William Wilberforce: Wherever the sun shines, let us go around the world and spread God’s beneficence

You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:37-38

“Wherever the sun shines, let us go round the world with him, diffusing our beneficence; but let us not traffic, only that we may set kings against their subjects, subjects against their kings, sowing discord in every village, fear and terror in every family, setting millions of our fellow-creatures a hunting each other for slaves, creating fairs and markets for human flesh, through one whole continent of the world, and, under the name of policy, concealing from ourselves all the baseness and iniquity of such a traffic.”

From William Wilberforce’s speech on abolition of the slave trade, including his 12 resolutions, delivered before the House of Commons in London – May 12, 1789.

“Let us put an end at once to this inhuman traffic. Let us stop this effusion of human blood. The true way to virtue is by withdrawing from temptation. Let us then withdraw from these wretched Africans those temptations to fraud, violence, cruelty, and injustice, which the slave trade furnishes.”

From William Wilberforce’s speech on abolition of the slave trade, including his 12 resolutions, delivered before the House of Commons in London – May 12, 1789.

“It is a trade in its principle most inevitably calculated to spread disunion among the African princes, to sow the seeds of every mischief, to inspire enmity, to destroy humanity. And it is found in practice, by the most abundant testimony, to have had the effect in Africa of carrying misery, devastation, and ruin wherever its baneful influence has extended.”

From William Wilberforce’s speech on abolition of the slave trade, including his 12 resolutions, delivered before the House of Commons in London – May 12, 1789.

“These two vices of avarice and sensuality, the most powerful and predominant in nature thus corrupt, we tempt, we stimulate in all these African princes, and we depend upon these vices for the very maintenance of the slave trade. Does the king of Barbessin want brandy? He has only to send his troops, in the nighttime, to burn and desolate a village; the captives will serve as commodities, that may be bartered with the British trader.”

From William Wilberforce’s speech on abolition of the slave trade, including his 12 resolutions, delivered before the House of Commons in London – May 12, 1789.

“I determine to forget all my other fears, and I march forward with a firmer step in the full assurance that my cause will bear me out, and that I shall be able to justify upon the clearest principles, every resolution in my hand, the avowed end of which is, the total abolition of the slave trade.”

From William Wilberforce’s speech on abolition of the slave trade, including his 12 resolutions, delivered before the House of Commons in London – May 12, 1789.

“The key to true riches is not to hoard wealth, or to spend it on our pleasures, but to give it away. God blesses the generous, cheerful giver by providing more resources and opportunities for giving. In becoming like Christ, who gave away the riches of heaven so that we might ultimately share in them, we receive far more that we ever give away.”

Tony Payne in Cash Values: Studies about Money (Kingsford, Australia: Matthias Media, 2009) 40.

“We must bring money back to its simple role as a material instrument. When money is no more than an object, when it has lost its seductiveness, its supreme value, its superhuman splendor, then we can use it like any other of our belongings, like any machine. Of course, even if this relieves our fears, we must always be vigilant and very attentive because the power is never totally eliminated.

Now this profanation is first of all a result of a spiritual battle, but this must be translated into behaviour. There is one act par excellence which profanes money by going directly again the law of money, an act for which money is not made. This act is giving.”

Jacques Ellul in Money and Power (Marshall Morgan and Scott, 1986) 110.

“God’s Word teaches a very hard, disturbing truth. Those who neglect the poor and the oppressed are really not God’s people at all—no matter how frequently they practice their religious rituals nor how orthodox are their creeds and confessions.”

Ron Sider in Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005) 58.

Here are the lyrics to a 2:23 video, which my daughter helped produce in San Diego this summer for Operation Christmas Child.

Every year we celebrate
Getting presents is really great
But we all know there’s more than that
Cuz getting them is nice, but giving’s where it’s at
So when you’re wrapping presents with your family
Think about those people who need you and me.

Christmas is here again
Everybody sing it out
Christmas is here again
And you know without a doubt
Join the rhyme and make the time to freely give
So let’s help one another live

As we make our Christmas list
Wondering if there’s something we have missed
People out in the world somewhere
Need to know that somebody cares
So when you’re wrapping presents with your family
Think about those people who need you and me.

Christmas is here again
Everybody sing it out
Christmas is here again
And you know without a doubt
Join the rhyme and make the time to freely give
So let’s help one another

Christmas is here again
Everybody sing it out
Christmas is here again
And you know without a doubt
Join the rhyme and make the time to freely give
So everyone
Join the fun

Help someone
Christmas is here again
Get out there and give.

Operation Christmas Child Musical – Get Out There and Give!
Performed by Christian Youth Theater – Sophie Hoag has blonde hair, is wearing a lime green shirt and appears from 0:20-0:39 and briefly at 1:45-1:46 of this 2:23 video. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgpGSTdlP1U

C.T. Studd was a rich and famous English athlete who sold his entire estate, gave it away and went to the mission field to serve Christ. He summed up the perspective that motivated him: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

C.T. Studd (1860-1931) as recounted by Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Tyndale House: Wheaton, 2003) 417.