Chapter 2: Walking the Talk
Chapter Two
Walking the Talk
Every morning when Jeff drove to work, there they were. At the top of the exit ramp where he left the Interstate, there was a person holding a little sign that said “Hungry. Will Work for Food.” Or, “Homeless, need help.” Or, “Vietnam veteran. Homeless and Hungry.” The heartbreaking part was the small children standing with the adults holding the signs. In the afternoon, when Jeff went home, another group would be at the stoplight just before he entered the Interstate. Same kinds of signs, same kinds of despair, same heart-breaking tug on his conscience. Every day, he wondered, What do we do about this? If I gave money to every person holding up a sign, the task would be endless. Should I talk to them and direct them to the Union Mission, where serious help is available? And Jeff wondered, We’re the richest nation on earth. What’s wrong that people are going hungry?
Nancy also thought about hungry and homeless people in her community. She wanted to do something to make a difference, so she signed up to cook and serve meals one night a week at a homeless shelter. She organized a food drive in her church, so the local food bank would have enough on hand to provide basic food for families in the community. Some of her friends wondered why she was working so hard for people who didn’t do anything to help themselves. Some days Nancy wondered, Why are people so hungry and homeless? Aren’t they trying? She talked to some of the people at the shelter and found out they were working two jobs. They just couldn’t make enough to be able to provide housing for their families. They felt ashamed and beaten down, but kept on trying.
George had a large garden, raising much more than he and his family could ever eat. George found real pleasure in giving away fresh corn and tomatoes to his neighbors. But he found even more pleasure in filling large baskets with fresh vegetables and taking them to the community kitchen. In his heart, George always felt this was what Jesus would want him to do.
The youth group at Trinity United Methodist Church organized an “in-town work camp” every year during spring break at school. They went around the neighborhood, volunteering to help senior citizens and disabled persons clean up their yards after the winter, make minor repairs on their homes, paint, whatever needed doing. When people asked them why they were doing this when they could be having fun, they always said, “We’re trying to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Thank you for allowing us to serve you.”
Jeff, Nancy, George, and the youth group are all people you know. They are the people in your congregation and your community who are out doing good works, helping other people, trying to make a difference in their communities. They are also trying to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Wesley and Good Works
John Wesley believed in doing good works. All his life, he practiced the habit of charity. As a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, he lived on his stipend of £28 a year, and gave away everything he earned above that amount. As the Methodist revival became more popular, Wesley was accused by his critics of becoming rich on his converts. In fact, Wesley did, finally, become rich because of his publications. Had he kept the profits from his publishing and invested them, he could have been among the wealthiest men in England. Instead, he gave away the profits, sometimes up to £1,000 a year. Henry Moore said that Wesley gave away £30,000 in his lifetime. (See Rack, p. 361) In modern United States dollars, that would be on the order of $4 million.
In addition, Wesley preached and practiced active charity. The Oxford Methodists collected money, food, and clothing for the poor as a part of their regular spiritual discipline. In fact Wesley regarded this ministry as a “prudential means of grace.” This means that he saw doing good works as a way God had chosen to help Christians grow in faith and holiness. Wesley did not believe that we are saved by doing good works. Only the grace of God can save us. But he did believe that doing good works was a way to respond to the saving grace of God. Finally, Wesley knew that people are in no condition to listen to the gospel if they are hungry, cold, or without decent clothing.
The General Rules (see page 27) stressed concern for feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. In the class meetings, members brought contributions of cash, clothing, food, fuel, and medicine, which were distributed to the poor. In May of 1741, Wesley urged the London Society to bring clothes and a penny weekly to aid the poor. He introduced a loan fund, what we might call micro-loans. Loans for up to three months were interest-free. Wesley came up with the base capital from his own pocket— others administered the fund. During the first year, some 250 people were helped, primarily by paying off lenders who had loaned money at incredibly high rates of interest. Repayment of the principal provided a revolving fund to help others.
An even more important issue was finding jobs, in an economy where jobs were being cut rather than created. As often as he could, Wesley initiated work projects. At the Foundery, Wesley’s headquarters in London, twelve people were hired to process cotton, and later women were employed in knitting. These were, obviously, only stop-gap measures in an economy that was becoming more and more machine driven, and mass production was driving household manufacturing out of the market. We don’t know the results of Wesley’s work projects, but we do know that people were suspicious of his motives and accused him of exploitation. (see Marquardt, pp. 28-29) It seems probable that, in a changing economy, these work projects could never be anything but temporary. Mass production meant that the work done in these projects could be done cheaper and easier in factories. But, for a time, people surely were helped. Not every good work we do has permanent benefits.
That brings us back to Jeff’s questions, and to the questions people were asking Nancy. Why do all those good works? What difference does it make? And shouldn’t people help themselves?
