By Rev. Pete Hyde
It was a long, hot, humid day. We spent the day wandering the streets of Savannah, Georgia, taking in the sights and the history. We were the typical tourists. With a map in hand, we made our way from square to square, shop to shop, trolley stop to trolley stop, restaurant to restaurant. The moments we spent resting or eating were infused with the joy of people watching (I believe there is no better sport). We made our way back to an old downtown hotel for a late afternoon break. After a couple of hours, we headed out to grab a bite to eat and enjoy one final walk along the riverfront. On our way back to the hotel for the night, the sound of a saxophone could be heard in the distance. Kay asked where the music was coming from. The music got louder as we approached the small square in front of our hotel.
The old, live oak trees formed a canopy blocking out most of the evening sky. The Spanish moss moved gently in the light breeze of the evening. The mid-day heat had broken, and it was comfortable here in the shade. The street musician played some favorites as well as some original tunes. He even took requests and played them if he knew them. People from all sorts of backgrounds strolled through the square. Some stopped to listen, and some just moved on barely noticing an evening blessing. Kay and I took a place on a park bench to enjoy music and the atmosphere.
A look to the center of the square brings your eyes to a bronze statue of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church. The hotel where we were staying was built on the site of Wesley’s first parsonage in the New World when he made his first church planting trip to the Americas in the 1730s. He stood there, Bible in hand, as if teaching to anyone who would listen to his message of salvation and right living. He and his brother Charles (a prolific hymn writer) co-pastored a church in Savannah for a time.
Wesley, an Anglican priest, failed in the first attempt to bring his church to America due the mistrust of anything British during this time in American history. He would return after the Revolutionary War and successfully bring a message of grace and Good News to this new land. He would struggle against the institution of his church. He could not understand why they would put so many restrictions on him when he was trying to accomplish the mission of spreading Christ’s message to all those who would hear it. He finally had to leave the Anglican church and start a new church called the Methodists. If Wesley were alive today, he would lament the fact that his new church has become the very church he broke away from long ago. But alas that is the evolution of institutions unless they are intentional about their mission.
There he stood, memorialized in bronze, in the middle of a public square still beckoning people to hear his message, no, God’s message. Here he stood, still calling people to give their lives to the Lord and to spend their lives serving the Lord. With Bible in hand, hands outstretched to any person or crowd that would gather, he was still stating his case and asking those who wandered by to hear and listen, much like the saxophone player in the background. Wesley’s message and impact continue, even though he lived more than 200 years ago.
I found myself doing a little reflecting on my journey of faith and ministry that carried me through many years as a Methodist pastor with some of the same frustrations as Wesley had with his home church, the Anglican church. The age-old ministry and church mission question came to mind. How do we as Christians make a lasting impact on individual lives and the community and world in which we live? It is not about whether we are remembered with a statue, a plaque, or a building with our name on it or our picture in the hallway. It is about whether or not someone saw Jesus in us. Wow! What a burden! What a mission for each of us and our churches! But how, O Lord?
Here is one of my favorite Wesley sayings. I have it on a plaque in my office: “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, for as long as you ever can.”
Rev. Pete Hyde serves as chaplain with the South Walton Fire District
