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John Wesley
John Wesley (1703 - 1791). English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and co-founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, to a rector’s family. Educated at Oxford, where he earned an M.A. in 1727, he was ordained in 1728 and led the Holy Club with brother Charles, emphasizing disciplined faith. After a failed mission to Georgia (1735-1737), he experienced a transformative conversion in 1738 at Aldersgate, London, feeling his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons, often outdoors, sparking the 18th-century Evangelical Revival, and traveled 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain and Ireland. He authored 400 works, including A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777), and edited The Christian’s Pattern. Founding Methodist societies, he trained 650 preachers and ordained ministers for America, influencing millions. Married to Mary Vazeille in 1751, their childless union strained, but his brother’s hymns enriched worship. A tireless advocate for the poor, he opened dispensaries and schools, and his 1787 sermon against slavery stirred abolitionism. Despite tensions with the Church of England, he never left it, shaping global Protestantism. His maxim, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” inspired generations to active faith. Wesley’s journals and letters, still widely read, reveal a legacy of practical holiness and social reform
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John Wesley emphasizes the call to make peace in a world rife with violence, referencing Jesus' command to put away the sword. He highlights the prevalence of violence in contemporary society, from wars to local acts of aggression, and stresses that Christians must not resort to violence in any form. Instead, they are called to be peacemakers, a role that requires courage and commitment to God's principles. Wesley challenges listeners to reflect on their own responses to conflict and to actively pursue peace in their communities. He concludes with a prayer for guidance in choosing the path of peace.
Make Peace
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52 Once again we find ourselves looking at the story of Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed and we remember how the crowd came for Him armed with swords and clubs. The spectre of violence was never far from Jesus and is never far from us living as we do in the twenty first century. How do we respond to violence? At the time of writing, there are not only wars currently being fought but there are also rumours of war and fears of localised skirmishes turning into allout war. Many nations are all too quick to draw the sword. Never mind international issues, we live in a world under the threat of terrorism which can happen anywhere and any time with no particular place seemingly immune. Added to this, in many places violent crime is on the increase; in fact not just violent crime but meaningless acts of violence seem to be on the increase. At the time of writing, on the national news last night was not one but two stories of acts of violence in local schools, in one instance leading to the death of a schoolboy and in the other to the hospitalisation of a boy preparing to write matric exams. Acts of domestic violence don't even make it into the news any more unless they are particularly gruesome. Surely it is time to “put the sword back in its place.” Resorting to violence, drawing the sword, whether the sword be physical, emotional, or verbal, is not an option for born-again Christians. Killing innocent civilians in your country because you have killed innocent civilians in my country is not an option. Lashing out at you because you have lashed out at me is not an option. There is already too much anger in the world without born-again Christians adding to it. We are called to be peacemakers. Notice we are not called to be peace-lovers or peace-keepers as much as we are called to be peacemakers. Peacemaking is hard work and it can be dangerous work. It might sometimes appear that the peacemaker is taking sides and this can cause him or her to end up being in the firing line. The truth is that peacemakers are really only taking the side of God and the Prince of Peace. Is God calling you to “put away the sword” today, or is God calling you to be the peacemaker in your home, your school, your workplace or anywhere in the world around you? Make peace. Oh Lord, help me this day and always to choose the way of peace.
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John Wesley (1703 - 1791). English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and co-founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, to a rector’s family. Educated at Oxford, where he earned an M.A. in 1727, he was ordained in 1728 and led the Holy Club with brother Charles, emphasizing disciplined faith. After a failed mission to Georgia (1735-1737), he experienced a transformative conversion in 1738 at Aldersgate, London, feeling his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons, often outdoors, sparking the 18th-century Evangelical Revival, and traveled 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain and Ireland. He authored 400 works, including A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777), and edited The Christian’s Pattern. Founding Methodist societies, he trained 650 preachers and ordained ministers for America, influencing millions. Married to Mary Vazeille in 1751, their childless union strained, but his brother’s hymns enriched worship. A tireless advocate for the poor, he opened dispensaries and schools, and his 1787 sermon against slavery stirred abolitionism. Despite tensions with the Church of England, he never left it, shaping global Protestantism. His maxim, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” inspired generations to active faith. Wesley’s journals and letters, still widely read, reveal a legacy of practical holiness and social reform