THE SOCIAL WITNESS OF CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMNS – Part 3 of 3

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”  (Isaiah 1:17 NIV)

If Wesley’s hymns seem to say little about social action as such, they offer a continual sense of strength for those engaged in the fight. One can hardly sing “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” for instance, without wanting to march for the causes that challenge our souls.

          From strength to strength go on,
                     Wrestle and fight and pray;
          Tread all the powers of darkness down,
                     And win the well-fought day.

We cannot say what Wesley had in mind by “all the powers of darkness.” He may have been thinking in the broadest sense of the total principle of evil, or perhaps he was reflecting upon the inner struggles that had characterized much of his life. But I think he would have agreed that anything which frustrated and limited the lives of his people – poverty, sickness, injustice, miserable prisons and mental institutions – was part of the darkness that must be trod down. Succeeding generations have gained strength from his vigorous vision.

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” 

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