Brothers and Sisters, this Sunday we will hear a sermon from Rev. Gary Mason from Northern Ireland. If you have been listening to the presentations from the past Northern Ireland Pilgrimage groups, you know that we will be talking about things that aren’t always comfortable to sit with. Pay attention to that feeling because that is the Holy Spirit speaking. This Sunday, Gary will be preaching about being a disciple in Challenging Times.
What could be more appropriate?! Are we or are we not living in challenging times and how do we face a divisive future unafraid?
As we prepare our hearts for what Gary might preach and what the Holy Spirit might whisper into our hearts, I thought I would use a piece of my Wesley Study Tour to set the stage. Over the next three weeks, you will receive three devotions with videos connected to them. These videos I recorded in the places that are formidable to our faith. I realize that many of you will never get the opportunity to visit these places in person so let me be your tour guide.
The first few videos (that you see linked below) take you on a tour of Wesley’s New Room in Bristol, England. The videos go on to explain that John and Charles Wesley built this meeting room in 1739 and it was a place of worship, learning, service and rioting. Yes, I said rioting. You will notice in the videos that there are no windows on the first floor. This was strategic. Because in those days, the message that the Wesley’s and their visiting pastors were preaching was a radical one. Radical because they were preaching to the undereducated, the working class, the poor, the tradesmen and the coal miners. They preached about the love of God, not the judgment of God. They preached about the wideness of God’s grace and that anyone could come as they are without fitting a mold or acting pious because Jesus came to save sinners.
This angered those in power, those that wanted to keep the poor, poor and keep the education and power in the hands of the wealthy and ruling classes. There were mobs and riots that took place in Bristol at The New Room because of the preaching and the hospitality of this new movement. There was one door into The New Room, and only one staircase to get to the preacher on the second level, and mobs had tried to come in and shut down their worship services and so the removal of windows on the first floor was for safety of the worshippers and for the removal of distractions for those trying to pay attention inside. Charles and John Wesley hosted worship services every weekday at 5am so that those working in the coal mines and fields could come to worship before starting their workday. They would conclude their hard days labor sometimes by coming back and having Communion at the end of the work day. The New Room could hold 1000 people in the pews and it was not uncommon for the space to be filled.
Please take a few minutes and watch the videos of this holy place and ask yourself how you might be called to afflict the comfort and comfort the afflicted as you live out your faith in these challenging times.
May God’s love enfold you and give you peace. AMEN.