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Commonplace Holiness

Category: Church

  • Adam Clarke’s Advice to a Young Preacher

    Adam Clarke’s Advice to a Young Preacher

    Adam Clarke (1760–1832)

    This is one of several items I re-blog every once in a while. And, here’s why. It illustrates one of the huge gulfs between contemporary Methodism and the original Methodism that arose under the leadership of John Wesley. Methodism originally combined: serious Biblical study, impassioned preaching, a personal experience of faith, a serious discipline for spiritual formation and the service of God in the world.

    This is from a letter by Adam Clarke to a young man contemplating the ministry. Readers will find this advice a bit (ehem!) challenging. Actually, I think it is good advice myself, though I’d (of course) update the reference works, and have to acknowledge I’m quite a bit more “rusty” on biblical languages (and thus much more reliant on secondary sources) than I wish I were.

    First (after the divider rule) I quote Adam Clarke at length. Then (after the next divider) I give some reflection on why I think these remarks are important. (I’ve done some re-formatting. I found this letter in a brief biography of Adam Clarke’s life which had been written by his son-in-law, Samuel Dunn and included in a compendium of Clarke’s writings called Christian Theology.)

    “I would lay down two maxims for your conduct:

    1. Never forget any thing you have learned, especially in language, science, history, chronology, antiquities, and theology.
    2. Improve in every thing you have learned, and acquire what you never had, especially whatever may be useful to you in the work of the ministry.

    “As to your making or composing sermons, I have no good opinion of it.

    “Get a thorough knowledge of your subject: understand your text in all its connection and bearings, and then go into the pulpit depending on the Spirit of God to give you power to explain and illustrate to the people those general and particular views which you have already taken of your subject, and which you conscientiously believe to be correct and according to the word of God. But get nothing by heart to speak there, else even your memory will contribute to keep you in perpetual bondage. No man was ever a successful preacher who did not discuss his subject from his own judgment and experience. The reciters of sermons may be popular; but God scarcely ever employs them to convert sinners, or build up saints in their most holy faith. I do not recommend in this case a blind reliance upon God; taking a text which you do not know how to handle, and depending upon God to give you something to say. He will not be thus employed. Go into the pulpit with your understanding full of light, and your heart full of God; and his Spirit will help you, and then you will find a wonderful assemblage of ideas coming in to your assistance; and you will feel the benefit of the doctrine of association, of which the reciters and memory men can make no use. The finest, the best, and the most impressive thoughts are obtained in the pulpit when the preacher enters it with the preparation mentioned above.

    “As to Hebrew, I advise you to learn it with the points. Dr. C. Bayley’s Hebrew Grammar is one of the best; as it has several analyzed portions of the Hebrew text in it, which are a great help to learners. And Parkhurst’s Hebrew Lexicon exceeds all that ever went before it. It gives the ideal meaning of the roots without which who can understand the Hebrew language? Get your verbs and nouns so well fixed in your memory that you shall be able to tell the conjugation, mood, tense, person, and number of every word; and thus you will feel that you tread on sure ground as you proceed. Genesis is the simplest book to begin with; and although the Psalms are highly poetic, and it is not well for a man to begin to acquire a knowledge of any language by beginning with the highest poetic production in it; yet the short hemstitch form of the verses, and the powerful experimental religion which the Psalms inculcate, render them comparatively easy to him who has the life of God in his soul. BYTHNER’S Lyra-Prophetica, in which all the Psalms are analyzed, is a great help; but the roots should be sought for in Parkhurst. Mr. Bell has published a good Greek grammar in English; so have several others. The Greek, like the Hebrew, depends so much on its verbs, their formation and power, that, to make any thing successfully out, you must thoroughly acquaint yourself with them in all their conjugations, &c. It is no mean labor to acquire these; for, in the above, even one regular verb will occur upward of eight hundred different times! Mr. Dawson has published a lexicon for the Greek Testament, in which you may find any word that occurs, with the mood, tense, &c. Any of the later editions of Schrevelius will answer your end. Read carefully Prideaux’ History. The editions prior to 1725 are good for little; none since that period has been much improved, if any thing. “Acquaint yourself with British history. Read few sermons, they will do you little good; those of Mr. Wesley excepted. The Lives of holy men will be profitable to you.

    “Live in the divine life; walk in the divine life, Live for the salvation of men.”

    — Adam Clarke, “Clarke in the Pulpit and in Prayer.”

    Before I go any further, let me add one quick note: it seems likely to me that Clarke emphasizes studies in Hebrew in this passage because it could be assumed that this young man already knew Greek and Latin — education being a bit different in those days than it is now. Nowadays, no such assumption can be made, and the study of ancient Greek should be emphasized first.

    But, here’s why I think this is good advice:

    (1.) Content must take precedence over form. Preaching has become empty and boring for lack of fresh content, fresh insight arising from the preacher’s immersion in the Scriptures and the life of prayer. The absolute first rule of public speaking (to my mind) is: have something to say. No amount of borrowed illustrations or quickie sermon helps will make up for this deficiency. Training in Homiletics cannot help if there is no deep insight from Scripture and prayer and life.

