Sermon on the Mount: Golden Rule
Notes
Transcript
What does God want them to know? The Golden rule
Why? It brings God’s way to the world
What does God want them to do? Golden Rule
Why? It brings God’s way to the world
ME/WE
We have finally made it to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. It has been quite a journey…started some it last year with the beattitudes and have concluded this year with the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.
We have learned a lot about what Jesus’ is Kingdom and reign is to be about.
The question comes to us like it does many times when have a longer conversation with a FRIEND, SPOUSE, COUNSELOR, FROM a SERMON.
The question we walk away with is?
What’s the BIG IDEA? (sometimes it is cloudy “I don’t know what my pastor said” “I cannot understand what my wife wants or my husband wants” or what did my wife say? or what did my boss say?
What the main point?
Can this be summed up?
This is probably what many people were wondering with Jesus? Jesus said a lot of PROFOUND, LIFE TRANSFORMING THINGS, LIFE GIVING THINGS
And we walk away with different things
How to pray
Lust is equliant to adultery
I am salt and light
But we also wonder too is there a big over arching idea, point, thought?
is this not you wonder at times when I preach?
What are you trying to say pastor Pete??
This the question someone asked Rabbie Hillel who died right around when Jesus was born…about the Jewish Faith....the Torah is a big book, can you sum it up for us?
Hillel was once asked to recite the entire Torah by a unbeliever, who offered to become a convert if Hillel could make the recitation while the prospective convert stood on one foot. The wise Hillel simply responded: “What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary thereof; go and learn it” (b. Šabb . 31a).1
b. b. Babylonian (Talmud) = “Babli”
What Jesus is going to say is something similar but Jesus is going to say it in the POSITIVE in finishing the Sermon on the Mount
After going through 25 points Jesus gives this point and says
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
All the Law and the Prophets
YOU’ALL
That if you want ____ this from THEM YOU DO THAT TO THEM.
THIS IS SO WISE BECAUSE WHAT WE WANT FOR OURSELVES IS GOODNESS…no coal for Christmas
JESUS SAYS DO THAT TO THEM
This is to be interpreted as Whoopie Goldberg interperted this verse in support of abortion this week.
She said that God said do unto others as you wish to have done unto you in regards to giving people freedom of choice,
you want freedom of choice
So people are allowed to end the life of the unborn??
I want to say yes, Whoopie you are right? Do you want you life to be ended by someone else? Do you want someone to have the freedom of choice to say WE DON’T WANT YOU ANYMORE?
NO
THIS VERSE HAS BEEN MISINTERPETED IN WILDER CULTURE AND PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH AT TIME
SO WHAT DO IT MEAN TO
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
BUT THE QUESTION IS WHAT ARE BEST GOOD THINGS I WANT TO COME MY WAY?
I want a lot of good things to come my way
WE could want a STEAK dinner from a STEAK HOUSE
MANY OF US WANT more MONEY
Want the Browns to win the SUPER BOWL
Those are good and we all would say YES to this.
What are the things all our SOUL CRAVES? what do we desire and need?
WE CAN GET THESE THINGS AND NOT BE SATISFIED
WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS, TOP THINGS THAT WE WANT DONE UNTO US AND OTHERS WANT DONE UNTO THEM?
THIS IS WHAT JESUS IS GOING TO SO US
Jesus shows in the Sermon on the Mount 5 main desires we all have…that Jesus says to get those DESIRES you DO THEM AS WELL
LOVE
Our greatest DESIRE is to LOVE and BE LOVED in RETURN
The thing you want to receive and I want to receive is LOVE
What is love? That’s the question. It has a hundred different definitions depending how we say and what we say it about
We say we love STEAK is that the small TYPE of LOVE we have for our MATE? NO
For some of us our LOVE for the BROWNS is much different than our love for the CAVS....ride forever with the BROWNS but CAVS…aaain…when they are good I will watch them.
What does it mean to love someone? Instead of going to the Sermon on the Mount. I am going to go the 1 Cor 13 where Paul sums it up so well.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
People want to receive love…Jesus says you want this love, you want patience and kindness, not rudeness and it goes on do this to others as you wish it done to yourselves.
OTHERS means FRIENDS and FAMILY and Neighbors EVERYONE
Even our enemies Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus says love everyone like you would like to be love
It is not the lack of someone BEING LOVED that leads to all types of habits, hang ups, depression, anxiety, idolatry…all those adventures are them looking for people or things to love them or dull the pain of not being loved.
2. TRUTH
WHAT’S SECOND BIG THING WE ALL WANT? TRUTH....WE WANT TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE WHO IS TRUTHFUL, NOT SOMEONE WHO LIES
We cannot swing the pendulum so far to the world love camp that minimize truth...
To really love someone even in 1 Cor 13 it says for us to be truthful
Jesus we are to be SALT (preserves of truth) and LIGHT (givers of TRUTH)
GOD’S WORD IS TRUTH
Two bigs ways to be TRUTHFUL is telling someone the TRUTH about themselves in a positive way.
Ben says I am a no one, just a piece of garbage, no value…it would be a lie to say to him yep you are
No, no my friend because you believe in God you are child of God, whom he has gifted
Let’s set the record stragiht
ANYONE want a TRUTHFUL FRIEND LIKE THAT?
Some of our closest friendships are with people who are positive truth tellers
But again lets not swing the pendulum so far that we are only in positive truth
Second type of TRUTHFUL thing we are to be to one another is tell the IN LOVE WHEN WE WANDER AWAY from TRUTH or GOODNESS
When we see our brother or sister in destructive patterns, we say something in a loving way
It is
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING THIS WAY AND BEEN DOING ____
ANYONE LOVED WHEN SOMEONE HAS DOWN THIS TO US??
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
We all want LOVE and TRUTH
3. FORGIVENSS
ANYBODY WANT FORGIVENESS WHEN THEY HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG???
It was totally our fault
Are we hoping that they hold it over our head?
I hope they keep this looked away
I hope they bring this up in every conversation.
Anybody love to be unforgiven???
Anybody love when someone holds a grudge of unforgiveness?
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
We are to forgive as we have been forgiven
Also, the person who often has a hard time forgiving, this is difficult, for the first half of my life I lived here and I found out I was mostly huring myself.... hurts most is the person who has been unforgiven or the one who holds the bitterness of unforgiveness? I had to learn this the hard way.
I liked to be all fuming mad!!!
unforgiveness is like drinking posion hoping the other person will suffer. C.S. Lewis
Do you have someone you need to forgive like you have been forgiven?
4. To be in relationships with people who are PRIDEFUL (arrogant, self-center, all about them, narcissist )
No we all want to be in relationship with someone who is HUMBLE
someone who is not all about themselves, who thinks of others
Jesus addresses this at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in the beginning of the sermon on the mount says
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Blessed are the Meek
Blessed are the Merciful
The the 3 Spiritual discplines Jesus gets onto them because they have made them PRIDEFUL
Look at what give, how I pray, how I fast
What does it mean to be humble?
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
How can I help you? Encourage you? Support you?
Anyone want this?
5. Generous
Anybody want someone to be generous with their time, talent, and treasures?
Time- I am going to be there for you
Talent- I am going to bless you with my talents of being a handy man or writing that email
Treasure: I am going to bless you with money
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”
And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Love
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
TRUTH
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“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.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
FORGIVENESS
HUMBLE
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
GENEROUS with HIS LIFE