Sunday, July 8, 2007
Luke 8:1-3
Minister of Discipleship
She wasn’t someone you would pick for a “bff” - best friend forever. Everyone around her knew that something was wrong – her own family kept their distance from her. Even though she wasn’t close to her family, she did love using her family name and her father’s position in town to Lord over others. Yes, she loved the money her father’s business brought in and however much he gave her it was never enough. She always wanted—needed—more. The only “work” she ever did was spending every cent her father gave her on cosmetics and treats and beautiful clothes for her ever-growing wardrobe. You did have to admit that all those clothes looked great on her, she was a beautiful woman—at least in physical appearance—and she used her looks to her advantage. You see, she lusted after more than just money and food and clothing… If all this wasn’t bad enough, there was something even more troubling about her… Sometimes she would get really jealous of another woman and then, watch out! She had a horrible temper. Some people actually said she seemed to be “possessed” by something when she got angry and violent. It was as if she lived in her own world and most people preferred that she stay there—far away from them!!
That’s what most people saw, but not everyone. One day a man came through town teaching about God’s love, freely offered for all people. Something about him caught her attention – that didn’t happen very often, if at all. That emptiness inside her heart that never seemed to be filled longed to hear more. The anger and hurt that so often welled up in her mind seemed to be quenched by his very presence. And so, she began to spend time with him and before long she became a part of his group of followers. Even more miraculous, suddenly those demons—those seven deadly sins—which had ruled her life for so long were gone. And, in their place Mary slowly became a woman of humility, generosity, love, kindness, self-control and faith. For the first time she could ever remember she had a real zeal for life—a healthy kind of life, a life lived in loving communion with others.
No one knows what was really going on in the life of Mary of Magdalene. Preachers and theologians have speculated for 2,000 years as to what was “wrong” in her life. All we know for certain is what Luke tells us in his gospel. She once was plagued by seven “demons” and then she was healed by Jesus and was a part of his band of followers. Luke did not care to focus on who Mary had been or what had been wrong with her life, instead, he wanted to focus on the good news – God’s saving grace which can take anyone’s life and turn it around. This is what made Jesus different in his day. He cared about people—all the people. He went to the people in need of God’s healing presence and walked with them, talked with them, ate with them. And, as we can read in all the gospel accounts, by walking and talking and fellowshipping with those in need of God’s grace, Jesus was able to change lives – forever.
You see, the religious folk of Jesus’ day had gotten away from “the basics.” They had forgotten what it really meant to be people of God. Somewhere along the way living a life that followed the letter of the law had become more important than living the law that God had “written on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31: 31-33) They kept the Sabbath, but many of them never kept time with God. They gave their required tithe, but they never gave joyfully to those in need. And so, Jesus came to call them to repentance—true repentance—repentance that meant turning their lives around, re-thinking what it actually meant to be God’s people living out God’s love in God’s world. Jesus was seen as a radical by the established religious society of his day…someone who hung around with the “rabble” of society, not the “good, socially acceptable folks.” And, it caused changes to happen to the Jewish religious structure. His band of followers eventually became a new religious sect – a group called Christians.
As time went on, the Christians came an established religious group… And they became, the religious folk who had gotten away from “the basics.” Somewhere along the way living a life that followed the letter of the law had become more important than living the law that God had “written on their hearts.” And, in those times there were always people like Mary Magdalene who you wouldn’t want to call a best friend. There were those who lived with demons both of their own choosing and the demons of poverty. And, God would do as God had done before…God would send someone into the midst of the situation. God continues to send messengers of the gospel into every age and every time when the people of God have gotten too set in their ways.
One such messenger was John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. John Wesley was an Anglican priest living in England in the mid to late 18th century. He saw that the Church of England had become placid. The people considered themselves members of the church, but it didn’t seem to change how most of them lived their daily lives. As the Industrial Revolution was unfolding, he saw more and more lives being destroyed by the “demons” of his day. Some people were being destroyed by addictions such as alcohol and gambling. Others were being destroyed by lives of abject poverty. Most were working overlong work schedules in horrible working conditions. Even children worked at least 6 days a week for 12-18 hours a day. Wesley’s heart went out to these people and he asked – where is the church in the midst of these people? These people were seldom if ever seen or welcomed into the church proper. The church was not out walking with the these people in the coalmines or the warehouses or the debtor’s prisons and Wesley wondered why. He decided that rather than wait for the people to “come” to the gospel message inside the churches, he would take the gospel message out into the streets. He would walk with folks along their roads, he would commune with them wherever they were. He began to establish “bands” of people into groups to meet as faithful followers of Jesus Christ. His method for establishing these groups and his method for helping them grow in their discipleship lead to the nickname, Methodists.