    I agree that not everyone will be an Adam Clarke. And, his advice is quite off-putting in that way. Not all of us (certainly including myself) will achieve the command of ancient languages that Clarke achieved. No, not everyone is going to develop the passion for ancient languages that he had. On the other hand, bear in mind, that this man was one of Wesley’s local preachers! He was not a scholar working in a secluded University. He was engaged in ministry and preaching. And, look what he produced! Reading should be wide. All knowledge — granted it is legitimate knowledge — is relevant to the preacher’s task.

    (2.) The absolute second rule of public speaking (to my mind) is: speak with passion and enthusiasm. You have to care. You have to think that what you have to say is important. It needs to show that you do. Preachers can only become preachers through deep, sustained Bible Study and prayer. All other knowledge they can gain is bound to be of benefit.

    (3.) My third rule would be this: Live the life of faith. Then, you can talk about it. As Clarke says: ““Live in the divine life; walk in the divine life, Live for the salvation of [others].” But, you can never be a preacher by studying preaching. The preacher must preach from the overflow.

    Well, that’s my opinion, anyway.

  • Holy Spirit, Self-Transcendence, Community

    Holy Spirit, Self-Transcendence, Community

    The following conception of the Spirit’s relation to the human person and to human community rings true for me.

    Pannenberg sees in the heightened exocentric capability of humans the basis for their uniqueness from other animal forms. In the being-with-others that characterizes their existence, they are able to transcend themselves — to look back on themselves again — and thereby to develop self-consciousness. This exocentrically based development of self-consciousness indicates [this] to him as well as the connection between humans and Spirit. Pannenberg credits the self-transcendence required for this process to the action of the Spirit, who lifts humans above themselves, so that when they are ecstatically with others they are themselves. For this reason self-transcendence cannot be accomplished by the subject itself. Rather, all knowing is possible only through the Spirit. By extension, the same ecstatic working of the Spirit found in the individual is the basis for the building of community. In fact, community is always an experience brought by the Spirit, who lifts one above oneself.

     — Stanley J. Grenz, Reason for Hope: The Systematic Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg (1989).

    I expect worship to be an experience that lifts me out of my pre-occupation with myself.

    (more…)
  • More Proof I Could Never Be a Calvinist

    More Proof I Could Never Be a Calvinist

    John Calvin (1509-1564)

    In this passage John Calvin says that God sends people to Hell for no other reason than that God wishes to do so:

    “Many professing a desire to defend the Deity from an invidious charge admit the doctrine of election, but deny that any one is reprobated…. This they do ignorantly and childishly since there could be no election without its opposite reprobation. God is said to set apart those whom he adopts for salvation. It were most absurd to say, that he admits others fortuitously, or that they by their industry acquire what election alone confers on a few. Those, therefore, whom God passes by he reprobates, and that for no other cause but because he is pleased to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines to his children.”

    — John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (translated by Henry Beveridge), Book 3, Chapter 23

    You can find the definition of “reprobation” here at thefreedictionary.com: “(Theology) Christianity: condemnation to eternal punishment in hell; rejection by God.”

    I find the doctrine of Calvinistic predestination — which Calvin himself says includes the idea of reprobation — i.e. that God sends people to Hell by God’s own choice and design — deeply distasteful.

    John Wesley was also horrified by it:

    John Wesley (1703-1791)

    This is the blasphemy for which (however I love the persons who assert it) I abhor the doctrine of predestination, a doctrine, upon the supposition of which, if one could possibly suppose it for a moment, (call it election, reprobation, or what you please, for all comes to the same thing) one might say to our adversary, the devil, “Thou fool, why dost thou roar about any longer? Thy lying in wait for souls is as needless and useless as our preaching. Hearest thou not, that God hath taken thy work out of thy hands; and that he doeth it much more effectually? Thou, with all thy principalities and powers, canst only so assault that we may resist thee; but He can irresistibly destroy both body and soul in hell! Thou canst only entice; but his unchangeable decrees, to leave thousands of souls in death, compels them to continue in sin, till they drop into everlasting burnings. Thou temptest; He forceth us to be damned; for we cannot resist his will. Thou fool, why goest thou about any longer, seeking whom thou mayest devour? Hearest thou not that God is the devouring lion, the destroyer of souls, the murderer of men? Moloch caused only children to pass though the fire: and that fire was soon quenched; or, the corruptible body being consumed, its torment was at an end; but God, thou are told, by his eternal decree, fixed before they had done good or evil, causes, not only children of a span long, but the parents also, to pass through the fire of hell, the ‘fire which never shall be quenched; and the body which is cast thereinto, being now incorruptible and immortal, will be ever consuming and never consumed, but ‘the smoke of their torment,’ because it is God’s good pleasure, ‘ascendeth up for ever and ever.’ “

    I occasionally get push back on this. Like this message, which I received several years ago:

    Those who come will be accepted. You cite that like God will exclude any who come. Faith in the finished works of Christ (active and passive obedience) and repentance are the appointed means to salvation. faith and repentance as well as regeneration are the work of the Spirit (God) in us to point us to Christ (God-man), and it’s by grace from Abba Father (God).

