It is Written - Scripture in Wesley's Quadrilateral

God said it, I read it, and that settles it!

It is amazing to me that we have a saying that is so popularized and common for us that’s sole purpose is to shut down conversation.

A lot of different versions of this saying are out in the world

You want to know what I believe? Read the Bible

I just believe whatever’s in this book

Our church teaches the bible

Now I want to clarify that I think these statements are half truth’s

The problem with the claims is that they assume the person speaking them has a completely truthful reading and understanding of them

If that were the case we would have no reason to gather

If scripture is so unambiguously a direct instruction manual as some would like to believe we would have no need for each other.

Me

Review of the series and the Weslayan Quadrillateral

1800’s - Anglican Church in England

Political power

The church of England

John Wesley largely had a problem with what was Inside

Social club

A group of people that just simply participated in the same things everyone else was

Wesley’s Solution

A group of enthusiastic believers who were convicted that what’s inside changes what’s outside

That the church was more than a group of people who follow rules

The church was more than a group of friends

The church was more than a social club

It was transformative to it’s core

that when we accept the freedom and power that God gives us to resist evil injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves

Wesley’s strategy

How we think as christians should transform how we act as Christians

Care about the least and the lonely in our midst

To stand with humility in the midst persecution

To make difficult decisions

Most of all what was foundational to John Wesley was that he didn’t just speak in ways that the people “inside” the church could hear

He spoke in ways that were simple enough but not easy

Simple not easy faith

Wesley’s strategy of Scripture

Scripture is the primary source of authority

we read scripture through the lenses of experience, tradition, and reason

We will be exploring each one of these in the coming weeks

Albert Outler actually made it around 1960

When I read scripture there are things that stick out to me that when you read scripture might not stick out to you

We

We struggle with Scripture and with what this book means

People left and right seem to be pulling passages out of it to tell us to vote one way or another

To tell us who it is and is not okay to love

To tell us which scientific facts it is okay to believe in

Scripture being used as a weapon, and’s it’s also not a painkiller pill

God

We see a number of times in scripture Christ saying “It is written......often followed by the phrase but I tell you”

I learned in a pastoral care class once that you are not supposed to say but because it delegitimizes everything that you said before it

We must remember too that so much of the passages that we have that talk about “Scripture” were talking about the Hebrew Bible or Old Testaments

So even the scripture that is about scripture might not mean what we think it means

So how is it that we as Christians are supposed to think about the Bible?

Is it God said, I read it, and that settles it?

Well I think our scripture helps us with this question today. I want to read the second of the two passages once again

Romans 15:4–7 NRSV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

We need some simple rules that we ought to be able to follow

Some rough ground rules or intentions

Though John Wesley may not have worded the doctrine of the Quadrillateral in quite the way that we often think he did offer us 3 simple rules

these three simple rules I think provide a compelling basis for the way that we read scripture

Do no Harm

Seems simple it is the doctors creed, but is much more challenging to wrap our mind around

Ways that we don’t even know we are doing harm

I have hurt people feelings and not even had a clue I was hurting their feelings, have you ever done that?

We do have to stand against evil in our world, but often we don’t know how

We may give our best go at it, but even with complex issues in our world we might still cause harm

There is a conundrum in doing no harm in that it is actually really challenging to do without God’s help

If we are trying to sort out for ourselves what is Good and what is bad we might get those things flip flopped and that is a pretty big deal

Hate what is evil - abhor - Be terrified of what is evil

We must hate evil...most people instead hate the consequences of evil

Romans 12:9 NRSV

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

It sounds so basic but in order to stand for the good principles. We have to be firmly rooted in the things that actively cause harm.

We have to say...

When I judge someone else I actively harm what is happening in the church

When I am unwelcoming to someone in this church how will I ever be welcoming to people when I am outside this church

This calls us to higher things

It is not the avoidance of bad that draws people to God , but a rather compelling Good

John Wesley’s second point was.....

Do All the Good You Can

We do have to be formed into something

We are being made into a new creation and God is doing a new thing in us through this scripture

The New Revised Standard Version Marks of the True Christian

love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor

The Christian must keep their spirit at boiling point

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.

Stay in Love With God

Romans 15:5 NRSV

5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus,

Living in harmony is not possible unless we are living with Christ

What’s inside our Bible isn’t just a list of behaviors that we try to perfect.

It is not an instruction manual

Nor is it a painkiller pill

It is not a manifesto, or a war strategy plan

And our love of GOD and our experience of God changes every part of us.

persisting in prayer in good or in suffering - Staying in love with God when things are going great and when they are going bad in our lives.

Scripture is a library that catalogs a metanarrative of a God that loves you. Of a God who does good in the world, and a God who stands with God’s people.

so.....

As you open your Bibles may what’s inside be a reflection of God’s love

Pastoral Prayer

You call us into a life that others have told us is easy, but it is not.

You challenge us to forgive, to love our enemies,

to bless those who curse us.

We want the easy way,

but You have given us the hard path.

Grant us the patience and endurance to journey with You,

to allow ourselves at times to stumble,

to live into the hard way

so that we might fully experience

Your love, and grace anew,

by becoming a people full of love and grace

and forgiveness

Great God,

Give us the strength it takes

to listen rather than to judge,

to trust rather than to fear,

to try again and again

to make peace even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace

to be our best selves.

We ask for the vision

to be builders of the human community

rather than its destroyers.

We ask for the humility as a people

to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes

to be children of the world to come

Give us the depth of soul, O God,

to constrain our might,

to resist the temptations of power

to refuse to attack the attackable,

and to bring peace--not anger--wherever we go.

For those who have experienced loss –

of homes, jobs, good health, and of loved ones, May they find your love and the light of your promises

to be enough for the next step. Lead them to a place of hope, to find glimpses of joy in their journey. Bind up their wounds – so tenderly –

and fill them again with your goodness and mercy.

For those who have wandered far from you –

who feel forsaken, forgotten, or fearful, May they find that you are not so far off after all. May they trust in your prodigal love, And run into your outstretched arms with joy.

And lastly, we pray, for those of us who are comfortable –

safe, healthy and secure. We heartily thank you for your many blessings. May we be agents of your blessing to others

as we seek the peace and prosperity of this city. Lead us to those whom you look upon with compassion –

the overworked, the underfed, the neglected and the depressed. Fill us with your grace and mercy and love,

that we may be healers in your name

For it is in your name that we pray

Announce Offertory

Everything is a response to God’s love for us

As we continue in worship this morning we transition to a time of offering

Give a shout out about connect cards.

Benediction

May you go in the love of God, to walk in the way of Jesus ever uplifted and sustained by the work of the Holy Spirit