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John Wesley's
Rules for Christian Living "Do All the Good You Can,
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (NSRV). It is important to recognize that this comes from the letter to the exiles in Babylonia. Considered to be one of the most important documents in the O.T., it is directed against the restlessness of the people in exile and against any false hopes being aroused about an early return to Israel. Jeremiah makes it clear that their exile is to be of long duration. But he concludes by reminding the exiles that God will deliver them and they will have a future with hope. The condition of the people could not be any worse for the Israelite people than it was in exile. They had been taken from their homes, their Temple, their land flowing with milk and honey. They were living in a foreign land under foreign domination and control. They had no heart to do anything constructive where they were, and they did not know how long they would be in this foreign country. Jeremiah told them that they would be there for 70 years (a figure of speech for a long time, not intended to be exact). They should build, plant, and pray while they were there. As they prayed, they would find the heart of God and discover that God had for them a future with hope. Biblical scholars that you are, this should remind you of the vision Jeremiah had before Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, and carried King Zedekiah and the people of Israel into Babylonian exile. At the time Jeremiah had been placed under house arrest. He was being held in the palace. The reason was that he had been saying things publicly that upset his king, Zedekiah. The city of Jerusalem was under siege by the armies of Babylon, and Jeremiah had publicly predicted that the city would fall. He went on to say that when it happened, the king would be taken as a prisoner of war and carried off into captivity. That was not pleasing to hear as far as the king was concerned, and it was damaging to public morale. So Zedekiah locked Jeremiah up in the palace to keep him quiet. While he was there, Jeremiah had a vision. The Lord appeared to him in a dream and said that his cousin, a man named Hamamel, was going to offer to sell him a farm. The farm was located in his hometown of Anathoth. In the dream the Lord said that Jeremiah should buy it as a symbol of his faith that ultimately the future was secure. Just as the Lord had predicted, Hamamel showed up on the scene. He was an intelligent man and he could see which way the wind was blowing. He knew that what Jeremiah had said was true. Jerusalem was going to fall. When that happened, there would not be much point in owning real estate. He decided to unload his farm and get the money out while he could. His only problem was to find somebody who was naïve enough to buy it and pay cash for it. Suddenly he thought of his cousin, Jeremiah. So he hurried over to the palace and asked for permission to speak to his cousin Jeremiah. The prophet must have smiled inwardly when he saw him coming. Hamamel said, “Cousin, I want to do you a favor. I'm going to sell you a farm that I own near our hometown of Anathoth. It has been in the family a long time, and I really hate to part with it. But I have no choice. Some things have come up, and I have to sell it. But I don’t want to sell it to just anybody. I would feel much better if I knew that it stayed in the family.” Now if there was anything that Jeremiah did not need, it was a farm. In the first place he was no farmer. Nor was he married; he did not have wife and children for whom to provide. Furthermore, in a few weeks the Babylonians would occupy the city and it would not mean much one way or the other. There was no earthly reason why Jeremiah should buy a farm, but without hesitation he agreed to do so. Two deeds were drawn up, in keeping with the legal requirements. Then Jeremiah gave them to his good friend Baruch with instructions that they be placed in an earthen jar and buried in a dry, safe place so that they would not deteriorate. Then Jeremiah said, “The Lord God says: houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land” (see Jer. 32: 42-44). Here in Jeremiah’s vision and his purchase of a farm he demonstrates his faith that there will, indeed, be “a future with hope.” As we prepare for General Conference, it would be well to examine the three characters in this episode. The first character in the story is Zedekiah: a man who obviously believes in peace and quiet at any price. The nation is in serious trouble and he knows it, but he cannot bring himself to admit it. He is not willing to face up to the desperate situation. The Babylonians are at the gates of the city, while the king goes around pretending that everything is under control. With a posture like that, Zedekiah cannot tolerate dissent. Zedekiah thinks dissent is the same as disloyalty. If anybody speaks publicly about the possibility of defeat, Zedekiah’s first reaction is to lock him up. So Zedekiah locked up Jeremiah. He believed in peace and quiet at any cost. That was his strategy, but it did not work in his day and it will not succeed in our time. By the very way in which General Conference has been designed, we spend much of our time dealing with matters with which people do not agree. They send in petitions—petitions that can be tame and petitions that can be wild, petitions that can call for minor constructive changes and petitions that can call for major disruptive changes. We openly discuss what is wrong with the way we do church, and how we can best improve it. There are pros and cons to most issues. But if someone loves peace and quiet, General Conference is not designed for that. If someone does not like dissent and discussion about who we are and how we do things, they would be uncomfortable with the General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Zedekiah would lock up a few people. The second character in this story is Hamamel; and it is not too difficult to see what be believes in. He believes in Hamamel. Hamamel is one of those people who might be called a pragmatic realist. He knows the nation is in trouble, but he is not a public crusader like his cousin. He is just a man who is trying to take care of himself and hold on to what he owns. He knows as well as Jeremiah does that the days of the nation are numbered. When the Babylonians come over the city walls, he wants everything he owns to be in liquid assets. You may be able to conceal shekels if you have to, but how can you ever hide a farm? So