1. John Wesley, “The Late Work of God in North America,” ¶I.7, in Volume 3 of The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976–), 59. Future references to this edition of Wesley’s works will be cited as Works of John Wesley.
2. John Wesley, “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, XI,” ¶III.6 in Works of John Wesley 1:674. Wesley’s entire statement is worth quoting in full: “ ‘Strive to enter in at the strait gate,’ not only by this agony of soul, of conviction, of sorrow, of shame, of desire, of fear, of unceasing prayer, but likewise by ‘ordering thy conversation aright,’ by walking with all thy strength in all the ways of God, the way of innocence, of piety, and of mercy.”
3. See, for example, Ann M. Graybiel and Kyle S. Smith, “Good Habits, Bad Habits,” Scientific American (June 2014): 39–43.
4. The patterning language that I use in this chapter and in subsequent chapters has two sources. One is from Wesley himself. Wesley often employed such language when speaking about how we should look to exemplary Christians for models of how to pattern one’s approach to the Christian life (e.g., “a pattern to the flock”). The other is more specifically about the means of grace serving as a pattern for the Christian life, which is an idea employed in various forms by Hal Knight in Henry H. Knight III, The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1992).
1. John Wesley, Instructions for Children (Newcastle: John Gooding, 1746), 7.
2. A good example of Wesley’s view of grace as the power of the Holy Spirit can be found in Wesley, “The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption” (1746) [in Works of John Wesley 1:248–66]. The man under grace is described as one who has “the power of the Holy Ghost, reigning in [his heart]” (¶III.1). See similar statements in “The Good Steward” (1768)—“the grace of God, the power of his Holy Spirit” (¶I.8.); and in “The Means of Grace” (1746)—“the grace or power of the Holy Ghost” (¶II.6).
3. The devotion I mention here was given by Bishop Gary E. Mueller at the opening of the Extended Cabinet Retreat of the Arkansas Conference UMC, First United Methodist Church of Little Rock (September 16, 2014).
4. Vitale later said, “I honestly did not know how he was going to make it up to the stage.” See Dick Vitale, “Jimmy V’s legacy lives on,” March 4, 2013, ESPN. com. http://espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/story/_/id/9014571/20-years-famous-speech-jimmy-v-legacy-lives-on.
5. Jim Valvano, “ESPY Awards Speech,” March 4, 1993. Online at the website of The V Foundation for Cancer Research: http://www.jimmyv.org/about-us/remembering-jim/jimmy -v-espy-awards-speech/.
6. Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶II.1, in Works of John Wesley 1:381.
7. John Wesley highlights the passage from Acts 2:42–47 in Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶I.1, in Works of John Wesley 1:378.
1. Jason Samenow, “Memphis flood: Mississippi river about to crest,” Capital Weather Gang Blog, Washington Post (May 9, 2011). Online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs /capital-weather-gang/post/memphis-flood-mississippi-river -about-to-crest/2011/05/09/AFpNj3ZG_blog.html.
2. Adrian Sainz, “$2.8B Damages in 2011 Mississippi River Flood,” Associated Press (February 25, 2013). http://bigstory.ap.org/article/28b-damages-2011-mississippi-river-flood.
3. John Wesley, Treatise on Baptism, ¶I.1, in Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 319. All references to the Treatise on Baptism will come from this edition. Only direct quotations will be cited by page number.
4. Ibid.
5. John Wesley, “The Marks of the New Birth,” ¶IV.2, in Works of John Wesley 1:428. I have taken slight liberties with this passage of Wesley’s sermon to render it more accessible to the reader but have not changed the meaning that the passage intends to impart.
6. The great majority of Christians around the world affirm the baptism of infants and small children. But it is worth noting that there is also a small minority of Christians that deny the validity of infant baptism; they will go so far as to say that it is not baptism at all. People who hold this view will also cite Scripture passages to support their understanding of baptism, so that arguments about baptism can quickly turn into a game of “my verse trumps your verse.” Here’s a better way to think about the biblical support for infant baptism: we can and should employ the specific biblical texts that are, I believe, decisive for showing the truth of the Wesleyan view of baptism. And then we should also take care to ask the question: Just what do we think is happening at baptism? Is it just a testimony of faith received at some point in the past, an outward statement of what one already believes? If that’s the case, then infant baptism really does run into problems. If baptism is a true means of grace, however, then we’re talking about something different. It means we’re talking about a gift of God, received by us through our worship where we are assured that God is present and at work.
