“John Wesley: A Preaching Life”

I recently finished reading one of the books on my list of things to read/do before ordination (see 150 Days of Preparation for Ordination and 75 Days of Preparation for Ordination). The book is John Wesley: A Preaching Life by Michael Pasquarello, who teaches at Asbury Theological Seminary.

I was interested in the book because it was about John Wesley and preaching (i.e., Wesley as a preacher). What I like about the book is that it discusses the people/writings that influenced Wesley—people like Erasmus, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, as well as the Church of England itself. There’s no such thing as a “self-made person.” We’re all influenced and shaped by a host others.

Pasquarello states the book’s purpose this way …

My hope is that attending to Wesley as a homiletic theologian may yet guide us to see that the truth of God matters in every aspect of preaching. (x)

On Wesley’s preaching, Pasquarello contends …

Wesley’s work encourages us to be more faithful ministers of the gospel in assisting the Spirit’s work of evangelizing and transforming listeners to become participants in the way, truth, and life of Jesus Christ. (xi)

Similarly, Pasquarello later writes …

The primary aim of preaching, then, is assisting the Spirit’s work of making and building up Christians through attentiveness to the Word of God in the words of Scripture. (21).

In the book, Wesley is quoted as saying, “I do indeed live by preaching” (xx). Pasquarello argues that Wesley’s life was a “preaching life,” which Pasquarello says is about …

becoming an exemplary witness of the gospel by which the Spirit calls and builds up the church to be a visible sign of God’s kingdom through participation in the righteousness of Christ. (xx)

I love what Pasquarello says about the place of prayer in the preacher’s life …

Preaching was the fruit of prayerful attention. (xxii)

Pasquarello highlights the importance of congruence in the preacher’s life and words. This is what I get at in my post on 5 Stages of Sermon Preparation, specifically the first two stages, “cultivate,” and “immerse.” Pasquarellow writes …

Wesley integrates theology and life, uniting knowledge and love in counseling pastors that the work of ministry has its basis in, and springs from, devotion of the heart and mind to God. (35)

Further …

Wesley encouraged pastors to immerse themselves in prayerful study of Scripture to receive its saving wisdom and to speak its truth in love. (36)

Pasquarello notes that …

preaching is best understood as the expression of ‘truth in action’—an integrated way of thinking, living, and speaking that is engendered by grace and participates in the knowledge and love of Christ. (37).

And finally, toward the end of the book, Pasquarello states …

the activity of preaching and the goal of preaching are one; rendering faithful, public witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ through the presence and work of the Spirit in the worshiping life of the church. (119).

I thought the level of reading difficulty was a little high, but overall, it was good stuff on preaching, looking at the preaching life of John Wesley!

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