This hymn sing is a reflection on Wesleyan Theology and prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace. It can be used at any time in the church year.
Grace Upon Grace Hymn Sing
Grace Upon Grace
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth... From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” - John 1:14, 16-18
What does it mean to be a United Methodist? What sets us apart in our theology and beliefs from other mainline Christians? These are questions that those new to the United Methodist Church and even those who have been here their whole lives may ask.
There is a long answer to this question. There are books written on this. Powerpoints made. Classes taken. And those are well and good and they should be done.
There is also a short answer and that answer is “grace upon grace upon grace.” The people called United Methodists are a people of grace.
It’s not that other thoughts of Christianity don’t have grace or don’t see grace as important - they do believe in grace and they do think it’s important. Wesleyans, that is Methodists who come from the theological tradition of John Wesley, emphasize grace above all else. An example of this is when John Wesley, arguing against pre-destination, said that while Christ is sovereign king, the crown upon his head is Love. Therefore, it is impossible for God to act outside of that Love
Wait - are we talking about Love or Grace? Yes.
“Grace” is one of those church-y words we sometimes throw around without fully understanding the meaning and one of those words that has lots of definitions - one dictionary had seven definitions. And a dictionary definition of Christian grace might be something like the unmerited and undeserved favor or gifts of God including forgiveness of sins. This is a meaningful definition. Another definition of grace, one which is my favorite, is that grace is simply how God acts towards us in this world. Every action of God for us, toward us, with us - is one of grace.
Today we will sing hymns by Charles Wesley, hymns with words of grace - as we explore what grace means to us.
Let us sing, “Maker in Whom We Live” UMH 88
Prevenient Grace
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:6-8
Methodists tend to talk about God’s grace in three categories to help us understand how God acts out of love on our behalfs.
The first category of grace we emphasize as United Methodist is “prevenient grace.” Previenient literally means - “comes before.” Comes before what? The grace that comes before we even know there was grace to be had.
I have often described this as the constant voice of God whispering in our ears from the moment that we are born, telling us over and over and over again - “Hey! I’m right here. I love you.”
I was once told that for some, it wasn’t the soft whispering of God but it was God yelling at a megaphone right into their ear - they just weren’t ready to hear it yet.
Prevenient grace might be shared in a lot of ways - a loving church community who surrounds you with love, the baptism of an infant, family and friends who constantly share God’s love with you, the million little or big things that are God surrounding you before you even know to call it God. Basically it means that God has always been and will always be at work in your life - recognized or not.
Another metaphor we often use for grace and a relationship with God is a house. Prevenient grace is the porch, the place where we have not yet made a conscious decision to enter into a relationship with God but we are still in God’s embrace.
God’s prevenient grace is for everyone born and is present throughout our lives - God is always acting in ways yet unknown to us.
Let us sing, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” vs. 1, 2, 4, UMH 479
Justifying Grace
“but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” - Ephesians 2:4-8
There comes a time in our lives when we are ready to listen to that voice of God that is constantly whispering love in our ears, trying to get our attention.
There comes a time in our lives when we are ready to walk through the front door, to enter into the house of God, to enter into a relationship with God.
This is what we as Christians call justifying grace - what others may simply called “saved.”
To justify means to make right. When we accept the grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness God has to offer us, we are made right with God. We enter into a mutual relationship - me and God, you and God, us and God.
For many individuals, they may be able to point to an exact place and moment in time where they first experienced God’s justifying grace for themselves - where they learned of God’s love for them and prayed to be made right with God.
And still for others, there may not be one defining moment of justifying grace but countless small decisions, moments unseen by others, but that add up to the culmination of confessing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
I think that part of being human is accepting God’s justifying grace for ourselves over and over again, always recommitting our hearts and lives to Christ.
John Wesley wrote about an experience of justifying grace in his journal. He wrote, “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 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."
Charles wrote the hymn, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain” following an experience of justifying grace. “Amazing love! How can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me?
Let us sing, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain,” vs. 1, 4, 5, UMH 363
Sanctifying Grace
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:1-2
When we walk through the door, when we begin a mutual relationship with Christ, it is not the end of our faith journey - just as a wedding isn’t the sum total of a marriage. We must settle into the home of God and live together. In his sermon Justification By Faith, Wesley wrote that justifying grace, “implies what God does for us through the Son.” Sanctifying grace is “what God works in us by the Spirit.”
Sanctifying means to be made more holy, more like Christ Jesus.
To experience sanctifying grace, we must let ourselves be fashioned more like Christ. We must let go of all that holds us back from perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor as self. This is not always an easy process - the refining fire has been used as a metaphor. It can be painful to let go of things that keep us from love, that keep us focused on ourselves above others. And we won’t always get it right. Some days we take backwards steps and still others we move forward together with the Spirit.
Sanctifying grace is an untold number of little and big moments of choosing to love like God loves and letting that love work within us so that the grace of the God of Love shines brightly through us. This is our whole life’s work as Christians - we are ever called to Christian perfection.
Christian perfection does not mean that our lives would be without error - but that we would wholly love God and neighbor as self, becoming entirely sanctified through the power of the Spirit. Wesley never claimed this Christian perfection for himself but did believe that we could achieve it in this life.
