JACOB DETRICH:
Welcome
everyone! It looks like all ten of us
are here for our weekly Methodist class meeting. I hope you can stay after our meeting for a
delicious meal. You know what they
say. When Methodists meet, they eat!
DETRICH:
This
is a very special day for Methodists here in New Lancaster. We are now an official Methodist Episcopal
Church! For the past thirteen years we’ve
been meeting weekly as a Methodist class here at Ed Teal’s cabin. He moved
from Baltimore, Maryland all the way out here to New Lancaster back in 1799. If it
wasn’t for good ol’ Ed, maybe we wouldn’t have had these Methodist meetings all these years. Oh, and here’s a little word to the wise. Even though we still can’t find those soft
shell crabs here in the Ohio country, there is plenty to eat if you are a good
hunter. OK. Let’s offer up three cheers for Ed Teal.
DETRICH:
We
all know that our Methodist class meetings wouldn’t be growing
without Ed, but we also need to give some credit to last fall’s earthquake.
(Other group
members start chuckling.)
Isn’t that right, George? Of all people,
you should know.
GEORGE CANODE:
Aw
shucks, Jacob, why do you always look at me when you talk about that dern
earthquake?
DETRICH:
Because
before that dern earthquake, I did everything I could think of to get you at just
one of these Methodist class meetings. I
bribed you, I promise you good food.
Remember, when Methodists meet . . .
DETRICH:
George,
I not only bribed you and promised you good food, I even offered to swing by on
my horse to pick you up. But none of
that worked. It wasn’t until that dern
earthquake that you finally got scared into religion. That’s why you started
going to hear the Methodist Reverend who loves to preach out in the open here
in New Lancaster. You and hundreds of
others have come to Christ because of those earthquake tremors. And now here you are attending a Methodist
class meeting every week and growing as a Christian.
SARAH REBER:
Well,
it wasn’t no earthquake that brought Peter and me to these meetings,
Jacob. When Ed Teal told us about that
Barbara Heck lady over there in New York back in the 1760s and how she got so
fed up with her family and friends gambling their money away playing cards and then
got them to start having Methodist class meetings instead, why, that inspired
me to want to do the same thing here in New Lancaster! That’s why you don’t see no cards in our log
cabin, right Pete?
(Peter
Reber offers an unconvincing nod of approval and looks the other way hoping
that the conversation topic changes quickly.)
DETRICH:
I’m
glad you mentioned Barbara Heck, Sarah.
She must have been some kind of woman to help get those Methodist
classes get started here in America. In
many ways, it’s the women who have led the way in helping Methodism to grow in
England and all the way over here in America.
And let’s not forget Susannah Wesley, John and Charles’ mother who
started gathering people in her own home for bible study and worship back in
England. They say that so many people
came that it filled their house every Sunday evenin’!
Mary Canode:
Well,
just look at our group of ten here. We
have five men and five women. How can
religion make a difference if it’s just the women or if it’s only the men? We all need to take responsibility for our
faith and to help each other move on to perfection.
DETRICH:
Great point, Mary! And you mentioned that Methodist word,
“perfection.” The kind of perfection
where we are in total love with God and our neighbor. That reminds me. We aren’t here to reminisce about the past.
We’re here to have our Methodist class meeting.
Every week, we meet so that we can share how we’re living out our
Christian faith. We’re here to help each
other. To encourage each other. To pray for each other. And to share how we’re doing with those
General Rules that John Wesley encouraged us to use. What are those General Rules again?
Do no harm. Do good. And stay in love with God.
DETRICH:
(With a little good natured sarcasm.) After only
meeting every single week for the past thirteen years, you already know these three
General Rules by heart. I’m impressed!
Thomas Orr’s Wife:
Well,
honestly, Jacob. These are easy to
remember. And real simple too. Hey, maybe we should just call these the
three simple rules instead. The Reverend
might even want to preach a three week sermon series on these sometime!
