On 24th May, 1738 …….. John Wesley said, “I Felt My Heart Strangely Warmed In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. ………………… “ And founded the Methodist Church. Thanks be to God!
Inspiring words by Rev’d John Wesley: “Give me your hand. I do not mean, ‘Be of my opinion.’ You need not: I do not expect it or desire it. Neither do I mean I will be of your opinion. I cannot. Keep your opinion; I mine; and that as steadily as ever. You need not endeavour to come over to me or bring me to you. Only give me your hand. We must act as each is fully persuaded in their own mind. Hold fast that which you believe is most acceptable to God, and I will do the same. Let all these smaller points stand aside. If your heart is as my heart, if you love God and all humankind, I ask no more. Simply, give me your hand. John Wesley”
Thought for the week by Rev’d Vicci Davidson
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see… In Exodus, we read of Moses and the burning bush. It is one of our seminal stories and we are very familiar with it. Moses sees a bush burning without being consumed by the fire and he wonders how that could be. So he stops and goes and has a look and “When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see” he spoke to him and nothing was ever the same again. The story of the Jews and their relationship with the land to which Moses led them has resonated throughout the histories of Jews, Christians and Muslims and through the Middle East, America and Europe ever since.
And I have a question. What if the bush had been burning for some considerable time? What if several shepherds had passed by but it was only Moses who stopped to have a look? What if God is constantly calling to multiple people but only some of them ever stop to listen? What if you or I, our attention momentarily caught by some anomaly, stopped and went close – turned aside to see – and said, “Lord, was that you?” What might we hear?
As I write, there are only four more days until I can finally let my granddaughter move the symbol on her picture calendar from summer to autumn. The hedgerows and the trees through which we drive, or walk will shortly start to change colour and briefly before they drop, we may have a moment when, catching early morning or late evening sunlight through golden leaves, we too might wonder if it is aflame. Perhaps it is a moment in which we are called to pause, to send up that quick prayer: Lord, are you calling me?
Or perhaps more truthfully: Lord, I hear your call. To what are you calling me? In his book “Called or Collared?” Francis Dewar makes the case that we are all called, and that sometimes people, sensing the call, assume it is to ordained ministry because that is what they associate with vocation. But actually he says, we are all called to something and finding out what that something is can be the work of a lifetime.
As I look around the churches in which I serve and see the dedication and the vocation of so many, I am in no doubt that many are responding to the call. Nevertheless, perhaps the autumn, with its flame-filled trees and bushes, is a challenge to us all to turn aside for a moment and say “What would you have me do Lord?”
God bless,
Vicci