“The best of all is, God is with us.” – John Wesley’s last final words
If you don’t know, I had the opportunity to go to England just a few weeks ago as part of a larger Florida UMC Conference pilgrimage to visit and learn more about our Methodist roots. Having never been, I was beyond excited to see a country that I had encountered so many times in film and television. But I was also anticipating what God might have in store, and, surprising no one, God did not disappoint. It’s easy, several hundred years after the movement that we call Methodism began, to view Methodism as just another denomination, another cog in an enormous religious wheel. And certainly, there are things that can and should improve, but encountering the important places and events in John and Charles Wesley’s lives and ministries reminded me that we are a part of something vibrant, and that the Methodist movement is not meant to be stagnant; rather, it has always been renewing itself. John Wesley did not start out a finished product. The movement was started within the Church of England in an attempt to engage the poor and other marginalized people with the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as meet the practical needs of those people. The Church of England often resisted and over time the Methodists broke away and established their own church. When the Revolutionary War broke out, Francis Asbury and other Methodist leaders in the thirteen colonies sought wisdom from John Wesley. Do we stay or do we create a new movement in the colonies? Wesley saw that change had come once again, and he gave permission for them to establish the Methodist movement in what became the United States, separate from any connection to the Church of England. The movement, the gospel, was more important than politics and tradition. Over time Methodism has helped lead the way on women’s rights, the abolition of slavery, workers rights, the ordination of women as pastors, Civil Rights, and the list goes on. All of this has continually been rooted in the idea that there is a God whose fundamental orientation to the world is one of love, and love is deeply connected to justice, and therefore God is always calling us to new ways of engaging the world, sharing the love of Jesus, and resisting injustice. I love that we are a part of a church that is always trying to live into that calling. I’m also grateful that this church helped make it possible for me to go on this trip. I am excited to share more about my experiences when I preach again on October 25, and until then, may you come to know that “the best of all is, God is with us.” Bryan Amerling
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