Aflame

This past Sunday we experienced a wonderful convergence in the calendar for the Christian year – and Methodism in particular – as we celebrated Pentecost and Aldersgate Day.

Pentecost is the day we celebrate GOD’s sending of the Holy Spirit to be the counselor and guide Jesus promised. The Book of Acts tells us that when the Holy Spirit came, it blew into the room where the disciples were and rested like tongues of flame above their heads. This blessed the disciples with the ability to share the good news of Jesus with a diverse array of people in their own languages.

Aldersgate Day is the day we remember a profound experience that John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) had when he realized that GOD did indeed love him and forgave him of his sin. Wesley described this experience as feeling his heart strangely warmed, which ignited a passion within him that inspired a global movement of revival to share the love of GOD in Jesus Christ.

As we consider both Pentecost and Aldersgate Day through an important theological lens, we realize that both deal with the fact the GOD loves us enough to meet us where we are, but too much to leave us there. Pentecost enabled and empowered the disciples to share the love of GOD with people across the world in a way that was meaningful to those who needed to hear the good news of Jesus. Similarly, the Methodist movement has been characterized with deploying followers of Jesus across the globe in such a way as to share the gospel with people within their own context. At Cokes Chapel, this is precisely what we mean when we talk about making disciples to transform the world here, there, and everywhere!

My favorite John Wesley quote is, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” I think this is a perfect quote to consider with the other two metaphors of fire – the tongues of flame on Pentecost and the warming love of GOD that changed Wesley’s heart, and as a result, the world – as we think about our own passion for who GOD is and what GOD has done for us.

Have you surrendered your life in such a way that you can be ignited with the Holy Spirit? Are you aflame with passion thanks to the love of GOD in Jesus Christ? Are you aflame with passion to share that with others? The world is in desperate need of people who will passionately share the love of Jesus by meeting people in the midst of their need.

John Wesley made it his practice to go where the people were, since GOD’s did the exact same thing in sending Jesus and the Holy Spirit. May we be aflame with the love of GOD and experience GOD’s life-changing power as we seek to meet people where they are, catch on fire with enthusiasm for the Lord, and share that message with all the world!