Charles Wesley and the Flames of Sacred love.

Of the thousands of hymns written by Charles Wesley, this is the one that found its way into my commonplace book of prayers frequently used. I've listened to it in multiple renderings, and sung it as often as I could reasonably choose it in Orders of Service. Yet it still retains its power to move and nudge me towards deeper awareness and responsiveness to the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, in the world, and in my own life. 

I'm in good company. Late in life, in 1781, Charles Wesley told the Yorkshire preacher Samuel Bradburn that "his experience might almost any time be found in the first two verses of this hymn." Not to be outdone, John Wesley in his later years said that the last two verses "were the answer he gave in a class meeting when he was asked about his own state of sanctification." ¹ 

We all have our favourite hymns and prayers. As a student of Wesley's hymns, familiar with the best of them, and a few of the worst of them, I confess this hymn expresses both my longing for a life more receptive to the fires of God's love (Charles) and more constant in both desire and practice in the service of Jesus. (John)

The hymn displays to great effect one of Charles' favourite hymnal wake-up calls. The entire hymn is composed of one or two syllable words, apart from 'celestial' and 'inextinguishable'. Both words describe the holy fire of the Spirit's coming, especially the polysyllabic 'inextinguishable'.This is a piece of literary holy mischief! The word goes on and on taking up most of the available syllables in the line, spelling out in a word of six syllables the prayer that the blaze of the Spirit will be perpetual, continuous - that is, in-ex-ting-uish-ab-le!

Beyond that the hymn gathers a range of biblical allusions to the tabernacle and temple, both places of sacrifice. The Wesleys habitually referenced the First Epistle of John, and especially the vocabulary of perfection and love, and these always rooted in the love of God revealed in the death of Jesus for the atonement of sins. Which brings us to verse 1 and the Invocation:

 O thou who camest from above
the pure celestial fire t'impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart!

This is spiritual desire at its most outspoken and bold, not unlike the use of the word 'bold' in Hebrews, "“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb.4.16) The Christian has little to offer, only 'the mean altar of my heart!'

But to pray down the celestial fire, to kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of the human heart, that's a prayer worthy of the unsearchable riches of Christ, such invocation is a radical trust in the dominical promise of the Pentecostal fire, and rests on the apostolic promise, 'this is the will of God, even our sanctification.'

Then the vision of an inextinguishable blaze of the presence of the Spirit of God firing the heart, is followed by the cycle completed and repeated as the flame of sacred love evokes humble love and fervent praise, which is offered in the response of worship. But this is not an exercise in affective joyfulness in the closed circle of devotional exchange, Jesus and me. The second half of the hymn balances the sacrifice of praise with the sacrifice of service. I can well understand how John Wesley the incurable activist looked to those two verses as the benchmark of a life set apart for the service of Jesus, and as the barcode verification of his own discipleship and sanctification. 

Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work, and speak, and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up the gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat;
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make the sacrifice complete.

If I'm right about syllable counting in this hymn (and elsewhere in Wesleyan hymnody), then it is the word 'sacrifice' that is emphasised by its extra syllable in these closing verses. By the way, sung to the tune Hereford, many of the key words are elongated in the singing. Such emphases matter, because this is a hymn about sacrifice, an altar, holy fire and sacred love. It can only be sung by a heart serious about holiness, galvanised by grace, provoked by a longing whose source is traceable fully and finally to the Love that first loved us.

So, Wesley's hymn, and Herbert's poem, are the sources of the new tapestry, which I have still to give a final title: 'Sacrifice of Praise'; 'Inextinguishable Blaze'; 'Celestial Fire'; something else? How all this has worked out in the design of the tapestry, and the creative process of working it, will be the final part of these three posts.

^{1. From A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists, Eds. Franz Hildebrandt and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, (Oxford: OUP, 1983), page 473.}

 

Comments

[Cheryl Heed]

Did Charles Wesley write a lovely poem about a guarded heart. Guard your heart for out of it come the issues of life."" Did he write on this verse about a guarded heart. If he did not, do you know who would have written this type poem.

[Jim Gordon]

Hello Cheryl - thank you for stopping by, and for your question. According to the indices in the Bicentennial Edition of the Methodist Hymn Book, the only verse where Proverbs 4.23 is alluded to is as follows:
Help, Lord to whom for help I fly,
And still my tempted soul stand by
throughout the evil day!
The sacred watchfulness impart,
And keep the issues of my heart,
and stir me up to pray.

This is Hymn 300 in this definitive edition.

I doubt if this might be the one you are thinking of, but it's a good use of the verse!