We live in an increasingly complicated, fast-paced, and frenzied world. Technology brings the world to us and makes us available 24/7 – cell phones, text messages, e-mails – which is generally a good thing. But this is not always in our soul’s best interest. By being available 24/7, we’re always “on.” As a consequence, we can feel “trapped” into becoming something we don’t really wish to be. And we can get pulled in so many directions that we lose touch with any core sense of meaning and direction in life. Is there a way, we wonder, to cut through the complexities and turbulence of our modern lives and put our feet on some bedrock?

As United Methodists, we have a life-enhancing treasure from our Wesleyan heritage: 3 simple rules that have dramatically changed the world and which, when applied to our lives, can dramatically change us. These 3 simple rules are ... 1) Do no harm, 2) Do good, and 3) Stay in love with God.

SUMMARY AND QUESTIONS
Sermon #3: Do No Harm

  1. Describe some examples of when you tried to “do no harm” recently. What was the situation? What happened?
  2. Summarize your understanding of what the Methodist understanding of the goal, the purpose, or destination of salvation is. When we reach the destination to which salvation takes us, where are we?
  3. Bob says, “From our Methodist heritage comes a word that describes this destination. That word is p______________.” What does this word mean to a Methodist? (Think teleios!)
  4. Listed below are several verses where the word teleios appears. Together they show that the concept of “perfection” is spread throughout the New Testament. The word teleios is translated usually as “mature,” “complete,” or “perfect.” (The King James usually sticks with ‘perfect,’ so I’ve thrown in some KJV verses!) Pick 3-4 of these verses to look up and discuss what the underlined word means in context.
    1. Matt. 5:48 – “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (NRSV)
    2. Matt. 19:21 – Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (NRSV)
    3. 1 Cor. 2:6 – “Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.”
    4. Eph. 4:13 – “...until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (NRSV)
    5. Philip. 3:12, 15 – “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (NIV) “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” (KJV)
    6.  Col. 1:28, 4:12 – “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” (NIV) “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (KJV)
    7. Heb. 5:14 – “But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” (NRSV)
    8. James 1:4, 3:2 – “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (KJV) “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” (NIV)
    9.  1 John 4:12, 17-18 – “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (NRSV) “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” (NRSV)
    10.  2 Cor. 13:9 – “For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect.” (NRSV)
  5. Discuss what Jesus meant when He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37) and relate that to the Methodist understanding of perfection (teleios).
  6. What do the 3 simple rules have to do with perfection (teleios)?
  7. Discuss Wesley’s idea that Matthew 5:48 can be understood as BOTH command and promise.
  8. What types of people, or in what situations, is it most difficult for you to “do good?”
  9. Who do you know that “just oozes good?”
  10. Do you ever worry that your act of “doing good” may be misused or taken advantage of? Does this ever hold you back from doing good?
  11. Bob says one of the reasons we struggle with “doing good” is the “good” is not always obvious. Which is the “good” thing to do in these situations...
  12. You are driving down the road and see two neighboring houses on fire. One is yours and the other belongs to a new couple who just moved in. Your spouse and child are at home as are your neighbors. You can only save one house. Which one do you save?
    1. You run an orphanage and have had a hard time making ends meet. A car dealership offers you a new van worth $15,000 for free if you will falsely report to the government that the dealership donated a van worth $30,000. You really need the van and it will give you an opportunity to make the children happy. Is it good to take the van?
    2. You are shopping and notice a woman stuffing a pair of stockings into her purse. Is it good to report her?
    3. You can only rescue one of each of the following. Which one would it be doing good to save?
      1. A child or an adult
      2. A stranger or your dog
      3. Hitler or Lassie
      4. Your spouse or a Nobel Laureate
      5. Your entire family or the entire canine species
      6. A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother who just gave you one of his kidneys

Follow my experiment of living the 3 simple rules in July. Read my blog at brobob53.wordpress.com!