The Golden Rule

Text:

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 ESV)

Main Point:

Outside Christ the Golden Rule is crushing; Inside Christ the Golden Rule is freeing.

Outline:

Introduction

Universality of the Golden Rule

Rabbi Shammai vs. Rabbi Hillel on one leg

Golden Rule = Law & Prophets

Rabbi Hillel was right

Proof that all men are without excuse

Review of some OT laws

What would the golden Rule look like today?

Is it enough?

Golden Rule = Jesus

This follows on from comments on Hypocrisy

Jesus gives his command, once again pulling out the spirit of the Law over the letter.

Remember his audience: Everyman Jew, influenced by the Pharisees

Significance of Jesus’ sermon

He came to fulfill the law Matt 5:17

The whole OT points to him!!

Was the Golden rule enough for the Fathers of Israel?

Christ is the only man to have truly kept the Golden Rule

Jesus + Holy Spirit = New Law

Golden Rule is not only to bring us low for repentance

Golden Rule is not an end in itself – it does not give life

Golden Rule is what new life in Christ looks like!

We are enabled by the HS to keep the Golden Rule, with a new Law inscribed on our hearts!

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Introduction

You don’t need to ask many people “should be nice to other people?” before you start to get the idea that everybody thinks you should do to others what they would like done to them. This ideal is so prevalent that every major religion in the world has this tenet.

This rule is pretty much universal. Even most atheists will argue that you should follow the golden rule (though they have no valid reason why). This ideal tenet pervades the conscious of people who have no religious affiliation, some of whom might say “If we could just teach everybody to treat each other like they would like to be treated, the world would be a better place.”

Would you be inclined to agree?

“If we could just teach everybody to treat each other like they would like to be treated, would the world be a better place?”

The prevalence of this Golden Rule on the moral conscience of men reminds me once again that all mankind is without excuse. As much as people try to deny it, God has written into the very fabric of what it means to be human the idea that people should be nice to each other, and the best way to do that is to do for others what you would prefer they do to you. You intrinsically know this, and that’s why you try to teach your children the Golden Rule every single day! Every single hour sometimes!

You intrinsically know the Golden Rule, and that’s why you are offended when someone says something mean about someone else, or steals something that belongs to someone else. We know something is morally wrong when people seek to hurt other people or marginalise or demean other people on the basis of things they can’t change. Sometimes we can’t even put our finger on what is wrong in a given situation, but it often comes down to people not doing to others what we would have them do to us.

As indicated by the universal religious acceptance of the Golden Rule; it’s been around for a long time. It’s nothing new. And if we go and read our Old Testaments it shouldn’t take us long to see that you could summarise vast portions of it by saying “do to others what you would have done to you”.

There was a Rabbi from around the time of Jesus who had cottoned on to this. A potential convert to Judaism came to Rabbai Shammai, who happened to be holding a “builder’s cubit” in his hand (imagine a wooden rule about 500mm long). The Potential convert said “I will convert to Judaisim if you teach me the whole law while standing on one foot”. Shammai was insulted! He used the ruler in his hand to chase the insolent gentile away!

So then the potential convert came to the rival Rabbi; Hillel and said “I will convert to Judaism if you teach me the whole law while standing on one foot”. So Hillel responded; “What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it.”

Hillel had worked it out. He had cottoned on to the nature of all those commands and morals.

Golden Rule = Law & Prophets

Lets look at the OT ourselves. If we have a look at a portion of Leviticus. Chapter 19 highlights this so well; vs 9-18. Look at it with me.

Leviticus 19:9–10 ESV

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:11–12 ESV

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:13–14 ESV

“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:15–16 ESV

“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:17–18 ESV

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

As God delivered the Torah to Israel he was laying out for them what it looked like to love thy neighbour, that is, how to do to others what you would have then do for you. For the ancient Israelite the questions are: If you were poor would you like those more well off to leave a little food for you? If you were in a business deal, would you like your partners to lie and betray you? If you were a hired day labourer would you like to go home unpaid? Would you like to have others give you a bad reputation? Would you like to be misrepresented in court? Would you like others to take revenge on you when you mess up?

Obviously not!! So don’t do those things to others, even if they are your enemy!

What would these rules look like if we were given similar rules today?

Help the poor and destitute, don’t keep everything for yourself.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours, including music and movies you haven’t paid for.

Don’t say you will do something and then go back on your word, or sign a contract you don’t intend to keep.

Always pay a fair price, and don’t be late with your bills. Pay your employees properly.

Don’t use people’s weaknesses to trick them or abuse them. That includes physical weaknesses and mental illnesses.

In matters of justice and fairness, don’t play favourites because someone is your mate, or because you want to manipulate them, or because you feel sorry for them.

Don’t complain about people on social media.

Don’t ignore members of your family or stop talking to your mates because they did something you didn’t like.

Don’t hold a grudge against those who have been mean to you.

