Five Marks of a Methodist: Week 1

John 15:9–12 NIV

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

“What then is the mark? Who is a Methodist, according to your own account?” I answer: A Methodist is one who has “the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him;” one who “loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul; which is constantly crying out, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee! My God and my all! Thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion forever!” Wesley, John. The Character of a Methodist. Unknown. Kindle Edition.

Introduction

Good evening friends, my name is Tim Sisk and I am blessed to be the pastor of Booneville First United Methodist Church. Thank you for joining me for this Midweek Devotion as we continue our series, Wednesdays with Wesley.

Last week, we finished up the book by Bishop Rueben P. Job called, Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living that was based on John Wesley’s General Rules for the Methodist Church. This week we begin a new book on John Wesley’s teachings called, Five Marks of a Methodist by Steve Harper.

Five Marks of a Methodist is based on a treatise written by John Wesley called, The Character of a Methodist. In this treatise, John Wesley seeks to build an identity of the Christ follower who wants to live according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wesley does this by establishing in The Character of a Methodist that the Christ follower and genuine follower of Jesus Christ built upon abiding or remaining in Christ.

John 15:9–12 NIV

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

A brief history for context

Steve Harper reminds us in this book that between the years of 1733-1738, John Wesley was overseeing a growing number of Christians who wanted to live according to the gospel in an environment of mutual accountability. What had begun out of small group of people who were seeking John Wesley’s help and guidance was rapidly becoming a movement that we call “The Early Methodist Movement”. By 1742, this movement was present among Quakers, Anglicans, Puritans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and non-denominational Christians. Given how rapidly the movement was growing numerically and the success of it outside of London led John Wesley unable to provide personal guidance. So Wesley, in his genius, began organizing “societies” and developed General Rules for the Methodist Church which our study of Three Simple Rules was based upon.

In order to guide what Methodism would become, John Wesley published a treatise called, The Character of a Methodist. In this document, Wesley gives us five marks to confirm our identity as genuine and faithful disciples for all Christ-followers.

Some definitions

Before we get into the five marks proper, let’s define some language here. As I have already mentioned, Wesley’s document is called The Character of a Methodist and the book I’m using to base this study upon is called Five Marks of a Methodist. The words “character” and “mark” have several different usages but for our understanding, let’s define their usage for this study.

When we say character, what we are thinking of are “what are the characteristics of a Methodist?” And by “mark”, we mean essentially the same thing, “What are the identifying marks of a Methodist”. Now, I think these are more aspirational than descriptive. Lots of people who identify as Methodist might not have these characteristics or marks. But the Christ follower should be pursuing these marks or characteristics. One of the things I love about the Wesleyan tradition is that continued pursuit for growth and maturity in the Christian faith.

And so as we think about the five marks of a Methodist, may they we see them as marks as God intended his followers to exhibit even as we pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to change us by God’s sanctifying grace.

So what are the marks?

“What then is the mark? Who is a Methodist, according to your own account?” I answer: A Methodist is one who has “the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him;” one who “loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul; which is constantly crying out, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee! My God and my all! Thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion forever!...And while he thus always exercises his love to God, by praying without ceasing, rejoicing evermore, and in every thing giving thanks, this commandment is written in his heart, that he who loveth God, loves his brother also.” Wesley, John. The Character of a Methodist. Unknown. Kindle Edition.

We have in this paragraph all five marks of a Methodist being mentioned.

They are:

A Methodist loves God (“one who has the love of God shed abroad in his heart…who loves the Lord his God…”)

A Methodist rejoices in God (“rejoicing evermore..”)

A Methodist gives thanks (“in everything giving thanks”)

A Methodist prays constantly (“by praying without ceasing”)

A Methodist loves others (“loves his brother also”)

Conclusion

So then, we have these aspirational marks: to love God, rejoice in God, give thanks, pray constantly, and love others. I hope you’ll reflect this week on how you demonstrate these marks and how you may grow in your maturity that these would be even more distinctive of your life in Christ.

Let us pray.