    I do not mean to deny salvation by grace. This person’s comment tries to put the best foot forward and ignore the chilling realities of Calvin’s doctrine. But, to “reprobate” people means that God has chosen to send them to hell “for no other cause but because he is pleased to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines to his children.” They did not come because God had determined beforehand that they could not come.

    This next correspondent was much more angry with me, he’s a little inarticulate, but he was probably so angry it was hard to type:

    Sir,

    God’s holiness, justice and righteousness is beyond anyone’s mind to measure, they did not come because they are determined to walk away and hate God. God left them condemned already in their own weight. Christ (the word who is God became flesh) came to the rescue of many appointed to salvation and the Holy Spirit intervenes, changed their inner being and to enable them to follow Him willingly this was to show His grace, mercy and love beyond measure, and off the chart of anyone’s capacity to comprehend.

    Now, who is responsible for the damnation of the reprobates: is it God? Yes, because he is just to punish them, is God responsible for their committed crimes? no, it is not He who created sin in them, He did not. He made the decree of man’s disobedience but allowed it to happen because of man’s independent rebellion.

    God is just to send all humanity to hell but by His sovereign electing grace chose a definite people for Himself and set them apart to express His mercy and love. This is the revelation of His attributes and He cannot abandon one attribute for the sake another and that’s what Christ did to satisfy justice and appeased wrath through His death on the cross and can now be still holy, just, righteous, gracious, merciful, and loving. You should have considered this.

    Let me also explain this quote “God sends people to Hell for no other reason than that God wishes to do so” He has all the reason and God wishes to do so because of their sin, yet He is willing to save some for the praise of His glorious grace and that’s good news! Calvin simply wanted to refute the error of those who admit the doctrine of election, but deny that any one is reprobate which is illogical. reprobate is a ‘sinner’ who is not of the elect and is predestined to damnation and again, God did not predestined them to commit sin nor predestined anyone to commit suicide yet allowed it to happen anyway out of their own weight and predestined them into condemnation and there’s no need the power of God to make them reprobate but only out of their own weight. He is not surprised because He upholds everything from eternity past to eternal future.

    Again God did not manipulate sin to enter but simply allows it to take place for a greater purpose and that includes the revelation of Himself to His creation through His redemptive acts recorded is Scripture.

    Well, while I appreciate his rushing to the defense of Mr. Calvin, this is all gobbledygook to me. While this is not well written, the writer has stated the Calvinistic line pretty well (from what I know of it). But, it still doesn’t make any sense to me.

    However, the “love” and “justice” of the Creator he describes is not either “love” or “justice” in any really meaningful sense. The love and justice of the Creator that he posits are contrary to love and justice as we would understand them.

    Since we are spiritually shaped by the God we serve, this type of theology seems to me to be morally and spiritually toxic. It undermines the meaning of both love and justice. I know many very good Christians — and there have been many throughout Christian history — who subscribe to this type of theology but whose lives rise above it and I am thankful for that — and for them. Certainly God is faithful and sometimes overlooks our faults and misconceptions. Certainly there are many things about God that we will never understand fully because our minds are incapable of conceiving of God as God truly is. I believe all forms of determinism — this would include the Calvinistic theology to which this correspondent subscribes, but would also include naive forms of universalism, and atheistic forms of determinism — undermine the notion of moral responsibility and trivialize human action.

    It does not exalt the sovereignty of God to make God a deterministic monster. I believe that the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ is a God of universal grace and love. I believe of Christ that: “in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” (John 1:4 NRSV).

    I believe that salvation is offered to all — not as a ruse, but as a reality.

    John Wesley (1703-1791).

    “I appeal to every impartial mind… whether the mercy of God would not be far less gloriously displayed, in saving a few by his irresistible power, and leaving all the rest without help, without hope, to perish everlastingly, than in offering salvation to every creature, actually saving all that consent thereto, and doing for the rest all that infinite wisdom, almighty power, and boundless love can do, without forcing them to be saved.”

    — John Wesley, “Predestination Calmly Considered.”

    P. S. Actually, there are some forms of Reformed theology to which I have little or no real substantive objection. And, while I often quote Calvin unflatteringly, he said and taught many good things — and at times, seems less strict in his “Calvinism” than many of his followers are.

  • Heavenly Realities: Revelation 21:10,22-22:5

    Heavenly Realities: Revelation 21:10,22-22:5

    Someone asked me recently if I thought the book of Revelation was “written in code.” Not really. At least, that’s not the way I would express it: I think it is written in symbols. It draws deeply from the Old Testament and from the symbolism in use in the apocalyptic literature of its time.

