Ah! What a beautiful day! Snow is on the ground and coating the trees and bushes! A slight breeze blows to make the falling snowflakes dance! And the best thing about this day? It is the only day this week that I do not have to get out in this 'winter wonderland.' The lady on the weather yesterday promised a white Christmas, to which I say, 'BAH! Humbug!' However, there is an upside. The roads here are pretty much passable unless the snow is falling at a rate of a foot an hour. So, the roads are great. Now if I could just get the Highway Department out here to clean my car off and properly plow out the parking lot...
Today I want to talk about Charles Wesley. Oh, I know. You know all about the Wesley brothers and you know all about the musical offerings of Charles. Those of you with a Methodist background have learned about the particulars of Methodism. But these are just the things the various Methodist denominations wish to tell you. If John and Charles Wesley were to be worshiping in a United Methodist Church today, when they left, they would look at each other and John would say to Charles, "For soothe! What was that, brother?" To which Charles would reply, "I knoweth not, brother John. What doth 'transgender' mean and why must we support it?" The movement they started would not be recognizable to them today.
Charles and John are the best known of the children of Samuel and Susanna, but there were nineteen Wesley children in all. Kind of blows your mind, doesn't it? Nine of these children died as infants. One was accidently smothered by a maid. Susanna herself was just one of twenty five children. The mortality rate of children was astronomically high. Samuel Wesley, the father, was a cleric of the Church of England. Three of his sons followed him into the ministry; Samuel the Younger, John and Charles. John and Charles had some doctrinal issues with the Church of England, possibly because their mother's father, also a cleric, was a 'Dissenter,' or one who disagreed with the Roman Catholic hold-over traditions of the Church of England.
John was the older of the two brothers, John and Charles, and John attended Oxford University for his higher education. A few years later Charles also attended Oxford, and upon the graduation of Charles, the two brothers sailed for the British colony of Georgia in what is now the United States at the request of the British governor James Oglethorpe. Departure date was October 14, 1735. The Autumn storms at sea lashed the little ship and created more than a little seasickness, but they finally arrived in the New World. John was kept in Savannah to minister to the colonists there, while Charles was sent into the interior to win the natives over the Church of England dogma.
This did not go well. The citizens of Savannah had, for the first time ever, tasted religious freedom. John was rebuffed. But it was Charles who had the hardest of times. The natives had their own beliefs. They had no desire to bow the knee to a king so far away and they certainly had no desire to follow a God whom they could not see. The natives also had sharp spears. Charles gave up and returned to England after less than a year and John soon followed.
The thing was, both men had been taught that the Church of England was the only true church. They both saw some issues within the Church, but to them, only those who gave themselves over to the teachings of the Church would be assured places in heaven. However, at the colony of Georgia, they found others had different ideas. It wasn't religion. It was Christianity. They were both confused and dismayed. Upon their return to England, they both found they had many questions. However, simply asking those questions could put you in prison. Both men considered leaving the ministry.
And so, the entire Methodist Movement would have died right there. All the souls saved, all the mission work accomplished, would have never happened. Satan had to work two hundred years to begin to corrupt Methodism and in the meantime he lost many souls. John would have likely become a teacher of some kind and Charles would have become a poet. In England at the time there were many teachers, and John would have been lost in the crowd. And Charles would have likely fared little better in a nation of poets. Except.....
On the evening of May 21, 1738 Charles attended a religious meeting at the home of John Bray in London. Keep in mind, Charles was an ordained cleric in the Church of England, he had been a missionary, he was a song writer and a poet...the work of his lord was all that mattered. And I say 'lord.' His lord, although he didn't really realize it, was the Church rather than the Savior. So it was, at the meeting at John Bray's house, Charles Wesley accepted Christ as his Savior. Three days later, John followed suit and the Movement that would change England and the Americas was born.
As Christmas time drew near in 1738, Charles, still filled with the joy of his salvation, wanted to write a song that would reflect the joy in his heart. He had already written many hymns (altogether he would write over 6500 songs in his lifetime) but they were mostly in the old style that pleased the leaders of the Church of England. However, this year, this Christmas season, his heart overflowed. He wanted to put to paper and music the depth of feeling he felt. He did so and the song was published in 1739 in a collection of hymns. Much of his wording was Old English, as the custom was for poets at the time, so George Whitfield and others later updated the language, but the song we have today shows the joy of a man whose lord became the true Lord. When you hear this song at Christmas, perhaps when you sing it, remember this is the joy of a man released from a religious prison into the Light.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!
- Hark! The herald angels sing,“Glory to the newborn King;Peace on earth, and mercy mild,God and sinners reconciled!”Joyful, all ye nations, rise,Join the triumph of the skies;With angelic hosts proclaim,“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
- Refrain:Hark! the herald angels sing,“Glory to the newborn King!”
- Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;Christ the everlasting Lord;Late in time, behold Him come,Offspring of a virgin’s womb.Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;Hail th’incarnate Deity,Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,Jesus our Emmanuel.
- Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!Hail the Sun of Righteousness!Light and life to all He brings,Ris’n with healing in His wings.Mild He lays His glory by,Born that man no more may die;Born to raise the sons of earth,Born to give them second birth.
