John Nelson and Micah 6:8

A great twitter account to follow is UMCHulk; who knew The Hulk was a Methodist? Anyway, Hulk said that if you talk about Micah 6:8 without talking about Jesus, you make yourself the Savior.

This is a critical point, as often as people glibly and smugly quote Micah 6:8, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to lover mercy and walk humbly with your God?"

Hulk's comment brought to mind one of my favorite sections of John Nelson's Journal. John Nelson was an early Methodist preacher, 1740s, in Yorkshire. Of all the early preachers, he is my favorite. I quote at length from his autobiography, found in volume 3 of Wesley's Veterans:

I met a gentleman as I was riding to Leeds, who said something about the weather. I answered, "The Lord orders all thins well." He presently said, "I know you, for I heard you preach, but I do not like you; you lay a wrong foundation for salvation. Do you think the blood of another man will save me?" I replied, "St. Paul says, 'other foundation can no one lay but Christ Jesus,' but you say that is a wrong foundation. Upon what terms do you expect to be saved?"

He said, "By good works."

I answered "You will be the first that got to heaven that way. But suppose you could, what would you do when you got there?"

He said, "What do others do there?"

I answered, "They sing, 'glory to God that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever, that was slain and hath redeemed us by His blood!' But your song will be, 'Glory be to myself, for I have quickened my own soul and qualified myself for heaven!' O Sir! What a scandalous song you will sing. It will make discord in heaven."

He turned pale and said nothing for some time. When he had rode a while, he said, "All the Lord requires of us is to do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with God."

I answered, "Do you expect to stand or fall by that Scripture?"

He said, "I do."
"Then," I replied, "you are lost forever, if you are to go to heaven for doing justly for loving mercy and walking humbly with God. I appeal to your conscience if you have not come short in every one of these duties. Have you dealt with every man as you would have him deal with you, in all circumstances ever since you knew good from evil? Suppose you have; have you dealt justly with God and employed every talent that He has committed to your charge to His glory--both time, wisdom, and learning; house, land, wealth, and trade? If you have used any one talent not to His glory, you have robbed Him." Then I spoke to the other two [loving mercy and walking humbly with God]

He said, "There is repentance."

But I replied, "Not for you, for you are to be saved by doing justly, for loving mercy and walking humbly with God; if you come short of these duties, you must be damned."

He said, "Lord have mercy on me! You are enough to make any man despair"

"Yes," I said, "of saving himself, that he may come to Jesus Christ and be saved."


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The Focus is Sharp in The City

Some strange experiences with the Holy Spirit have happened to me on busy street corners. The first I remember happened at the Shell station on Harrodsburg and Broadway in Lexington. I was pumping gas after visiting in a nursing home. A man had expressed that he just did not know if he was saved, and I counseled with him about our assurance of salvation. It was a cold day, a drizzle was coming down and I just had this profound sense of love and peace... A love for all people.

That just happened again a little bit ago, trying to cross Man-o-War, not easily done on foot. That sense of love and peace, perhaps thinking about Steffi and Benji, but it really, again, began to be extended to all people and with this question: do I love them and God enough to give them the whole gospel, not just the pieces that they can accept?

I have a fear of being found cold, heartless and ruthless for withholding the pure Word. But in this moment, it was that Holy Spirit love, a love that comes from God and so does not allow for gaps or hesitation or holding back.


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Methodists and Sola Scriptura part 3

The first two posts in this series can be found here and here

In looking around Wesley's Works, I also came across this in his response to the Roman Catholic Catechism:

Where the catechism discusses the authoritative nature of Scripture AND tradition, the position sola scriptura agitates against, Wesley says: "The Scripture is a rule sufficient in itself, and was by men divinely inspired delivered to the world, and so neither needs nor is capable of, any further addition" (Works, vol 9, p 90).

In discussing the "magisterium," or teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church, Wesley says, "As long as we have the Scripture, the Church is to be referred to the Scripture, and not the Scripture to the Church; and that, as the Scripture is the best expounder of itself, so the best way to know whether anything be of divine authority is to apply ourselves to the Scripture" (Works, vol 9, p 94)

Methodists and Sola Scriptura, part two

The first post in this series can be found here

In "An Extract of a Letter to The Reverend Mr. Law (Wesley's Works, vol 9, pp 467ff), Wesley begins the letter with the following words:

"In matters of religion I regard no writings but the inspired. Tauler, Behmen, and a whole army of Mystic authors are with me nothing compared to St. Paul. In every point I appeal "to the law and the testimony," and value no authority but this."

Notice Wesley's reference to Isaiah 8:20, "the law and the testimony--" Holy Scripture as the place we find authoritative words from God.

Methodists and Sola Scriptura

I want to direct some thinking and attention to the position Scripture occupies in the United Methodist Church. The Reformation principle of "Sola Scriptura," or "Scripture Alone" means that the Holy Scriptures contain all that is necessary to be known about salvation.

A question among UMs is whether or not we hold to this Reformation principle. Some say we hold to, because John Wesley did, "prima scriptura," or Scripture first, but not the only standard of authority. To my mind, there are some who would not even put Scripture first, considering it one among many "sources" for the life and doctrine of the church. But, did John Wesley hold to "prima" or "sola" scriptura?

So, in this post, two portions of the Discipline of the United Methodist Church.

Both come from our Doctrinal Standards-- The Articles of Religion, The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren [a German-heritage "methodist" denomination that merged with the Methodist Church in 1968 to form The United Methodist Church], John Wesley's Standard Sermons, and his Notes on the New Testament. These documents form our doctrine.

Article V of the Articles of Religion: Of The Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation:

"The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be though prerequisite to salvation."

And from the Evangelical United Brethren Confession of Faith, Article IV:

"We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice. Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not to be made an article of faith nor is to be taught to be essential to salvation."

This is the material sufficiency position of Scripture contained in the Reformation principle of sola scriptura. I hope to add more pieces of Wesley's writings to spur more thinking and discussion.


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A Different Way of Pining for Christendom

So it hit me, my ambivalence about liturgy and the Church Year: is it another way of pining for Christendom? There are so many great "feasts" that we don't celebrate on their actual day... All Saints Day is November 1, not NOvember 6, not whatever is the first Sunday in November.

We had an awesome service Sunday, packed house such joy in singing, freedom in preaching, seamless integration of technology...

Are we missing the days when if we had an All Saints Day Service on Tuesday, we would have packed the house, but now with the loss of Christendom, churches are empty on every day but Sunday? Are we missing a culture built around the Church Year?

And if we are missing that, while at the same time generally bashing "Christendom," what's really going on?