Some Quotes on Money

While Wesley's "Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can" was generally looked down upon in our Ethics class and in Kelly Johnson's Fear of Beggars book, I believe that these presentations of Wesley's Sermon On The Use of Money were more caricatures than full engagements with what Wesley has to say in this sermon; especially in the context of the rest of his life. Read the whole sermon. It is well worth the time. Here is a quote from Wesley's Sermon that I think summarizes this idea of an Order of St. James:

"Gain all you can, without hurting either yourself or your neighbour, in soul or body, by applying hereto with unintermitted diligence, and with all the understanding which God has given you; -- save all you can, by cutting off every expense which serves only to indulge foolish desire; to gratify either the desire of flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life; waste nothing, living or dying, on sin or folly, whether for yourself or your children; -- and then, give all you can, or, in other words, give all you have to God. Do not stint yourself...to this or that proportion. 'Render unto God,' not a tenth, not a third, not half, but all that is God's, be it more or less; by employing all on yourself, your household, the household of faith, and all mankind, in such a manner, that you may give a good account of your stewardship when ye can be no longer stewards; in such a manner as the oracles of God direct, both by general and particular precepts; in such a manner, that whatever ye do may be 'a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour to God,' and that every act may be rewarded in that day when the Lord cometh with all his saints."

Then the other day I was reading from C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters and came across this advice from Screwtape (the senior devil) to his mentor, Wormwood (the junior devil) regarding the Christian Wormwood has been given to tempt (please excuse Lewis' gender specific language):

"If, on the other hand, the middle years prove prosperous, our position is even stronger. Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is 'finding his place in it', while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home in earth, which is just what we want. You will notice that the young are generally less unwilling to die than the middle-aged and the old."

And lastly, I was reading from Psalm 62 this morning:

"Though wealth increase, set not your heart upon it" (62:12).