Three Simple Rules: Week 3
Notes
Transcript
“What then is the mark? Who is a Methodist, according to your own account?” I answer: A Methodist is one who has “the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy ghost given unto him;” one who “loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul; which is constantly crying out, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee! My God and my all! Thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever!”
The United Methodist Book of Disciple (2016): ¶ 102 Doctrine and Discipline in the Christian Life: "First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced..."
United Methodist Church. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2016 . The United Methodist Publishing House. Kindle Edition.
15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Introduction
Introduction
Good evening, I am so happy that you have joined me for our Wednesdays with Wesley. This is our mid-week devotional with Bro. Tim Sisk. I hope during this time that you may be encouraged as we reach the mid point of the week, halfway between last Sunday and our next upcoming Sunday.
This upcoming Sunday, we continue our sermon series: “No Costumes Allowed”. I hope you will make plans to join us this Sunday at 10 am, either for in-person worship and by joining our live-stream. As always, our services may be viewed at our website: boonevillefirstumc.org/watch.
The General Rules of the Methodist Church
The General Rules of the Methodist Church
This evening, we continue our study of the book by Bishop Rueben P. Job called Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living as part of our Wednesday with Wesley. These simple rules came from the General Rules of the Methodist Church and was expected to be practiced by all who continue therein that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation. A more modern way of thinking about it is that these rules were given to help the Christ-follower live a holy and loving life on the way to becoming Christ-like.
These three rules, simply expressed are:
Do no harm
Do good
Stay in love with God (by keeping God’s ordinances)
The Fog Line
The Fog Line
So, let's talk about the first of these rules: first, do no harm. Notice how this rule governs our conduct in such a way that it can keep us from uttering a wrong response or hurtful word.
Years ago, my mom gave me advice about driving at night. Advice that I still follow to this day. We were riding along one night when a car approaching us was coming from the other direction. Either the other driver had unusually bright lights or they had forgotten to dim their high beams and we were blinded. My mother told me that when that happens, look away from the other car's lights and look down to the line on the road on the right and it will keep you in your lane.
Now, I've never known what the name of those street lines. But apparently, the line on the road to the right is called the "fog line". The “fog line” refers to the bright white line painted on the edge of the roadway that separates the legally drivable portion of the road from the un-drivable portion. It is used to help cars stay in their lane during foggy conditions and help pedestrians stay off the road. Thereby keeping you (and others) safe.
Do no harm operates in the same way. When faced with a difficult decision, practicing the guiding principle of "do no harm" keep us (and others) safe. When we are faced with a difficult decision and we can't see the way forward, keeping our eyes on the spiritual "fog line" of doing no harm will keep us going in the right way and will protect others.
The year 2020 has been such a challenge for everybody. It has been a particular challenge for church leadership. How do we "do" church in the midst of a pandemic? We were faced with some very difficult decisions. For example, the question of in-person worship. "I can't cancel church!" I thought. My whole ministry has been about trying to get people to church. And surely now in this season of great uncertainty and when people are suffering and hurting, physically, spiritually, economically, socially, "How can we cancel church?" I wondered. Surely the devil will be delighted by this.
However, when weighed against the principle, "First, do no harm: the choice became much more clear. So the decision was made to suspend in-person worship for a time for the safety and well-being of our most vulnerable. It also forced a shift in the way that we do ministry. Church hasn't been canceled, but it is being lived out in another way. And we are still growing to respond to the challenge. Because this truth still remains. People still need Christ and the church is Christ's means of discipling people and transforming our society. So while the comfortable choice might have been to continue as we are and not worry about whether we were hurting people, even as we can't quite see the future ahead of us, we have our eyes on that white line keeping us in our lane.
Changing the Climate
Changing the Climate
Bishop Job describes how this rule can change the transform the temperature of conflict, especially if positions are deeply entrenched and passions are on the verge of becoming enflamed:
"If, however, all who are involved can agree to do no harm, the climate in which the conflict is going on is immediately changed. How is it changed? Well, if I am to do no harm, I can no longer gossip about the conflict. I can no longer speak disparagingly about those involved in the conflict. I can no longer manipulate the facts of the conflict. I can no longer diminish those who do not agree with me and must honor each as a child of God. I will guard my lips, my mind and my heart so that my language will not disparage, injure or wound another child of God. I must do no harm, even while I seek a common good." Job, Rueben P.. Three Simple Rules (Kindle Locations 155-160). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
John Wesley described it this way:
It may easily be believed, he who had this love in his heart would work no evil to his neighbour [sic]. It was impossible for him, knowingly and designedly, to do harm to any man. He was at the greatest distance from cruelty and wrong, from any unjust or unkind action. With the same care did he “set a watch before his mouth, and keep the door of his lips,” lest he should offend in tongue, either against justice, or against mercy or truth. He put away All lying, falsehood and fraud; neither was guile found in his mouth. He spake evil of no man nor did an unkind word ever come out of his lips. (“Sermon 4, Scriptural Christianity,” in Works , Vol. 5; page 41)
Radical Trust and Radical Obedience
Radical Trust and Radical Obedience
First of all, although this rule is a simple rule, it is demanding and draws upon self-discipline and requires a deep faith that God will empower and lead the faithful. It requires radical trust in God’s presence, power, wisdom, and guidance as well as radical obedience in God’s leadership.
The trouble we face, however, is that very often we bind ourselves to an idea or preferred outcome rather than binding ourselves to Jesus Christ. But to be a follower of Jesus Christ is to accede to Christ’s authority and trust in his leadership. Remember, Jesus invites us to to consider the cost of being his disciple:
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
To follow Jesus is to desire to be like him in our living and in our dying.
And yet, we often fear the consequences of letting go of our power and submitting to Jesus and his teachings.
But are we willing to give up political power for God’s love? Can we give up our most cherished possession: the certainty that we are right and others are wrong? Are we willing to seem to be weak? Are we are willing to renounce ourselves and take up radical trust and radical obedience?
Is It Possible to Do No Harm?
Is It Possible to Do No Harm?
Is it possible to "first, do no harm"? Well, Jesus did it.
"But," you might retort, "I'm not Jesus!"
And my answer to you is, "Aren't we all called to Christ-likeness?" I was in class Tuesday night and Dr. Steven Blakemore reminded us that the goal of salvation isn't forgiveness of sins but to be conformed to the image of Christ.
So what does it mean to take this rule seriously? Bishop Job puts it this way:
To do no harm means that I will be on guard so that all my actions and even my silence will not add injury to another of God's children or to any part of God's creation. As did John Wesley and those in the early Methodist movement before me, I too will determine every day that my life will always be invested in the effort to bring healing instead of hurt; wholeness instead of division; and harmony with the ways of Jesus rather than with the ways of the world.
Job, Rueben P.. Three Simple Rules (Kindle Locations 229-233). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
This is a gigantic step but one that will lead us to living the holy life that Christ exemplified.