Following Jesus? Do Unto Others – Sermon – Pastor Dave Page

Has anyone heard of the Golden Rule? It is a type of proverb, or a wise teaching on how we should treat one another. Many cultures have some form of the Golden Rule, so there seems to be across cultures across the world some universal, moral code. It is the rule on how to treat each other right. Here are some examples. In Egypt, a papyrus dated between 600 to 300 BC says, “That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another.” Confucius wrote, in China, around 500 BC, “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” Thales, considered to be the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, wrote (sometime around 600 BC), “Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing.” These were words from some of the greatest minds in civilization, maybe even in history. It seems to be a law that God has written on all of men’s hearts. But can it be obeyed? Has it been obeyed? The testimony of world history suggests it has not been. In today’s passage, around 30 AD, Jesus declares the wisdom of the Golden Rule – a rule that didn’t just come into existence when he taught it in the Sermon on the Mount, but it is a rule that seems to have existed from the beginning of the earth. Jesus said in Matthew 7:12,

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

The Golden Rule is God’s rule, it is the sum of his Law, and all people are expected to live up to it, but all have failed. Through this passage we will see one way, the one and only way that we can receive power to live up to this ideal command about treating others right.

Coming back to the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus’ teaching on the attitude towards others,

look at v.1,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

Here Jesus is saying, “If you do judge someone, you are really judging yourself. If you do condemn someone, you are really condemning yourself.” The command given in Matthew 7:1 is expanded in Luke 6:37,

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Jesus may have been indirectly addressing the Pharisees, who would condemn innocent people for small things, such as not ceremonially washing their hands, or eating improperly on the Sabbath. But also, many Jews that tried to follow the law and who learned from these teachers of the law may have also been prone to judging others. Maybe something similar today would be our own sense of pride.

We can see more specifically what type of judgmental people Jesus had in mind, in v.3-4, where he says,

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”

Jesus specifically had in mind those who see faults, or sins in others, but were themselves living in blatant sin. All sins are bad, yes. Here, the speck refers to a perceived minor sin, and the plank, blatant and prolonged sins, although Jesus is exaggerating here to make a point. It represents someone who living in deep sin trying to correct someone else before dealing with their own sin. It is like the Pharisees who condemned Jesus, saying, he eats with tax collectors and sinners, while they themselves are a bunch of blatant sinners. Let’s get honest again – I myself am guilty of judgment. Each of you are guilty of judgment. So what does Jesus say to people like us? To people like me?

Look at v.5, It’s pretty harsh. Jesus says,

“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Jesus says, “You hypocrite!”

And at times, that is what I am. Jesus says to first deal with your own situation, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from another’s eye. Our sins, no matter how big or small they are, should look like planks because they are right there in our eyes. Everyone has sins, because everyone is a sinner. To remove the plank from our eyes, we need to acknowledge our sins, and repent of them. Only then can we see clearly to remove the speck from our brother’s eye. Now I want all of us to notice something in what Jesus is saying here. Notice that Jesus does not forbid correcting someone if they are wrong. In fact the loving thing to do is to turn someone from the error of their way. But Jesus requires our own hearts to be in a right standing first, and then he requires that the correction not be in the spirit of condemnation. Remember how we’ve talked about he posture of our hearts all through this teaching. So when you correct someone, only after you’ve corrected yourself…. when you correct someone, do it humbly, and gently, in love.

But Jesus, knowing the hearts of humans, also warns against some people who cannot take correction.

Look at v.6,

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

Who are the dogs and pigs? They are godless people, people living life on their own….people who are struggling under the weight of sin and will not hear anything related to God. The pearls are godly wisdom.  They could be words of correction, it might be words revealing to them that they have sinned against God. But what do they do with it? They will trample on it, they will hate those words, and then they will throw them back at you, and insult you.  Proverbs 9:8 says,

“Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.”

Proverbs 23:9 says,

“Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.”  

Jesus allowed for his disciples to correct one another, but he also had their safety and well-being in mind, and warned them about giving godly truth to those who have hard hearts and take offence at anything godly.  How can we receive wisdom to correct someone spiritually? Have you tried to do that? To me it seems like a difficult thing to do. It’s hard enough to tell someone they are wrong in any area. Not only that, but how do you know if they are ready to receive correction? Before all of this, how do you remove the plank from your eye? We need wisdom, and we need God’s grace.

Thankfully Jesus again shows the way.

Then in v.7,

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

These are three different ways to say pray. Jesus is saying pray, pray, pray, each time with increasing intensity and urgency. Jesus says pray, pray consciously, and pray continually. To ask is to pray. Just pray. To seek is the pray consciously, to pray intentionally, to pray with a goal in mind, and to pray looking for something. It’s like looking around the house for your lost keys or some lost coins. To seek is to pray looking for something. You could even say that you would seek God in prayer. To knock is to pray continually, to keep coming, to knock at the door until someone answers. To knock is to persevere and be persistent in prayer.

God gives you a promise when you pray.

