirituality is a life of discipline and obedience from his mother.
Susanna's Puritan piety education was very strict. So Wesley had to follow the rules from birth. By the age of one, I ‘learned to fear the hawk and to cry silently’ without making any loud noises. If you cried out loud, no food was given. And I learned to speak politely to everyone, even to my servants. I memorized the Lord's Prayer while learning to speak, and learned to read at the age of five. He was not to lie, and every mistake in thought, word, and deed had to be confessed. From the age of six, he received regular religious education, and at the age of eight he was able to partake of the Lord's Supper. This rigorous education has been a great force in building Wesley in godliness from his sinful life and will.
Despite this rigorous education, I also learned the joy of submission to the perfect will, with the sure reward of good deeds. So, when he remembered his childhood, he used to talk about happy and beautiful days instead of being bound by rules. As he grew older, the rules of his childhood naturally led him to a life of outward piety, and the accompanying experience of God's love. It is through godliness that I learned from my mother the love of God for those who obey me.
Today's text also teaches us to abide in what we have learned and are convinced of. Timothy, too, was a spiritual life learned from her maternal grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, so it is well understood that the religious life of women is very important.
Today we may not be able to have such a rigorous education. But if you truly love your children, you should teach them from an early age to lead a godly life before the Lord. And that education must first be done at home. To do that, you must also be trained to be perfect in your own piety and spirituality.
Eventually, a godly life was realized at the Holy Club of Oxford University, and the name Methodist was later given to the name of the denomination, Methodist, who saw the members of this club live a spiritual life according to the rules.
Wesley's emphasis on a regular life was not for the visible life (like the Pharisees), but for personal spirituality. He had made a habit of living a godly life to protect himself from evil thoughts and the temptations of laziness and sin. It is precisely because of the lack of a proper understanding of this strict rule of life that today's free-and-non-rules beliefs often flow into indulgence.
Hopefully, you will create in you a regular spiritual life as clear as your love for Christ.
2) Wesley's pious spirituality is not neglecting reading and writing.
Wesley never neglected to read, pray, and meditate. I read various books and wrote various articles. His writings were said to have been enormous in quantity. From the diary, he left many articles, such as letters, sermons, and dissertations. Wesley himself edited the Christian library for the 'Study of Godliness' and published a complete 50-volume collection. This became a necessary book for the early Methodist church members to train their godliness through reading.
Not all of us need to be theologians. But learning from good writing is very important. Intuition through prayer is important, but if you are exposed to various religious texts along with the Bible, you will bring significant religious progress.
In addition, these days, good things can be accessed through media such as TV and the Internet. There must be wisdom to select and avoid them, but certainly much of what we need for our spirituality can be obtained from such media as well.
Taken together, this should be called the spirituality of learning. People must constantly learn and learn. No one has to learn any more. As we learn and master until we die, our spirituality will reach a great level.
Wesley placed as much weight on pious academic endeavors as on fervent prayer and fasting. When you stop learning, a few things will rule your life. It's a very narrow worldview, and sometimes even foolish. I hope that you will learn the spirituality of Christ in the learning field.
3) Wesley's pious spirituality is a life of prayer.
Again, prayer is the essential foundation of a godly life. It is no exaggeration to say that spirituality comes from prayer, so prayer is very important to Christians.
Wesley combined prayers such as our vocal prayers and contemplative prayers through prayers. What is unusual is that other denominations or churches did not offer such prayers as improvised prayers. That's all it's done in a minority mysticism. However, Wesley opened this door of prayer so that he could move forward with passionate faith.
However, as another prayer to seek God's will, I considered prayer using the Bible or prayer book very important. This is because, above all, prayer should be an effort to imitate the life of Christ and follow the ancestors of faith. He tells of his prayer room: “I am here only with God. I am here to spread what I read.”
Prayer should always be an effort to obey God's will. Making my life known and achieving what I want should always be next. No, more often than not, we have to leave it to God. Prayer is not a goblin bat or Aladdin's magic lamp. The power of prayer comes from knowing and obeying God's will completely, not like a child.
Prayer is the most direct channel of communication with God. Therefore, be sure to restore the spirituality of prayer. And keep it.
4) Wesley's pious spirituality is to keep the Lord's Supper holy.
The Lord's Supper is an event where the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells in us. He is united moment by moment with Jesus Christ by partaking of the Lord's Supper. I started attending Holy Communion at the age of eight, and I attended every sacrament possible. Sometimes we had the sacrament two or three times a week. This is a holy ceremony established by Jesus, so it is not something you can do voluntarily.
Today, the Korean church does not value the Lord's Supper. They say they think it's important, but in reality they don't do it often with trouble as an excuse. This was emphasized not only by Wesley, but also by the Reformers, Luther and Calvin. It is the holy duty of the saints to partake of the Lord's Supper, and the Eucharist is a great means of grace.
The Lord's Supper will be discussed in depth on Sacrament Sunday, but I pray that you will yearn for the Lord's Supper a lot in the future and experience the wonderful grace of being united with Christ through the Supper.
5) Wesley's pious spirituality is a life of simplicity.
Many people today waste their lives with greed and jealousy. Last week, we talked about the spirituality of the disciples that they do not possess.
It is not that we should not give up everything and have it, but we need to have a religious determination and spirituality for not possessing to be overflowing with gratitude for God's giving. Give up the complicated life of taking care of yourself and live a simple life of serving and sharing. God uses stewards after His own heart.
6) Wesley's pious spirituality is love of neighbor.
To love God and to love your neighbor is the teaching of the Law. It is the highest point of the law. Jesus taught his disciples to “love one another as I have loved you.”
Wesley was “a friend and apostle of the poor.” Corrupted British society drove many poor people down the road, especially in England at the time, where there were many orphans. They were doomed to live in dark streets, with sin and friendship. So Wesley established numerous orphanages and raised them in faith. Wesley boldly carried out what the National Church could not do even with the support of the state.
“A man for others who live the evangelical love that feeds, clothes, heals, and teaches” is the spirituality of neighbor love he desires. Religion without love is false religion, Wesley said, and religion with love is true and living godliness.
* Conclusion: Wesley's pious spirituality is to imitate Christ.
Wesley said that the purpose and essence of all this piety is to become like the Holy Lord, to unite oneself with the Holy Lord.
Wesley asserts that there can be no half saints or 95% saints. He said that there are only total Christians who give their all and serve completely. So Wesley establishes the doctrine of “Christian perfection” in Methodism. A Christian should make every effort to sanctify toward a perfect life.
Remember, in the end, the goal of godliness is to imitate Christ in the knowledge, purity, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, and to make in our hearts and lives the perfect image of God.
So what are the results or rewards of this spiritual life? Wesley said the reward was happiness. He said, 'Holiness is Happiness'. It is said that the cause of all human unhappiness is the lack of a godly life. The life of godliness is not a life of suffering, oppression, or melancholy penance, but a life of grace that gives true freedom, heavenly peace, and true happiness.
Wesley's spirituality sets our example today. Just like the lives of the ancestors of faith in the Bible...
I hope that you too will become spiritual leaders while you live in an era, and I pray that you will become 100% Christians, not 99%.