    We should expect symbolism in the Book of Revelation, not literal description. We are tipped off to this in the very opening of the book. But, in many ways, this is what we should expect. How else can future and heavenly realities be presented to us except through symbols?

    Revelation 1:1-3
    Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει, καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ, ὃς ἐμαρτύρησεν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὅσα εἶδεν. Μακάριος ὁ ἀναγινώσκων καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας καὶ τηροῦντες τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ γεγραμμένα, ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς ἐγγύς.

    “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.” (NRSV).

    When it says, in verse 1 that “he” [God through Jesus Christ] “made it known” it uses the verb ἐσήμανεν, which means “to indicate, or signify.” We are tipped off right away, that this book conveys its meaning to us by the use of signs and symbols. We should expect symbolism in this book, not plain description.

    he “showed me the holy city Jerusalem”

    Many years ago, I read a commentary on the book of Revelation that impressed me. I though: “there is a lot of good preaching material in this book of the Bible, but many preachers avoid it.” So, I formed resolved to preach a series of sermons on the book of Revelation. I don’t remember right now exactly how many were in my plan. But, as it turned out, it was too many. I started out well, but as the series went on, I began running out of gas.

    And, it was precisely passages like this one that presented the greatest difficulty for me. How was I to talk for 20 minutes or more on the future promise of God which no one has experienced yet. The problem was especially acute for me, since I had been preaching for several weeks in a row on the book of Revelation.

    Revelation 21:10
    καὶ ἀπήνεγκέν με ἐν πνεύματι ἐπὶ ὄρος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, καὶ ἔδειξέν μοι τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ

    the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God

    “And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” (NRSV).

    John Wesley comments on this, noting the correspondence of this passage with the prophecies of Ezekiel:

    John Wesley (1703-1791)

    And showed me the holy city Jerusalem — The old city is now forgotten, so that this is no longer termed the new, but absolutely Jerusalem. O how did St. John long to enter in! but the time was not yet come. Ezekiel also describes “the holy city,” and what pertains thereto, 40-48. Ezek. 40:1-48:35 but a city quite different from the old Jerusalem, as it was either before or after the Babylonish captivity. The descriptions of the prophet and of the apostle agree in many particulars; but in many more they differ. Ezekiel expressly describes the temple, and the worship of God therein, closely alluding to the Levitical service. But St. John saw no temple, and describes the city far more large, glorious, and heavenly than the prophet. Yet that which he describes is the same city; but as it subsisted soon after the destruction of the beast. This being observed, both the prophecies agree together and one may explain the other.

    We can only speak of the future in signs and symbols. It has not happened yet. We have not experienced it. We project, out of our imaginations, out of our experiences of the past, what we imagine it will be. But, John the Revelator speaks of a future reality such as none have experienced. It is something greater than anyone has ever know. Symbolism is the only way to talk about such things. And, this also is the great challenge to the person attempting to preach on this: how to we even speak of such things?

    John has to stand on a mountain to see it all. The promise of God is grand.

    the holy city

    Revelation 21:22-27
    Καὶ ναὸν οὐκ εἶδον ἐν αὐτῇ, ὁ γὰρ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ναὸς αὐτῆς ἐστιν καὶ τὸ ἀρνίον. καὶ ἡ πόλις οὐ χρείαν ἔχει τοῦ ἡλίου οὐδὲ τῆς σελήνης ἵνα φαίνωσιν αὐτῇ, ἡ γὰρ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐφώτισεν αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς τὸ ἀρνίον. καὶ περιπατήσουσιν τὰ ἔθνη διὰ τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτῆς, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς φέρουσιν τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς αὐτήν, καὶ οἱ πυλῶνες αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ κλεισθῶσιν ἡμέρας, νὺξ γὰρ οὐκ ἔσται ἐκεῖ, καὶ οἴσουσιν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰς αὐτήν. καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ [ὁ] ποιῶν βδέλυγμα καὶ ψεῦδος εἰ μὴ οἱ γεγραμμένοι ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου.

    “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (NRSV).

    Unlike the visions of Ezekiel, John sees no Temple in the new Jerusalem. And, he says, there is no sun or moon, the presence of God provides its illumination. There is no temple because there is no need for such a thing — the presence of God pervades the whole city. There is no sun or moon because there is no need — the illumination of God, the Creator of light, fills it all.

    How can we speak of things? We can speak of the life of grace and forgiveness as a foretaste of an even better reality yet to come. The hope of a better world sustains us in the midst of this world — where we experience much disappointment and sorrow along with our joys. The apostle talks this way when he writes: “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” (2 Corinthians 1:21, 22 NRSV.) The Holy Spirit is spoken of here as the ἀρραβῶνα, the “down-payment” or (as in the NRSV) the “first installment.” What we experience of the grace of God now, is just a first taste of the far greater blessings that lie ahead. So, also here: “we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:23, 24 NRSV.) And again: “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee (ἀρραβῶνα).” And yet again: “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge (ἀρραβὼν) of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.”

