The Golden Rule

So in everything due to others what you would have them due to you for this
sums up the law and the prophets and this morning is we take a few moments to
look at that verse together there are three things about that verse that I
want to point out that I think are pertinent for each of our lives. Number one
the verse appears to be out of context in the flow of the passage. Let me walk
you through that a little bit. Matthew chapter 7 begins with a subject of not
judging others lest you be judged yourself. So it has to do with interpersonal
relationships and Jesus talks about removing the log out of our own eye so that we
can see clearly and then he talks about not casting our pearl before swine
and giving dogs what is holy. All of that we've looked at together in the past
and then he launches into this piece of a prayer asking it will be given you
seeking you will find knock in the door will be open to you and that is
because that kind of discernment can only be given by a relationship with God
only as we understand who God is can we exercise that kind of discernment. And so
you would think verse 12 do unto others as you would have them do unto you
logically ought to be placed earlier in the passage. Verse 12 really should come
after verse six do not give dogs what is sacred do not throw your pearls to
pigs if you do they may trample them under their feet and then turn and tear you
to pieces so in everything due to others what you would have them do to you for
this sums up the law and the prophets instead Jesus goes into this whole prayer
thing and then he talks about your father who is in heaven gives good gifts to
those who ask him and the reason the reason is that you cannot live the golden
rule unless you first have a relationship with God the Father who in Jesus
Christ has become the source of all good you see you can't extend forgiveness to
other people unless you have received forgiveness from God yourself you cannot
have enough grace to pour into the lives of other people unless you first have
received that grace from God and so Jesus adds verse 12 very deliberately at the
end of that teaching about the Father heart of God to anchor us in the reality
of the importance of our relationship with him and the key indicator for that
is that little verse so so in everything due to others which you would have
them do to you for this sums up the law and the prophets now that word so is the
Greek word un and it literally means then or therefore and it denotes the
sequence of one clause upon another and whenever in the New Testament Paul begins
a new series of thoughts with the words therefore he is always building on a
previous argument and so when he says in Romans 12 therefore by the mercies of
God present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is the conclusion that is
based on everything that is going on before and so when Jesus here says so in
everything due to others which you would have them do to you he is really saying
so then or in light of everything that I have just told you about God be in your
Father and generously looking after all of your needs in light of that I want
you to do unto others as you would have them do unto you now why is that
important it's important because almost every religion in the world has one
version or another of the golden rule in fact you will often hear people talk
about the fact that all religions are really similar because they all teach
that you're supposed to love your neighbor well loving your neighbor is only
half of the commandment the first commandment is what you love God and in the
Bible those two as we'll see a little bit later on this morning those two are
always linked because you cannot love your neighbor in the way Jesus says you
ought to love your neighbor unless you know that God loves you John and his
epistle later on puts it this way we love why because he first loved us and so
to grow in grace to grow in an ability to love your neighbor is never just a
process of trying to make up your mind to do better no it flows immediately out
of a relationship with God because when you know that you're valued by God and
that God is there to meet all of your needs that he loves you that he will
provide for you and that he'll take care of you then you've got the ability the
grace of motivation to step out and give of yourself unstintingly because you
know that you can never out give God so does it appear to be out of context yes
is it no because Jesus very deliberately ties it together and he says only when
you know God as a generous father can you even come close to living the golden
rule that's first observation I want to make on this passage second observation I
want to make then is that in this passage Jesus not only establishes the
high standard of loving your neighbor as you love yourself but he also sets the
terms for that standard listen again to how he puts it in everything due to
others what you would have them do to you for this sums up the law and the
prophets how do I know what loving my neighbor really looks like how can I really
practice love in a way that honors God well Jesus says it's really not that
complicated all you have to do is look at yourself put yourself in a similar
situation and ask yourself the question how would I want to be treated in that
situation and Jesus says that's how you interned auditory to others that
