I reached Epworth. I was to preach at six. But the house not being able to contain half the congregation, I went out and declared, "We love him, because he first loved us." (Wesley's Journal, Feb. 16, 1743)This journal initially made me laugh. I picture Wesley preparing to preach, and finding out that even more people came than he expected. I imagine what many of us would do in our own churches: stressing out about how we don't have enough bulletins printed, how we don't have enough coffee made, and how big of a mess it's going to be to get out of the sanctuary in a timely fashion after the service ends promptly after an hour. And I bet not all of them are going to give... Twice as many people as we expect, but our collection isn't going to reflect that influx? This is going to look TERRIBLE to the Bishop...
The people who knew that John Wesley was coming to preach were probably inside the preaching house already. They would be the close followers, the ones who were already a part of the society. But the ones outside... They would be the people who heard that an amazing preacher was coming to town. They may have just wandered in off the streets, wanting to get a glimpse of what all the hype is about.
And for Wesley, this isn't a problem to be solved, but rather a great joy!
In typical Wesley fashion, he was there to save souls. And there were souls outside! But, perhaps, not enough time to deliver two separate sermons... And so he spoke a short message of God's love to them. People who needed to hear about God's love.
Sometimes I think that I try too hard to think of a deep, amazing message to tell people. I forget they just need to hear of God's love. They need to know of God's grace. And rather than always concentrating on the people who are inside the building already, the people who are already a part of the community, Wesley models for us the going out to the people who really need to hear the message of hope, grace, and salvation.
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