So I will admit, at first I skimmed this sermon on the assumption that it was another pastoral sermon in the vein of 94 and 95. I think it is that, though there's a bit of broadly applicable ecclesiology in this sermon. Pointing out that the balance between total obedience demanded from the Catholic parish ministers of his day (supposedly) and the sort of "no strings attached" model that characterizes modern pastor/parishioner relations, is a sort of "If you're gonna belong here, you better belong here" (my words) approach. Wesley leaves a lot of room for a parishioner to make their own associations to a particular spiritual leader, but seems to give me every indication that he thinks 1) you need to belong so a spiritual leader of some sort and 2) you should be obedient to that leader when you choose to follow them. The shepherd is not a fan of "free range" sheep out there, guided and protected by nobody at all. On this count, we can agree. I think I have a bit of a hard time occupying his emotional space because I am, personally, not called to pastoral ministry and also a much more laid back leader than many I've met. I'm a bit of an outlier. Wesley wants to be heard and for the body that he's responsible for to respond to that voice. He gives the example that people are still choosing to dress fancy, even though they KNOW that's like his least favorite thing. Having occasionally been required to correct the small group of believers that I was responsible for at the time, I know it's frustrating when people don't take things to heart. I also know that some seeds are planted deeper than we can see, and bear their fruit in their own season. At the end of the day, God gives the increase.