Devotional 3-9-08

The words to the early church for this day come from the 12th Chapter of Romans. In that text, Paul offers to the church a list of “marks of the true Christian.” He includes: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer . . . Bless those who persecute you. . . Live in harmony . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12)

I must confess that Paul’s lists can leave me a bit weary. He seems to expect so much of those who bear the name of Christ. These Lenten days of self-examination help me to see how clearly I miss the mark of God’s expectations and hopes. (I am continually thankful for God’s merciful grace and forgiveness.) As I heard this list of Paul, I thought John Wesley’s “Three Simple Rules:” Do no harm; do well; and stay in love with God. Mr. Wesley seems to take all of Paul’s lists and sums them up in three simple, easy to remember statements.

Retired Bishop Reuben Job has offered a new book for the United Methodist Church: Three Simple Rules – A Wesleyan Way of Living. He writes: There are three simple rules that have the power to change the world. While they are ancient, they have seldom been fully put to the test. But when and where practiced, the world of things as they were was shaken until a new formation, a new world was formed. The Wesleyan movement is a prime example of this new creation that is formed when these three simple rules are adopted as a way of living. (p. 7)

Do no harm. That 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. I will invest in the effort to bring healing instead of hurt; wholeness instead of division; and harmony with the ways of Jesus rather than the ways of the world.

Do good. I can decide to do good to all. It is a challenging way to live. To love God with my whole being and to love my neighbors as much as I love myself will never be easy, but it is essential to our spiritual life, our life of faith, and our life with God.

Stay in love with God. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” When we are deeply in love, we will be constantly formed and transformed by that relationship. Staying in love with God involves prayer, worship, study, and the Lord’s Supper as well as feeding the lambs, tending the sheep, and providing for the needs of others.

These three simple rules promise a way of living to change your world. It’s a way of living that can guard your life from doing evil and enable you to do good. It’s a way of living that provides a way to stay in love with God in this world and the next. In living this way we discover the full inheritance we have as the children of God.

Help us, O God to do no harm; to do good; and to stay in love with you. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Mark Conner

Three Simple Rules – A Wesleyan Way of Living by Bishop Reuben P. Job is published by Abingdon Press and can be purchased through Cokesbury for $5.00 (That isn’t a commercial for Cokesbury – just a way to get a very helpful, little book.)