The Golden Rule

Intro

If you were to wonder what the point of the Bible is, what would you say? In today’s text, Jesus makes a statement and then says “This is the law and the prophets.” In other words, this saying we are going to look at today, Jesus says is the very thrust of the entire Old Testament.

Many preachers would tell you the Bible is a book full of moral principles to guide you to a successful life.

When I was in my very first church position in north Georgia, we had an active children’s ministry that was called “FX” based on Andy Stanley’s church’s 252 Kids program. They would do skits, have music, a little Bible lesson. It was top notch programming. Every month it would focus on a different virtue and present it to the kids from different Bible stories. The problem was that it elevated morals over the gospel. It made the Bible into a moral code to follow while almost never hitting on the gospel truth that Jesus died for our sins.

Their most recent skit tells the story about Lydia in Acts 16 . It emphasized the fact that Lydia made purple dye and opened her home to the apostle. It rips the story completely out of context to try and teach that God gives people certain gifts and we should use those gifts. “Anyone can use their gifts to make a difference” The point of Acts 16 is not that we can use our gifts to make a difference. The conversion of Lydia fits in with the other conversion stories in that chapter showing the fruitfulness of listening to the Spirit’s guidance.

And yet, the normal way people handle the biblical text is to put it through a pulverizer and discover some moral principle that the author probably did not intend and then focus on it. As we practice our interpretation of the Bible together, I want you to see that the biblical authors are doing things on purpose with how they word things. They are created a particular meaning that we ought to focus on. If we fail to focus on what the author intended, we miss the meaning of the text.

This is the type of teaching that tells you that the point of David and Goliath is how we can face problems. The point of Gideon testing God is that we should put out a fleece and test him too. The point of Moses’s early life is that you know no matter your background you could be successful too. The point of Nehemiah is to build up family and community. So much preaching is pulverizing the text to pull out a silly principle that was never in the mind of the author. We squeeze the text and the juice is clearly there, but we ignore it for a spoonful of principle pulp. Believers cannot survive on principle mush alone, but it’s peddled this way all the time.

Moralism has infected a large number of churches. In such a church the burden is on the preacher to search his congregation for needs they may have. Once he discovers the need, he wrings out his Bible for any morsels on that topic he can find. He take a verse here and rip away from its context kicking and screaming. Then another there. As one church growth strategist recommended, “Every church should do a marriage series, a money series and a series on life purpose every year. Christians need it, and I’m guessing unchurched people do too.” And what, may I ask, are these “series” going to look like? “Here are some principles I pulled out of the Bible so you can have a successful marriage and lots of money. . .” Many preachers present life like it’s a terrible storm. Your’e in the middle of a raging sea without an anchor. But fortunately you have a harpoon gun. And the preacher sends out principles from the text like blocks of ice in the sea. You’re being tossed around, but you shoot out your harpoon gun to anchor yourself. Until the iceberg melts. The principle pulp method of preaching has its treasure on earth, not in heaven, so there’s no solid ground to stand on.

Many churches have traded gospel gems for sociological and psychological dribble. And let me say that many of you for many years have been spiritually starved on principle pulp. The gospel message is that we have a desperate problem of sin and a desperate need for God. The gospel message is not something that we get when we’re saved then move on, it something that we depend on. What we live for. What we navigate every area of life through.

So we are looking at today the supreme principle in the sermon on the mount. One that would be easy for a preacher to say, “we should be kind to each other” and give some fun stories about being nicer. And though kindness certainly is implied here, I believer that Jesus intends something much deeper.

I want to submit to you today that the golden rule is not just a beautiful moral principle, but a declaration of war.

The battle lines were already drawn when Jesus said Matthew 5:20 “20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

He declared the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees to be of poor quality. And throughout the sermon, the reason for that becomes clear. They use the law and the prophets to manipulate people to get what they want. But Jesus says, that is not the point of the law and the prophets.

