Our scripture lesson today reminds me of John Wesley’s Three Simple Rules.  Rule #1:  Do No Harm.  Rule #2:  Do Good.  Rule #3:  Stay in love with God.  These three rules take something daunting—how to be a faithful Christian in a complicated world—and boil it down to a simple system.

I am a big fan of simple systems.  When our kids were little, Phil and I had a simple system for parenting.  Three basic rules.  1.  We tried to say yes to our kids as much as we could, because you’re only a kid once, and living in a house of yes is a lot more fun than living in a house of no.  But 2.  If we asked you to do something, we expected you to do it.  And 3.  If we asked you to stop doing something, we expected you to stop.  I loved that simple system because it took something daunting—how to raise good kids—and made it doable.  Well, at least we hoped it did!

Now our kids are adults, and they have of course outgrown the need for their parents to make the rules for them.  Part of becoming an adult is taking a good look the rules we grew up with and seeing if there are any we’ve outgrown.  But there are some simple rules we never outgrow.  In the Old Testament, the “simple system” for living is called The Shema.  It is found in Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”  In our church council meetings, we’ve studied the Shema over the last several months and learned that one of the Hebrew word for “all” is “muchness”.  Love God with everything you’ve got—the muchness and fullness of your heart, mind, body, soul.

Two thousand years later, Jesus referred to as this as the first and greatest Commandment.  He went on to say, “and the second commandment is like it:  love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Paul had these words in mind as he wrote the section of Romans we’re looking at today.

The great thing about developing a simple system is, when life gets complicated, you have a foundation to fall back on.  The US Navy SEALS are known for saying, “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”  The habits we develop during less stressful times become the bedrock of our functioning during more stressful times.  Having a simple set of rules enables us to perform at our best in the worst of times, and it provides a framework for decision making.

John Wesley and Paul agree, Rule #1 is, do not harm.  But that simple rule can get complicated quickly:  for instance, should you use paper or plastic bags at the grocery store?  I have heard arguments for both, that the carbon footprint of paper bags is actually greater than that of plastic bags, and vice versa.  Which option does less harm? It is not always to know!  But at least it gives us a starting point.  Recently at Lima, our Trustees revisited our mask policy, and masks are now required again for the most part inside the church building.  No one wants to wear masks!  But more than wanting our own comfort, we want to do no harm.

The problem with a simple rule like “Do no harm” is that sometimes, doing no harm causes more harm than good.  Let me give you an example.  Paul was very concerned about the witness of the Roman Christians.  He wanted them to be model citizens of Rome so that other people would be impressed and would look upon Christianity favorably.  He spends the first six verses of chapter 13 advocating for this, because obeying the Romans laws was one way the followers of Jesus would “do no harm” to the reputation of Christianity.  But complete obedience to civil authorities a rule that needs to be outgrown from time to time?  In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Christians in Europe wrestled with Paul’s words in this chapter of Romans, wondering whether God would want them to obey Nazi authority—or disobey it!  For a personal account of this theological struggle, read anything written by German Christian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for his taking part in an attempt to assassinate Hitler.  In the 1950’s and 1960’s, American Christians prayed about whether it was more godly to obey Jim Crow laws—or disobey them.  Maybe doing some harm—or causing “good trouble” as John Lewis called it—would be required in order to bring about justice and healing.

Speaking of healing, it is a myth that doctors always abide by the rule, “First do no harm”, because most medical interventions involve some risk and could in fact cause harm.  When I was in graduate school, I did an internship for a pharmaceutical company and my boss said, “Dorry, all prescription medications are actually poison.  It’s just that the benefits of the poison in certain dosages outweigh the dangers.”  In medicine, as in the rest of life, rule #1, “Do no harm”, must always be balanced with rule #2, which is “Do good.”