    We live in a world of joy and sorrow. Often our joys are mixed with sorrow. Every good thing of God’s grace in this life — bringing us freedom and hope and forgiveness — inspiring love and allowing us to believe in it — is a foretaste of something greater. We move forward in hope. We enjoy the good things in life believing that every good we experience here points to something greater yet to come. This does not call us away from the enjoyment of life — but, toward it. We are able to invest ourselves in this life — even with its sorrow and pain n the confidence that something greater lies ahead.

    The presence of God which we experience in this life only momentarily and sometimes fleetingly — will be then a steady and constant reality, illuminating all of life. The temple will be no more because everywhere will be the temple. Living in such a world is beyond my comprehension, but I can at least say this: it sounds good.

    the river of the water of lifee

    Revelation 22:1-5
    Καὶ ἔδειξέν μοι ποταμὸν ὕδατος ζωῆς λαμπρὸν ὡς κρύσταλλον, ἐκπορευόμενον ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀρνίου. ἐν μέσῳ τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ξύλον ζωῆς ποιοῦν καρποὺς δώδεκα, κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ φύλλα τοῦ ξύλου εἰς θεραπείαν τῶν ἐθνῶν. καὶ πᾶν κατάθεμα οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι. καὶ ὁ θρόνος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀρνίου ἐν αὐτῇ ἔσται, καὶ οἱ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ λατρεύσουσιν αὐτῷ καὶ ὄψονται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν. καὶ νὺξ οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν χρείαν φωτὸς λύχνου καὶ φωτὸς ἡλίου, ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεὸς φωτίσει ἐπ’ αὐτούς, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.

    “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” (NRSV).

    We are building (as I said before) on Old Testament imagery: the earthly paradise is restored. Genesis 2:10: “A river flows out of Eden to water the garden….” Ezekiel 47:7-9: “As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes,a every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes.”

    Adam Clarke ((1762-1832)

    Here it is the River of Life, flowing from the throne of God: the source of all being. God brings life and salvation and hope. When we hear and understand the Good News of Christ, we are offered forgiveness, new beginnings, hope, and life. The water of baptism is a reminder of the much larger River of the Water of Life that flows to us from the Throne of God — again, we can think of it as a foretaste. Adam Clarke remarks (on Ezekiel 47:9): “Life and salvation shall continually accompany the preaching of the Gospel; the death of sin being removed, the life of righteousness shall be brought in.” God is in the business of giving and renewing life. And, when we have gone astray — away from the source of life and peace and fulfillment — repentance and faith brings us back. The book of Revelation envisions and uninterrupted stream of life, flowing constantly. Or, as Clarke says: “…incessant communications of happiness proceeding from God.”

    This envisioned future includes “the healing of the nations.” We must remember that God’s redemptive plan is for all nations and all races.

    There will be no more curses on human life.

    There will be a close relationship with God: “and his servants will worship him; they will see his face….” We read in 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when hea is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”

    This future hope buoys us up in the disappointments and struggles of this life — allowing us to commit ourselves fully to life in the here and now without becoming overcome with discouragement. We only know heavenly realities through signs and symbols. They are beyond our present experience. But, they are promised — to give us hope to persevere.

    John Wesley remarks:

    And they shall reign for ever and ever — What encouragement is this to the patience and faithfulness of the saints, that, whatever their sufferings are, they will work out for them “an eternal weight of glory!” Thus ends the doctrine of this Revelation, in the everlasting happiness of all the faithful. The mysterious ways of Providence are cleared up, and all things issue in an eternal Sabbath, an everlasting state of perfect peace and happiness, reserved for all who endure to the end.

    A FREE GIFT TO PREACHERS: Here is a PPTX file for a sermon based on this passage . You can use this, edit this, change this however you wish — it is free for you to use (or not). Click this link: Heavenly Realities.

  • A Test of Spiritual Experiences

    A Test of Spiritual Experiences

    John Wesley (1703 –1791)

    Another ground of these, and a thousand mistakes, is, the not considering deeply, that love is the highest gift of God; humble, gentle, patient love; that all visions, revelations, manifestations whatever, are little things compared to love; and that all the gifts above-mentioned are either the same with, or infinitely inferior to, it. It were well you should be thoroughly sensible of this, —’the heaven of heavens is love.’ There is nothing higher in religion; there is, in effect, nothing else; if you look for anything but more love, you are looking wide of the mark, you are getting out of the royal way. And when you are asking others, ‘Have you received this or that blessing?’ if you mean anything but more love, you mean wrong; you are leading them out of the way, and putting them upon a false scent. Settle it then in your heart, that from the moment God has saved you from all sin, you are to aim at nothing more, but more of that love described in the thirteenth of the Corinthians. You can go no higher than this, till you are carried into Abraham’s bosom.

    — Farther Thoughts on Christian Perfection.

    I think it is interesting that such a comment is made at the very outset of the Wesleyan movement.

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  • Why I Still Find Wesleyan Theology Interesting

    Why I Still Find Wesleyan Theology Interesting

    This is a continuation of my previous post: “Yes, I Think Like a Methodist.”

