How to Read A Devotional Classic According to John Wesley

(Photo by Aaron Owens at Unsplash)

It is well known that John Wesley, the 18th century revivalist, was an avid reader. Although a self-proclaimed man of "one book," he read hundreds of others and often edited and condensed Christian classics for the common man. 

In his introduction to Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ, he gives "a few plain directions on how to read this (or any other religious book) with an eye to growing spiritually."

First, assign yourself a specific time each day.... We give ourselves plenty of opportunity for eating, why not adequate time for spiritual reading to improve our soul?

Second, prepare yourself for reading by purity of intention, aiming to improve yourself. Ask God to enlighten your understanding and open your heart for receiving what you read, so you can know what God requires of you and then do what He says to do.

Third, do not read out of mere curiosity or too quickly; rather, read unhurriedly, seriously, and with careful attention. Stop now and then to process fresh insights.... Read some passages over and again, especially those that deeply concern you yourself; then ponder how to put them into practice.

Fourth, work at putting yourself in a frame of mind that corresponds with what you read. Otherwise, it will prove empty and unprofitable, while it only enlightens your understanding, but fails to influence your will or emotions. Therefore, lift up petitions now and again for God's grace. Write down quotable sayings; treasure them in your memory bank so that when temptations come, you have a quiver full of arrows against sins you may be addicted to. 

Fifth, conclude your reading time with a short prayer to God, asking Him to preserve and prosper the good seed sown in your heart, so it will yield fruit in its season.

Blessings,

A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law

After 30 years of teaching Theology of John Wesley, I finally decided to read A Serious Call because apart from the Bible it was one of the books that most formed Wesley’s thinking about Christianity. Law begins this devotional classic by defining the nature and extent of Christian devotion, which holds little resemblance to what passes for Christianity today. He reminds us that it is a “serious call” after all, and requires every ounce of our being.

The first chapter goes straight to the sticky issue of how Christians should spend their money.  Using our money in any way we please, says Law, shows we lack intention to please God in all our actions. (Wesley followed Law’s advice to the letter by living frugally all of his life and giving money away as fast as possible. He felt that accumulating wealth was equivalent to holding on to hot coals.)

The next chapters encourage a wholehearted pursuit of God by rising early, reading the Scriptures and singing the Psalms. He writes: Prayer is the nearest approach to God, and the highest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of in this life. It is the noblest exercise of the soul, the most exalted use of our best faculties and the highest imitation of the blessed inhabitants of heaven.

Starting with Chapter 16 he adds suggestions for how to take advantage of certain hours of the day for specific prayers. At 9 a.m., for example, a Christian should spend a few minutes focusing on his need for humility. (He follows with a whole chapter on what true humility entails.) In Chapter 20 he recommends using the noon hour to pray for more love toward others, and follows this up with a clear explanation of  the high cost of real love. (This was my favorite chapter in the whole book and I felt it could easily have been re-titled: "How to pray for those whom you despise and learn to love them in the process.")

Chapter 22 advocates stopping at 3 p.m. to pray prayers of consecration and resignation to God’s will. The whole nature of virtue consists in conforming to, and the whole nature of vice in declining from, the will of God…. Whenever you find yourself disposed to uneasiness or murmuring at anything that is the effect of God’s providence over you, you must look upon yourself as denying either the wisdom or goodness of God. For every complaint necessarily supposes ill usage. (Ouch!)

In Chapter 23 he suggests stopping at 6 p.m. to review the day and confess any sins that were committed. Oddly, the updated version of this book removes all mentions of specific times of day (to avoid sounding too Catholic?) and thus robs the reader of a simple method for remembering when and how to pray for these needs. Tripp’s version was also jarringly anachronistic. The language was not updated very much, but the examples were, which resulted in old-fashioned English phrases next to illustrations about people playing video games, wearing yoga pants and watching movies. Halfway through the Tripp version, I switched to the original version and had no problem with the language or the original examples. And the Dover version came with very helpful footnotes.

Once I got hold of a good version (free download from my library), I couldn’t believe how much I loved this book. It is a book to be read slowly and prayerfully that will comfort and strengthen the heart of any earnest seeker.

Blessings,

Charles Wesley's Birthday

John Wesley is credited as the father of Methodism, but his brother Charles played a major part in the movement as well. What John taught in his sermons Charles put into musical form. He wrote over 5,000 hymns before his death in 1788. Since the Wesley brothers initially reached out to the poor and illiterate, doctrinal teaching was facilitated by the singing of songs that were rich in theological truths.

