Do No Harm

Do No Harm
John Wesley was an Anglican priest in England, who took a hard look at the denomination that he faithfully served and said, “Something’s wrong…something’s missing.” He was so distraught over the lack of commitment & passion & discipline that he saw among Christians and members of the Anglican church that he said that something had to be done. He was set to revive the Anglican Church…So; he started what he called “holiness clubs.” These holiness clubs were covenant groups—they were meant for the members to deepen their faith commitment, be held accountable, and ultimately revive the church. The holiness clubs got a reputation around England…the people in them seemed to follow such rigid rules and do things just so…they had such a method about them, so the holiness clubs earned the nickname, “Methodists”…It was meant to be a derogatory term that referred to the methodical way that the holiness club members went about everything….Their rigid rules, their practice of faith, their daily prayer…They had a method for everything! Now, you might think… Why would anyone want to be a part of something that was seen so negatively and so rigid? It must have been impossible to follow all of the rules and to be nearly perfect for these clubs! Well, the truth is that it wasn’t easy…but practicing faith isn’t something that is easy—it takes dedication, discipline, believe, trust…And the rigid rules? Well, they really boil down to 3…What are being called now as the 3 simple rules. Do No Harm, Do Good, Stay in love with God. Over the next 3 weeks, we’ll be diving into these 3 simple rules and seeing how they continue to affect our lives and how they deepen our practice of faith. As we do that, we’ll also be thinking through the saying, “Live simply so that others may simply live.” I’m convinced that these 3 simple rules and this phrase go hand in hand with one another although they were spoken by different people years apart…What does it mean to live simply so that others may simply live? What does it mean to do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God? Over the next weeks, we’ll wrestle with those things together. At times the journey may be uncomfortable as we examine our lives together…That’s okay—they aren’t easy questions, but they are important questions. This morning we begin with the first rule…Do no harm.
Now, I have to admit that when I started looking at these General Rules a few years ago, I thought that Wesley made things too easy…I couldn’t believe that people thought these were strict or hard! It made the picture I had of John Wesley being an authoritarian kind of figure seem like a marshmallow…These rules weren’t difficult! I mean the first one sets it up…First, do no harm. That just plain makes sense doesn’t it? Who willingly goes out to harm other people? I mean seriously! So, I first thought, “Sweet! Check and mate! I got that one down cold!” Then, in devotional reading…I turned to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount…Which is probably the best sermon I have ever come across…and the most uncomfortable sermon I have ever come across…
Now in Jesus’ sermon, he announces that he has not come to abolish the law like some have accused him of, but he is there to fulfill the law…Nothing of the law of Moses goes away…In our passage from this morning, Jesus starts to talk about those laws…Now he starts with some of the laws that most people don’t have a hard time keeping…Of course there are exceptions…But if I took a poll this morning of how many people had committed murder or adultery, probably not a lot of hands would go up…It just makes sense—we know that those are 2 things that are wrong and we just don’t do them…So Jesus starts out with the first being, “You’ve heard it said do not murder.” And just like the first rule, “Do no harm.” I thought—“Sweet! No issue there!” But then Jesus goes further… “But I say to you…if you are angry with someone…if you insult someone…if you have a grudge against someone…you will be liable to the same judgment as murderers.” Ouch…It’s one of those times when I just say, “Oh Jesus…you were doing so good! Everything was so easy…and then!” But Jesus isn’t finished because he goes on to say, “You’ve heard it said that you shall not commit adultery.” Which again, sounds really easy right…Until Jesus keeps going… “But I tell you if you even look at someone with lust, you’ve already committed it.” Oh…Following the rules was supposed to be easy, isn’t it? Jesus didn’t abolish any law…he made it harder...Do no harm takes on a whole new meaning in light of Jesus’ teaching here…
What Jesus does is take 2 circumstances that a majority of people haven’t done before…a majority of people haven’t committed murder or adultery…So, most people are probably feeling pretty good about themselves that they are following the law and doing what they’re supposed to be doing…And then Jesus makes that twist that convicts everyone…Because who hasn’t been angry with someone? Or who hasn’t looked at someone attractive and thought, “Wow…” Jesus takes 2 laws that most people haven’t broken and puts them in context of things that pretty much everybody has done…First….Do no harm…
Maybe you’re starting to feel hopeless…Like how can you do anything right? Well, that’s kind of Jesus’ point…No one can do everything perfectly—everyone is going to sin and fall short as Paul writes…You’re going to be angry, you’re going to insult someone, you’re going to look at people…So, do you give up then and there and say, “Gosh it’s impossible so why even try?” Or do you say, “Only by the grace of God can this be possible.”
Do no harm…It seems so simple…It seems so easy…And yet…it’s really not…Do no harm…Not many people willingly go out and say that they’re going to inflict pain on another person…Not many people think that it’s a good feeling to hurt another’s feelings…Not many people sit around and think “how can I be destructive today?” But how many people do it?
