Sermon Notes February 18, 2007

Methodists are a bunch of hippies and holy rollers. Methodists are President George Bush Jr. and Senator Hillary Clinton. Methodists are a diverse bunch of folks.

Wesley was a unique individual who was described as a reasonable enthusiast. He used his reason and his spiritual enthusiasm to guide his life. He was deeply interested in the best scholarship of his time. Not only was he a great Bible scholar, he was also deeply interested in the sciences. He not only wrote sermons but he also published pamphlets on home remedies. Wesley was also passionate about his faith, encouraging his brother in sharing new hymns for Methodist worship. He was also known to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This holding together of Spirit and Reason caused many fractures of the Methodist movement after his death. Many of these splits occurred within the church when enthusiasts would feel stifled by the moderate majority.

The splits have not always been about reason or enthusiasm. The first split in American Methodism was about racism. In 1787 the African Methodist Church was formed after an African American man was removed from a Methodist Church by the trustees. The EUB was a 20th century merger of two Wesleyan German churches.

What is common in our history is a series of splits and re-unifications. We may face more. There are some limited number of churches both conservative and liberal who have left the United Methodist denomination because of differences regarding homosexuality and the church.

Methodists may always struggle to hold the tension of reason and enthusiasm but that is exactly what we must do. There is room in individual spiritual journeys and in the life of the church for carefully reasoned theology and for enthusiastic trust in the Holy Spirit. Ultimately what must hold us together is a deep understanding of God’s Grace for all.

Like families we will have our conflicts, the question is how will we live in God’s grace while we disagree with one another?