John Wesley brought the Methodist Church to life in the 1700s. This was a time of great revival for the church. It was also a difficult time of transition for the world. Industrialization was changing how people lived. In England, people were moving from their farms to the city. They would now own businesses, work in mines or factories, and make a weekly paycheck. This transition would bring about increased struggles as the population concentrated.
The Methodist movement was growing in these communities. One of the things that attracted people to Methodism was its focus on God and everyday life. Wesley taught about all aspects of life and how God wanted his children to live a full and abundant life. To live out this abundant life, Wesley taught and presented the most practical and Biblical advice. One such teaching was on money.
Wesley taught that money was a gift of God. He believed there were three specific things that a people of faith should do. John Wesley taught, in his sermon on The Use of Money, that we should “gain all we can without hurting ourselves or our neighbors.” After we gained all possible, Wesley instructed us to “save all you can.” He reminded us that what we earned was a precious gift and not to be used trivially. Once you have gained and saved, John Wesley taught that giving was of great importance. Giving is how the good stewards of God use their gifts to bless others. Wesley would write that we should “give all you can.”
For Wesley, the need to give was obvious. Money was the means by which we could truly help those in need. He would write, “It is an excellent gift of God, answering the noblest ends. In the hands of his children, it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty. It gives to the traveler and the stranger where to lay their head. By it we may supply the place of a husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless; we may be a defense for the oppressed, a means of health to the sick, of ease to them that are in pain. It may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame; yea, a lifter up from the gate of death.”
Money is a gift of God. How we use our money is our gift to God and God’s children. Giving is an essential part of our spiritual life. The more we connect with the love of God, the more we understand that God’s nature is a giving nature. God gives abundantly, and if we follow this example, we will experience the full and abundant life God intends for us all.
-Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
