Eternal God, pour out your Spirit upon us, that we might be sensitive to your presence, attentive to your Word, and faithful always to your way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

 

Today we begin our celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley, and a new sermon series on “Dimensions for Deepening Discipleship.”

Some of you may think I have modified the title of the government’s education program to come up with today’s sermon title. What you will see is the government probably modified their title from a line in a Wesley hymn

On December 18, 1707, the Reverend Samuel and Susanna Wesley gave birth to their eighteenth child. One more child would be born to them, but only nine of the nineteen would survive infancy. Number eighteen was born prematurely and struggled through all his life with ill health. One biographer reported that the newborn “neither cried, nor opened his eyes, and was kept wrapped in soft wool for some time until he could make sounds and open his eyes.” They named him Charles.

The eighteenth century into which Charles Wesley was born was one of the most critical periods of England’s history, a time of great change and contrast. England was growing rapidly in population and industrialization. A nation-wide system of canals and turnpikes facilitated the transportation of goods and people. Inventions such as the steam engine and the development of the factory system spurred growth. Trade was expanding with the colonies and what John Wesley called “that execrable villainy,” the slave trade, was expanding as well. Problems of adequate housing, food, water, and hygiene intensified. Crime, corruption, sickness and death were very common. The gap between the rich and poor widened. Yet both John and Charles Wesley, throughout their lives, mingled with people of all classes, but were especially drawn to the poor.

Samuel Wesley, Charles’ father, was a priest of the Church of England. He was a gifted scholar and poet, but also a strong disciplinarian which roused his parishioners on several occasions. He was not a good manager of household finances and was put in debtor’s prison for a short time. Charles’ mother, Susanna, was a talented, practical and orderly person. She taught him Latin and Greek before he went to school. She encouraged him to write his thoughts in rhyme and meter. She trained him in the faith and in prayer. It was from Susanna that he first learned to sing the faith.

Charles went to Westminster School with his older brother Samuel, Jr. as his tutor. They would awaken every day at 5:30 a.m. and speak, write and translate Latin until 8:00 p.m. Ultimately Charles would master seven languages, including Hebrew and Greek. At his brother’s table at Westminster, Charles learned to sing the scriptures. At Christ Church College, Oxford, Charles started the Holy Club, which earned the name “Methodists.” Later John came along and took over the leadership. In 1749 Charles married Sally Gwynne. They spent their honeymoon at Garth, where Charles preached every day they were there. By contrast with his brother, John, whose travails with love and marriage are memorable, their love story can be traced through his many love letters and poems. They had eight children, but only three survived: Charles Jr., Sally, and Samuel. The two boys were organists and composers, and a grandson, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, became one of the most important composers of English church music.

By the end of his life Charles had written nearly 9,000 hymn texts, which incorporated references from all but five of the sixty-six books of the Bible. The one repeated most often is Romans 8: There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of Sonship… When we cry “Abba Father!” it is the spirit himself bearing witness that we are sons of God and joint heirs with Christ… For we are more that conquerors through him who loved us.

Sunday, May 21, 1738, was the day of Pentecost and it became Charles’ personal Pentecost. He wrote, “God chased away the darkness of my unbelief.”

Though both Charles and John had times of spiritual doubt and despair, both also knew the overwhelming joyful assurance of God’s love, forgiveness and protection. So Charles would write:

Love divine all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down.
O love divine, what hast thou done!
The immortal God hast died for me!

He also proclaiming great assurance:

Jesus, invited by thy grace
And each to each endeared,
With confidence we seek thy face
And know our prayer is heard.

This blessed assurance is also proclaimed by the psalmist in today’s text: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me… And when I come to my end – I I am still with you.” In addition to his poetry and hymn writing Charles was a gifted preacher whose sermons were saturated with scripture. Some said he was a better preacher than John.

Methodism was a great help to its adherents, for both Wesley brothers taught their people to read, pray, sing, work diligently, manage their households, and guided them in many practical ways to healthier living. However, some in positions of power in the church and government saw Methodism as a threat to the established church and the social order. Methodists, including the Wesley brothers, faced verbal and violent opposition.

We might sum up their theology in this way: Trusting in God’s grace, displayed in Jesus, justifies us before God and brings us peace with God. This faith works by love, love for God and for neighbor, manifested in holiness of heart and life.

