Do to others as you would have them do to you
Ordinary Sunday 7: 18th February, 2007
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Lk 6:31)
Every now and again, we are brought up short by the simple directness of the teachings of Jesus. Sometimes, as in the gospel set for today and in this particular text, they are so clear that you would wonder just how it is that we can continue to get things so wrong, for so long. This is so for us as a Church, as much as for our wider communities or nations. It speaks as well to us as individuals. Of course there are alternatives to that 'golden rule.' Instead of doing unto others as we would have them do to us, we could prefer 'Might is right' or 'An eye for an eye.' We are familiar with the absolute assurance that those who are absolutely right have as they seek to eliminate those who, in their minds, are absolutely not right. War, oppression, injustice and atrocities of every kind flourish in this sort of context. The gospel today is here to say again that Christians are called to a distinctive manner of living and interacting. The 'golden rule' is a clear and direct summary of this teaching.
As it is, that is not the way we behave with each other. I cringe when I try to imagine what the last four years of war and violence has meant to an equivalent group of people to us in Baghdad. Would we really wish such horrors upon ourselves? Our political system assumes that a battle is the way to discernment. Parliamentary question time is sheer adversarial theatre and bombast. Political adversaries use strong and bitter language towards those they oppose. We will see much more of that in this Federal election year. I'm sure we can hardly wait – yet the issues of government are of course important. The Church is far from free of this. Vicious or demeaning language is common enough in matters of religious dispute – even in these times when we do not go to war with each other, or have each other put to death. But there are still ways of making opponents non-persons or un-Christian or declaring their part of the Church to be not real. Those of us who are Internet addicts might be following the manoeuvrings of some Church politicians this week at the international Primates' meeting in Tanzania. Just Google Anglicans Online. Our own Melbourne election synod for archbishop was not a pretty sight. Battle lines are drawn and divisions are deep in all these areas. It was probably ever so, even if in each generation or society the presenting issues are different. This is the human condition.
What might happen when there is major difference of approach and opinion is something that Jesus of Nazareth had much to say about. The fact that 2000 years later we still seem to be no closer to putting these alternative teachings into effect, is only another reminder that each generation, each individual has to engage this afresh in their own time and in their own way. In this generation, as in that first generation of Christians, these teachings turn upside down the standard and expected response to these sorts of issues. Yet this is at the very heart of the gospel that he taught and the way that he lived. He was crucified for it. Especially for those in authority exercising unequal power it is confronting in the extreme. But it is also confronting for those on the receiving end.
Our gospel reading today continues with the Sermon on the Plain – Luke's version of the more familiar Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. This is a collection of the central teachings of the Lord. In these last few weeks, we have followed the path from the Lord's baptism by John, through the call of the first disciples, through the sensation of the first miracles and now, last week and this, to this great sermon addressed to thousands of people. Last week we heard the great contrasting 'blessed are you' and 'woe to you' sections. Immediately following comes this section: "But I say to you that listen [and perhaps now he is talking to those who have not already been affronted or offended by what he has said and therefore have left]: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you." Across the centuries there have been examples of Christians who have lived this way, even as the vast majority abused and fought against each other along with the best of them.
Yet we know in our hearts that 'do to others as you would have them do to you' is a better way of living a life or running a world, than the compounding cycles of anger and abuse that alternatives offer. The big difficulty is though that everyone is not playing by that golden rule. This is not fair, is it? Surely this leaves us open to being walked over. This is the complex world of discernment, choice, and decision that the consideration of these issues takes us into. The Lord of course knew this complexity. And yet still he taught this way, he lived that way and he died that way. Despite all common sense and practicality, this is still the way his followers are urged to take. It was counter-cultural then and it is counter-cultural now. And isn't it just possible that it is preferable to the 'dog eat dog' model. If enough decent people are prepared to say no, maybe some things will actually change.
In the Lenten season that we begin this Wednesday, we have 40 days to consider again how we actually might start again to live these principles out as followers of this Jesus. We can then celebrate God's triumphant vindication in the new life of the Resurrection on Easter Day. This then is the way, the truth and the life. This is what is worthy and honourable and ultimately of God. This is so even when a whole world order is based on something different. This is so for each one of us, even when our first reaction is to respond to another bitterly or harshly. A few deep breaths and just a few seconds of reconsideration might be all that is needed in order to head in a different direction.
In the last section of today's gospel we are moved into the same territory as the most difficult part of the Lord's Prayer – forgiveness. Do not judge others – and you yourself will not be judged for your own shortcomings. Do not condemn others – and you will not yourself be condemned. Forgive others and you yourself will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. This overflowing generosity of spirit will be amply rewarded. The measure we give will be the measure we get back. It is simply unrelenting! I sincerely hope that this is also the gospel the Primates are hearing this morning in Dar es Salaam.
So what we have here is the core of what we would understand to be basic Christian ethics. It is the new shape of a whole pattern of living and social interaction, both corporate and individual. It is most clearly laid out in this part of Luke's gospel set for us today and the equivalent part of Matthew. It is well worth careful consideration.
There is a whole approach to life that is at stake here – and a whole response to the call of God in Jesus Christ. For Jesus, this overthrowing of all those expectations about behaviour and attitude was absolutely central and the Scripture is clear that he was most explicit. The follower of Jesus is to live this way. The greatest of the saints through the centuries lived this way – and often died because of it. Great leaders of political movements have lived this way and sometimes have shamed their opponents by their transparent goodness, by their turning of the other cheek. It is as they say, the high moral ground.
So the question for each one of us becomes clear. How are we reaching out and responding to others, and most especially how are we doing that when the situation is hard and ugly and confronting? Consider the alternatives that we have. Might our every word be of judgment and condemnation? Might we continually bear a smouldering resentment and animosity towards those who have done us wrong, or who disagree with us on something important, or towards those who are simply different? Or might we yet be being called to another different, better, way? The challenge is really as simple as that.
On this very hot Sunday before Lent begins, as summer is we hope coming into its last weeks, we are here at St Peter's tapping into a very old tradition of giving thanks for that which we have received. Harvest and that natural rhythm of the seasons that country people know so well is a long way from most of our lives in the centre of the city. But love and respect for the beauty of the natural order is not. Our appreciation is not limited, our thanks is not constrained, by our location. In all traditions and in every culture, people have offered thanks and have shared the fruits of their labours, the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands. An offering made to God in thanks is, in turn, shared with those in need. That is a time-honoured formula that ties in well enough with that final theme of today's gospel, urging us to give and to be whole-heartedly generous in our giving. And we do give thanks, even as we recall again that golden rule:
Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Lk 6:31)
The Lord be with you.
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