Personal and Social Holiness

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John Wesley, said “There is no holiness but social holiness.” Salvation and a full life in Christ are seen in personal and social holiness. This holiness calls us to a missional connection with our communities and the world.

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Scripture Passage

Micah 6:6–8 (NLT)

6 What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? 8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Focus Statement

John Wesley, said and I quote, “There is no holiness but social holiness.” Let me say that again.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, said and I quote, “There is no holiness but social holiness.”

Friends, Salvation and a full life in Christ are seen in personal and social holiness.

This holiness calls us to a missional connection with our communities and the world.

UMCDiscipleship.org puts it this way: “When Wesley says that holiness is social he means that the depth of your love for God is revealed

by the way you love whom God loves.”

Things to Consider

First, before we do anything else, let us define the word Holy.

That will be instrumental in then understanding what holiness is.

Holy, or ἅγιος (hagios) [is an] adj. [that means] holy, set apart, consecrated, dedicated, [and/or] saints. [It] refers to the quality of God who is transcendently distinctive, unique, majestic, perfect, and pure 1…

1. Hon-Lee Kwok, “Holiness,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

This means that those who are Holy…are set a part, consecrated, dedicated, and/or saints for God…

An according to today’s Scripture,

God, who is the transcendently distinctive, unique, majestic, perfect, and pure One who deems us Holy or set apart…

Has done so with the hopes that we will LIVE JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, and Walk HUMBLY with God.

That means…yes you ARE holy because God deems you so…

You are a saint, dedicated and consecrated for God’s …

Holiness then, properly speaking, is the state of being holy.

But, Wesley saw holiness through two lenses. Again, holiness is holiness…

However, it is expressed in two different ways…

Works of Piety, or personal holiness.

Works of Mercy, or social holiness.

Personal Holiness is the ways in one’s personal life that they express their being set apart for God…

Daily Prayer

Scripture Reading

Small Groups,

Participating in the Sacraments

etc…

Social Holiness is the ways in one’s social life that thay express their being set apart for God...

Visiting the Sick and imprisoned,

Giving to the poor

Clothing the naked

Feeding the hungry

Protesting and standing up against unjust laws,

etc.

What Scripture Says

Last week we talked about grace.

Today we are looking at our response to God’s grace, which is both personal and social.

A balanced life in Christ is one in which both personal and social holiness are cultivated.

It is one where we ask both:

“What helps me connect with God?”

and

“What helps me connect with others?”

John Wesley defined the means of grace as a way to connect with God and our neighbors.

Engaging the means of grace is a way we can grow in both personal and social holiness.

Wesley summarizes in his sermon, “The Means of Grace”:

Here’s what he had to say“:

“By ‘means of grace’ I understand outward signs, words, or actions ordained of God and appointed for this end: to be the ordinary channels by which [God] might convey to individuals either preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace…

…But we allow that the whole value of the means depends on their actual subservience [or subjection] to the end [or goal] of religion; that consequently all these means, when separate from the end, are less than nothing and vanity [or worthless],; that if they do not actually lead to and promote the knowledge \and love of God, they are not acceptable in [God’s] sight.”

Wesley, John. The Essential Works of John Wesley: Updated in Today’s Language. Ed. Alice Russie. (Barbour Publishing, Inc., Ohio, 2011), 191-192.

Our response to grace cannot be ritualistic, showy, or occasional.

It is here that Micah challenges the people of Israel, and us, to practice our faith in a way

that transforms our personal lives and the world we live in.

Micah challenged the Israelites to make their faith their way of life.

We see this in the contrast between verses 6-7 and verse 8, where the actions and rituals undertaken in verses 6-7

mean little without the consistent and outward-focused life of faith described in verse 8.

Wesley challenged the Anglicans

to create or join Holy Clubs,

small groups, to foster more personal and communal accountability of their faith.

Wesley also called the church to challenge those who had a “Sunday only faith”

to serve in the world (e.g., field preaching, serving in soup kitchens, ministering in prisons)

in order to make disciples and transform the world.

Personal holiness:

To grow in personal holiness,

we can engage the means of grace that connect us with God.

John Wesley called these “works of piety”.

In describing what the Lord requires of us,

Micah includes “walk humbly with your God.”

How do we do this? Any ideas

Pause

We can, for instance,

PRAY DAILY

READ DEVOTIONS

READ SCRIPTURE…

devotions alone are not sufficient…study Scripture

BE BAPTIZED and, of course, PARTICIPATE IN THE BAPTISM of others, as well as TAKE PART IN HOLY COMMUNION.

REGULARLY SING HYMNS…

They teach us theology

AND EXPERIENCE NATURE THROUGH THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Let me ask y’all this?

How are we connecting with God one on one, so that our hearts can be changed by God’s grace?

Notice that just because it is important to connect with God personally, not all of our “works of piety” are individual –

many happen within the context of community (e.g., regular worship, sacraments, Bible study).

Social holiness:

To grow in social holiness, we can engage the means of grace that connect us with others,

all God’s beloved children,

in mission with the world.

John Wesley called these “works of mercy.”

In describing what the Lord requires of us,

Micah includes “do what is right (or live justly” and “love kindness [or mercy].

How do we do this?

Works of mercy include acts of kindness and justice.

Acts of kindness include helping individuals in the moment,

such as sharing a meal, housing a family, visiting someone who is sick or imprisoned, etc.

Acts of justice include working to change our community and world for the long term.

These may include advocacy for a living wage,

access to housing, quality education, and ending the sin of racism in our communities and the world.

Again let me lift up how “works of mercy” are both individual and communal.

In the earliest Methodist groups,

the people engaged in ministry in prisons,

women’s ministries and building up women leaders,

the eradication of slavery and child sweatshops…and much much more.…

What This Means for You

Let me invite you to check out the UMC Social Principles and prayerfully ask God what you might be called to actively address in your community and world.

I want to encourage you to contact an appropriate organization that matches up to our Christian Methodist Values so that you can learn more about how to address a specific issue.

I have posted the Social Principles on our Facebook Page and have included them at the end of my sermon notes online.

I want to point out how works of piety and works of mercy are related.

Karen Marie Yust, in Real Kids, Real Faith,

describes how solely focusing on works of mercy and justice can burn us out,

and how prayer/works of piety can give us the internal strength and compassion necessary to maintain this work.

At the same time, only focusing on prayer and meditation can cause us to become too self-centered and forget our role in the world.

That’s where works of mercy and justice open us up to the needs of our neighbors. Both are necessary in the Christian life.

What This Means for Us

Most congregations tend to focus more on either personal holiness or social holiness (one or the other).

Where has our congregation tended to focus.

We do focus on both, but over the course of current congregation’s lifetime, what has our focus mostly been.

What would it look like if we were to intentionally work on and grow in the area that currently has less congregational emphasis?

For me, I would say we’ve focused more inwardly…that’s not to say we haven’t been outward too…

But most of our programs were focused on personal piety as opposed to social piety.

Supporting the congregation, its members, focusing on personal Spiritual growth and church engagement which has included some mission as well.

We’ve done very well with that focus; however, how do we grow in works of mercy, showing up to take a stand for justice when needed as well as calling our community to grow to be more just, merciful and humble.