This is a pretty powerful list! This is just a sample of what it looks like to do to others as you would have them do to you; imagine if we could get people to do only the things on this list! The world would be a much more palatable place to live!

How would we do this? Well we could put it in school curriculums, make public service announcements about it, put it into legislation, write books about it, preach it from pulpits and so on.

But is it enough?

Is it enough?

Haven’t we done that before? Isn’t that exactly what was going on in Israel? God gave them this ethical way to live and told them to teach it to their kids, and live by it and put it into law and punish those who broke it. How did it work out for them?

We only need recall the story of Jephthah the Judge! His brothers kicked him out of the family, he killed his own daughter and killed his own countrymen. How was the Golden Rule helping them? Were a few rules on how to treat people well making things work well out for them?

Well what if they were just un-enlightened? Perhaps modern man has his head screwed on a bit better?

Hardly.

We know that every major religion has the precept, but modern man is just as bad as ancient Israel! We have so many laws on the book to try an make sure people don’t treat each other badly, but despite the increase in laws, there has not been a corresponding increase in love. Our parents tried to teach us the Golden Rule; how has it gone for you? Do you live by it exactly?

How did you fair with that list of modernised rules I read out earlier? Who can say that they would easily be able to do these things? I read this list and go “Man, I’ve messed up in just about every one of those things!” and this is just one section of Leviticus!

Let me pick out a few for myself (Samuel);

Think of the poor and destitute, don’t keep everything for yourself – I’m so greedy! I have often kept all that I have and have failed to help others in need. I’ve been selfish with money that went to stuff I didn’t need and ultimately didn’t want. Can you identify with that?

Don’t take things that aren’t yours, including music and movies you haven’t paid for – Samuel is guilty of this! In the past I have downloaded music and movies I didn’t pay for, and been complicit in my friends doing the same. Can you identify with that?

Don’t say you will do something and then go back on your word, or sign a contract you don’t intend to keep. – It’s so easy in the heat of the moment to tick that “I agree” box on the computer right? Its so easy to sign that form without reading it? It can be awkward to say no to your mate when he asks you for help, so instead you say you will help him and then later send him a text saying you won’t. I’ve been there, have you?

So, Samuel, who was raised in a Christian family, attended Church all his life, reads lots of Bible, teaches others the Bible yet, if he often fails at keeping the Golden Rule, what then? If those who are drip fed the pure ethics of the scripture are powerless to perform it what point is there in having it?

Israel couldn’t follow the rules!

David couldn’t! He stole another man’s wife and then had him killed! He was the paragon of Godly Kingship.

Apostle Paul couldn’t! He fell out with his best mate over John Mark! Yet he wrote half the NT.

Samuel can’t. Dylan can’t. Parko can’t. You can’t. You can’t.

I mean we try. Some days we try really hard! Sometimes we do it for long enough that people look at us and say “oh, they look like they’re doing it!”.

Can anyone keep that rule perfectly?

Why does Jesus drop this rule here?

Matthew 7:12 ESV

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

If laying down this rule has not solved the problems of mankind before, why does Jesus, in this Sermon on the Mount re-state it for the heralding in of the new Kingdom? What will it change?

Law & Prophets = Jesus

Let’s remember for a moment where this text comes. Jesus is winding up the Sermon on the Mount. Particularly this portion seems to be related to the previous comments. Where it says “So” or “therefore” in some translations its linked to an earlier thought. In this case it looks like verses 7 to 11 are kind of in brackets, and this verse is summarising a bunch of pervious stuff. We can just skim back through the text and see areas where this Golden Rule is being explored in different areas; like judging others, and from here Jesus is going to change tack a bit as he comes to his conclusion.

This sermon has been epic! Put yourselves in the place of the crowd; they’re used to hearing from the Pharisees about minutia of rules to so so that you don’t break the Laws of God. They’re used to hearing the Pharisees speak about all the different interpretations of all the laws of God and how to keep them to the letter, and then Jesus stands up and says “you have heard it said… but I say”. He speaks with power and authority! He takes God’s laws and draws out the heart of them, speaking about the spirit of the laws instead of the minutia. Then, as he is bringing his exposition of good living to a close he caps it off with the summary:

Matthew 7:12 ESV

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

He is saying that to do what God requires of you in living this life, to do what God has been wanting us to do all along; do to others as you would have them do to you. That’s it. Not too complicated. Yet there is still something missing.

If we look to earlier in the sermon, Christ said

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“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.

So, Jesus came to fulfill the Law & Prophets, yet the sum of the Law & Prophets is the Golden Rule. The question staring us right in the face is this: “How does Jesus fulfill the Golden rule?”

The Golden Rule is not enough to restore our brokenness, or fix this world on its own. It is not enough to stir up love and obedience in our hearts! Yet perhaps if the right man, perfectly follows this rule, this broken world may be set right. Perhaps if the right man would go in our stead to serve us the way we would want to be served, perhaps then he might save the world! Perhaps he can love enough to overcome all of our failure to love one another as ourselves!