Charles Wesley’s hymns have fallen out of fashion. You will hear his most famous ones at Easter (Christ the Lord is Risen Today) and at Christmas (Hark the Herald Angels Sing). Even I, who grew up Methodist, was only familiar with half a dozen others until a few years ago. While in seminary I was given a biography of the Wesley brothers and in the back were the words to over 100 of Charles’ hymns. I read them devotionally – one a day – for several years and was greatly enriched. Today in honor of his birthday I’m quoting a few favorite lines and stanzas. (Almost three hundred of his hymns can be heard at cyber hymnal.)

From Hymn 22
Talk with us Lord, thyself reveal,
While here o’er earth we rove;
Speak to our hearts, and let us feel
The kindling of thy love.

With thee conversing we forget
All time and toil, and care:
Labor is rest, and pain is sweet
If thou, my God, art here.

Hymn 75 starts by highlighting our “God of unexampled grace”. Later he writes “Thrice happy am I” because of the three blessings of salvation: pardon, grace and heaven. Hymn 108 reminds us that the “Sun of righteousness” appeared “to gild our gloomy hemisphere”.

Poetry is compact language and as a Christian and theology teacher I love it when a lot of meaning is packed into a minimal amount of words. Next to John Donne, Charles Wesley is my favorite Christian poet.

For Christmas it seems appropriate to conclude with the first stanza of Hymn 107:

Let earth and heaven combine,
Angels and men agree,
To praise in songs divine
The incarnate Deity,
Our God contracted to a span,
Incomprehensibly made man.

Thanksgiving Quotes

Hunger is said to be “good sauce” for the appetite; but a still better sauce is cheerful thankfulness, and the food so seasoned is the most agreeable kind. (John Wesley from his sermon “The More Excellent Way”)

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (The Bible - I Tim 6:6-8)

John Wesley Quotes

My husband just reminded me that on this day 270 years ago John Wesley had his famous "heartwarming experience". Since he's one of my favorite writers I'm going to post a few favorite quotes here.

Here is a short, a plain, an infallible rule, before you enter into particulars. In whatever profession you are engaged, you must be singular - out of the ordinary - or be damned! The way to hell has nothing singular in it. The way to heaven is singularity all over. If you move but one step towards God you are no longer as others. But do not regard this. It is far better to stand alone than to fall into the pit of hell. (From a sermon on Matthew 7:13)

From one of my favorite sermons, "The Cure of Evil Speaking":

Are you determined to speak evil of no man? Then learn one lesson well: "Hear evil of no man." If there were no hearers, there would be no speakers, of evil. And is not the receiver (of stolen goods) as bad as the thief? If, then, any begin to speak evil in your hearing, check them immediately. Refuse to hear. Let him or her use ever so soft a manner, so mild an accent, ever so many professions of goodwill for the one he is stabbing in the dark.(Whew! If that won't keep you from gossiping, what will?!)

And finally, The desire of anything that does not lead to happiness in God tends to barrenness of soul.

Renew My Heart by John Wesley

Years ago when I substituted romantic novels with meatier fare I put myself out of the circle of the majority of readers. My love for the sermons of John Wesley has put me in an even more remote category of reader! This week I’ve had the joy of editing ten of his sermons (from English to Portuguese) and it’s been an exhilarating, exhausting experience. I had two reasons for doing this: I teach about Wesley at our seminary and all of his works are out of print. And I’ve been getting such a kick out of my daily readings in Renew My Heart (a compilation of miscellaneous paragraphs from Wesley’s most famous writings) that I thought it was a shame no one else in Brazil had access to them. John Wesley's Sermons are available in very archaic Portuguese on the internet. Little did I know that when I downloaded them to do a bit of “tweaking” that I would be spending two months making painstaking corrections on each one. Even my husband who grew up in Brazil did not know many of the old words that were used.

It has required reading the Portuguese versions, the English versions (to compare and confirm word choices), my English and Brazilian dictionaries (to figure out what these guys were really trying to say!), my Portuguese Bible and our giant concordance (to update the phrasing of Bible verses). All that cross-checking has taken weeks out of my life! My goal was to make a more readable version of the texts that I could share with anyone who might be interested. But it met another goal of mine which is to read one book in Portuguese for every four I read in English. After 20 years in Brazil I figure it’s about time! I guess it was a good sign that I was just as inspired reading the Portuguese as I am when I’m reading the English. John Wesley’s sermons still preach.