On 24 February 1791, six days before his death, John Wesley wrote the following letter to British parliamentarian and anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce.
Dear Sir:
Unless the divine power has raised you up to be as “Athanasius contra mundum,” I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing! Go on, in the name of God in the power of His might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.
Reading this morning a tract wrote by a poor African, I was particularly struck by the circumstance, that a man who has black skin, being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have no redress; it being a LAW in our Colonies that the OATH of a black man against a white goes for nothing. What villainy is this!
That He who has guided you from youth up may continue to strengthen you in this and all things is the prayer of, dear sir,
Your affectionate servant,
John Wesley
The Anglican calendar commemorates the life and ministry of John and Charles Wesley on 3 March.
Lord God, who inspired your servants John and Charles Wesley with burning zeal for the sanctification of souls, and endowed them with eloquence in speech and song: Kindle in your Church, we entreat you, such fervor, that those whose faith has cooled may be warmed, and those who have not known Christ may turn to him and be saved; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Order of St. Luke identifies March 2 as the Feast Day for John Wesley (the anniversary of his death).
ReplyDeleteAlmighty God, who in a time of great need raised up your servants John and Charles Wesley, and by your Spirit inspired them to kindle a flame of sacred love which leaped and ran, an inextinguishable blaze: grant, we ask you, that all those whose hearts have been warmed at these altar fires, being continually refreshed by your grace, may be so devoted to the increase of scriptural holiness throughout the land that in this our time of great need, your will may fully and effectively be done on earth as it is in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The reason for the discrepancy is the Feast of St. Chad, which is March 2 on the Anglican Calendar.
ReplyDeleteI understand about St. Chad, but it's good to point out; some of your other readers might not be aware. - It just means, for me, I get to celebrate twice!
ReplyDeleteTodd+