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JELC
The Rev. Dr. Edward E. Kropa Jr., pastor
January 30, 2011
(Matthew 7:1-12)
THE LIFE OF CHRIST
Some Simple Rules To Live By
All of us, well… at least most of us, try to live our lives by following
some basic rules or guidelines, don’t we? They give our lives some order
and direction. They help us to set priorities, and make decisions, and
even determine behavior.
Now there is no shortage of lists out there. Just “google” something like
“guidelines for living” or “rules to live by” and you will find more links
that you have time to follow-up on.
However, some years ago, humorist Erma Bombeck came up with the
following list:
1. Never have more children than you have car windows.
2. Never loan your car to someone to whom you have given birth.
3. Pick your friends carefully. A “friend” never goes on a diet when
you are fat, or tells you how lucky you are to have a husband who
remembers Mother’s Day – when his gift is a smoke alarm.
4. Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who
waved off the dessert cart.
5. Know the difference between success and fame. Success is
Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna.
6. There are no guarantees in marriage. If that’s what you’re looking
for, go live with a Sears battery.
7. Never go to a class reunion pregnant. They will think that’s all
you have been doing since you graduated.
Now Bombeck’s list is from a woman’s perspective, of course. So, in
the interests of gender equality, I now offer the following from a male’s
point of view:
1. Sunday = sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the
tides. Let it be.
2. Shopping is NOT a sport! And we are never going to think of it
that way.
3. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this: Subtle hints do
not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!
4. Most guys own three pairs of shoes – tops. What makes you think
we’d be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look
good with your dress?
5. If something we said can be interpreted in two ways, and one of
the ways makes you either sad or angry, then we meant the other
one.
6. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it
done. Not both. If you already know the best way to do it… then
just do it yourself.
7. You need only two tools in life: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn’t
move and it should, use the WD-40. If it moves and shouldn’t, use
the duct tape, instead.
Finally, Microsoft founder and gazillionaire Bill Gates even took a
shot at it himself in a commencement address he gave a few years ago.
Among his own pearls of wisdom:
Life is not fair – get used to it.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparent’s
had a different word for burger flipping – they called it
“opportunity.” (And, last but not least…)
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one
someday…
Well, it seems that Jesus also had a list of rules and guidelines for living.
It’s actually called the “Sermon on the Mount” and it runs for three
entire chapters – chapters 5, 6, and 7 – in Matthew’s Gospel. Called the
Sermon on the Mount because of the setting where it was reportedly
given – Matthew tells us that Jesus went up on a mountain and began to
speak – it’s actually less of a sermon per se, and more of a series of
teachings about life in God’s kingdom.
Remember, just like John the Baptist before him, Jesus began his
ministry by proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven “had come near,”
or was “at hand.” And also like John before him, Jesus called on his
listeners to therefore “repent” or, in other words, to “change their minds
and their behavior.” And, now, in the so-called Sermon on the Mount,
he then begins to go about telling his followers just how they should
change and behave.
Now obviously I don’t have the time to cover the entire Sermon on the
Mount with you this morning, or even do a decent job of summarizing it
for you. So what I’ve chosen to do, instead, is to select and focus on a
single passage. And the passage I selected, and which I just read to you
from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, is Matthew 7:1-12; a reading you
might be interested in knowing that does not appear in the lectionary,
which is largely why I chose it. But I also selected Matthew 7:1-12
because it offers, as Peterson himself referred to it, “A Simple Guide for
Behavior.”
“Do not judge,” said Jesus, “so that you may not be judged.” Or as we
heard Peterson render it, “Don’t pick on people… unless, of course, you
want the same treatment.”
In their recent book unchristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks
About Christianity, one of the most significant concerns about present-
day Christianity, that authors David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
discovered, is that Christians are perceived by outsiders as being
“judgmental.” When asked to respond to the statement: “Christian
churches accept and love people unconditionally, regardless of how
people look or what they do,” only 20% of the unchurched “strongly
agreed” with it. Even the majority of Christian young people whom
they interviewed told them that (quote unquote) “our faith seems too
focused on other people’s faults.”
Years ago, one of the most powerful figures on Wall Street fell
hopelessly in love with an actress. For months he dated, then courted
her, escorting her all over the city; to restaurants, art galleries, Broadway
plays and such. Finally, he decided to marry her. But concerned about
the fact that actors and actresses don’t always have the best reputation,
and even wondering if this woman he had fallen in love with had any
dark secrets that she was hiding from him, the Wall Street banker
decided to hire a private detective to follow her around and look into her
behavior and relationships in order to guard himself against making a
rash mistake in marrying her.