and frequently around here somebody will make a comment about sermons that they
have listened to in a service and sometimes people say it's like you are
listening in on my conversation this past week or on my way to church or sometimes
people say did somebody tattle on me we've we've had newcomers come here dragged
here by their friends and and the Lord uses the message to really speak to
them and it's so close to home and so close to their situation that sometimes
they they look at the people who brought them and they say did you tell on me
and of course the answer is no because the Holy Spirit searches the heart the
Holy Spirit knows who we are and the Holy Spirit knows what we need when we
need it the word of God is living an active sharper than a two-edged so wide at
the same time the Holy Spirit doesn't operate in a vacuum the Holy Spirit
realizes that we're all human and sometimes in teaching and preaching all I
have to do is look at my own life ask the question how do I feel in this
situation how do I respond in that situation how have I experienced God
here and by extrapolation I also know that's true for a lot of other people that
doesn't remove the mystery of the Holy Spirit because the timing of it is
always the power of the Holy Spirit the best way to answer the question how do I
treat other people is to ask myself the question how do I want to be treated
how do you want to be treated let's look a little bit more closely because
positively we all want to be what treated with respect we want to be treated
fairly and justly our opinions need to matter we want to feel that we've been
heard if we need correction we want that done with tact and gentleness we want
people to be truly interested in our welfare and if we have a struggle we want
people to come alongside us without condemnation or prejudgments we all when
we find ourselves in a pickle we'd love for people to understand the
situation that we find ourselves in and generously give of themselves without
asking anything back this past Tuesday we had a meeting of classes in
Whitby and classes in the Christian Reform Church is a neighboring group of
churches we meet together three times a year for business and encouragement and
at the classes meeting in Tuesday morning a little retired pastor by the name of
Dirk Evans who did a workshop on unfolding newcomers and making sure that
people feel at home in church and one of the stories that he told was the
story of an elderly gentleman that he knows from Brampton who had gone I think if
I remember correctly to New Orleans to be part of the rebuilding program over
there part of Christian reform world relief disaster response team and his
other team members had taken on this lady's house and rebuilt it and towards
the end as the house was just about complete the woman comes to them tears
streaming down her face she is so grateful that her house has been rebuilt and
she tells the story of how for two years she had prayed and prayed and prayed and
prayed for God to send somebody to help her get her house back in order and
nobody had come until all of a sudden this team of green shirts as they were
called showed up and they fulfilled her longing and her dream Dirk
Evans as he was telling the story in Tuesday morning said the man himself who
told him that story had had tears streaming down his face as he recollected how
meaningful that help was to that woman I'll never forget back in 1979 when our
family was traveling from Alberta to Nova Scotia to take up a charge there we had
detoured to visit my family on Prince Edward Island it was a March evening I
think around 730 at night it was drizzling it was pretty well dark we came off
the boat and hit the mother of all potholes I thought the whole car was gonna
go into that wall the hubcap when flying my tire not only got shredded but so
did my rim and so here we stand by the side of the road it's raining the trunk
is far fuller than what a trunk deserves to be which of course contributed to
my problem when a car with two guys pulls up behind us two good Samaritans one
of them goes running for my hubcap before somebody else drives over it and the
other guy gets out his jack jacks up my car digs through my trunk we we get the
wheel changed and off we go and I have never been so grateful for help in
all of my life and a lot of us can identify with that we easily drive past
people on the road that are in trouble but man alive if you've ever been in
that spot you know how grateful you are for a good Samaritan Jesus says do to
others what you want them to do to you that's the positive side
negatively there are some things we don't want people to do to us we don't
want them to miss judges we don't want them to jump to conclusions we don't
want our failures constantly thrown in our faces or our past to haunt us
forever we don't want to be discriminated against we don't want to be the
butt of jokes or the subject of malicious and vicious gossip we don't want to
be treated unfairly ignored rejected or blind and while most of us have
learned to steal ourselves in life against those kinds of comments fact of the
matter is that periodically they get through and we just get more and more
determined than to close off our hearts and make sure that we don't get hurt in
that fashion again and I know if you've ever noticed it but people are a lot
better at dishing it out than taking it back in a lot of people are very good
