On A Street Called Aldersgate

May 24 is a day of significance for those of the Methodist persuasion.  On this day in 1738 John Wesley, the father of Methodism went to a religious meeting on Aldersgate Street.  About that meeting he wrote in his journal, "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street where one was reading Luther's preface to Romans.  About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation.  And an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."     

Anyone who reads much about Methodism knows that scholars look at the event of that evening in different ways, but one thing is very clear about John Wesley's own testimony.  It was a moment when he experienced in a personal way the life changing power of Jesus Christ.  Before that moment, he seems confused and uncertain, but after Aldersgate he was a man full of confidence in Christ.  There was no looking back.  His vision was directed toward what God could do in the lives of those who trusted in Him.  It has been 287 years since that meeting.  The structure in which the Methodist movement has found itself over the years has changed many times, but its spirit in the hearts of those whose spiritual heritage goes back to Wesley is still strong.    

Wesley was a man who preached about grace, who opened the door to a religion of the heart, who proclaimed holiness as a doctrine for every believer, and who understood the call of Christ to live as a servant among those who were forgotten, lost, and in need.  At the heart of this man was a message to love God completely and to love one another.  His was a message rooted in love.  Today is a day for remembering and celebrating the roots of our heritage and praying that it will continue to bear fruit in the centuries still to come.