In other words, saying “I’m only human” to diminish selfish behavior or a failure to love is not a valid excuse. We are only human - but the Spirit works within us to make us more holy, being capable of loving like God loves.
Before we sing our last hymn of our hymn sing, it would behoove me to say that grace is not a one and done deal. God is always at work in our lives. We may label that grace as prevenient, justifying, or sanctifying…but just because we are on the journey of sanctification doesn’t mean that God isn’t working in our lives in yet unknown or unseen ways or doesn't mean that there are still things we need to make right with God. The labels are just guides to help us understand how God cares for us with loving grace. The important thing is that each and every one of us knows that God loves us and is always offering us grace. Grace upon grace upon grace.
Let us sing “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” UMH 384
Today we will sing hymns by Charles Wesley, hymns with words of grace - as we explore what grace means to us.
Let us sing, “Maker in Whom We Live” UMH 88
Prevenient Grace
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:6-8
Methodists tend to talk about God’s grace in three categories to help us understand how God acts out of love on our behalfs.
The first category of grace we emphasize as United Methodist is “prevenient grace.” Previenient literally means - “comes before.” Comes before what? The grace that comes before we even know there was grace to be had.
I have often described this as the constant voice of God whispering in our ears from the moment that we are born, telling us over and over and over again - “Hey! I’m right here. I love you.”
I was once told that for some, it wasn’t the soft whispering of God but it was God yelling at a megaphone right into their ear - they just weren’t ready to hear it yet.
Prevenient grace might be shared in a lot of ways - a loving church community who surrounds you with love, the baptism of an infant, family and friends who constantly share God’s love with you, the million little or big things that are God surrounding you before you even know to call it God. Basically it means that God has always been and will always be at work in your life - recognized or not.
Another metaphor we often use for grace and a relationship with God is a house. Prevenient grace is the porch, the place where we have not yet made a conscious decision to enter into a relationship with God but we are still in God’s embrace.
God’s prevenient grace is for everyone born and is present throughout our lives - God is always acting in ways yet unknown to us.
Let us sing, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” vs. 1, 2, 4, UMH 479
Justifying Grace
“but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” - Ephesians 2:4-8
There comes a time in our lives when we are ready to listen to that voice of God that is constantly whispering love in our ears, trying to get our attention.
There comes a time in our lives when we are ready to walk through the front door, to enter into the house of God, to enter into a relationship with God.
This is what we as Christians call justifying grace - what others may simply called “saved.”
To justify means to make right. When we accept the grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness God has to offer us, we are made right with God. We enter into a mutual relationship - me and God, you and God, us and God.
For many individuals, they may be able to point to an exact place and moment in time where they first experienced God’s justifying grace for themselves - where they learned of God’s love for them and prayed to be made right with God.
And still for others, there may not be one defining moment of justifying grace but countless small decisions, moments unseen by others, but that add up to the culmination of confessing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
I think that part of being human is accepting God’s justifying grace for ourselves over and over again, always recommitting our hearts and lives to Christ.
John Wesley wrote about an experience of justifying grace in his journal. He wrote, “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 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."
Charles wrote the hymn, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain” following an experience of justifying grace. “Amazing love! How can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me?
Let us sing, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain,” vs. 1, 4, 5, UMH 363
Sanctifying Grace
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:1-2
When we walk through the door, when we begin a mutual relationship with Christ, it is not the end of our faith journey - just as a wedding isn’t the sum total of a marriage. We must settle into the home of God and live together. In his sermon Justification By Faith, Wesley wrote that justifying grace, “implies what God does for us through the Son.” Sanctifying grace is “what God works in us by the Spirit.”
Sanctifying means to be made more holy, more like Christ Jesus.
To experience sanctifying grace, we must let ourselves be fashioned more like Christ. We must let go of all that holds us back from perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor as self. This is not always an easy process - the refining fire has been used as a metaphor. It can be painful to let go of things that keep us from love, that keep us focused on ourselves above others. And we won’t always get it right. Some days we take backwards steps and still others we move forward together with the Spirit.
Sanctifying grace is an untold number of little and big moments of choosing to love like God loves and letting that love work within us so that the grace of the God of Love shines brightly through us. This is our whole life’s work as Christians - we are ever called to Christian perfection.
Christian perfection does not mean that our lives would be without error - but that we would wholly love God and neighbor as self, becoming entirely sanctified through the power of the Spirit. Wesley never claimed this Christian perfection for himself but did believe that we could achieve it in this life.
In other words, saying “I’m only human” to diminish selfish behavior or a failure to love is not a valid excuse. We are only human - but the Spirit works within us to make us more holy, being capable of loving like God loves.
Before we sing our last hymn of our hymn sing, it would behoove me to say that grace is not a one and done deal. God is always at work in our lives. We may label that grace as prevenient, justifying, or sanctifying…but just because we are on the journey of sanctification doesn’t mean that God isn’t working in our lives in yet unknown or unseen ways or doesn't mean that there are still things we need to make right with God. The labels are just guides to help us understand how God cares for us with loving grace. The important thing is that each and every one of us knows that God loves us and is always offering us grace. Grace upon grace upon grace.
Let us sing “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” UMH 384
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