Radical Grace. S T Kimbrough

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СКАЧАТЬ to Christ and following in his way, not only will an individual life be transformed, but there will be a definitive impact on society. Charles’s concern is for changed life and changed lives. Self-indulgence is transformed into caring concern for family and others.

      Conversation

      Charles Wesley understood that if you wish to establish a relationship with others, you must be willing to spend time conversing with them. As a well-educated graduate of Westminster School (London) and Christ Church College, Oxford University, how could he possibly build close relationships with persons who were poor and illiterate? He had read the great Latin and Greek poets; the uneducated would probably not even know who they were. He was a cleric of the Church of England, and many of the poor had perhaps never been inside a parish church. Charles knew that he had to spend time simply talking with those who were less fortunate than he was, if he wanted to relate to them.

      On September 12, 1739, he wrote in the MSJ: “This conference abated my headache. Expounding at the Hall gave me more strength. After talking two hours with the poor people that came to me, and preaching at Baptist Mills, I was perfectly well.”11 Though there are a number of elements to be discussed in these three sentences, the focus here is on Charles’s conversing for two hours with the poor people who came to him. While attending a conference, expounding at the Hall, and preaching at Baptist Mills, he takes time to talk with the poor for two hours. We do not know what he discussed with them, but we know that enduring relationships often develop when persons take time to converse with one another. No matter how important one thinks the other elements of the evangelical movement of the Wesleys may be, especially in terms of outreach among the poor and marginalized, Charles exemplifies a seminal aspect of lasting relationships: conversation.

      A similar reference occurs in the MSJ on May 12, 1740: “Employed three hours most profitably in conferring with the poor people; more of whom daily receive forgiveness, or the witness of the Spirit. Three or four were now set at liberty, in immediate answer to prayer.”12 Here Charles spent yet a longer period of time in conversation with the poor. Again, while we do not know what he discussed with them, apparently faith-related issues were involved since he speaks of those who received forgiveness and the witness of the Spirit and were “set at liberty.”

      Regardless of the content of the conversation and the extent to which it was actually a dialogue between Charles and the poor, he sets an example for all who would minister among the poor: take time to converse with them.

      Worshipping Together

      Perhaps one of the least likely places to encounter the poor during the time of the Wesleys was the parish church, and among the least likely places to encounter priests of the Church of England were the workhouses, the hovels of the poor, and the hearths of Newcastle. In spite of the deep devotion of John and Charles Wesley to the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and its liturgies, they understood that those least familiar with its words might better be introduced to the worship of God through singing, prayer, and preaching. They did not consider a less formal use of these elements of worship to be a substitute for the liturgies of the church, but they used them to engage the poor, illiterate, and others in the first steps of a journey toward a life in Christ and the church.

      In the earliest stages of the Wesleys’ ministry after their return from America, Charles records in the MSJ (June 6, 1739): “Above sixty of the poor people had passed the night in Mr Delamotte’s barn, singing, and rejoicing. I sang and prayed with them before the door.”13

      In the MSJ passage cited earlier in this study in which Charles speaks of the poor as his best friends, he says, “With these I continued praying, singing, and rejoicing for two hours.”14 These were indeed not times of formal worship in the sense of the liturgies of the BCP, though given the way in which the Wesleys’ worship, prayer, and devotional life were rooted in the BCP, no doubt its phraseology and theology were integral to their articulation of faith in such gatherings. Of course, Charles integrated them into his hymns as well.15

      Prayer

      Prayer is, of course, a vital part of worship and devotional life. Wesley notes in the MSJ instances in which he spent time in prayer with the poor and marginalized outside the context of either formal or informal worship.

      The first entry in the MSJ in which Wesley states that he spent time in prayer with poor people is dated Monday, September 4, 1738, not quite four months after his conversion on May 21st: “Charles Kinchin, now my inseparable companion, accompanied me to Bexley and Blendon. I prayed, and was comforted with the poor people.” This experience brought solace to him. Presence among the poor and marginalized and prayer with them were a source of consolation. This would continue throughout Charles’s life and ministry.

      On February 19, 1739, he records:

      Prayed in the prison with Anne Dodd, well disposed, weary of sin, longing to break loose. Preached powerfully on the last day. Prayed after God for the poor harlots. Our sisters carried away one in triumph. I followed to Mrs Hanson’s, who took charge of the returning prodigal. Our hearts overflowed with pity for her. She seemed confounded, silent, testifying her joy and love by her tears only. We sang and prayed over her in great confidence.16

      Charles says that in prison he prayed with Anne Dodd. He does not say she is a prisoner, but one assumes that she was. He prayed as well for the prostitutes, one of whom, according to his account, “seemed confounded” and bore witness to “her joy and love by her tears.” He goes on to say that they “sang and prayed over her in great confidence.”

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