My Experiment Begins

Well, it’s July 1. My experiment in living the 3 simple rules, what John Wesley called “the general rules,” begins. I noticed yesterday that the battle began even before I got out of bed! My goal was to get up early, walk 2-3 miles, and “do good” to my body by exercising it. I woke up in time. But as I lay there thinking about getting up, somewhere in my brain I heard a voice saying, “Hey, you can sleep 45 more minutes! Pull the covers back over you and go back to sleep. Missing walking one day won’t hurt you. Besides, you can make up for it by walking during the day and a little further at night.”

So that’s how it’s going to be, huh? A battle that begins every day when I wake up. I won the battle today, or at least that one. I DID get up. And I DID walk 2 1/2 miles (followed by 2 1/2 more miles that evening.) But, then I went out to eat Mexican for lunch. Oops. Did harm to my body. This is not going to be easy!

What Do the General Rules Look Like Today?

(The following was written by Rev. Melissa Maher, Pastor of Serving Ministries at Chapelwood United Methodist. Used by permission.)

• Do no harm
• Do good
• Stay in love with God

These simple rules for living form the structure of what it means to obey the Great Commandment which is expressed in two ways: love God and love neighbor. But these rules also bring about questions and call us to action. What does it mean to be loved, do no harm, do good and abide in God’s love? How do I (we) follow this blueprint to wholeness? John Wesley believed you did so by practicing works of piety and works of mercy.

Works of piety are those practices that draw us into God’s presence so we hear God’s still, small voice guiding us, God’s song of redemption sung over us, and God’s words of promise to always be with us. These works of piety are practiced in private when it is just God and us. They are also lived out publicly in corporate worship or small groups. Works of piety include reading scripture, praying, fasting, and taking time for solitude.

Works of mercy are those practices that draw us closer to one another through the presence of the Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that His followers be recognized for how they loved and served one another. Scholars have noted about John Wesley and the Methodists that “it was not so much that the Methodists were among the poor as the poor were among the Methodists.” In other words, a shared life together which crosses economic, social, or ethnic boundaries and calls people to inward and outward expressions of holy love is the calling of the Christian life. To hear the cry of the needy is to hear the cry of all of God’s children-the orphaned child in Zimbabwe, the single mother in Houston, the homeless man on the corner of Westheimer, the CEO in Houston, the migrant worker from Mexico, and the family in the suburbs. To hear and respond to the cry of human need has been God’s work of reconciliation from the beginning of time. For God is rich in mercy and has made us alive in Christ (Eph 2:4-5), and His justice will roll like a river (Amos 5:24). In these promises, we place our faith and hope.

Mother Teresa said, “If we want the poor to see Christ in us, we have to see the image of Christ in the poor.”

Three simple rules came to life in Wesley’s practical, daily responses to loving God and loving neighbor. He spoke out against

• slavery which deprived humanity of freedom and dignity
• alcoholism which used grain for fermented spirits instead of food for the hungry
• health care which favored only those with money and denied care and compassion for the poor.

He encouraged his small groups to be among the poor, to visit the sick, and to witness with their eyes the deplorable conditions of those who go without.

The General Rules — Outdated?

I recently returned from a trip to England to visit my daughter. While there, my wife Susan and I visited some of the historic John Wesley (founder of Methodism) sites — namely, Epworth (the parsonage where Wesley grew up), pictured at left, and Wesley’s Chapel in London, where we celebrated Easter.

This trip aroused some of my long held passions for things Wesley! Not long after I returned home, I attended General Conference in Ft. Worth (as a visitor, not a delegate) and while there, came across Rueben P. Job’s book, Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living. This is the updated title that Bishop Job has given to the early Methodist “General Rules.” As he frames the rules, they are:

• Do no harm
• Do good
• Stay in love with God

After buying and reading the book, I began to wonder: Can I live by them? The “General Rules?” were the heartbeat of the Methodist societies. Keeping the General Rules was what one did to show desire to “flee from the wrath to come.” To this day, when Methodist pastors are ordained — including me — we are asked by our bishop, “Do you know the General Rules of our Church?” And then the harder follow-up question, “Will you keep them?”

So, freshly inspired by my visit to Mr. Wesley’s home turf, and fired up by Rueben Job’s book, I decided to try an experiment. During the month of July, I am going to preach a sermon series called 3 Simple Rules: Treasure from our Methodist Heritage. (You can access my 3 simple rules web site at Chapelwood.org here.) In addition to preaching about the 3 simple rules, I am going to attempt to live them. “The Rules are simple, but the way is not easy,” Bishop Job writes. So simple as they sound, I expect to encounter some bumps along the way.

Join me as I embark starting July 1 on a 4-week experiment of living the “3 simple rules,” and blogging about my experience. I invite your comments as well!

Bob