Theologian Thursday: Wesley on The Secret of Perfection

John Wesley

Jesus of Nazareth was perfect -- sin-free -- and we are supposed to be like him (1st Letter of John 2.6, Gospel of Matthew 11.29, and 1st Letter of Peter 2.21 - 24). But how can we possibly become perfect like that? How can we fallible and, frankly, very weak humans become holy, just as Jesus was? There must be a way because Jesus himself ordered his students to be perfect (Matthew 5.48) and the Apostle Peter wrote that we must be holy (1st Peter 1.14 - 16).

Yes, God very kindly forgives our sins, but that's not what we're talking about here. How can our deeds, our words, and our very motivations become perfect and holy -- or as close to it as possible in this life, before the resurrection happens?

Many Jesus-followers down through the ages have thought that the secret lies in a strict, rigorous, austere life of self-denial and discipline. John Wesley, our guest theologian for today, believed that himself in his younger days. And throughout his life he was one of the most disciplined, self-controlled men you could ever meet, if you ever read about his life. But Wesley came to realize that strict austere rigor or adherence to a list of rules does not, and cannot, make you holy.

So how do you live a life that is "perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect?" How do we become like a holy God... a God who defines himself as love (1st John 4.8, 16)?

Here according to Wesley is the secret.

What is then the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, "My son, give me thy heart." It is the "loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind." This is the sum of Christian perfection: It is all comprised in that one word, Love. 

 The first branch of it is the love of God: And as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:" Thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:" These contain the whole of Christian perfection.

John Wesley
On Perfection

"...We are not our own"

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Then Jesus said to his followers, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me

(Gospel of Matthew chapter 16 verse 24)


Lent is about humbling one's self and taking on the nature of Christ. Each Sunday during this time I will let wise Christians speak on these subjects. Today our guest blogger will be John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who spells out in his pragmatic way what Jesus' challenge to "stop thinking about yourself" really means.

 _____________________________

This [scripture] implies:

1. A thorough conviction that we are not our own, that we are not the proprietors of ourselves or anything we enjoy, that we have no right to dispose of our goods, bodies, souls, or any of the actions or passions of them.

2. A solemn resolution to act suitably to this conviction: Not to live to ourselves, not to pursue our own desires, not to please ourselves, nor to suffer our own will to be any principle of action to us.

 John Wesley
Forms of Prayer for Every Day of the Week (Preface)

Covenant

Covenant Prayer 

by John Wesley

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will,
   rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing,
   put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
   exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full,
   let me be empty.
Let me have all things,
   let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
   you art mine,
      and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
   let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Covenant

As this essay automatically posts itself, my family and I are at our local outpost of the Christian Movement renewing our covenant to serve Jesus the Messiah. This deeply meaningful ceremony was originated back in the mid-1700's by John Wesley, main founder of Methodism, the particular stream of Christianity I call home.

One of the main reasons I'm attached to Methodism is this ceremony and what is called the "Covenant Prayer," written by Wesley. Its taproot is sunk deep into the ancient Faith of the saints and it sums up -- for me at least -- the absolute, joyful, radical abandonment to Christ's will that is at the core of Christian life.

Even if you aren't Methodist though, I think you'll find this Renewal Prayer is the ideal foundation upon which to set all your other New Years Resolutions.

Covenant Prayer 

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will,
   rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing,
   put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
   exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full,
   let me be empty.
Let me have all things,
   let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
   you art mine,
      and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
   let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

To me, this is the place to build New Year's resolutions.

Self-Reunciation, Part III

(Lent is about humbling one's self and taking on the nature of Christ. Each Sunday during this time I will let wise Christians speak on these subjects, the first 3 weeks about self-renunciation and the following 3 weeks on spiritual formation. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, spells out just what self-renunciation means.)

Third Sunday of Lent

"'If any man will come after me, let him renounce himself and follow me,' (Gospel of Matthew 16.24).

"This implies:

1. A thorough conviction that we are not our own, that we are not the proprietors of ourselves or anything we enjoy, that we have no right to dispose of our goods, bodies, souls, or any of the actions or passions of them.

2. A solemn resolution to act suitably to this conviction: Not to live to ourselves, not to pursue our own desires, not to please ourselves, nor to suffer our own will to be any principle of action to us."

-- John Wesley, Forms of Prayer for Every Day of the Week (Preface)