Why Should We Care? A Theological Detour
First, why should we do anything to minister to the poor or to do other good works? Wesley was clear that this is our Christian duty, that Christ himself had called us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and so on. Wesley expressed Christ’s call by having God’s love at the heart of his preaching. It is impossible to read Wesley’s sermons, or the hymns of his brother Charles, without seeing the power of God’s love in their lives. Charles’ great hymn, “Come, O thou Traveler Unknown,” (#387 in The United Methodist Hymnal) is an expression of the search to understand God’s nature, and comes to the realization that God is Love. All of Wesley’s good works were an attempt to return God’s love, both to God and to neighbor. To hear the words of Jesus about loving God with all one’s heart and loving one’s neighbor as oneself meant, for Wesley, that there were practical consequences in the real world. This was not just a pious saying, reserved for church. It was a call to practical action. This love was the basis for all the Methodists did for the poor.
In addition, Wesley’s theology was a part of the “middle way” he had learned from the Church of England. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century was, in part, a reaction against what was perceived as the Roman Catholic Church’s emphasis on works for salvation. This was a misunderstanding of what the church really taught, but the perception was reality for many of the continental Reformers. They thought the church was teaching that, if one just did enough good works, one could ensure her or his own salvation—and perhaps lay up a store of extra merit that would apply to the salvation of others, as well. In reacting against this “works righteousness,” reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin insisted on the primacy of grace for salvation. Luther even used the phrase
Grace alone
Faith alone
Scripture alone.
By this he meant that we are saved only by God’s grace. The only thing we can do to help ourselves is to accept that grace in faith. Now Wesley agreed that we are saved by grace, and that we need to accept grace in faith. But he also wanted to keep the best from the Catholic tradition as well. So he insisted on
Grace and Faith
Faith and Works
Scripture and Tradition, Reason, and Experience.
In Chapter 1, we talked briefly about grace and faith. In Chapter 15, we’ll talk about how Wesley interpreted Scripture. For now, we want to focus on faith and works. We are saved by grace through faith, Wesley preached. But we are then called to express that faith in good works. What we do is an expression of who we are. And, if we are really Christian, we express our faith and respond to God’s grace in what we do for our neighbor. That’s why we do good works. It’s a part of the continuing quest for holy living that Wesley stressed throughout his life.
What Can One Person Do?
So, second, what do we do about loving our neighbors? How do we express God’s love by our actions in the world? Wesley’s model—and the biblical model as well—would suggest that love is more than an emotion, or a vague, generalized way of feeling about our neighbors. His model would suggest that love is a tough, hands-on, caring for people who may not care for us. Wesley’s model would lead us to be active in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, providing medical care for those who need it and can’t afford it, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners, and so on.
In addition, Wesley emphasized personal contact with those in need. It’s fine, he said, to give anonymously through institutions. Write the checks, he would say to us—they make a world of difference to people in need. But it’s even better if you get involved. See with your own eyes who people are and what they need. An evening talking with persons in a homeless shelter, for example, would help get rid of some of the stereotypes we have about the poor and homeless. It might take us beyond the “Why don’t they take some responsibility for themselves?” kinds of questions that Nancy was asked at the beginning of this chapter. Wesley also urged that Methodists deliver help, not send it. If we are actively involved with people in need, we can also help them to grow out of their situations. If we have a concern that our charity and good works are only perpetuating a situation, hands-on involvement may help both ourselves and the people to whom we minister to grow and move beyond their present situation.
On a personal note, I well remember the first time my family responded to the challenge to get personally involved. Without going into details, our eyes were opened. We saw what poverty and need really were, and we resolved to get involved beyond that day’s Christmas gifts. Over a period of years, we were able to help a family take some steps to escaping the cycle of poverty and welfare. In the process, we developed relationships that bridged the gap between races, classes, and economic status. That was the model Wesley suggested for us.
What About the Big Picture?
How do we live out God’s love in an economic system that is so much bigger than anything one person can begin to grasp? Wesley was convinced that poverty was the result of clear causes. (See Chapter 8) One cause he championed was the need for a minimum wage, that would actually provide a decent living for a family. That is an issue that is still being fought out today, in Congress and other arenas. Do we need a minimum wage? What should it be? In other cases, Wesley said, unemployment was undeserved. Remember that many people were thrown out of work in England because of the advancing Industrial Revolution, just as people are thrown out of work today because of factors beyond their control. We cannot, Wesley said, justly blame people for something they can’t help. This means that knowing something about the causes of unemployment and poverty, or lack of medical care, becomes an ethical issue for those who try to follow Christ.
Finally, we refer once more to The General Rules. The second part of the General Rules (see p. 27) is a guide for how we live out the commandment to love our neighbors in practical ways. It is not an all-inclusive guide, but it offers some important principles. And we remember that the guidelines of the General Rules are set in a context of how Methodists express their love for God and their desire for salvation.
Questions for Reflection
For Further Reading
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Making it in America (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001). A first-hand account of how the working poor in America struggle just to exist.
Theodore Jennings, Good News to the Poor: John Wesley’s Evangelical Economics (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990).
Manfred Marquardt, John Wesley’s Social Ethics (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992). Translated by John E. Steely and W. Stephen Gunter. This scholarly work tackles a variety of social issues and the ethical responses of John Wesley and other early Methodists. We will refer to it many times in the rest of this book.
Henry Rack, Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1989). An in-depth biography of John Wesley, set against the political, social, and economic background of eighteenth-century England