Living by a rule that is golden S31e90 Mt7:12

Everybody wants to be treated well. 

That desire serves as the foundation, along with love, of the "Golden Rule". You know it: do unto others as you'd have them do to you.

There might be a skooch of work to be done as we "measure" our motivations, our thoughts and ultimately our ACTIONS by this wonderful ruler. 

Join me to think about it. 

https://youtu.be/ZLQd1Ixw87I

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My brothers and sisters, are you living by a rule that is golden? It's from Matthew chapter seven. You're very familiar with this. It's a single verse. We call it the golden rule. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. That's Matthew chapter seven. So the law is the first five books of the of the Bible, the Old Testament, the Torah, and then the prophets are all the rest of the Old Testament, because they were written by prophets. And this verse is famously known as the Golden Rule, which is a law of action. Now, the ESV notes say that this should come naturally, their words, not mine, for believers who love God with all their heart and soul and mind, and who love their neighbors as themselves. And that comes from Matthew chapter 22. They asked Jesus, teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law? And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and your mind. This is the great and first commandment, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commands depend the whole law of the depend all the law and the prophets. That's Matthew 22, verse 36. Now, foundationally then, these are love laws. That is the postural attitude, the motivation of a heart inclined toward it toward another. Now the golden rule is kind of the next step past the thoughts and motivations, and that is it is a rule of deeds. But then those we have to understand those deeds are supported by the thoughts behind them. So here's the thought. So the selflessness of the golden rule's action, do unto others, stands upon the foundation of self-interest. This is what I wish another. So it starts with wishing and hoping that others would do right to me. You know, I like the right actions directed towards me. So then to effect that wish, a thought or an action is required, which is I'm going to think for another's benefit and act for another's benefit. Now you may ask, is this filter really golden? Is this an adequate filter for a lifetime? It probably is. So what do you think it could hurt to put this as a filter in your life, to actually use the golden rule and act goldenly? And perhaps every action, every thought could empow could could be filtered through it and empowered purely. Verse 12. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. So would I wish that others would do what I am considering? This is that filter I'm talking about. And then would I want others to even think about me the way that I am thinking about them? Now we realize that that thinking is the motivation towards our action, which is ultimately what the verse is about. Do unto others as you wish them to do to you. So remember that most of this consideration is done with our heads first and then our then our actions, our hands. So it's both a head and a hand verse. The hands are doing the action that the head has done the wishing for. So do I wish others would have actions and thoughts also rooted in love as a motivation? Well, if so, I might have some work to do. And that is, well, what am I wishing? What's the root of my wishing? Is it love? And what am I expecting of others' actions that I should be turning and asking myself, am I doing those actions? So the first question, am I doing the golden rule? Um is not, are you doing the golden rule? The question is, am I doing the golden rule? That's the primary part of this. So I know that I expect out of you, but I am self-inspecting as well in an accurate way. So this passage doesn't come in a vacuum. It was followed earlier. It follows an earlier passage in Matthew chapter 7, verse 3, which is that great passage is why do you see the speck in another, but don't notice a big log, a timber in your own eye? And then saying to the other person, hey, let me take out your speck. So the log in the eye story and the golden rule both illustrate the hypocrisy in having a harsh judgment of others while being easy on oneself. So that passage asked us in the end to be humble. Help me to see this. It was a call to be specks, spec sensitive and if necessary, timber aware. And then to be ready for some self-surgery or others helping others can help us as well, take specks and logs out of our own eye. And so there's a little bit of community in there. But help me be ready for some splinter surgery or some timber removal. It's asking the Lord, hey, keep us on a short leash and help us to be spec sensitive. All right, so this passage asks us to be motivated with a good motivation, which is the love of others. And then so good motivation, then right thinking, then right actions, doing the right things by others, using that very stiff criteria. What is it that I want them to be doing to me? And then ultimately, all of this is to remember the generosity of God. We just finished the path, the passage, literally is the paragraph before, uh, which asks us to ask and seek and knock, but then we have God doing the giving and the finding and the opening. So our golden rule passage today draws on the application from the previous teaching, literally yesterday in the previous uh paragraph. So God has been gracious to a people that he describes as evil, at least in comparison, and then we can imitate God, that is, be bearers of a familial relationship, resemblance to God by being motivated by love towards a world that is evil and doesn't deserve it, but we can act like him, we can act like God and represent him in this way. So you may ask, why is this called the Golden Rule? Well, it's a great question, this principle of treating others as you'd like them to treat you. Uh it's a supreme and foundational standard of human contact, but we don't know where the name Golden Rule comes from. We know in the 17th century it kind of started to generally uh filter in, but we don't know the who and the specifics. We do know the why, because it's a it's a great and true true uh rule. Um and the the truth of it is hey, I am in charge of judging somebody. It's me. So it this good passage calls us to check your expectation. How do you want to be treated? Check your motivation, what underlies the behavior, and then check your actions. Am I doing what I'd like others to do to me? And if so, then indeed you are living by a rule that is golden. So today, use the golden rule as your filter for your actions, your thoughts, and your motivation. Thanks for listening.