Rough Guide to Methodism

(Extract from a sermon on Jesus' Manifesto by our minister Rev. David Jenkins, on Sunday 24 April 2005)

I am proud to belong to a branch of the Church which, from the beginning, believes that God’s grace is for all people. 

I am proud to belong to a branch of the Church which practices an inclusive policy in which
all are welcome, in which all can receive Holy Communion, in which all can be baptised, in which people who are divorced are offered a new beginning and are not treated as outcasts. I believe that such policy is a reflection of the unlimited grace of God. 

This may well be one of Methodism’s treasures to offer to the wider Church, in the hope that one day, other branches of the Church will catch up with a policy that does not exclude but warmly embraces. We are never in a position to set limits on who may receive the grace of God. God could do so much more through us as we seek to overcome boundaries that limit human love.  

The World Methodist Council has sought to give expression to ongoing concerns in the attempt to interpret and fulfil Jesus’ manifesto. They say:

• “We are pained by the grave situation of our world, in which the process of exclusion of millions of people is growing deeper and deeper.  
• We are pained by the violence of structural injustice in a world whose riches are concentrated in the hands of a few and which condemns the majority to poverty.
• We are pained by the destruction of the natural environment, the contamination and waste of the earth’s resources which have been given by God for the benefit of all.
• We seek all that makes for a fully human life and the promotion of values which benefit humanity: truth, justice, love and peace, which are fundamental elements of life as God wills it.
• We affirm that God’s mission, which has in God’s love and mercy become ours, challenges us to share the gospel of salvation with every person and community, and to join hands in service for the redemption and transformation of society.”

Whether or not the manifesto of Jesus is a vote winner, it is the basis upon which we are challenged to live out our discipleship. In the belief that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us and sends us, may we continue to be involved in bringing good news to the poor, and release to the oppressed, declaring in word and action the unlimited grace of God.