7. I explain the context of Fred Edie’s statement about learning to swim in our baptismal waters in Andrew C. Thompson, “Baptism, Youth Ministry, and the Means of Grace,” Liturgy 29:1 (2014): 5–7.
1. This passage is key to Wesley’s view on how searching the Scriptures can be a true means of grace. See John Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.7, in Works of John Wesley 1:386–87.
2. See John Wesley, Minutes of Several Conversations Between The Rev. Mr. Wesley and Others from the Year 1744, to the Year 1789, commonly called the Large Minutes, in vol. VIII The Works of John Wesley, edited by Thomas Jackson, Reprint edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 322–24. Hereafter this edition of Wesley’s works will be cited as Works of John Wesley (Jackson edition). Wesley’s punctuation and capitalization in this section of the Large Minutes are strange and difficult for the reader, so I have corrected them for the sake of clarity. I have also switched the order of “hearing” and “meditating” for purposes of the explanation I offer in the paragraphs that follow.
3. Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.7, in Works of John Wesley 1:387.
4. John Wesley, Journal for June 26, 1740, in Works of John Wesley 19:158.
5. Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶II.3, in Works of John Wesley 1:382.
6. See Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶¶IV.1–2, in Works of John Wesley 1:390–91.
7. The resource I have personally used for many years is J. Ellsworth Kalas, The Grand Sweep: 365 Days From Genesis Through Revelation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996).
Dr. Kalas provides a very helpful schedule for reading, and his daily reflections never fail to shed light on the text for that day.
1. Arland J. Hultgren, “Prayer,” in The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, ed. Paul J. Achtemeier, et al. (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996), 875.
2. “A Modern Affirmation,” The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 885.
3. John Wesley, “On Working Out Our Own Salvation,” ¶II.4, in Works of John Wesley 3:205–6.
4. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, Q.38.5 (Peterborough, UK: Epworth Press, 1952), 100.
5. Ibid., 101.
6. Ibid., 100–1.
7. Ibid., Q.38.8, 104.
8. John Wesley, “The New Birth,” ¶II.4, in Works of John Wesley 2:193.
9. Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, Book VII, ¶39, translated by Fenton J. A. Hort and Joseph B. Mayor (London: MacMillan and Co., 1902), 69.
10. John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse VI,” ¶II.1, in Works of John Wesley 1:575.
11. Wesley, Large Minutes, Q.48, in Works of John Wesley (Jackson edition) 8:322.
12. John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, VI,” ¶II.1, in Works of John Wesley 1:575.
13. The basis for this prayer in Scripture can be found in Luke 18:13—the prayer of the tax collector in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
14. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, Q.38.5, 101.
1. John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, VI,” ¶III.11, in Works of John Wesley 1:584–585.
2. See John Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.11 and ¶II.1, in Works of John Wesley 1:389 and 1:381.
3. John Wesley, “The Duty of Constant Communion,” ¶I.1, in Works of John Wesley 3:428.
4. Quoted passages in this paragraph are drawn from John Wesley, “The Duty of Constant Communion,” ¶¶I.2–3, in Works of John Wesley 3:429.
5. John Wesley, “The Duty of Constant Communion,” ¶¶I.2–3, in Works of John Wesley 3:429. Wesley’s citation of 1 Corinthians 11:26 can be found in Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.11, in Works of John Wesley 1:389.
6. While the three-fold elements of memorial, means of grace, and sign of future glory are easily discernible in such Wesley texts as “The Duty of Constant Communion” and “The Means of Grace,” I would be remiss if I did not mention that my reading of Wesley’s sacramental theology is inseparable from my reading of the analyses of previous scholars such as Dean Blevins, Ole Borgen, Steve Harper, and Hal Knight. For two examples of earlier interpretations on this same topic, see Ole E. Borgen, “John Wesley: Sacramental Theology— No End without the Means,” in John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives, ed. John Stacey (London: Epworth Press, 1988), 69–81; and Steve Harper, Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition (Nashville: Upper Room, 1983), 37–39.
7. Stanley Hauerwas, In Good Company: The Church as Polis (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995), 48.
8. Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.12, in Works of John Wesley 1:389–90.
9. Charles Wesley, “O the Depth of Love Divine,” United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 627.
1. The prophet Samuel leads all of Israel in a fast of repentance, specifically to seek God’s providential aid in battle against the Philistines (see 1 Samuel 7:3–11). Other examples include King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:3–12 and Ezra the priest in Ezra 8:21–23.