    John & Charles Wesley

    First, I need to explain this: when I say “Methodist” I don’t mean it in any denominational sense at all. Yes, I served for many years as a pastor in the United Methodist Church. And, at that time I was quite loyal. I came to Christ long ago at a holiness camp-meeting. But, I really don’t mean to speak of this in any sectarian sense at all.

    I know many people who experienced the holiness denominations as spiritually oppressive and legalistic. This has not been my experience, but I know that it has been for many. It may seem strange — since I am very far from being a legalistic person myself — that I find the teachings of the early Methodists and the preachers of the Holiness Movement so interesting.

    For many, the often over-stated claims of the Holiness movement are an embarrassment. Yet, I find these writings a helpful corrective to the casual “Christians Aren’t Perfect They’re Just Forgiven” attitude of so much of contemporary Christian culture. It’s a helpful corrective to a church that has come to peaceful terms with the injustices of this world — rather than challenging and correcting them.

    I am glad I came to Christ in the context of a group of people who believed that faith in Christ made a real difference in a person’s life. I am thankful for a message — however difficult — that challenged me to fully open my life to the power of God’s Spirit. I am glad I heard a Gospel that still held to a message, not only of forgiveness, but also of change and new life. John Wesley’s writings and the commentaries of Adam Clarke were formative influences on me in the development of my faith — and my understanding of the meaning and relevance of the Bible’s teachings. Every once in a while I run across something that reminds me why I’m glad I used to read this material — and the value I have always found in it.

    Bishop Willard F. Mallallieu (1828-1911)

    For example, consider this summary statement about the gospel message that Wesley preached, which was written in the early 1900’s by Bishop W. F. Mallalieu:

    The Gospel as preached by Wesley and those who imitate him, appeals with peculiar force to the intelligent common-sense of all unconverted men. All such men feel that under the circumstances and conditions of human life, it was incumbent upon God to make salvation possible to every soul.

    It has been the mission of Methodism to destroy the unreasonable and illogical and unscriptural dogmas of Calvinistic fatalism, and show how God could be just and yet the justifier of every believing soul that in real penitence accepts the Lord Jesus Christ; and, also, how God can save all infants and irresponsible persons, and how in every nation all who fear God and work righteousness, though they have never heard the Gospel, are accepted by Him.

    These fundamental truths as set forth by John Wesley, have never failed to commend themselves to the favorable consideration of all unprejudiced minds, for they at once glorify the Divine justice and compassion, and throw wide open the door of hope to every soul.

    But Wesley was thorough and exhaustive in his treatment of whatever was the subject of his investigations. For many long and weary years he groped in the thick darkness of the times in which he lived, seeking for the simplest experience of salvation. He abounded in all manner of self-denials and self-sacrifices; his morality was [of] the most exalted character; he was diligent in prayer and in the study of God’s word; he was most strict in all the outward forms and services of religion; but until he reached his thirty-fifth year he had not attained the consciousness of pardon in his own soul; he could not testify that God for Christ’s sake had forgiven him his sins.

    From that auspicious and ever-memorable, as well as glorious hour, when, listening to the reading of Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, he felt his heart strangely warmed with the love of God, and knew himself to be a pardoned sinner, he went straight forward as the Spirit of God directed his steps, till he came to the experience of perfect love in his own soul.

    Notice the power of what Mallalieu says. He is expounding a point of view that has become largely forgotten. Salvation is available to all — it is not withheld from any. Determinism is denied. Atonement is available for all who will have it. God is fair and will judge all people fairly — taking consideration for the knowledge that had in this life. Emphasis is placed on the experience of forgiveness and the witness of the Spirit. The life of the Spirit is held up as a life of love: devoted to God’s will and to the best interests of all people. The goal of the spiritual life is taught as being perfected love. And, people so changed by the Spirit of God, also believe that their world can be changed for the better: it can become a more fair and humane place.

    A new generation of Christians need to arise who will challenge the assumptions under which today’s church operates. Someone needs to challenge the notion that there is no genuine cure for sin. Someone needs to challenge the idea that the world must always go from bad to worse until Jesus returns.

    If, though the life, death and resurrection of Christ God’s Kingdom has come in the here-and-now then there is hope for people and there is hope for the world. It is time to recover this Wesleyan optimism of grace!

    I don’t really care if people call it “Wesleyan Theology”either. I don’t care if people use the term “Methodist” or decide to discard it. That is not the point. In fact, John Wesley isn’t the point. It’s the gospel to which he pointed: the message of hope in Jesus Christ.

    This can still change people. Yes, and it can change the world.  

  • Yes, I Think Like a Methodist

    Yes, I Think Like a Methodist

    In the early part of his 2012 book How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels, N. T. Wright remarks on how the Church has not always allowed itself to hear the full witness of the Gospels to Christ. I won’t attempt to reproduce the argument here: read the book.

