Three Simple Rules: Week 1

Introduction

Good evening, my name is Tim Sisk and I am blessed to be the pastor of Booneville First United Methodist Church. Thank you for joining me for this time of mid-week encouragement.

Tonight, I want to start something different and it requires some explanation from me, so I hope you will bear with me and hear me out. When I made the decision to start video recording what I have been calling “Online Vespers” for broadcast on Wednesday nights, I was torn by the desire to do something while also being unsure of what to do. And because of this, I have not been completely happy with what I’ve been giving you regarding what I’ve called Online Vespers.

First of all, the name: vespers. I chose this name because of something I saw another United Methodist pastor, Adam Hamilton, was doing who offers a Tuesday devotional on Facebook that he calls “Vespers”. My idea was to do something along the lines of what I saw him doing. Sometimes, he previewed an upcoming sermon which is what I have done at times. Other times, he had kind of a stand-alone devotion. That too, I have imitated. And yet, I’ve not seen a lot from his videos (and therefore mine) that I would describe as “vespers” which would be a service of evening prayer.

So I haven’t been altogether happy with calling what I’m offering on Wednesday night “vespers”.

Secondly, I have often called what I have been doing a “mid-week pick me up”, some kind of devotional thought to bridge you between worship on Sundays. Now, this is probably more accurately describes what I am doing with these messages.

Thirdly, I promised months ago to start doing something that I called Wednesdays with Wesley, but I have not fulfilled that promise.

So beginning today, I want to fulfill that promise and post a series of devotions or “talks” utilizing teaching material on John Wesley. There are four books that I plan to cover. The four books are Three Simple Rules, Five Marks of a Methodist, Five Means of Grace, and Our Faithful Promise.

When this series is completed then we will have a library for viewing on our website for you to consult if you ever need a reference point for Methodist teaching. Tonight we will begin with Three Simple Rules.

“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 forever!” Wesley, John. The Character of a Methodist. Unknown. Kindle Edition.

Simple But Not Easy

The quote by John Wesley that I shared with you from “The Character of the Methodist” is how Bishop Rueben P. Job opens the book and will serve as our guiding quote throughout these Wednesdays with Wesley.

So, let’s begin looking at Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living.

What if I told you that there were three simple rules that could not only summarize the last two sermon series that I preached, “Soul Activity” and “Us vs. Them” but also has the power to change the world? When we adopt these simple rules as a way of living, we will find our lives and our world transformed.

I believe many of us want to change the world. Now, I’m not accusing any of you of having grandiose schemes for taking over the world but I do believe there is present among you (and me) a desire for the world to be changed. But we feel powerless to do so. And as we suffer from angst and anxiety about the state of the world, we think the solutions are so complex that we cannot possibly be a part of the solution. If I may, however, invite you to return back to the basics. In truth, what do we have the ability to control? A few weeks ago, I sent a text message to our church asking “what have you heard in your quiet time this week?” And one of the responses that I received was that God was telling the person to focus on what they control which is simply their response to difficult situations. I like to call that “staying in your lane” that is focusing on me, not you.

In that spirit (pun intended) let’s talk about three simple rules that we can apply to our lives that will allow us to change the world while we “stay in our lane”.

Can life really be that simple? Yes! Don’t believe me? Try it and see! But note when I say that life can be that simple, I don’t mean that it is easy. After all, when we say the one thing we can control is ourselves, think about how hard it is to exercise self-control. So while life can be that simple, I don’t mean that it is easy. How we should live our lives, the rules that we should live by can be simply expressed. And note, these rules, not only are they simple, but more importantly, they are Biblical.

Simplicity for a Confusing World

I believe we are living in an ever-increasingly confusing world where all the rules are changing. Definitions have become meaningless. What is moral and right is being challenged and confused. Therefore, we are even more in need of these three rules because they are so right, so helpful, and so timely, that they will work in any generation and age and across any culture. And they can be applied to every situation to every situation that we face. There is an elegance to their simplicity, yet there is a rightness to their application.

These rules are rooted in Mark 12:30-31:

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)

30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Here we have the foundation and instruction for the faithful and good life in every age. It is both a simple and profound statement. It is easy to comprehend and challenging to attempt. And it remains a guide to the highest form of faithfulness and continues to hold the promise of a way of life that is both rewarding and fruitful in furthering God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Job, Rueben P.. Three Simple Rules (Kindle Locations 62-65). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

Three Simple Rules a Foundation for Living

John Wesley took this way of living as a blueprint, taught it, and practiced it, and passed it on to us. And what are these three simple rules?

Do no harm

Do good

Stay in love with God

Thank you for joining me, join me in prayer.