THE GOLDEN RULE
Matthew 7:12

Have you ever wondered, as you were pumping gasoline into your car, if you were really getting that gallon you were paying for?  Maybe you were only getting three and a half quarts.  Or when you bought that fancy Stanley Power Lock Tape, that an inch was an inch and not a few millimeters shorter?  How can we be sure?

In Washington D.C., there is a special office called the Bureau of Weights and Measures.  There, in locked vaults, is housed the official gallon, the official inch, the official pound, etc.  These are the standards by which that gallon of gasoline and that inch on the tape measure are judged.

So it is with moral and spiritual matters.  How can I possibly know how God wants me to respond in each and every situation?  If only there was a Bureau of Standards for God’s Kingdom!  Well, there is.  We know it as the Golden Rule, and Matthew records it this way:  In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

This Golden Rule is stated in a very unusual way, very much out of the norm for rules in those days.  In many of the great religions of the world, the Golden Rule is stated in a negative form:  Do not do anything to anyone what you would not want him to do to you.  The great Jewish teacher, Rabbi Hillel said, What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow creatures.  That is the whole law.  All else is explanation.  The Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote:  Do not to others what you would not wish done to yourself. 

So, what is wrong with this negative statement?  Well, it certainly is not hard to keep.  It is not very difficult to not do certain things.  For example:  It is not very difficult for me to not kill.  It is not very difficult for me to not steal.  It is not very difficult for me to not commit rape.  Why is this?  It is because basically I am selfish.  I do not murder because I don’t want anyone to murder me.  I do not steal because I don’t want anyone to steal from me.  Selfishness is a basic trait of all people, both religious and non-religious.

As we will notice in our next study, Jesus states this Golden Rule in a positive way.  So stated, the difficulty of our living it becomes greater, yet the blessings associated with it also become greater.  I hope you will join me for that important study.

Father, so often the Golden Rule is quoted as being the eleventh commandment.  And we find it is as difficult to live in our own strength as it is to keep the Ten Commandments.  I thank You that, through this command, You have told us how we are to live and to treat others in a positive way.  And I thank You that You give us the enablement to live so victoriously.  Continue to instruct us from Your Word in the coming days.  We pray this in Christ’s name.  Amen.

 

Return to Sermon on the Mount Overview