    Wright begins by discussing some ways that the Church’s teachings unintentionally got off track. And, as he is discussing how these various theologians of the past attempted to defend orthodoxy in a way that misconstrued some of the Bible’s teachings, he says on page 37 that “the eighteenth century saw great movements of revival, particularly through the Methodist movement led by John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield.” and, he goes on to say:

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  • Ash Wednesday

    Ash Wednesday

    Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. 

    This begins the important Church season of Lent.

    Ash Wednesday services are important to me — when I can attend. Sometimes, since my retirement, I’ve had to kind of search around for a nearby church that was holding such a service — this is not generally advertised on the church signs or on the church web sites.

    I feel like something is missing if Ash Wednesday isn’t part of my Lent. But, I haven’t always felt that way about it. I think the Weidman United Methodist Church was the first church I served that insisted on having a “real” Ash Wednesday Service — I mean with ashes and all.

    Prior to that time, Ash Wednesday had never been a big deal for me. I don’t remember attending an Ash Wednesday service as a child or as a young adult. I was brought into the faith more in the revivalistic & holiness tradition than in the liturgical tradition. I was taught to scorn “empty ritual.” So, a tradition like Ash Wednesday would mean little to me. What’s the point? And ritual and form were always suspect.

    Furthermore, Ash Wednesday doesn’t even commemorate anything in the Bible or the life of Christ. It only marks the beginning of Lent, which is a season in the Church Year. So, from that point of view, it was a little hard to even connect with it.

    Many of the churches that I served in the early part of my pastoral career didn’t seem to care about Ash Wednesday any more than I did. I vaguely recall one pastoral charge where we held Ash Wednesday services. But, it was a preaching service: no ashes. I think we had communion.

    However, being in the ministry did acquaint me with the Church Year, which can be a helpful way of presenting the different aspects of the faith, through preaching and through worship. So, I became accustomed to the season of Lent. And, when the Weidman Church said they had Ash Wednesday services, I said fine. And, do you have the imposition of ashes during the service? Yes, they said. We do. Oh, I see. I hadn’t done that before.

    A colleague in the area gave some ashes to use — from palms she had burned the previous year. She had plenty. And, so we had a real Ash Wednesday Service. It was nothing new to the people who came to the service. But, it was something new to me!

    I followed the directions in one of the official United Methodist worship books. It said this was not a communion service. That was a surprise — but I could see the reasoning behind what they were saying. I followed the liturgy in the book and the directions they gave. I preached on one of the Ash Wednesday texts (in the lectionary, they are always the same, every year).

    Then came the Imposition of Ashes. It was actually the first time I had ever been to a service where this happened. And, stranger than that, I was the one conducting this service. It felt strange to me. It was like the complete opposite of offering Holy Communion. Offering communion has always felt to me like offering life and salvation and hope. But, now I was offering death.

    “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

    Mortality. It’s something we rarely think about. It something most of us don’t want to think about. But, it’s true: we are all going to die. Our time on earth is brief.

    At first it felt strange to be doing this. In fact, at first, I didn’t want to do it. Yet, as I did, I found the reminder of mortality strangely comforting — and bonding. I had spent far too long ignoring the fact of death. There is a strange comfort that comes from remembering we are dust.

    Several years ago,  I read these thoughts from an Episcopal priest named Donald Schell. (I believe this is no longer on the Internet.) In writing about his experience of Lent, and he says:

    Later one Ash Wednesday, as I was nearing forty, I had another small breakthrough. That morning of marking each person’s forehead with ashes and saying the Prayer Book’s words, ‘Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return,’ I felt God’s mercy in those stark words and a wave of tenderness for our fragile humanity. l was blessing the finitude of people God loved beyond measure. I’ve looked forward to Ash Wednesday ever since.

    Though all Lent after I first learned that it was a mercy to remember we are dust, I thought and prayed into this sense that our mortality wasn’t only tragic. I couldn’t explain just how our God-given finitude (including our boundaries of birth and death) was a gracious gift, but since then, I’ve always heard “remember you are dust,” as genuine Good News.

    I guess you either know what he’s talking about — or not. I do.

    One year after the Ash Wednesday service in Weidman, Robin and I had to stop at the store. We forgot the sign of the cross was still on our foreheads in ashes. And, it was a pleasant experience. At the store, we saw other people whose foreheads were also marked by the sign of the cross. And, we felt a bond with them. So, now, when I know it’s Ash Wednesday — and I don’t have any other commitments for that day — I want to find a church that has a “real” Ash Wednesday service.

    I do it to join with others in the community of faith. I do it to remind myself that I am dust, and to dust I shall return.

  • Lent: Then and Now

    Lent: Then and Now

    “Even now,’ declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts and not Your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

    — Joel 2:12, 13

     The season of Lent begins this week on Wednesday. It is Ash Wednesday that begins the season of the Church Year called Lent.