he watches developments, and in the last moment he disposes of the farm. There is something despicable about Hamamel. It is his selfishness. He is more concerned with his personal situation than he is with the fate of his country and the people in it. If the country should fall to the invaders, what really matters to Hamamel is keeping his estate intact. He is not embarrassed to take advantage of his cousin, figuring that everybody has to look out for himself. Hamamel represents the worst in all of us. Unfortunately some of the most recent General Conferences have had times of contention and bitter disagreements over issues that continue to surface and fester. The thing that bothers me is that we do not stop and ask, “What is best for the church? What is God calling us to do?” Instead, we see people divide into two camps. It becomes us against them. And even worse, it becomes an issue of “What do I want to happen? What will best serve me?” That selfish attitude is represented by Hamamel. I believe it is disgusting to our God. We must rise above those base instincts. Instead of seeking what will best serve us, it is time for us to ask,“What is God calling us to do?” When we have conferenced about this and determined the direction God wants us to go, then it will be much easier to defend our position— whatever it is. The third character in our story is, of course, Jeremiah; and if you wanted to sum up what Jeremiah believed in, you might say that he believed in tomorrow. Jeremiah knew that there was trouble at hand, and he knew that the days of King Zedekiah were numbered. However, he could see beyond the day of trouble. He knew that there was also going to come a day when houses would be built again, farms would be cultivated, and vineyards would be planted. He knew that defeat was not going to be permanent, and that a nation that is faithful to God is a nation that will ultimately survive. Now, why could Jeremiah be so
sure of tomorrow? How could he
have that kind of confidence when
everything was coming down
around him? It was not based on
some kind of naive optimism that
caused him to put the best possible
interpretation on the events of the day.
The reason Jeremiah believed
in tomorrow was because God
promised a tomorrow. Jeremiah had a
vision from God which said that the
defeat would not be permanent, and
that his people would once again be
one people, and God would bring
them back to their own land.
Jeremiah believed that God presided
over this world and that when God
made a promise God kept that
promise. It was on that basis that
Jeremiah saw a future with hope.
So as we prepare to go into this
General Conference, we must do so in
confidence. Efforts are being made to
prepare the stage for the conference in
a way that will be conducive to
healthy discussions, a good spirit, and
a way forward that will allow us to be
a united church. If we know the God
who promised a tomorrow, we will be
confident that coming out of the
General Conference we will have a
future with hope. |
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The Beginnings of Lansdale United Methodist Church
Why is there a United Methodist Church located on Broad Street in the center of Lansdale, Pennsylvania? How did this come about? The roots of the origin of the borough of Lansdale and the Methodist church there began in the days before the Civil War when the North Pennsylvania Railroad was extended into the north central area of Montgomery County, reaching Lansdale in 1859. Villages such as North Wales and Lansdale sprang up at stations along the route. The region was opened up for industrial development. In Lansdale a major manufacturer was the Heebner Agricultural Works that produced farm machinery sold worldwide. William and Isaac Heebner were important supporters and lay leaders in Lansdale Methodist Episcopal Church (as it was known as at that time). By 1870 the population of Lansdale had grown to about 400 inhabitants. Land owners and developers began to consider measures to promote the sale of property in the unincorporated village. Dr. John M. Jacobs, a Civil War surgeon who owned building lots east of the railroad stations between Walnut and Broad Streets, realized that the village needed a house of worship. Dr. Jacobs approached Dr. Alpha J. Kynett, Corresponding Secretary of the Church Extension Society of the Philadelphia Annual Conference, concerning the need for a church in Lansdale. Kynett promised $500 if the Extension Board approved and if the Lansdale people would raise an additional $1,500. Dr. Jacobs then approached the Reverend Hyrum U. Sebring, the Methodist preacher on the Montgomery Square-North Wales Circuit. Dr. Jacobs donated a lot at the northeast corner of third and Walnut Streets. However, the building of the church was delayed because the Church Extension Society was slow in providing the promised $500. To raise funds for the project the Lansdale Quartet put on a concert at Bethel Hill Church on Saturday, May 13, 1871. On November 20th to 30th a church fair was held in the Heebner factory building. It raised $600 with “about $150 worth of goods left on hand”. On October 23, 1871 it was reported that “the Lansdale Church is going up rapidly”. The final touches on the building were completed on the Saturday evening before the dedication of the building on Sunday, July 14, 1872, with Dr. Kynett conducting the service with the assistance of Sebring and two other clergymen. Sebring commenced preaching immediately in the new church, but other clergymen, probably not Methodist, also held services. The church, the only church in Lansdale, was no doubt attended by members of other denominations. It is reported that the services were well attended. A protracted meeting, a series of evangelistic services, were held “which after much labor resulted in a revival and several additions to the church”. In May 1872 a Union Sunday School, with members and leaders from various denominations who lived in Lansdale but had no church building of their own, was organized in the church. Isaac M. Heebner brought an organ to the church to provide music. In 1873 Sebring was appointed to another charge. When he left the membership at Lansdale was 29. The Reverend Amos Johnson, 24 years old, was appointed to replace Sebring. Lansdale was his first pastorate. Johnson served until 1876 when Lansdale became an independent charge, no longer a part of a circuit with other churches. It was a day of small beginnings, but the Lansdale Methodist Episcopal Church was launched on a ministry of worship, witness, and service that continues to today. |