George Canode:
I
think we need a fourth simple rule.
DETRICH:
What
would that be, George?
George Canode:
Watch
out for earthquakes! Cause me is real scared of them earthquakes! I swear I can still feel those tremors!
DETRICH:
I
think we’ll just stick with these three simple rules, George. Ok, who would like to start? How about the Weavers’? Share how you have done no harm this past
week. That’s the first simple rule.
Elizabeth Weaver:
Well,
Christian and I were in a conversation with another couple here in town and
they were badmouthing another couple that we know. I mean, they were going on and on with gossip
and slander.
DETRICH:
What
did you do, Elizabeth? That must have
been an awkward situation for you both.
Elizabeth Weaver:
Well,
to be honest, we don’t like the couple they were talking about too much either
and we were tempted to just join in and offer some very unkind words as
well. But then I remembered that
scripture in Galatians that says, “For the whole law is summed up in a single
commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” When I remembered that verse, I just knew
that we shouldn’t join in the gossip.
DETRICH:
Very
good Elizabeth. Who knows, maybe by not joining
in their gossip, they saw something different in you and Christian. Maybe they’ll think twice the next time. OK, does anyone want to share about something
good that you did this past week that brought honor to God and where you made a
positive difference? That’s the second simple rule. Do good.
Who would like to share?
Thomas Orr:
Well,
I’ll be happy to share, Jacob. We have a
new family that just moved into the area from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They
just keep coming and coming from that direction. That’s a long way to travel in some beat up
wagons, you know.
This
family is real nice, but they don’t have much of anything. So, I told them that I would help build their
house for them. They couldn’t believe
that I was willing to do that in my spare time.
But I told them how some of my friends had helped my wife and me out
when we moved into the area and that we just wanted to offer them the same
hospitality. They even said they would
make us some shoo fly ply to show their appreciation. I just love those Pennsylvania Dutch people! I think it was that verse from I John we
talked about a while back that reminded me that I should help these folks
out. Here’s the verse. I even memorized it. “Beloved, since God
loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.”
DETRICH:
Wonderful,
Thomas. Thanks for sharing. Well, we’ve shared about the first two simple
rules of doing no harm and doing good.
The third simple rule is staying in love with God. As we all know, staying in love with God
involves a lot of different things like prayer, bible reading, attending these
class meetings, worship, and receiving the Lord’s Supper any chance we get. I hope you’re all doing these things. But I have a surprise for you! Our circuit rider preacher, Rev. James B.
Finley came to Lancaster to help us celebrate the founding day of our being an
official Methodist Episcopal Church.
(Rev. James B. Finley Enters the Room)
DETRICH:
Welcome
Rev. Finley! What a joy it is for us
that you’ve traveled here to be at our class meeting today. We’ve just been discussing the three General
Rules like you’ve been encouraging us to do and maybe you can share some
thoughts about the third rule and how we can stay in love with God.
REV. FINLEY:
Hello again to my new
friends! I’m glad that Jacob invited me
today but you know I’ve not been to the New Lancaster Methodist Class meeting
enough to remember all of your names and faces.
I am meeting so many new people as I travel this new Fairfield Circuit
and other new Methodist Class Meetings….but I do remember Jacob and his wife
but help me out this morning so I can connect names with faces….…who are the:
Rebers
Orrs
Weavers
Canodes
Thanks for coming to the
Class meeting today.
What I love about the Class
Meetings is how they provide an opportunity to keep learning about our
Christian faith and life. The Class
meetings help keep us accountable for the way we live our lives. You’ve probably figured this out already but
to believe is one level of faith but
to do is quite another level of
faith. The class meetings are to help us
be aware of our life and then to share with each other how we do our faith each day.
John Wesley taught us a set
of General Rules that help us do our faith each day. You know about these General Rules: (1) DO
NO HARM, (2) DO GOOD, AND (3) STAY IN LOVE WITH GOD.
These are wonderful rules.