    Historically, the season of Lent is one of the most important seasons of the church year. The season of Lent moves toward Holy Week: the time when we remember the crucifixion. Lent looks toward the Cross — and then beyond it to the miracle of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. Ash Wednesday arrives this week: Wednesday March 5. The history of the season of Lent is interesting for us today. Though we do not celebrate it as people did in the past, a look at the history of Lent can give meaning to this season of the Church year.

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  • A Testimony to God’s Grace

    A Testimony to God’s Grace

    I know that my perspective is shaped by the experiences I’ve been through. It’s true for everyone. In order to understand where someone is (as we say) “coming from” you need to understand the shaping influences in their life.

    I think I’m a real Methodist “throwback” and I’m actually rather glad about it. My early experiences in the faith included Revival meetings and Camp Meeting and Prayer Groups and Evening Worship Services and Midweek Prayer Meetings, etc. They were all aids to discipleship. They were important at the time. And, unlike many who are now deconstructing their faith (no criticism intended), and am abidingly thankful for the influence they had one me.

    Revivalism was a very important part of my early Christian experience. So, as a result, there is a special place in my heart for the Camp-meeting and revival meetings. The formative Christian experiences of my adolescence were closely related to these experiences.

    I know a lot of people feel differently about it. I have heard some appalling stories; I’m not minimizing other people’s experiences at all. But, my experience was different. I’m eternally grateful to the people who first conveyed the Gospel of Christ to me.

    Over time, I’ve drifted away a from the Camp-meeting. While our family lived in the Boyne City area, I was president of the local Camp-meeting Association for a brief time. But, by and large, since entering the pastoral ministry, I have not attended camp-meeting in the summer. And, yes, I used to feel that something was missing. Now (sad to say) I’ve just gotten used to it.

    The Eaton Rapids Holiness Camp Meeting is still in operation. As I understand it, the Simpson Park Camp Meeting in Romeo, Michigan — where I first responded to the call to follow Jesus — is still in operation. I haven’t been back in a long, long time.

    Now, let me be clear. I’m not talking about church camp. That’s a wonderful thing, too, but I never knew about that until I was an adult — and was asked to serve as a camp counselor. Sad to say, I don’t think that as a child or a teen anyone could have successfully even dragged me to church camp.

    As a child, I was lost in the church. I was sent to Sunday school. Later, I was sent to confirmation class. I was sent to youth meetings. I was confirmed in the Congregational (U.C.C.) church.

    In my estimation, the Church had nothing to offer. It seemed to be a sterile and pointless institution. It seemed like an organization of people engaged in the pitiful attempt to hold on to the forms, symbols and rituals of a faith they no longer (and perhaps had never) believed. They sought to make relevant a Book whose acknowledged mistakes, distortions and falsehoods made it an unlikely source of authority. An unfair accusation? No doubt. Maybe I shouldn’t have “written off’” the Church so quickly. But, please remember that the worst thing we can do to the Gospel is to make it look false, empty, boring and irrelevant to daily life. I haven’t forgotten that the “liberal church” never conveyed the Gospel of God’s love and grace and forgiveness to me.

    So camp-meeting hit me pretty hard. There I heard some fiery and enthusiastic evangelistic preaching. Evangelists there spoke of a Gospel that was genuinely related to the struggles of my life. These people really seemed to believe that the Bible’s message was true. It was there I heard how faith in Jesus Christ related to personal guilt, decision-making, and daily life. There I heard about a real God with a genuine love for all people. My attention was now directed to the power, truth and relevancy of the very Book my Sunday school teachers had found embarrassing. I was told that Jesus Christ could change my life and give me a reason to live. I needed that.

    In fear and trembling, I responded to the invitation. The pastor of the Methodist church our family had been attending made his way forward to pray with me. It was a step I have never since regretted.

    Time has passed. Much has happened since those days. My outlook has changed in many ways. But, what the evangelist at camp-meeting told me was true. There is a God of love. There is a revelation from God. By faith in Christ, there is a life of peace, hope and love. I’m glad someone told me that.

    Are camp-meetings (and revival meetings) an anachronism? It certainly appears so! They were a great evangelistic strategy of nineteenth century frontier revivalism. They were once the heart and soul of American Methodism. When the original camp meetings began to fall on hard times, the Holiness movement hit upon them as a strategy for spreading the message of Perfect Love.

    But, many of the great camp-meetings are no longer in existence. Some of those that still remain have an uncertain future.

    But — here’s my real gripe — what has taken their place? Where now is the point of entry for people like me who were lost in Church? Where now are we gathering together to call people to new commitments & into a deeper life of faith?

    Yes, some camp-meetings still survive (as noted above). Yes, there have been other movements like the Lay Witness Mission or The Walk to Emmaus and so forth. These have fallen on hard times, too. But, I wonder if we are really doing all we should to help people find reality, strength, and spiritual depth in their faith.

    I have not forgotten the debt I owe to those who told me the story of God’s love in Jesus Christ. It is because of the truth, power and relevancy of that message that I continue to remember these experiences with gratitude.

    Long ago someone preached a message of hope and faith to me. I’d like to do that same favor for others.