Paul wrote, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”  Hmm.  Love as an obligation we owe to others.  Love as a debt we will forever owe.  Over the last couple weeks, we have talked about how loving others as ourselves is not easy.  It is not a commandment we can fulfill through greater will power or resolve.  That is why Rule #3 is so important:  stay in love with God.  John Wesley had a method for everything—that is why we are called Methodists—including how to stay in love with God.  He called this method, “attending the ordinances of God”—participation in worship, Bible study, communion, Bible study, fasting, and the practice of lament, which we have talked about in recent weeks.  We will only be able to pay the debt of love we owe to our neighbor if we fill ourselves with love from God.

And being filled upon the inside was oif special concern to John Wesley, and to Paul as well.  Our Christian life should not just be something we show on the outside; it must be an inward transformation.  This inward transformation is much harder to quantify.  There is no prescription for a change of heart.  It comes instead through inspiration.  That is why Paul writes, “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness, and put on the armor of light.”  Paul knew he could list rules and commandments and simple systems until he was blue in the face.  But without inspiration, without a sense of urgency, without inward transformation, God’s kingdom would not come on earth as it is in heaven.

Paul was writing at a time when the Second Coming of Christ was expected soon.  He was hoping to inspire people to “live their best life now” because there wasn’t much time left to make a difference in this world for God.  In our culture, we rarely think about the Second Coming of Christ, but we think about time and how to use our time a lot.  Every Monday I make a “to-do” list—or as my husband calls is, a “ta-da” list, for the week.  I love to write down tasks and cross them off with a variety of different colored pencils.  I try to include all the tasks that are important in order for me to feel as if I’m doing a good job at church and at home.  But one thing I have never bothered to write on my to do list is, “Get inspired”.  Inspiration is absolutely critical for us all, especially when the world is changing so rapidly.   There’s no gas pump for inspiration, though.  Instead, we have to slow down and pay attention so we can hear God’s voice speaking in our time and place.

Recently I attended a prayer workshop, and the teacher encouraged us to focus on the words awake, aware, and available as we prayed.  It is so easy to get discouraged and think maybe God is asleep.  But God’s steadfast love never changes.  It’s not God who is sleeping.  God is awake and aware and alive and at work for good.  We are the ones who need to wake up and smell the coffee!  We need to wake up and tune our senses into God’s presence.  How awake are we to God’s ongoing plan for creation?  How aware are we of God’s activity in our midst?  And perhaps most importantly, how available are we to participate in God’s divine activity in and around us?

Earlier in our worship service this morning you heard about two mission opportunities that I hope are inspiring to you.  The first is Zoe Empowers, whose mission is to equip orphaned children in countries like Rwanda, and help them never need charity again.  Lima UMC has pledged to fully fund a new empowerment group that is just getting started this summer.  They will work together for three years, and learn how to produce income, improve their housing, establish food security, and protect the rights of their younger siblings.  It is an amazing undertaking!  One of the things that inspires me most about the program is how it takes young people who were on the verge of giving up, and gives them hope and confidence.  It reassures me that, if God can help them overcome their challenges, God will also help us overcome our challenges!

The second mission opportunity that inspires me is Help Build Hope.  Coming up in September, our parking lot will become a construction site, and we will build all the walls for a Habitat for Humanity house in one day.  Everyone aged 5 and up is able to participate!  We will of course keep our Do No Harm center stage—safety first will be our motto as we work together to do good.  One of the things I find inspiring about this project is how it requires a very short term investment of time from us—just one weekend—and turns that into a lifelong blessing for the family who will live in that house.  When I get the chance to help make a difference for someone else, I become more aware of the ways God has made a difference for me.

I love a simple system.  No matter how complicated life gets, we can always simplify things by reminding ourselves of the first and greatest commandment, the second which is like it:  to love God will the muchness of our lives, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Or as John Wesley put it in this Three Simple Rules:  do no harm, do good, stay in love with God.  The main thing to remember, though, is that Jesus never called us to follow a system.  Jesus called us to follow him, the True Light that is already shining in the darkness. May we learn to be awake, aware, and available to Christ’s presence with us, today and always, so when hard times come, we don’t rise to our expectations, but we fall back on our training.  Amen.