Remember friends, the whole Old Testament points us toward a man who might come and give us what we most desperately need. We need God to enter into human existence as a man so he could do for others what they should have done for Him.

The OT leaves us looking for a man who would:

Protect others from Satan like Adam should have done in Eden,

Protect life instead of destroying it like Cain

Trust God instead of seeking his own way like Abraham

Be truthful and kind unlike Jacobs trickery

Serve God in the wilderness instead of grumbling like Israel

Provide a heartfelt sacrifice instead of hypocrisy like Israel

And so many more!

We need a man who would be so willing to love others as himself that he would die in their place.

We need Jesus!

We need Christ who would come and fulfil the Law & Prophets, and be their sum in his salvation of our souls! And he has done it!

Christ stepped out of heaven robed in human flesh! He walked the earth, fulfilling all righteousness. He was the perfect Israelite; the first and the last to properly keep Torah. He kept Torah so well he fulfilled it, making it to be superseded by something new and better!

By His pure love he has pulled us out of our failure, our brokenness and strife to a beautiful salvation! He grants to us grace and mercy to cover the multitude of times we have failed this one command. All of our sin and failure could be summarised by a failure to either “Do for God what he has done for me”, or “do to my neighbour as I would have him do to me”. In the midst of our failure God steps into our lives as the truest Altruist!

As reformed Christians we like to consider how the whole world exists to bring praise and glory to God, and this is quite humbling as well as comforting in the midst suffering. Yet a case may also be made that in the long run the world exists that God may display his love, a love that loves us even as the Son loves the father.

What?!?

What if God wanted to make himself known to the cosmos as the one who truly gives us himself to serve others? Christ went to the cross to love his people! It is Christ who truly does for others what he would have them do for himself.

See that? He loves us most purely, and most self sacrificially, yet as he loves us, such love demands response!! How could we receive such love from him and not be spurred to love Him and others in the same way?

Jesus + Holy Spirit = The Golden Rule from Us

You see, the Golden Rule is not only to bring us low for repentance. Christ does not speak this word to his people merely to expose their guilt and bring them to their knees for repentance, rather as he pronounces this rule on the Mount, he expects His people to follow His commands, to hear his words and do them. This is how we know who follows Christ; they hear his words and do them!

Brothers and Sisters, if we are not doing what we are hearing can we really lay claim to be Christian?

Yet even though we have salvation in Christ Jesus, why would our measly attempts at following the Golden Rule be any different?

I’ll tell you why! Because this time as God delivers his Law from a mountain top he steps out of the cloud and circumcises our hearts. He comes to our stony hard hearts and revives them! Then he dwells in us by His Spirit! He writes the Law on our hearts!

Look at what was promised!

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

How is it possible to love others as we love ourselves? By the God of the universe coming into us by his Spirit and writing his perfect Law on our hearts! No longer is the Law external to us, but as the people of God it is internalised. We need no more try to force the Law onto ourselves and our children as if by learning or understanding it we may do it or force each other to love by legislation, rather now he gives us New Life, soft hearts and the Spirit to dwell in us, by which we may carry out the spirit and intent of the Law in freedom!

We have the whip taken from our backs! We no longer strive to do what is right to maintain good karma, or to appease God or to feel better about ourselves. But now we live out of our new position, secure in the Love and Mercy of God, enabled to walk righteously and without fear.

You see the Golden Rule is what New Life looks like! The Golden Rule is what sums up all the commands of the New Testament too! Love each other fully and without taking mind of your own concerns!

Even though we have these commands of Christ as Christians, they show us what is natural and right for the new person in Christ. We are free from the Burden of the Golden Rule to practice the spirit of the Golden Rule as a natural outworking of Christ’s salvation in our lives.

I do not love my neighbour as myself merely because it is the right thing to do, or because there is guilt and shame if I don’t, but because Christ has loved me as His neighbour and given himself for me at the Cross. He has set me free from the burden of sin and the bondage of the Law and now has put his Spirit in my heart so that I can love my neighbour, and do so like Christ has loved me.

Will I do it perfectly? No. But now there is the Spirit of living God teaching us and leading us to grow in this righteousness.

Paul said in Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

We as Christians do not heap up rules and submit to Torah, for we have freedom in Christ! You have freedom to serve others because you have no need to be concerned for yourself! You may go and love others like yourself because Christ has loved you as his own!

You have the freedom to forgive others because God has forgiven you a greater debt!

So What?

The Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have them do for you - is a well known addage.

We all fail to live up to this rule.

This Rule is the summary of the Law & Prophets of the OT

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law & Prophets

Jesus kept the Rule prefectly, frees us from the burden of the rule, and sends his spirit to help us keep the Rule.

We find freedom and forgiveness in Jesus, which in turn means we can Love our neighbour like Jesus loved us.