Matt. 7:12 “Therefore, all things whatsoever you would wish that people should do for you, so also you must do for them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

This verse forms the conclusion of the body of the sermon. The body of the Sermon on the mount is framed by the phrase, “law and prophets.” Matthew 5:17 “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

The golden rule begins with the word “so” or “therefore.” And this is a “big” therefore. This “therefore” refers to the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, “In light of my entire sermon. . .”

What is Jesus after throughout sermon on mount? We’ve mentioned this time and time again. Jesus is not just after the right behavior, but also the right motivation. And like I mentioned before, so many principle sermons are so focused on behavior that they completely miss the heart.

Prodigal son

Problem: people have twisted the spirit and intention of the Scripture; making it about behavior rather than our hearts

“Therefore, everything, whatsoever you will that people should do for you, so in this manner you must do for them”

This is not a mere “treat people how you want to be treated.”

Solution: Christ is an embodiment of the self-sacrificial spirit the Scripture intends to produce

Application: Look inside, Look outside, sacrifice selfish will

Humanity's bent has been to subject others’ wills to do their own bidding

Much of what is done in our culture in terms of preaching is wrong. My

Introspect

What is Jesus after throughout sermon on mount? We’ve mentioned this time and time again. Jesus is not just after the right behavior, but also the right motivation.

The command is a call for introspection

Jesus says, “whatever you would wish” or “desire” or “will” others to do for you. This should cause us immediately to pause in light of the entire Sermon on the Mount. What do we wish for others to do for us? What would we will for others to do for us? Would we want them to applaud us for our piety?

The pharisees used the law to excuse looking at a woman with lust. They used the law as a tool to get even with an enemy. They used the law to cheat others and get what they wanted. They used the law as an excuse to hate certain groups of people. They used the law to manipulate God and make themselves appear holy.

What do you want other people to do for you? Do you want to subject them to your own will? Are you going to exert yourself over others to maintain your comfort, power, or fame? If this is the case, no amount of pretty principles will dig you out of this hole. The only thing that can is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Consider the Lord Jesus. He is fully God and took on human flesh. His will is supreme. He not only could manipulate others, but by virtue of the fact that he is creator, has the right to manipulate others to bend to his will. And yet, he is gentle and lowly, meek and mild.

But we cannot leave it at what we should not want, but what should we want others to do for us? We could want people to give us money, spend time with us, exalt us, praise us, on and on the list could go. And certainly what we want people to do for us shows what we hunger for. The sermon on the mount says we should hunger and thirst for righteousness. And the only way that can be satisfied is through a radical dependence upon God. The greatest problem we have is our own sin. Jesus says Matthew 5:29 “29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Our highest priority is God. Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

And so what we should want for people to treat us, is to aide us in our fight against sin and help us to seek Christ’s kingdom. How many relationships could you describe that way?

Empathy

“Therefore, all things whatsoever you would wish that people should do for you, so also you must do for them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

The command is a call for empathy

“wish that others would do for you”

The command is a call to step outside of our shoes and consider how it would be if others treated us the same way we treat them.

And certainly we can go back through the sermon on the mount and consider, how would I fee if someone treated me with hatred, lust, divorce, false promises, retaliation. How would it be if we discovered all the piety of this person was a show.

But go deeper still and consider. How would you feel if someone lovingly pointed out your sin? How would you feel about the person who brought you to the foot of the cross? Would you, as Spurgeon says, “Kiss the wave that slams you against the rock of aged?”

This move to think outside yourself in light of the gospel should motivate you to compassion. And this compassion is not simply one that gives away money, food, or time; but a compassion that shares the most precious truth of all: “Ask and it will be given to you.” The entrance to the kingdom of God. This compassion spurred from gospel empathy leads to action.

Action

The command is a call for action

“do also to them”

The phrasing of the command is awkward in English be cause the object of the command is at the beginning of the verse. Another rendering could be “You must do all things that you wish others do for you.” Which again is a scary rendering. What, might be the direction for this action?

