YUM: Why United Methodist: Who Are These People Called Methodist?

We live in a church-saturated culture. There are all kinds of churches in all kinds of denominations. In fact, we have three churches on our block, all of different denominations!

Many people have good reasons why they are in a certain denomination, but for many, it is more circumstantial than anything else. For example, Roy Gilliland (a well-known member of our local church) tells the story of becoming Methodist – when he was a boy, the Methodist church had heat. Others became Methodist because their parents or grandparents were Methodist or because they started dating a Methodist or married a Methodist.

So a good question to ask is “Why United Methodist?” The sermon series we are starting today will explore some of the distinctive features of United Methodism, a denomination so varied that it includes 4George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton!

I became a United Methodist after seminary, and it was all John Wesley’s fault. Truly to know what a United Methodist is, you have to start with John Wesley. Actually, you have to start with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, and with the church. The church started out Jewish; to truly understand Jesus, you have to understand what it meant to be Jewish. I understand that I can’t fully explain what it meant to be Jewish in the time I’ve set aside for it, but it all started with God calling Abram. In Genesis 12:1-3, we read this: The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God’s blessing is true life, abundant life, which only comes from God. So God is saying to Abram, “I will give you life and you will be a life giver. Through your descendants, you will offer full life to all peoples on earth.” Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram; he says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b)

God is not satisfied with us just getting by. His gift is life and life abundantly, and Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise. It is through Jesus that this life is given. However, Jesus had an interesting conversation with his disciples, namely Peter. In Matthew 16, Jesus was asking his disciples who people thought he was. They answered that people related him to John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets. But when he asked them directly who he was, Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 1:16-19)

And so Jesus founded the first Christian church, giving us the responsibility of being the means which God has chosen to bring Himself and His blessing to the world.

Have we done a perfect job of it? Well, no. There have been numerous splits and schisms. In fact, there are three branches of the Church that all lay claim to being the One True Church: the Coptic Church (in Egypt and Ethiopia) is perhaps the oldest church. The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church were once one church, but they split and now both claim that they are the true Church.

On the Western side, Martin Luther brought about the Protestant Reformation and split from the Roman Catholic Church, but in England, King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church – mostly because he wanted the Church to annul yet another failed marriage. He formed the Church of England, otherwise known as the Anglican Church.

John Wesley and his brother Charles were Anglican priests at Oxford who joined together with several classmates to form “the Holy Club” – what amounted to an accountability group. They studied the Scriptures, prayed, fasted, worshiped, and visited the sick and imprisoned. Though you might think this is normal behavior for seminarians, they were ridiculed and called “Bible Bookworms,” and because of the way they methodically went about their practices, they were called “Methodists.” So, if you didn’t know it already, the name of our denomination started out as an insult!

The Methodist movement spread all over England and even to the American colonies. In fact, the Church of England was booming here. Churches were being planted – if you ever wonder why so many Methodist Churches are so close together, there are two reasons: the obvious and most recent one is because when the Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist Church merged, many local congregations (like the two in Wellston) did not merge. The other reason is that the early Methodists planted churches close enough together so that the circuit-riding pastor could make it from one church to the next in a day’s ride on horseback. The church was growing quickly, but there was a problem. That problem was the American Revolution. If you can imagine the scenario, the State-run Church of England didn’t take too kindly to the American Revolutionaries and withdrew all of their pastors except for Francis Asbury. So children remained unbaptized and there were many who hadn’t received Communion in years. So John Wesley ordained Thomas Coke “superintendent” and conferred upon him the ability and responsibility of ordaining American elders. Later, Coke and Asbury had assumed the title “bishop” and took leadership of what became the Methodist Church in America.

The Methodist movement was not necessarily intended to become its own church, but especially with the American Revolution, that’s exactly what it became.

John Wesley had strong opinions on the nature of the church. As we affirm in the Apostles’ Creed, we believe in the holy catholic church. This is not a nod to the Roman Catholic Church; here, the catholicity refers to the universality of the Church. This is why we are not in competition with the Baptists or the Presbyterians or the Catholics or Nazarenes and why I will never encourage “sheep stealing” (trying to lure members from other churches to join ours). We are truly part of a bigger picture, and that bigger picture is that the Church is One. Yes, we have our issues. No, we don’t always agree on everything. But think about it this way: does your family have issues? Do you always agree on everything? But are you still one family?

In fact, the One Church, across denominational lines, has more in common than different. This is one reason why the Bible has so much to say about how Christians are to treat one another. We are to be devoted to one another in love and honor one another above ourselves. (Romans 12:10).

This is why we are to live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16), to stop passing judgment on one another (Romans 14:13), to accept one another (Romans 15:7), to be of one mind (2 Corinthians 13:11b), to humbly and gently bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2), to be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32), to forgive one another (Colossians 3:13), to encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11), to spur one another on to good deeds (Hebrews 10:23) and to meet together regularly (Hebrews 10:24), offering hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9)

The Church is one. One body, united by one spirit, having one faith, one hope, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

The Church is One universal Church, and we can be one because the Church is Holy.

This statement, “the Church is Holy” has two distinct areas of emphasis. The first is that the church is the Church of the Holy Spirit. When I first went from being an associate pastor to being the solo pastor of another church, people from my first church wanted to congratulate me on getting my own church. I let them no in no uncertain terms that not only was I not getting my own church, but I don’t want my own church! I have never enough to save anyone from their sins. I can’t save myself or my family; therefore, I am not worthy of having a church of me. The Church is Jesus Christ’s, but even moreso, the Church is the Church of the Holy Spirit. If you want to track to the origin of the Church, there are two distinct moments that mark its beginning. The first is what I already told you about Jesus and Peter: on this rock I will build my church.

The other comes at the beginning of Acts 2, after Jesus has ascended into Heaven. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)

So if you’ve ever wondered where the United Methodist cross and flame symbol comes from, the cross is for Jesus and the flame is the Holy Spirit. The two origins of the Church.

The birth of the Church came on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down in power. So truly this is the Holy Spirit’s Church, not mine, not the human founders, not those who have gone before us, not our leadership team, and not the people in the pews. It is the Holy Spirit’s Church.

But that doesn’t put all of us off the hook. The Church is Holy because it belongs to the Holy Spirit, and because its members are holy. Listen to what Peter writes to the church: But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

God calls us to be holy. “Holy” means being set apart or separated by God for God’s work. God’s holiness is understood as being wholly other. God isn’t one of us, which is why it is all the more astounding that Jesus became one of us to lead us to be more than we were. You see, while holiness is something God demands of His Church, He also provides the means by which we can be holy. We will get into this much more fully in the weeks to come, as holiness is a key feature in Methodism. Indeed, John Wesley believed that the chief goal of religion was holiness.

Finally, the Church is apostolic. Jesus told Simon Peter that it was upon this rock that he would build the church, and we recognize that Apostles are the rock upon whom Jesus built it. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The apostles lived that out, and it has become our DNA. Why? Because the Church has carried out the doctrines and practices of the apostolic church, doing essentially what the apostles set out to do. Over the past two thousand years, the Church has continued to carry out the Apostles’ mission of making disciples.

Since the Methodist Church is not a new religion, we hold more in common with other denominations than we have differences. In fact, when we affirm the Apostles’ Creed, we do so in unity with many denominations around the world and throughout history, as we recognize this as an affirmation of our shared, unified Christianity. In the coming weeks, we will explore what is unique about United Methodism. In the meantime, will you join with me in affirming our shared faith?