Radical Grace. S T Kimbrough
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of the life of the poor and its impact on the individual, family, and society.
Sunday, September 20 [1741]. Most of the Society were at St James’s sacrament.
I carried Mr Jones to Kingswood where the Lord was mightily present in his own ordinance. At Baptist Mills I expounded the bloody issue. Great disturbance was made behind me, till I turned upon the disturbers, and by the law first, and then the gospel, entirely silenced them.
It was a glorious time at the Society, when God called forth his witnesses. Our guest was filled with consolation and acknowledged that God was with us of a truth.
Introduced him to the leaders of the colliers with whom he had sweet fellowship. Met the bands and strongly urged them to press toward the mark. Read them a letter full of threatenings to take our house by violence. Immediately the power came down and we laughed all our enemies to scorn. Faith saw the mountain full of horsemen and chariots of fire. Our brother from Wales was compelled to bear his testimony and declare before all, what God had done for his soul. “At that time, when the power of the Holy Ghost so overshadowed him,” (he assured them) “all bodily sufferings would have been as nothing. Neither would they feel them, if made partakers of the Holy Ghost in the same measure.”
He warned us to prepare for the storm, which would surely fall upon us, if the work of God went on. His artless words were greatly blessed to us all, and our hearts were bowed and warmed by the Spirit of love, as the heart of one man.
Tuesday, September 22. He would have carried me to some great friends of his in the city, and particularly to a Counselor, about the threatened seizure. I feared nothing but helping myself and trusting to an arm of flesh. Our safety is to sit still. However, at his importunity I went with him a little way, but stopped and turned him back, and at last agreed to accompany him to Justice Cr—, the most forward of our adversaries.
He received us cautiously. I said, “I came to wait upon him, in respect to his office, having heard his name mentioned among some, who were offended at the good we did to the poor colliers, that I should be sorry to give any just cause of complaint and willing to know from himself, if such had been given, that many vile reports were spread, as if he should countenance the violence of those who had seized Mr C’s house and now threatened to take away the collier’s school.
I caught up an expression he dropped, that it would make a good workhouse, and said,
[Wesley]: “It is a workhouse already.”
[Justice]: “Aye, but what work is done there?”
[Wesley]: “We work the works of God, which man cannot hinder.”
[Justice]: “But you occasion the increase of our poor.”
[Wesley]: “Sir, you are misinformed. The reverse of that is true. None of our Society is chargeable to you, even those who were so before they heard us, or who spent all their wages at the alehouse, now never go there at all, but keep their money to maintain their families, and have to give to those that want. Notorious swearers have now only the praise of God in their mouths. The good done among them is indisputable. Our worst enemies cannot deny it. None who hears us continues either to swear or drink.”
[Justice]: “If I thought so,” he hastily replied (in eodem luto haesitans8), “I would come and hear you myself.”
I desired he would, said, the grace of God was as sufficient for him as for our colliers, and who knew but he might be converted among us!9
It is generally known that there was opposition to the Wesleyan movement within the Church of England10 and among certain institutional structures and government officials. On this occasion, Charles tells the justice that he has “heard his name mentioned among some, who were offended at the good we did to the poor colliers.” He is curious whether the justice would sanction the seizure of Mr. Cennick’s house and the taking away of the school for coal miners’ children.
The justice maintains that the work the Wesleys and their followers are doing increases the poor. Charles then explains that precisely the reverse is occurring. He enumerates the changes that have transpired among the poor: (1) they no longer spend all of their wages at the alehouse; (2) they use their money to sustain their families; (3) they give to others in need; (4) they no longer swear but instead praise God; and (5) they abstain from drinking. Wesley casts this work in a theological framework when he says to the justice, “We work the works of God, which man cannot hinder.” In this conversation, however, the emphasis is not on the evangelical thrust of the Wesleyan movement, but rather its personal and societal impact. While the end result may be that the poor rise above the poverty line by using their meager resources for the sustenance of life and family and for others in need, this was not the primary goal as such of Wesleyan outreach. As will become obvious later in this study, in terms of Charles’s fulfillment of the mandate to preach the gospel to the poor, he is fully convinced that by committing one’s life to Christ and following in his way, not only will an individual life be transformed, but there will be a definitive impact on society. Charles’s concern is for changed life and changed lives. Self-indulgence is transformed into caring concern for family and others.
Conversation
Charles Wesley understood that if you wish to establish a relationship with others, you must be willing to spend time conversing with them. As a well-educated graduate of Westminster School (London) and Christ Church College, Oxford University, how could he possibly build close relationships with persons who were poor and illiterate? He had read the great Latin and Greek poets; the uneducated would probably not even know who they were. He was a cleric of the Church of England, and many of the poor had perhaps never been inside a parish church. Charles knew that he had to spend time simply talking with those who were less fortunate than he was, if he wanted to relate to them.
On September 12, 1739, he wrote in the MSJ: “This conference abated my headache. Expounding at the Hall gave me more strength. After talking two hours with the poor people that came to me, and preaching at Baptist Mills, I was perfectly well.”11 Though there are a number of elements to be discussed in these three sentences, the focus here is on Charles’s conversing for two hours with the poor people who came to him. While attending a conference, expounding at the Hall, and preaching at Baptist Mills, he takes time to talk with the poor for two hours. We do not know what he discussed with them, but we know that enduring relationships often develop when persons take time to converse with one another. No matter how important one thinks the other elements of the evangelical movement of the Wesleys may be, especially in terms of outreach among the poor and marginalized, Charles exemplifies a seminal aspect of lasting relationships: conversation.
A similar reference occurs in the MSJ on May 12, 1740: “Employed three hours most profitably in conferring with the poor people; more of whom daily receive forgiveness, or the witness of the Spirit. Three or four were now set at liberty, in immediate answer to prayer.”12 Here Charles spent yet a longer period of time in conversation with the poor. Again, while we do not know what he discussed with them, apparently faith-related issues were involved since he speaks of those who received forgiveness and the witness of the Spirit and were “set at liberty.”
Regardless of the content of the conversation and the extent to which it was actually a dialogue between Charles and the poor, he sets an example for all who would minister among the poor: take time to converse with them.
Worshipping Together
Perhaps one of the least likely places to encounter the poor during the time of the Wesleys was the parish church, and among the least likely places to encounter priests of the Church of England were the workhouses, the hovels of the poor, and the hearths of Newcastle. In spite of the deep devotion of John and Charles Wesley to the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and its liturgies, they understood that those least familiar with its words might better be introduced to the worship of God through singing, prayer, and preaching. They did not consider a less formal use of these elements of worship to be a substitute for the liturgies of the church, but they used them to engage the poor, illiterate, and others in the first steps of a journey toward a life in Christ and the church.
In the earliest stages of the Wesleys’ ministry after