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Scripture Reading:
NRS Ephesians 2:11 So then,
remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the
uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision"-- a
physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands-- 12 remember
that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once
were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For
he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken
down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has
abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in
himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16
and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus
putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and
proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18
for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
John Wesley
wrote this sermon in his last days in the summer of 1790 as he would take his
last breath on the 2nd of March, 1791. His final words were, “The
best of all is, God is with us.” This sermon reiterates his long belief in God
and in Jesus Christ and the grace and mercy that comes from believing. His
focus for the sermon is to come at it from a unique perspective, what life
would be like without God. He never titled this sermon by the way; it was titled
for him by Joseph Benson in 1812.
He begins by
suggesting that the expression “without God in the world” would be better
translated “Atheists in the world”. But he goes on to say that there are not
true atheists in the world, because even most of those who identify themselves
as atheists believe in the existence of some greater power or deity. They just
struggle with the concept of God as in Yahweh, the one God of the Israelite
people.
“The case of these unhappy men may be
much illustrated by a late incident, the truth of which cannot reasonably be
doubted, there having been so large a number of eye-witnesses. An ancient oak
being cut down, and split through the midst, out of the very heart of the tree
crept a large toad, and walked away with all the speed he could. Now how long,
may we probably imagine, had this creature continued there? It is not unlikely
it might have remained in its nest above a hundred years. It is not improbable
it was nearly, if not altogether, coeval with the oak; having been some way or
other enclosed therein at the time that it was planted. It is not therefore
unreasonable to suppose that it had lived that strange kind of life at least a
century. We say, it had lived; But what manner of life! How
desirable! How enviable! …This poor animal had organs of sense; yet it had not
any sensation. It had eyes, yet no ray of light ever entered its black abode.
From the very first instant of its existence there, it was shut up in impenetrable
darkness. It was shut up from the sun, moon and stars, and from the beautiful
face of nature; indeed, from the whole visible world, as much as if it had no
being.
As no air could penetrate its sable
recess, it consequently could have no hearing. Whatever organs it was
provided with, they could be of no use; seeing no undulating air could find a
way through the walls that surrounded it. And there is no reason to believe
that it had any sense analogous to those either of smelling or tasting. In
a creature which did not need any food these could have been of no possible
use. Neither was there any way whereby the objects of smell or taste could make
their approach to it. It must be very little, if at all, that it could be
acquainted even with the general sense, -- that of feeling: As it
always continued in one unvaried posture amidst the parts that surrounded it,
all of these being immovably fixed could make no new impression upon it. So
that it had only one feeling from hour to hour, and from day to day, during its
whole duration.
And as this poor animal was destitute
of sensation, it must have equally been destitute
of reflection. Its head (of whatever sort it was) having no materials
to work upon, no ideas of sensation of any kind, could not produce any degree
of reflection. It scarce, therefore could have
any memory, or any imagination. Nor could it have any
locative power, while it was so closely bound in on every side. If it
had in itself some springs of motion, yet it was impossible that power should
be exerted, because the narrowness of its cavern could not allow of any change
of place.”[i]
Whether this
story is true or not, the idea is that as long as the frog was surrounded by
the tree it had no feeling, sensation or understanding of the world around it.
If we substitute ourselves in place of this frog, but instead of a being inside
a tree we live lives with no knowledge of God, what then do we miss. Wesley
would say that indeed we live lives without sensory perception, without
experiencing true unblemished love and without hope. All these things are
indeed the gift of God to creation and to humankind. On some level all human
beings have a sense of God. If that were not true, as I said last week, then
why is it that we continually find new God’s to fill in that empty hole?
So what is it
then that we are missing? It is the moment when our eyes are opened to the
knowledge that God is real and God is present with us. In that moment our
spiritual senses are opened like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus when
they figured out who Jesus was. It can be an epiphany moment for us when we
suddenly (for some a long journey finds its goal) we realize that we are loved
beyond measure and God gave up life that we may have eternal life. We begin
then to transform into the creature that God intended us to be from the
beginning of time. I am often asked about miracles and it has been a subject of
conversation this week. Miracles happen every day all around us. It is not that
miracles are not happening; it is that our senses are no longer tuned to
experience them. Who has not been mystified by the lens of a great photographer
who turns a sunset into an emotional experience? And yet, the sunset was there
for all to see, it was only when the photographer brought it to our attention
that we were ever able to experience it as it was meant to be.
This is
ultimately what discipleship is all about. We who call ourselves Christians
begin the process of letting God work within us to change us into something
new, something better, and something that changes the very essence of the world
around us. But we first have to acknowledge that God is real and that Jesus
sacrificed for us and that we want that thing offered to be a part of who we
are. When we begin to work towards achieving that feeling, emotion or
experience the true love of God our world begins to change. We see people in
different ways and begin to interact with an understanding that they are not
exactly like us and that not only is that ok, but it is preferred. We begin to
develop our senses through deeper relationships with God by studying the Word
of God in more detail, whether it’s adding devotions and study to our daily
reading or joining a group that explores the Word more closely. We begin to
develop a deeper prayer life that allows us to lift more of our woes to God and
release our energy to do constructive things rather than to be destroyed by worldly
things. All of that is why in this season of Lent we need to dig a little
deeper with our relationship with God. In order to have our eyes, ears, taste
and smell of God opened to see God in the world around us.
John Wesley
finishes with these words. “My dear
friends! You do not see God. You do not see the Sun of righteousness. You have
no fellowship with the Father, or with his Son, Jesus Christ. You never heard
the voice that raiseth the dead. Ye know not the voice of your Shepherd. Ye
have not received the Holy Ghost. Ye have no spiritual senses. You have your
old, natural ideas, passions, joys, and fears; you are not new creatures. O cry
to God, that he may rend the veil which is still upon your hearts; and which
gives you occasion to complain, --
O dark, dark, dark, I still must say,
Amidst the blaze of gospel-day!
Amidst the blaze of gospel-day!
O that you may this day hear his
voice, who speaketh as never man spake, saying, "Arise, shine, for thy
light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee!" Is it
not his voice that crieth aloud, "Look unto me, and be thou
saved?" He saith, "Lo! I come!" Even so, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!”[ii]
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