Fix Your Rule
Matthew 7:12
In the old Soviet Union there were very few laws about factories polluting the water. That was with good reason because one of the few laws they did have was that any factory which dumped chemicals back into the river must do so upstream from its own intake pipes. In other words, whatever the factory dumped in the water was going to come right back into it before it went any further down stream. It was amazing how much this simple rule did to cause factories to clean up their own pollutants.
What would happen if we knew that everything we put out would come back to us? We often say that what goes around comes around, but what if that was a rule, not just a principle? What if you knew that every careless word or deed would be returned to you almost immediately? Wouldn’t that change the way we act? Jesus gives us a positive version of this rule to help us act properly. He encourages us to make sure what we give out to other people would be okay for us to get back from them. Matt 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Now we’ll spend most of our time this morning looking at some specific words in this passage. The Golden Rule has always been popular. In fact, it is called the Golden Rule because a Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, had this saying of Jesus engraved on his wall in gold. He loved this saying and used it everywhere and declared it to be a good rule for all men to follow. But sometimes, we think we know something so well that we don’t really look at it. This morning we are going to closely examine this rule and see if we can learn something new. So let me encourage you to open your Bibles and open your minds. No matter how long you’ve been a Christian or how many times you’ve heard the golden rule, let’s look at it again this morning and try to see it fresh. We’ll start with a few key words.
THEREFORE – Always ask what it’s there for. It links the Golden rule to the entire Sermon on the Mount. In other words, Jesus is saying, “because of all this teaching you should do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is the high point of the sermon. Everything from here on out is conclusion - Jesus sums up the entire sermon in this point. He has been talking about changing your life and now he says if you really want to make changes to the way you are living, this is how to do it. In its simplest form, this single rule is obedience to God. That’s what Jesus means when he says this is the law and the prophets. This is the second command, love your neighbor as yourself. Remember the first command is to love God. Jesus says this is what it means to love God. Therefore. It’s a pretty important word in this passage, but there are some others.
WHATEVER – popular word with young people. your Bible may say whatsoever. The NIV says “in everything.” This is all of life here. Jesus is not just talking about in worship service or around the house to your family members. This is everything you would want done to you in any context. If you would like someone to hold the door for you when you have your arms full, make sure you do that for others. If you would like someone to deal with you fairly in business and take good care of you when you trust them, then be a trustworthy merchant. This rule is as broad as your life. It covers everything.
WANT – The New King James uses the word want to describe these actions. Whatever you want people to do for you. The New American Standard update says this applies to how we treat people. What I want you to see is that it goes way beyond just meeting needs. It is the obligation of every human being to try to meet the basic needs of another human. We should all try to feed a starving man or give shelter to those without, but this addresses more than just needs. Don’t think that feeding the hungry fulfills the Golden rule. This rule means we go the second mile. It has to do with day to day interaction with the people around us. This rule is about life at home, life at school, life at work, life at church. It’s about a quality of life. I want people to treat me respectfully, therefore, I should treat others with respect. I want people to trust my judgement, therefore I should trust theirs.
DO – This is the most important word in the whole verse. This word changes everything. The New Living Translation places the emphasis correctly here. They begin this verse by saying, “Do for others.” Do is the strongest word here. To truly follow what Jesus says I will have to be active. Jesus wasn’t the first to teach this principle. Some years earlier a Jewish Rabbi had taught Do not do to others what is hateful to you. Similar commands show up in Buddhism, Confucius, and most world religions. But you could fulfill that command by doing nothing. If I lock myself up in the house and never speak to another person I have fulfilled that. I haven’t done anything to another person that I would find hateful if it were done to me. In fact, I haven’t done anything period. But only Jesus teaches that to fulfill our Father’s wishes, to truly live our lives after his model, we must do. We must be active. We must stop and think about what we would like someone to do to us, and then we must go and do that very thing for other people. It is a unique property of Christianity that we are an active people. We seek out good to do and then do it.
TO – this word is a direction word. Think about it. If I say I am going to . . . you are expecting to hear the direction I’m headed. I’m going to Columbia, to the Post Office. When you hear the word “to” you are thinking direction. The reason this word is important is that it tells us where to direct our actions. We know we are supposed to “do”, but where and toward whom? A marksman isn’t much good without a target and this word lets us know Jesus is about to give us our target.
THEM – Your Bible may say others or whosoever. this is the object of our actions. This is the target we are aiming to hit. Our actions are directed toward others. Not just to God, but toward others. And this is not just Christians here, Jesus just says “others” and that means everyone.
That’s the investigation I wanted us to do. Do you see how big this command is? Some think it simple, but what Jesus says is that if we want to truly serve God then in every aspect of our lives we should treat every single person we meet the same we would like to be treated. That’s huge!
A young boy who had absolutely nothing in life was a Christian and was teased for his faith. If God loves you, then why doesn’t he take better care of you? Why doesn’t God tell someone to bring you shoes and a warm coat and better food? The little boy thought for just a minute and then said, I guess he does tell somebody, but somebody forgets. How many times do we forget to practice the golden rule? Maybe it’s something as serious as food and clothing, but maybe it’s something like the way we talk to our mate, our children, or our coworkers. Maybe it’s something like the attitude we have toward other people. How often do we need to be reminded? I heard about one man that had to be reminded the hard way. He was walking down a dark street when he met a rather rough looking fellow. Sir, could you spare some money for a poor hungry homeless who has nothing in the whole world to call his own except this loaded 38 special revolver in my hand? Let’s not have to be reminded to practice the golden rule. As the people of God, as the church here at Lomax, let’s be known as a place where this rule is a part of our lives.
I told you this verse was called the Golden Rule because emperor Alexander Severus had it written on his wall in gold. What I didn’t tell you is that he was not a Christian. He never became one. He thought this particular teaching of Christ was wonderful and he spread this rule everywhere he could and commanded people to obey it, but he never obeyed Christ himself. And you know, you can’t keep this rule if you aren’t a Christian yourself. It is only by the power and grace of God that you can do to other people the things you would like done to you. Jesus was our ultimate example of this. He gave his life for us so that we might live our lives for him. He left us a model to follow. He died so that he could have a relationship with you. What are you willing to do to have a relationship with Him?
