The Golden Rule
Series: Metamorphosis | Bible text: Matthew 7:12
«Deal with others as others should deal with you. The Law and the Prophets are summarised in this sentence»(Matthew 7:12 NLB). This is the so-called Golden Rule of Jesus. In this one sentence is the potential to change the world for the better. After the Golden Rule, the commandment of love is a second summary of the Law and the Prophets. When we deal proactively and in love with others, God’s kingdom definitely takes shape.
Sometimes I lose track of things and don’t do anything out of sheer complexity. Last Monday was my first day at work after a week’s holiday. There were 92 emails in my inbox. In order to get back to the daily business as quickly as possible, I try to process them in a rush and delete them whenever possible. This way, external requests have little chance of being considered. The abundance and complexity of the requests paralyse me more than they inspire me.
It could be the same for us with the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus speaks about many virtues. Everywhere we discover potential for metamorphosis. But it is too confusing and too complex, so that we run the risk of doing nothing at all. This is a stumbling block on our way to a Jesus-like character, which Jesus meets with the so-called Golden Rule: «Deal with others as others should deal with you. The Law and the Prophets are summarised in this sentence»(Matthew 7:12 NLB). Jesus gives us something here that is clear and simple and plausible.
Tun
With the Golden Rule, Jesus does not place any increased emphasis on being original. In Judaism at the time of Jesus, it was said that a man came to the famous teacher Rabbi Hillel and asked him to teach him the Jewish law during the time he could stand on one foot. Rabbi Hillel said: «What you do not want others to do to you, do not do to others. This is the whole law; all the rest that is written on many scrolls is only its explanation.«In our linguistic usage, the simplified rhymed version has prevailed: «Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.»
The other day I saw a mother with her still small child in her arms. The little man felt like hitting the mother in the face with his little hands. The mother didn’t think it was funny, grabbed the little boy’s hands and stopped the beating. After a short while, however, the boy struck again. «Do you want me to hit you too?«This was followed by two or three small blows. The boy was startled and irritated. This irritation led to the boy stopping the beating. Whether this is the right method of education remains to be seen. When there is a conflict with my wife, I prefer to withdraw silently. If, in the opposite case, I do not approach my wife for this reason, then we have fulfilled the rule, but our relationship suffers.
The negative formulation inevitably brings into view the limits of what I may still allow myself to do to the other person. In this case, it is about the question: How far may I go that I do not violate the freedom of the other, that I do not disturb him, that I do not become a nuisance to him. It’s like when I build a high fence around my garden. This keeps me from trampling into the neighbour’s garden, but it makes it difficult for us to approach each other spontaneously.
Jesus is not content with a tactic of avoidance, that we merely live considerately side by side, but encourages us to live cordially with one another.. That is why Jesus formulates positively: «Deal with others as others should deal with you. The Law and the Prophets are summarised in this sentence»(Matthew 7:12 NLB). When life with God seems confusing and complex, it is important to follow this simple basic rule and begin to live accordingly.. People of character have developed the ability not to shirk responsibility with the complexity argument, but to ask a simple action-guiding question: Do I treat others the way I want to be treated?
Do proactively
«Deal with others as others should deal with you.» The great thing for me is that Jesus first invites us to ask ourselves, «What do I actually desire? What do I long for?» Jesus does not hurl prohibitions and demands at us, but the simple question: what do I actually want? Do what you want with every fibre of your body, what you want with your whole soul! Think of yourself first and of what happiness means to you. And then do it for your neighbour. This is the difference to narcissism: I do not stop at myself, but respect the other person more than myself and become active in his favour..
The Golden Rule contradicts the defensive attitude of waiting in the sense of: I remain suspicious, wait and see first what good the other person does for me; then as a reward I will repay him. He should earn my trust. No, the Golden Rule wants us to start proactively doing good. Even towards people who do not deserve it. We are called to action, not reaction.
- So if I expect someone else to stand up for me when I am slandered in absentia, I myself can begin to put in a good word for others.
- If I hope that I will be forgiven where I have become guilty, I can start myself – no matter whether the other person has already asked me for forgiveness or not.