2. See Numbers 6:1–21.
3. See Judges 13:2–7 (for Samson) and 1 Samuel 1:9–11 (for Samuel). As most biblical commentators will point out, there were oddities about both Samson’s and Samuel’s Nazirite vows. One is that they were not voluntary, as was stipulated in Numbers. Both men were promised to God as Nazirites before they were even conceived! Another is that their vows were permanent: an angel visited Samson’s mother and instructed her about the lifelong terms of Samson’s vow; in the case of Samuel, his mother Hannah consecrated his life to God through prayer.
4. See Acts 18:18.
5. See, e.g., Luke 5:33–39 and Matthew 9:14–17.
6. John Wesley, “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, VII,” ¶4, in Works of John Wesley 1:593.
7. John Wesley, Large Minutes, in Works of John Wesley (Jackson edition) 8:316–17.
8. Wesley, “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, VII,” ¶IV.6, in Works of John Wesley 1:610.
9. See Matthew 6:5–18; Acts 13:2; and Acts 14:23.
10. Wesley’s connection of fasting with Isaiah 58 comes specifically in “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, VII,” ¶IV.7, in Works of John Wesley 1:610–11. While it is true that his favored biblical passage for discussing the works of mercy is from Matthew 25:31–41, in this instance he is connecting fasting with almsgiving in Matthew 6:2–4 (in the same way that he connects fasting with prayer from the same section of the Sermon on the Mount).
11. John Wesley, Large Minutes, in Works of John Wesley (Jackson edition) 8:316–17.
12. Tom Letchworth, “Self-control: Get a Grip!” Marion United Methodist Church (Marion, AR), September 7, 2014.
1. My translator during this mission experience was Nic Poppe, who was at the time a student at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. I will always be grateful to Nic for his generous spirit and his willingness to facilitate my relationship with Pedro in its early days.
2. My use of “fellowship” may be confusing to some readers already familiar with Wesley’s list of the instituted means of grace. Those who take their reading of Wesley’s list from the version that appears in the later editions of the Large Minutes will typically insert “conference” as the final item. It is clear when Wesley’s various lists of what he considers to be the instituted means of grace are compared (and when his uses of the term “fellowship” and “conference” themselves are compared) that the two terms are synonymous. For an example of fellowship within a lesser known listing of the instituted means, note this passage from Wesley’s sermon, “Self-denial,” where he lists the means of grace as consisting “of hearing the true word of God spoken with power; of the sacraments; or of Christian fellowship” (¶II.1, in Works of John Wesley 2:245).
3. John Wesley, A Plain Account of the People called Methodists, ¶I.11, in Works of John Wesley 9:259. What I call “false Christians” in brackets in this quote is termed by Wesley “devil Christians” in the original text. Wesley’s original term—and the larger context in which it occurs in this treatise—would require a great deal more explanation, which is why I supply the synonym here.
4. Ibid.
5. John Wesley, Journal for March 25, 1780, in Works of John Wesley 23:162.
6. John Wesley, A Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, ¶II.7, in Works of John Wesley 9:262.
7. This statement might be offensive to some. After all, doesn’t loving our neighbor mean loving everyone—regardless of creed? Isn’t that what the parable of the Good Samaritan shows? Of course, I believe that loving one’s neighbor means learning to love anyone with whom one comes into contact. Yet it’s also true that such love has to begin somewhere. And if we are to learn how to love real people in a real way at all, we’re likely to begin that process of transformation within the community of those that have a claim on our lives and to whom we belong. This I take to be the logic of Paul’s statement in Galatians 6:10: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (RSV).
1. For a helpful description of the role of context in discerning the prudential means of grace, see Dean Blevins, “The Means of Grace: Toward a Wesleyan Praxis of Spiritual Formation,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 32:1 (Spring 1997): 79–80.
2. John Wesley, “Letter to the Revd. Samuel Wesley, Jun.,” in Works of John Wesley 25:322. Wesley did not actually create the categories of “instituted” and “prudential” for the means of grace. He inherited those terms from an Anglican priest and theologian named John Norris who was a generation older than he. As with many of the things that became distinctive to Wesley’s theology and the Methodist movement, though, his tendency was to take ideas or practices and develop them in creative and effective ways.