at criticism but criticize them and you think the whole world had come to an
end a lot of people are good at making fun of other people playing practical
jokes sometimes innocently other times maliciously you try to turn the
tables on them and you think there was never a greater injustice that had been
perpetrated in humanity Jesus says do unto others as you would have them do
under you if you don't want to be treated in that fashion don't treat them in
that fashion and conversely if you want to see what it is that other people
need from you look at your life and ask yourself the question what am I looking
for in that situation and then learn to practice it so at everything says
Jesus do to others what you would have them do to you for this sums up the law
and the prophets and that's the third thing I want us to notice not only does
that verse appear to be out of context initially not only in that verse does
Jesus describe for us the conditions of the terms by which we define what
loving your neighbor looks like but he says this is the fulfillment this is the
thrust of the law and the prophets do to others what you would have them do to
you for this sums up the law and the prophets now the law as undoubtedly you
know is that whole body of commandments that God gives to Israel in the old
testament through Moses laws that reflect God's character and God's nature
and God's desire for his people the prophets are the spokesperson that God
raises up in subsequent generations to call the people of Israel back to the
law of God because God constantly says to his people if you're going to be my
people and I'm going to be your God and you are a reflection of who I am then
here is how I want you to live and we know from the New Testament then that when
a teacher of the law comes to Jesus later on in Matthew Matthew chapter 22
and he asks him and it's a trick question he's trying to you know box him into
a corner as they're always trying to do but Jesus too smart for them he asks him
the question what is the greatest commandment Jesus then summarizes all the
commandments with two commandments and you know what they are the first love
the Lord your God with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of
your mind this is the first and the greatest commandment and the second is
like it love your neighbor as yourself all the law and the prophets hang on these
two commandments and so here we have Jesus bringing us full circle back to where
we started here in Matthew chapter 7 you cannot love your neighbor unless you
first love God and loving God ought to produce in you a desire to love your
neighbor and Jesus comes along then to his disciples and he says what I'm
teaching you here about how to relate to your neighbor this is not something
that is newfangled and different this is not anything unusual this is the
summary this is the thrust of everything that you have ever been taught in terms
of loving God above all and then loving your neighbor as yourself and so
already throughout the Old Testament there is this emphasis this emphasis on what
love for a neighbor looked like remember now this is in the context of the
Pharisees who are twisting things around Pharisees who say if you keep the
letter of the law that's all that matters forget about the spirit of the law
well already in the Old Testament we're told in that secret revenge or bear
a grudge against one of your people but love your neighbor as yourself I am the
Lord there you have that connection again I'm the Lord you're my people this is my
character you're gonna reflect my character lived the way that I want you to
live how do I want you to live well you don't seek revenge you don't bear a
grudge against one of your people but you love them even as you love yourself
Exodus 23 4 if you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off be
sure to take it back to him now in the natural what are you gonna do or you're
gonna have a good session of shundas freighter you're gonna have some joy over
the fact that your enemy's fence got broken down and here's the donkey and
you say to yourself well I was his donkey I wouldn't want to go back to him
either but Jesus says you resist the temptation you take his donkey back to him
not because he's your friend even when he's your enemy why because if you were
in a similar situation and your donkey was wanting to wander the road you'd
want that man to bring him back to you do unto others as you would have them
do unto you there's a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the
land that the Lord your God is giving to you do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted
towards your poor brother rather be open-handed and freely lend him whatever
he needs how easily we close our hearts how easily we say what's mine is mine
or what's yours is mine too if I can get it how easily we say well I worked for
this and if you were as hard-working as I am and as smart as I am then you
wouldn't be in this kind of situation and so we may help but we do it
grudgingly and stingyly and and think that's the norm of living and God says
don't be that way that's not how I am God says I'm generous I make the rain
to fall on the chest and on the unjust the sun to shine on the good and on the
evil you then be children of your father who is in heaven be open-handed and