Look at v.8,

“For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”

Look at who this promise is for: it’s for everyone! Everyone is commanded to pray.

We had our community clothing closet this part week. That clothing and those supplies are a blessing, the people there serving are a blessing. But those in need voluntarily come, they are not commanded to go. God provides all things, He can provide, and He wants to provide, and he has even commanded us to go to him to get provision, and he gives us these promises. Everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks finds. The one who seeks the Lord will find him. This is not the only place in the Bible that says this. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says,

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

The same promise is given in Deuteronomy 4:29, and even in Hebrew 11:6,

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

So we pray with faith, and we earnestly seek him, and we believe he rewards those who do. And so Jesus invites us to come and knock, to knock on his door. And it will be opened.

Now, these promises sound wonderful, almost too good to be true, but Jesus goes on further to show us that we can trust God, that we can depend on him.

Look at v.9-12,

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.”

Think about the relationship between a father and his son, take any father and son combo that you might know – and in most cases I suspect you can see how much they love their sons? Where does this love come from? For believers, It is a reflection of the love that God has for his children. Which one would be so cruel as to give their sons stones instead of bread. “Hey son, here’s your rock and snake sandwich.” There is some remnant of good that God has instilled into fathers, that for most, they could not dream of doing harmful things to their children.

Look again at v.11,

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Jesus doesn’t play around here, he tells it like it is. At the very core, dads, moms, children, all of us, we are sinful. The truth is, we are all sinful, sinful by nature, because sometimes, not all the time, you can be judgmental, you can be selfish, and these are the evidence of our fallen nature. Yet still you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more, how much more can God, who has no sin, who is infinitely loving, wise, gracious, compassionate, holy and good, give good gifts. And verse 11 does not just say that he can do it, but how much more will he do it! And who does he give good gifts to? He gives to those who ask. Those who do not ask, will not receive. But those who ask, will receive.

And what does he give? He gives good gifts. He gives us comfort, he gives us peace, he gives us protection from the evil one, he gives us strength, and he gives us wisdom. He gives us our daily bread, he provides us what we need – food, clothes. He knows what is best for us, more than we know.  He knows us more than we know ourselves. He knows the number of hairs on our head. Even if his child should ask for a rock to eat, God will not give his child a rock. So sometimes God will not give us what we ask for, if what we ask for will hurt us. But be assured that he hears and will continue to hear your prayer. But we also have to ask with the right motive. Is the motive for our own glory, or for his? If it is for our own glory, I don’t believe he will grant that request. But be assured God also knows what’s best.

When my own Dad was critically ill some years ago, Marlee and I prayed to God every day that he would recover, but in about a year, he passed. That was a really big deal for me, but I was encouraged to hear that he asked our then pastor to come and pray with him while he was fading and while he was in the hospital. But what’s more, it was an opportunity for our family to face the reality of death, and also to be comforted by the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ who has won the victory over death.

If we ask with right motives, if we ask in accordance with his will, he will give us what we ask for. Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:7-8,

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

It’s Jesus Christ who reconciled us to God, and through him we have been commanded to come and pray and receive what we ask for. Come, and ask, seek and knock. God will give us the Holy Spirit, to empower us to live as children of his kingdom, and give us power to do and practice righteousness.

So what now? What are we to do with all these good gifts?  Shall we put them in the closet to collect dust?  Shall we store them away in the attic?  Of course not!  So what should we do?  Let’s all read v.12 together,

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus says in everything. Whether you eat or drink, whether at work or play, in church or out in the world, in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.  Help others, support others, pray for others, fellowship with others, eat with others. Love one another!! This sums up the Law and the Prophets. This is the sum of all of God’s law – boiled down to this: love one another.  Jesus said to his disciples (John 13:34):

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:14:

For the entire law if fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

It’s the same thing Jesus says. This sums it up, this is the Cliff Notes of the entire Old Testament. What do you want others to do to you? Okay, now go and do that to them.

Here’s what Jesus knows:  We love us, some us! We love ourselves.  He’s not saying that that’s not necessarily wrong all the time. What he’s saying is you typically know how you’d want to be treated in a particular situation and now your goal is to treat others in the same way you wish you were treated.  How do you want to be treated?  If you cut somebody off in traffic, how do you want to be treated? If you’re responsible for a miscommunication, how do you want to be treated?  If you fail the people around you, how do you want to be treated?  If you’ve immigrated from another country, how do you want to be treated?  Jesus is saying let’s not overcomplicate this. Simply ask yourself, in the situations you find yourself in: How do you want to be treated? Then go and treat the people around you that way.

I’m going to meddle in your business to close out the message this morning, let me give you one specific question to ask.  All of us probably have a situation in our life right now with the relationships that God has blessed us with and given us….one thing going on where we have a conflict with somebody. Who might it be? So here’s the question: How would you want them to respond to you?  What would you want them to do?  What would you want them to say?  When we choose love, we imitate our Father in heaven and the Son he sent… and so we love because he first loved us.