Begin Where God Begins

John Wesley said once that “Religion if it is not to be the pious form of worldliness, if it is instead to be the response to the action of God, must begin where God begins, among the poor, the despised, the oppressed, and the marginalized.” The key words in his teaching are begin where God begins. God began by taking on the form of human flesh and living with and as one with the poor, the despised, the oppressed and the marginalized. God began by proving to the world that God is not some distant overbearing unknown figure rather that God is here, right here with us and within in, listening and being with us. God did not begin with a snap-of-the-fingers quick fix, or a financial distribution program, or a soup kitchen rather God began by simply being with. This is where God begins and so this is where we are to begin – with.