We are facing up to a time in our history where poverty is very close at hand. As South Africans we have been exposed to the poor in diverse ways, but Covid-19 is slowly creating more opportunities for us to be kind to those who are struggling economically. Jesus made it clear that we would always have poor amongst us and urged his followers to treat all people with compassion, love and kindness.
On this significant day in the life of the Evangelical Church, where we remember the difference that John and Charles Wesley made to England (and the world), it is fitting to note a very challenging word from them on poverty and our call to address it:
"Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”- John Wesley
Perhaps his other quote which is well known is also appropiate at this point:
“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,
As long as ever you can.”
―
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