"Submitted to Being More Vile"
One of the wonderful stories about Methodism is that it was and still is a movement. A movement of a people spurred on by the Holy Spirit to spread love and grace wherever they go.
One of the founders of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, felt this spurring onward in April
of 1739. It was on this occasion that he wrote in his journal: “At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people.”
John Wesley was always pushing the envelope with his ministry. Yet preaching outside the walls of the church was, until that April 2, a step too far. He even remarks in another part of the journal entry that he thought that this type of preaching would have been a sin! Yet something
miraculous happened that day—John let the Spirit move through him. And 3,000 people got to hear a message about God’s love for them. They wouldn’t have if he had decided to stay within the safety of the church walls.
We at Faith United Methodist Church are a people connected with a common mission, vision, and purpose, as we seek to build a community of connection, belonging, and hope. There are ways in which we have engaged in this ministry in the past and ways we are doing it today. Some of those methods and means may seem or did seem as “vile” to us as John felt about preaching outside. Yet each one of us is a disciple of Christ who calls us to spread God’s love in new ways.
One of the other beautiful aspects of the Methodist movement is that since its beginning, it was a movement that is not centered around clergy. Certainly, John and Charles Wesley, among others, were are the center of it. But at its best, Methodists were those who were starting and volunteering at food pantries (like our Faith Food Pantry), beginning Immigrant Girls’ Homes (like Alma Mathews), and striving to spread
love in any way that they could. And clergy were helping to equip them to do so.
So where might be God calling you to build connection, belonging, and hope? Is there a community of study or care that you are longing to start at the lake, sporting events, or in your neighborhood? The movement of the Spirit calls us to imagine and dream of various ways to help people know that they are loved by God and they have a place to belong right now with others. Where are we as a church called to submit to being more vile?
God’s peace be with you,
Pastor Jordan Louks
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