In the 1740’s Charles was involved in two significant theological controversies. The first was with the Moravians, who earlier had positively nurtured both John and Charles in their spiritual need. Charles grew increasingly critical of their urging persons who were not yet Christians to wait passively for God’s redeeming work. Charles contended that Christians were to use the means of grace (searching the scriptures, prayer, receiving the sacrament, doing good) as expressions of their faith. He also contended that non-Christians could and should use the means of grace to acquire faith. John stated the same position to his lay preachers when he said, “Preach the faith until you have it, and then preach the faith because you have it.” Neither Wesley brother was an advocate of passivism.

The second controversy was with those of Calvinist leanings. Charles contended God’s grace was available to all human beings (universal redemption) not to a select few. He states this position clearly and beautifully in the hymn from which today’s sermon title comes:

Come, sinners, to the gospel feast.
Let every soul be Jesus’ guest!
Ye need not one be left behind,
For God hath bidden all humankind.

Verse two of the song bids us to invite others. We are to embody Christ’s grace for all:

Sent by my Lord, on you I call;
The invitation is to all:
Come all the world; come, sinner thou!
All things in Christ are ready now.

It was because of their conviction that God’s grace was available to everyone that Charles and John took their ministry outside church buildings to the entrances of mines and factories, to town squares, and into prisons. This was an extremely radical practice in their time.

Today’s sermon is the first in a new series on “Dimensions for Deepening Discipleship.” We will be considering how we as individuals grow in our discipleship, and how we as a church help others grow as well. The first step on the pathway of a growing discipleship is “inviting.” All of us at one time or another have been invited into faith. Charles Wesley’s invitation came on May 21, 1738. His brother John’s invitation came three days later. Many people, like the Wesley brothers, can point to an exact date when they came to faith in Christ. For many others, the journey of faith is much more gradual. These people may point to a number of dates which mark their faith journey. However, all of us have been invited. When we have responded faithfully to the invitation, like the psalmist, we have discovered the assurance of God’s love and presence.

As we have been invited we are also called to invite others. The gospel of Matthew ends with encouraging words from Jesus, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (28:19) Again, Jesus assures us, “And remember I am with you always.” In our New Testament passage today, Onesimus has already been invited into faith, but now Paul invites Philemon to initiate a new relationship with Onesimus. Philemon is invited to treat Onesimus not as a slave but as a brother in Christ, an equal member of the faith community. Paul assures Philemon that their new relationship with be set in the relationship of the church and transformed by the love active there. Can we have that same confidence here?

The message of both Wesley brothers follows Paul’s line of reasoning here that God’s grace is for all regardless of station in life, and all are to treat each other as brother and sister in Christ.

There are “Opportunities to Serve” forms in the pew pockets and out on the plaza today. These are used by our Nominating Committee to develop a slate of officers to be presented to our Church Conference. I invite you to complete one of the forms and indicate several areas in which you would like to offer your service. One of the areas is Hospitality Ministry. The people of this ministry area train all of us to share the joy of inviting more thoroughly and consistently. There are many ways you can be involved in hospitality. All kinds of skills and interests are needed. I invite you to consider how you might be a part of our inviting team.

Both Wesley brothers were raised in the Christian faith, but on May 21 and 24, 1738, they were invited by the Holy Spirit to a new dimension of faith. They spent the rest of their lives inviting others to deeper discipleship because they were convinced God wanted no one left behind. Charles’ hymns spoke the gospel to people’s hearts. His hymns spoke of their longings. They spoke of God’s grace for all. They spoke of the assurance of knowing God’s love in Christ. They spoke of deepening discipleship.

Charles sings about the dimensions of grace in a selection from his Hymns and Sacred Poems of 1749, building upon a favorite text from Ephesians 3:

What shall I do my God to love?
My loving God to praise
The length, the breadth, and height to prove,
And depth of sovereign grace?

Thy sovereign grace to all extends,
Immense and unconfined;
From age to age it never ends;
It reaches all humankind.

What the Wesleys did very well was to extend the invitation to God’s grace to all. So may we. May we leave no one behind.

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Notes: Works on Wesley consulted for this sermon were Thomas Jackson, The Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley, M.A., Jennifer Woodruff Tait, “Charles Wesley, Family Man of Methodism,” Circuit Rider, September/October, 2006, and Charles Yrigoyen, Jr., Praising the God of Grace: The Theology of Charles Wesley’s Hymns.