3. John Wesley, The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies, in London, Bristol, Kingswood, and Newcastle upon Tyne (Newcastle: John Gooding, 1743).
I have taken minor liberties with the text and title of the General Rules, given otherwise distracting differences in spelling and punctuation.
4. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (Peterborough: Epworth Press, 1952), 94.
5. The structure and purpose of the class meeting is described in David Lowes Watson, The Early Methodist Class Meeting: Its Origins and Significance (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1985), 94–97.
6. For a description of some of these organizational features of the band, see Kevin M. Watson, Pursuing Social Holiness: The Band Meeting in Wesley’s Thought and Popular Methodist Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 118–19 and 121–22.
7. John Wesley, Journal for April 4, 1739, in Works of John Wesley 19:47, speaking about the fruits experienced in band meetings.
8. Samuel Emerick, ed., Spiritual Renewal for Methodism: There Is Redemptive Power in Personal Groups (Nashville: Methodist Evangelistic Materials, 1958).
9. John Wesley, “Letter to Mrs. Susanna Wesley,” in Works of John Wesley 25:283. His worry in this letter to his mother is about multiplying the prudential means of grace to such an extent that his focus on them would be counterproductive and even distracting. Yet that very possibility shows how malleable and potentially fruitful the prudential means of grace can be.
10. The student was Bonnie Scott, and I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a more apt description of the way grace works through spiritual disciplines.
1. The quote is from Wesley, “On Visiting the Sick,” ¶1, in Works of John Wesley 3:385. Wesley himself quotes the passage from Ephesians 2:10 in the same part of the sermon, although I have rendered it in the English Standard Version rather than the KJV to help readability.
2. John Wesley, A Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, ¶II.9, in Works of John Wesley 9:262–63.
3. Wesley, A Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, ¶II.11, in Works of John Wesley 9:263.
4. Both quotations in this paragraph are drawn from Wesley, A Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, ¶II.10, in Works of John Wesley 9:263.
5. The connection of the works of mercy with the love of neighbor is made most compellingly by Hal Knight in Knight, The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1992).
6. John Wesley, “Letter to Miss J. C. March, June 9, 1775,” in vol. 6 of the Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A. M., edited by John Telford (London: Epworth Press, 1931), 153–54.
7. John Wesley, “On Visiting the Sick,” ¶I.1, in Works of John Wesley 3:387.
8. In describing the consequences of failing to engage in the work of visitation, Wesley says, “If you do not, you lose a means of grace; you lose an excellent means of increasing your thankfulness to God, who saves you from this pain and sickness, and continues your health and strength; as well as of increasing your sympathy with the afflicted, your benevolence, and all social affections” (“On Visiting the Sick,” ¶I.2, in Works of John Wesley 3:387).
9. John Wesley, “The Important Question,” ¶III.5, in Works of John Wesley 3:191.
10. Rebekah Miles, “Works of Mercy as Spiritual Formation,” in The Wesleyan Tradition: A Paradigm for Renewal, edited by Paul W. Chilcote (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 100.
1. The distinction between particular and general means of grace that I am making in this introductory section is made by Wesley himself in the minutes of the 1745 annual conference. See Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 153.
2. John Wesley, Large Minutes of 1780–89, ¶48.7, in Works of John Wesley 10:924.
3. John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, II,” ¶II.3, in Works of John Wesley 1:496.
4. John Wesley, “On Dissipation,” ¶6, in Works of John Wesley 3:118.
5. John Wesley, “The Important Question,” ¶III.7, in Works of John Wesley 3:193.
6. John Wesley, “Self-denial,” ¶I.6, in Works of John Wesley 2:243.
7. Ibid., ¶I.7, in Works of John Wesley 2:243.
1. As mentioned previously, the phrase, “pattern of the Christian life” and variants are used in Knight’s The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1992).
2. See Dean Blevins, “The Means of Grace: Toward a Wesleyan Praxis of Spiritual Formation,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 32:1 (Spring 1997): 71.
3. Borgen uses the phrase “environmental context” to refer specifically to the way in which all the means of grace are properly practiced within the framework of Christian conference in his major study of Wesley’s sacramental theology. See Ole E. Borgen, John Wesley on the Sacraments: A Definitive Study of John Wesley’s Theology of Worship, reprint edition (Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1986), 119.
4. John Wesley, “On Working Out Our Own Salvation,” ¶III.6 in Works of John Wesley 3:208.
5. John Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.1, in Works of John Wesley 1:384.