That is our heritage. This is our calling. If we are to call ourselves Christians, we must remember to walk where Christ walked. If we are to call ourselves Methodists, we must remember to walk where John Wesley walked. That is why we are beginning this new sermon series entitled, Walking With Wesley. We need to be reminded of our heritage – a proud heritage, which was one of the most important “revival” movements throughout the history of Christianity. It changed lives throughout England and later across the United States. It has “saved” many people from the “demons” of every day life. To be true to our Methodist heritage means that we learn to be leaders in our own day and time where once again Christianity and our society in general have begun to lose their way. It doesn’t take long to look around, to listen to the news, to see what is happening in our neighborhoods and our schools even in our own families to see that there are many “demons” in our midst.
In the opening chapter to his book, Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit, Lovett Weems describes how Wesley’s re-awakening to the religious folk of his day really did bring about salvation and healing to England and eventually far beyond England. Some historians actually believe that John and Charles Wesley and the Methodist movement kept England from going through a bloody revolution such as that in France. Weems tells us that one of the primary things that made Wesley so successful in his ministry was his passion for people…ALL people. Wesley had a faith that connected with the actual spiritual and human needs of all people. The Southern writer, Lillian Smith, wrote that Wesley, his brother Charles, and Methodist evangelist George Whitefield were men “burning with a powerful belief in the importance of the common man’s uncommon soul.” [Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit by Lovett Weems, pg 13] Weems goes on to state that Wesley may have seemed a very unlikely person to be used as God’s instrument to reach those considered outcasts. “His education, background, and personality all might have disqualified him for this missional assignment. Despite all these factors, Wesley connected with people very different from himself. Many previously unreached people came to know the love of Christ because of him. They saw in Wesley a faithful servant of God who cared for them.” [pg 14]
How did Wesley accomplish this work? He did it by bringing together groups of people—not unlike that group of followers we read about in Luke’s gospel this morning. These groups would pray, worship and study together; They would support each other—and hold each other accountable for a life of discipleship; They would go out into the world to care for others. [I hope you noticed the connection with our 3-D Christian map…. Love God, Love themselves, Love neighbors] Wesley understood what Jesus understood - that the world is full of Mary Magdalenes just waiting to be loved and healed so they can become an important part of God’s mission for the world. This is how Wesley put it in his own journal:
“God in Scripture commands me, according to my power, to instruct the ignorant, reform the wicked, confirm the virtuous…I look upon all the world as my parish; …I mean, that in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear the glad tidings of salvation…” [Covenant Discipleship by David Lowes Watson, pg 25-26]
So, how do we live faithful lives as those who first called themselves Methodists? First, we look for others to join us on the journey of faith – to be a faithful Methodist, to be a faithful Christian, you must walk the journey in communion with others – Luke reminds us that walking with Jesus means walking together as a group: the disciples and Mary, Joanna, Susanna and many others. The story of the gospel is the story of a growing group of followers walking together, supporting each other, giving what they had to give. Each of these people was invited to join by someone else or they came because they had seen how the group impacted the life of someone else. Who do you know who needs to “join the journey” with us here at First Church? Who is out there in your “parish,” your world, who needs to know they are welcome to walk with us? Remember, Wesley went out to where the people were – he didn’t just wait for them to show up at church on Sunday. Where do you need to go? Where do you need to look? What part of our life together would be important and helpful for someone else?
There is a second thing we need to remember. We must come to understand that everyone in the group will have their growth areas. It wasn’t just Mary Magdalene who changed in Luke’s gospel, but all the followers changed and grew while walking together in Jesus’ presence. Saint Augustine once said that the church was not a warehouse for saints, but rather a hospital for sinners. Just because someone is dealing with a few “demons” in their life doesn’t mean they aren’t ready to join the group—that is precisely why they SHOULD join the group! We all need God’s healing grace. We come together so we can walk the journey together and support each other, celebrating the successes and holding each other accountable for the places where we need to continue our growth. Mary Magdalene started out as a woman with seven demons holding her back, but after walking the journey in communion with Jesus and the others in the group she became the first evangelist of the good news of the resurrection. Who knows what other Marys or Marks are still out there waiting to walk with us --- who knows what great evangelists they may come to be! Are you willing to follow our Methodist heritage and find out?