They are rules that anyone of you can follow.
They are not hard BUT they require your practice every day.
Men, do own a horse? How old were you when you first rode a horse? Did you ride your horse well the first time
you mounted. Do you ride your horse well
now? Why do you think you ride well now?
Ladies, do you bake
pies? Do you remember the first pie you
ever baked? Was your first pie a
success? Are your pies baked better now
compared to your first pie? Why do you
think you bake better pies now?
Practice…..that is the
important word. Practice is how you
learned to ride a horse and practice is how you learned to bake pies. Practice is also important if you want to
follow the teachings of Jesus. Just
because you believe in Jesus does not mean you will live like Jesus. Believing and doing are two steps in Christian
living. Every day you must practice
Christian living.
How can you practice
Christian Living? The General Rules!
DO
NO HARM
DO
GOOD
STAY
IN LOVE WITH GOD
Actually to STAY IN LOVE WITH
GOD helps you DO NO HARM and DO GOOD.
To STAY IN LOVE WITH GOD
means you will discipline your life to always be aware of God. You will:
FIRST…PLAN TIME TO PRAY EACH
DAY...maybe at the beginning of the day as you thank God for the restful sleep with
new energy for the daily work and then pray again at the end of the day as you
thank God for the opportunities you had to witness to others about God.
A SECOND DISCIPLINE….READ AND
STUDY THE SCRIPTURE EACH DAY….Did you have some kind of map to guide your
journey to New Lancaster? Sure, you
did! Well the Bible is your map to Godly
living. Read it and learn from it. Discuss it with others and share your
thoughts about God.
A THIRD DISCIPLINE….WORSHIP EVERY CHANCE YOU HAVE…..Every
time I come to visit you as I travel the Fairfield Circuit I want to see your
faces in worship. When I am not able to
be here I want you to worship with Jacob, your Class Leader. Worship keeps our faith alive. Men, you can’t ride your horse forever can
you? Of course now, you need to stop so
the horse can rest and eat. It is the
same with your spiritual life. You must
stop to rest and eat the spiritual food of God’s teachings at least once a
week.
A FOURTH DISCIPLINE….HONOR
THE LORD’S SUPPER…Do you remember the first disciples? After Jesus’ death and resurrection they
remembered his encouragement to break bread and drink the cup AND REMEMBER
HIM. The Lord’s Supper is the sacred
moment that you remember Jesus.
Well, these are a few of the
ways you can STAY IN LOVE WITH GOD. I
hope you are serious enough about Jesus to continue to practice your Christian
faith every day.
Think about this. Here we are in New Lancaster in the month of
May in 1812. You, and other Methodist
Class Meetings on this frontier, as well as those back on the East Coast, are
starting something important for the spiritual growth of America. Think about
100 years from now in New Lancaster in 1912 and realize that you are starting
something now that will influence them
Think about 200 years from now and some Sunday in May and what the
Methodist people will be doing in New Lancaster in 2012. Can you even think that far into the
future? You are forming a spiritual
future to carry the Word of God and the Spirit of Jesus to others.
My friends, the General Rules
are Mighty Rules and I hope you practice them every day you live.
I have been looking at the
table in the corner that is covered with good food to eat. Jacob has taught you well. Whenever
Methodists meet…
EVERYONE:
…We eat!
Rev. Finley:
But there is something else
that Methodist do well when they meet……WE SING.
Thanks to the hymns of Charles Wesley, John’s brother, we have many hymns that remind us of the powerful love of God and Jesus, our Christ. I sing these hymns as I ride along the circuit. One of my favorites is “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” Just think what it might be like if we had a thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemer’s praise. Who knows, someday there might be a thousand tongues in New Lancaster to sing of God’s praise. Before we go over to the table to eat, let’s stand and sing this wonderful hymn together…..and let’s raise the roof of this little cabin.
(Rev.
Finley and the Methodist class start singing and invite our congregation so
sing, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”)
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