- If I am alone at home and annoyed that no one visits me, I can set out on my own to seek out someone else.
- And if it would please me that others pray for me, I myself can say a prayer for others.
It is incredible: in this one sentence of Jesus is the potential for a new culture according to the new world of God.
Doing proactive loving
Jesus says that the Golden Rule summarises the Prophets and the Law. In the same Gospel, Jesus gives another summary of the Prophets and the Commandments. The friends of Jesus asked: « «Master, what is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses?» Jesus answered: «You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind!» This is the first and most important commandment. Another is equally important: «Love your neighbour as yourself». All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments» (Matthew 22:36–40 NLB).
It seems to me that Jesus goes one better here and defines in which direction we are to act: To love God, our neighbour and ourselves. Now our action gets a clear outline. First of all, we are to love God. The core of the Sermon on the Mount is prayer. In prayer we cultivate love for our heavenly Father. In this encounter, our heart is in turn filled with love so that we can give it to our neighbour. It is said: «The deepest reason for our confidence lies in God’s love for us: we love because he first loved us»(1 John 4:19 NCC). Gifted in order to give. Jesus» friends asked on another occasion who their neighbour was. With a parable (Luke 10:29ff) Jesus explains that it is not us who decide, but the need of the person around me. The need of my fellow human being makes him my neighbour.
What needs are there in my environment? I think of the list of sick people, the tragic death in our village, the single mother, the uprooted migrant for whom no one was waiting, the lonely neighbour, the couple whose marriage has broken down,… According to Jesus, we should become lovingly active and not wait until suffering people ask us for help.
Sometimes there are situations when we are lonely in a group of people. The feeling creeps over us that no one has been waiting for us. There are people who experience this on Sunday around the church service. You can practise love today when you approach someone who is not one of your «Best Friends». Don’t go home disappointed because no one approached you. Be active! «Deal with others as others should deal with you.» If we implement this in seetal chile, we will experience a culture change and experience real community. No one will feel «ordered and not picked up» anymore. By the way, the migrants in our villages know through and through the feeling that nobody was waiting for them. If only every twentieth person among us would give such a person the feeling of being welcome, we would have heaven on earth.
I also feel that the current situation surrounding the Covid certificate is a real acid test for charity. Here, too, it is a matter of surpassing the other with my deed of love. To do myself what I would like to experience from the other. Unity is a gift to us. We must fight to defend it. If we first make the sacrifice we would like the other to make, we not only get by, but grow to new maturity!
In both biblical passages we ourselves are the reference: «Treat others like this, how the others should deal with you.» «Love your neighbour like yourself.«How much do you love yourself? It could be that you have little self-respect and are therefore completely undemanding because you think that you don’t deserve anything good anyway. Therefore, the pivotal point of this Golden Rule is how you treat yourself. Do you have a complete yes to yourself? Are there any skeletons in your closet that you hate yourself for? Are there deeds that you cannot forgive yourself for?
For a metamorphosis into Jesus-likeness, you have to love yourself. I am not talking about narcissism. Narcissism is a pathological self-love that stops at itself. If you do not have a complete yes to yourself, then you should definitely seek pastoral help. Only when you have established a good relationship with yourself will you get to know your own passions and desires.
And what if our love is disappointed? When what we do well is rejected? Well, there is no love for other people that does not carry the risk of being disappointed. God himself experienced this in Jesus. Jesus embodied, he lived God’s love among the people, but he was met with hatred from influential circles. This brought Him to the cross. Thus Jesus becomes the brother of all those whose love for other people has already been painfully disappointed. Jesus acted proactively and lovingly. Therefore, and only therefore, can he offer us salvation and the supernatural gift of metamorphosis!
Possible questions for the small groups
Read Bible text: Matthew 7:12; 22:36–40
- Do you know the stumbling block of being paralysed in the confusion and complexity and not doing anything? When does that happen to you?
- What is the difference between the negatively formulated way of speaking and the positive formulation of Jesus? What changes concretely?
- Where is it up to you to be proactive and loving?
- Do you love yourself? Do you have a whole yes to you in terms of your story, your character and your appearance?
- What if Jesus had not lived proactive love?
