Week One

Hi gents. Since this is the first round of our reflections, I am interested to see what form these take. I was uncertain at first where to go with this and what approach to take. Your feedback on Friday will help as I figure out exactly what we are looking for/working towards with these reflections. See you then!

As I read Randy Maddox’s assessments of John Wesley, I cannot keep myself from pondering what it means for the preacher to be the practical theologian. Maddox points out that Wesley is not a theologian if we confine the term to people systematically and academically laying out their stances and doctrines. Rather, another category must be created for Wesley as the folk theologian. This meant using his sermons, hymns, and liturgies to simplify and communicate the vital teachings of the Christian gospel to congregants, rather than using his energy to craft so-called academic theology. Wesley’s theology was proclaimed practically, through his work as a pastor rather than an academic. Defining Wesley in this manner has a great impact on my own understanding of theology, as I am about to move from the academic world to the parish, which will require me to do exactly as Wesley has done. My theology will be lived and spoken, rather than precisely crafted with footnotes and bibliographies. The theology I seek to proclaim must be done through my sermons, my teaching moments, my liturgies, and hymn choices. Wesley as a practical theologian resonates deeply with my own sense of call to ministry.

Consequently, as I read the summaries of Wesley’s theological ideas pulled from his sermons, as well as the sermons themselves, I cannot help but reflect on my own sermon writing and the theology which could be pulled from what I have previously preached and what I will continue to preach as I move from seminary to the parish. What do I want my basic orienting metaphor or perspective to be that holds my moving and maturing theology together, regardless of the changes in context that must impact my preaching? Just as Wesley faced arguments about what would give his moving theology some consistency, so I must find the orienting perspective that will provide continuity to the contextualization of sermons. For Wesley, it was maintaining the tension between God’s grace as the source of our salvation and our own willingness to accept God’s grace as an essential component of that salvation (responsible grace). This tension was wound up in much of his writing and was the lens through which he viewed texts and the proclamations that resulted from them.

I was particularly struck by Wesley’s sermon “The One Thing Needful.” It is a beautiful sentiment to think of the one thing needful and to chase after attaining it. However, I question his choice of the renewal of our fallen nature as the one thing needed. I wonder how possible it is to renew our fallen nature. In my reading, I found myself waiting for Wesley to tell me how to go about this task. Is it through upright living and the process of sanctification that Wesley means for us to renew our fallen nature? Is it in fighting off the chains of darkness holding us down that we are to reorient ourselves to our original state? Or is it the enjoyment and love of God which is the key to renewing our fallen state? If that is the case, how do we love enough to pull ourselves out of sin and toward renewal? This entire proposal feels impossible to me. Perhaps I am simply too Presbyterian, and see humankind as fallen and unable to overcome the sinful aspects of our humanity. Christ has redeemed us, so perhaps faith in Christ is what it takes to renew our fallen humanity for Wesley. But even then, is this renewal something we can attain while we remain stuck in a sinful world, or is this something we must wait for and secure only in death rather than in life?

What then would I proclaim as the one thing needed if I were to preach this sermon? Surely Wesley spent a great deal of time reaching his conclusion that renewing our fallen nature is the one thing needed. So, this is my question for our time together and for each of us. Perhaps our answers will help me move in the direction of understanding what I see as the one thing needed. If you are to proclaim the one thing needed, what would it be for you? It seems to me that deciding on this is an essential move for preaching, because in determining the one thing needed, you are deciding on a recurring theme which will appear as you step into the pulpit each time. How does our interpretation of the one thing needed affect how we approach the preaching moment and seek to move and enliven the faith of our parishioners?