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Commentary
GEN-X RISING: Covenant Discipleship helps us wait on God Andrew C. Thompson, Dec 21, 2007
Andrew C. Thompson
By Andrew C. Thompson UMR Columnist
Editor’s Note: This is the final column in a series on the means of grace in Christian practice.
Salvation is a gift. So says St. Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9. It doesn’t come from our own doing. There is no way we can earn it on our own. God saves us.
In the Christian tradition, the yearning for salvation often takes on the language of “waiting on God.” We see this in Scripture—“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (Psalm 130:5).
John Wesley understood that waiting on salvation should be done expectantly. And the best way we can wait expectantly is to engage in those spiritual practices we call the means of grace.
In his sermon, “The Means of Grace,” Wesley says, “We know this salvation is the gift and the work of God. But how... may I attain thereto? If you say, ‘Believe, and thou shalt be saved,’ he answers, ‘True; but how shall I believe?’ You reply, ‘Wait upon God.’ ‘Well. But how am I to wait? In the means of grace, or out of them? Am I to wait for the grace of God which bringeth salvation by using these means, or by laying them aside?’... According to this, according to the decision of Holy Writ, all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained; in using, not laying them aside.”
In my last three columns, I have shared how Wesley understood the means of grace to be contained in works of piety and works of mercy. Works of piety are those acts of worship and devotion through which we are drawn closer in our love of God. Some examples include attending worship, reading the Bible, receiving Holy Communion, prayer and fasting.
Works of mercy include those acts of justice and compassion through which we are drawn closer in our love of neighbor. Some examples of these include feeding the hungry, visiting those who are sick or in prison, caring for the environment and spreading the gospel to unbelievers.
Wesley is nothing if not practical, and that is probably why he remains so popular today. He insists that Methodist people are expected to show the fruits of their faith by “doing good, by being in every kind merciful after their power, as they have opportunity doing good of every possible sort and as far as is possible to all men” (The General Rules).
In this column, I want to offer one very practical way to put the means of grace into daily practice. Think of this as a kind of framework that gives structure to your spiritual life.
The Methodists in Wesley’s day had the class meeting, a small group of people who met weekly to give an account of their walk with Christ. They confessed their sin to one another and offered encouragement about how they could live more faithful lives.
In the church today, there is a form of small group called Covenant Discipleship that allows for just this type of mutual accountability. Covenant Discipleship groups are made up of five to seven people who join together to help one another practice the means of grace. They write a covenant, which includes daily acts of worship, devotion, compassion and justice by which they agree to abide. And they meet weekly, to report to one another how they are doing in keeping the covenant and practicing their discipleship.
I have been a part of Covenant Discipleship groups for about 10 years, and I have never experienced any kind of spiritual practice that was more effective in helping me to grow as a disciple of Jesus.
If you would like to know more about CD groups, visit the Covenant Discipleship Web site at http://www.gbod.org/smallgroup/cd/. And if you are hungry for a deeper experience of God’s grace, joining a CD group may be just what you need.
Since salvation is God’s gift from God, we have to wait on it. But we should wait expectantly! Covenant Discipleship gives us a way to do just that.
Andrew C. Thompson