freely lend whatever he needs proverb 3417 do not gloat when your enemy falls
when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice I'll tell you something you know
the test of forgiveness is the test of forgiveness is not how religiously
pious you feel when you say well I forgive you and let bygones be bygones and
let life go on the real test of forgiveness is number one how you respond when
that person falls in trouble and there isn't an ounce of joy of shundice
for you to in you because he's got his come up and you grieve with him even
if he is your enemy and not only that but one thing's go well with him you
rejoice and are glad you know I think that through and I try to apply that to
my life and to my relationships and I I know that I need Jesus a whole lot
because frankly that don't come natural to the human heart you know maybe
you're a lot better than I am but I'm just telling you the way that it is in
here I need Jesus to live that way but already Old Testament you know it's
not that the New Testament is some newfangled standard that isn't present in
the Old Testament no no Jesus says that's always been the way God intended yet
and then of course for the mother of all Proverbs Proverbs 25-21 if your enemy
is hungry give him food to eat if he is thirsty give him water to drink do
unto others as you would have them do unto you that's the test of our spiritual
maturity this way of life is non-possible short of our relationship with God
through faith in Jesus where we are so confident that God will give us
everything that we need so we can afford to walk in obedience before his face
and pour out our lives in this fashion for other people the tendency of course
is to become like the Pharisees the tendency is to say well I'll observe the
letter of the law but forget this spirit as long as I don't actually kill you
then I have not broken the commandment if I don't sleep with my neighbor's
wife I haven't committed adultery and Jesus goes back full circle to the
Phariseical misinterpretations of the commandments and he says listen it's not
about the letter of the law it's not about hiding yourself behind just trying to
do it right and feeling righteous about it now it's the spirit that counts and
the spirit is always summed up number one do you love God above all and number
two do you love your neighbor as you love yourself let me end this morning with
a story that you've heard me share before but it's a powerful example of what
this looks like in the real world it's a story of two brothers who lived on a
joining farms they fell into conflict it was the first serious rift in 40
years of farming side by side sharing machinery and trading labors and goods is
needed without a hitch then one day the long collaboration fell apart it grew
to a major difference and finally exploded into an exchange of bitter words
followed by weeks of silence one morning there was an awk on John's door he
opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox I'm looking for a few days
work he said perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there could I help
you yes said John in fact I do have a job for you look across the creek at that
farm that's my neighbor in fact it's my younger brother last week there was a
meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levy and now there is a
creek between us well he may have done this despite me but I'll go him one
better see that pile of lumber curing by the barn I want you to build me a fence
and eight foot fence so I won't need to see his place anymore that should
cool him down the carpenter said I think I understand the situation show me the
nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you now
John the older brother had to go to town for supply so we helped the carpenter
get the materials ready and then he was off for the day the carpenter worked hard
all that day measuring sawing nailing and about sunset when the farmer returned
the carpenter had just finished his job the farmer's eyes opened wide his jaw
dropped there was no fence there at all in fact it was a bridge a bridge
stretching from one side of the creek to the other
looking up in the neighbor his younger brother was coming across the bridge his
hand outstretched he said you're quite the fellow to build his bridge after
all I said and done and the two brothers stood at each end of the bridge and
then they met in the middle taking each other's hand and they turned to see the
carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder no wait stay a few days I've got
other projects for you so John I'd love to stay said the carpenter but I have
many more bridges to build in everything you do to the others like you would
have them do for you for this sums up the law and the prophets
so let me be as right to you right up my head the grace to let you be my
serenity we are brothers of the world we are here to help each other walk the
wild and the day I will hold the Christ night for you in the night I love for you
I will hold my head out to you speak that each and all to you
I will be when you are with me when you laugh all out with you I wish and your
joy and sorrows till we've seen this journey true when we say to God in heaven we
shall find such our money boy of all we've known together of Christ love and
agony so let me be your servant let me be as right to you
pray that on my behalf the grace to let you be my serenity