It’s fulfilled in the wish or desire. Christ’s kingdom first. Sin mortified. But how is this accomplished? What does this look like practically? I want to again submit my thesis of this text which I believe is a declaration of war.

The Fall in the Garden of Eden was an exertion of one will over the other. Adam and Eve decided they knew better than God and were going to do as they please rather than what God said. Ever since mankind through God out of the picture, their problem has been the same: and exertion of one will over the other.

James 4:1–4 “1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

What a picture of mankind. Always fighting to stay ahead because of the raging passions within. Sin at the root of it all.

Enter into this mankind the law and the prophets. We see they are useful as a tutor, but they fail in changing man’s heart. People still rampantly broke the laws. People killed the prophets. The rage of mankind was still in full-force.

The Pharisees were creative but just like the rest of mankind. The were creative because they used the law and prophets to accomplish their wills. They coveted and used the law to get what they wanted. They desired and did not have and used the prophets to argue their cause.

The pharisees used the law to convince God they were holy so they could use God to get what they selfishly wanted. They used the prophets to justify hatred of gentiles and a dream of an earthly kingdom where they were on the throne. They saw the law and the prophets as a means to get what they selfishly wanted.

Therefore, all things,whatsoever you would wish that people should do for you, make sure they do it using the law and the prophets.

The command though is radically different

“Therefore, all things whatsoever you would wish that people should do for you, so also you must do for them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

The call is for us to stop living for ourselves and instead live for God.

Direction

The command is the direction of the whole Old Testament

“for this is the Law and the prophets”

Why does Abram wait so many years for Isaac and face hardship when taking matters into his own hands? So he learns to depend on God. Why does Jacob wrestle with God? Because he needs to learn to trust God, and stop relying on his own will. Why does Moses not enter the promised land? Because he exerted his own will frustrated with the people. Every time we look for the promised seed who will crush the head of teh serpent in the Old Testament, we find a promising failure who decided to promote self rather than sacrifice self. David who is man after God’s own heart begins to prey on his sheep rather than lay down his life for them.

The direction of the whole Old Testament is self-sacrifice.

The law is not a tool to get even or compete.

The prophets are not to make us grin and bare current circumstances until God gets even.

The law and the prophets is a call to give up our striving in our own will and subnit to god. To give up our interests for the sake of furthering the kingdom, for the sake of producing Christ-likeness in other.

Embodiment

Jesus is the embodiment of this command

Christ’s teaching was directed at the heart. He never sinned. Never once did he give in to his own will even when tempted by the cruelest of death. He cried out, “Let this cup pass from me.” Facing temptation greater than any Patriarch or prophet. And yet he said, “Not my will but yours be done.”

“Therefore, all things whatsoever you would wish that people should do for you, so also you must do for them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

Don’t start looking at this command and thinking, “I want people to give me money, fame, success, pleasure” etc. and so you give those to other people. This is not the point. The best way to approach the golden rule is to ponder, “What did Jesus do for us?” What Jesus did is gave his life for us. He sacrificed self for an actual benefit to others bringing them to a relationship and complete dependence upon God.

The golden rule is a command of radical self-sacrifice to bring others to close dependence upon God.

Think about this in terms of a parent’s relationship to his kids. Parents can sacrifice all sorts of things to benefit their children. They can sacrifice time to get a lot of money for their children. They can sacrifice freedom to get their children to behave. They can sacrifice money to get their children a good education. But the direction of the self-sacrifice in the sermon on the mount is not for time, money, or even moral behavior. We don’t sacrifice merely to get people to follow a bunch of principles. We self-sacrifice to produce a heart that burns passionately for God. We self-sacrifice to produce a soul who mourns his sin, who hungers for righteousness who

What do you want as your epitaph?

He gave us money

She gave us love

He taught us talents

She was wise

or

He gave his all, every ounce of his life, so that we might depend on God.