When was the last time you physically hit someone? Do no harm…When was the last time you gossiped? Do no harm…When was the last time you called someone else a bad name? Do no harm… When was the last time that you thought something negative about another person? Do no harm…
Last weekend, Linda Floyd & Karen Lanehart & I and about 1,000 other people were at Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio for a conference. This conference was full of dynamic speakers and amazing ideas and challenging thoughts…One of which was “Live simply so others may simply live.” Now, when it was first said, I thought “Yes! Absolutely!” Now in the economy that we are experiencing right now, this just makes a whole lot of practical sense. Not many people are spending money on the extra things…Out of necessity people are living more simply, right? Well, that’s true…But what does it really mean to live simply so that others may simply live? The next few weeks, I have encouraged you to wear your blue jeans to worship. I was talking with a friend of mine about that and he said to me… “Oh, Melissa—I can’t believe that you’re encouraging people to take worship so un-seriously…Don’t you know that you have to come to God in your best? That’s why it’s called your Sunday best, you know?” and I thought about it for a few minutes and I thought…You know you’re right—God shouldn’t get our second best…But what does that mean? As he continued his argument, I started to think about the clothes that I was wearing…Now, I don’t shop for designer labels or for the most expensive clothes…But when I calculated the cost of what it took me to go out of the house that day—clothes, make-up, jewelry, showering, shoes…I calculated that it took about $140 for me to walk out the door…Think about what you’re wearing this morning…How much did it cost you to walk out the door to come to worship this morning? If it takes that amount for you to walk out the door to come to worship on Sunday morning, what does that mean for a single mother of three who is working 3 jobs just so she can feed her children? Does she have the luxury of spending $140 just to worship God? Or the man who can barely afford his prescriptions because Medicare won’t pay for everything and he’s lost his 401K…Does he have the luxury of spending $140 just to worship God? What does it mean to do no harm? What does it mean to live simply so that others may simply live?!? When I got dressed for worship this morning, I had 15 pairs of shoes to choose from…10 pairs of jeans…I had hot water to take a shower…I had 2 towels to choose from…If you have more than one pair of shoes or more than one set of clothing to choose from…We are automatically in the top 15% of the richest people in the world…The United Methodist Committee on Relief has a program by which they feed a family of five for $40 for a month…That $140 that it took me to walk out of the house would have fed 3 ½ families for a month…How many families would you have fed this morning? Do no harm…30,000 children die every day from hunger related situations…every 5-7 seconds a child dies from hunger…What does it mean to do no harm? What does it mean to live simply so that others may simply live?
One of my favorite movies is Hotel Rwanda…It’s the story of Paul Russebagina who was a hotel manager in the 90’s when the genocide was happening in Rwanda, Africa. As the murderous rampage was happening on the streets, Paul Russebagina managed to keep over 1,000 people alive during this terrible time. As the genocide is happening in the streets, a reporter from the United States catches a murder on film…As he and his editor are editing the clip to send back for the news in the States, Paul walks in on them…They immediately turn off the TV to talk with Paul…Later that evening the cameraman finds Paul and apologizes for what he just saw…Paul tells him not to apologize because surely people will see what is happening in Rwanda and they can’t do anything but help. The cameraman looks down for a moment and says, “I think people will see that and think, that’s horrible and then go back to eating their dinner.” Do no harm…
Not as easy as it once sounds…And just like hearing Jesus tell the law, we can think… “Gosh, why should I even try?” Or we can think, “Only by the grace of God is this possible!” Because it’s not easy…but practicing our faith was never meant to be easy…We don’t just say yes to Jesus and that’s all…When we say yes to Jesus and accept Jesus as our Lord, we make him the Lord over all of our life and not just the parts we want to give him…Accepting Jesus as Lord means that we try to do no harm…And for those times when we fail and we fall short…well, there is grace and there is forgiveness…And in that forgiveness is a promise that we will try to never do it again…Jesus never said that it would be easy to follow him…He said over and over that it was a difficult path—but it is worth it…Even the disciples from time to time fell short…But Jesus didn’t kick them out or tell them that they should find him when they become perfect and do everything like he said...He told them to keep trying and to keep working toward the goal…
John Wesley didn’t establish these rules because he wanted to show how good he was or to find the unfaithful people to kick them out of the church…Although simple, they’re hard…Which means that we have to rely that much more on God…That we have to depend that much more on God’s grace…That as we work and try hard to do no harm, that God will still be with us when we fall short…Which doesn’t give us an easy out to say that God will forgive us anyway…but it gives us comfort in knowing that God will still be with us even when we break God’s heart…But that we are striving for perfection…just as God is perfect…And that we are being perfected by God in love…And because of God’s love and grace, we will follow what God has taught us…First, do no harm.