In the meantime, however, the couple continued to move in all the
fashionable circles, and he continued to escort her to all the fashionable
functions around town. Finally, though, he received the detective’s
report. “Miss So-and-so enjoys an excellent reputation,” it said. “Her
past is spotless. Her friends and associates are above reproach. The
only hint of scandal is that, in recent months, she’s been frequently seen
in the company of a businessman of doubtful reputation.”
In other words, so concerned was that Wall Street banker about the
possibility of her faults, he was completely blind to the possibility of
his own. And that’s precisely what Jesus was getting at here; our
inclination, our propensity if you will, to judge others more quickly and
more harshly than we ever judge ourselves.
In Romans 2, verse 1, St. Paul puts it this way: “Therefore you have
no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing
judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are
doing the very same things.” Which is to say that, since we are all
sinners, we have no right, absolutely no right, to pass judgment on the
sins of another. Or, as Jesus once told those who wanted to stone the
woman caught in adultery, “Let anyone among you who is without sin…
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
But it’s even more than that, isn’t it? More than the idea that we simply
have no right to judge a fellow sinner. And that’s this idea Jesus puts
forth that the sin we see in another, and even presume to correct
sometimes, is often so much smaller, and far less important, than our
own.
The story is told of a man named John who was driving home alone late
one night when, rather impulsively, he stopped to pick up a hitchhiker.
As they rode along, however, this John began to be suspicious of his
passenger. The man was dressed all in black; his hair was uncombed
and he was unshaven; he seemed to have a menacing look about him;
and he even confessed that he’d recently been released from the county
jail.
John was really concerned now. So very discreetly he reached over and
checked to see if his wallet was still safe in the pocket of his coat – that
was actually on the seat in between them. But it wasn’t there! So he
slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out, and said, “If you
know what’s good for you, you’ll hand over the wallet immediately!”
The frightened hitchhiker did as he was told, and John drove off.
When he arrived home, John said to his wife, “Boy, do I have something
to tell you!” And she said, “Well, I have something to tell you, too. But
you go first.” So John told her all about the hitchhiker who had stolen
his wallet. When he finished the story, he said to her, “So what’s your
news?” And she said rather meekly, “Oh… I was just going to tell you
that you left your wallet on the bed stand this morning.”
Before you go around looking for faults or mistakes in another, said
Jesus, be sure that you’ve taken a long, hard look at yourself first.
A man once went with his friends to an art gallery. Unfortunately, he
forgot his glasses and, being severely nearsighted, he could barely see
his hand in front of his face. But he was also rather vain and pompous
and felt free to make critical comments about the paintings on display.
He approached one particular frame and began criticizing it severely,
“Why would anyone want to paint something so hideously ugly?” he
said. “I mean, it’s a true enough rendering of the object, but why waste
time painting such a disgusting subject?” Well, at this, everyone broke
out in laughter. And the man had absolutely no idea why until his wife
leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Bill, it’s a mirror!”
Again, don’t presume to pass judgment on another if you’re completely
blind to your own faults and shortcomings.
Next, in all honesty, we hear something rather strange and difficult to
understand. In the NRSV translation, Jesus says, “Do not give what is
holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will
trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” Peterson, as we heard,
put it this way, “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give
no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to
be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.”
Several things to observe and keep in mind here. First, we have to
understand how the people of Jesus’ day viewed dogs and swine. As
someone once noted, “We’re not talking about Lassie and Miss Piggy
here.” On the contrary, both dogs and swine (or pigs) were seen in a
very negative light.
“Dog,” for instance, was a term of contempt. To refer to someone in
this way, therefore, was to view them as unworthy, or even impure. And
“pigs” or “swine” were themselves, of course, considered unclean.
Now, what is “holy” is probably easy enough to understand. But the
word “pearls” in this context can be understood figuratively as a
“proverb” or “word of great value,” or perhaps even “pearls of wisdom,”
if you will.
So when taken altogether, the point that Jesus seems to be making here
is that his followers should be protective of what has been entrusted to
them. In other words, they always need to be very careful about how
and with whom they share the truths and the mysteries of the faith.
He’s just warned them about the danger of being too judgmental and
holier-than-thou. But now he continues by saying, “However, there are
some situations where you need to be discerning, where you need to be
aware of what’s improper. That is, sharing the faith indiscriminately
with those who, not only don’t appreciate it, but may also potentially
misuse or abuse it, is something that does need to be avoided. Or, to put
it yet another way, you need to be extremely careful about anything that
might bring dishonor upon God or God’s Word.
For instance, years ago, when I was a teenager, our youth group went
over to the other Lutheran church in town for a lock-in. The pastor
there, at the time, was young and trying to be “hip” (I know I’m dating
myself here, but that’s actually the word that was in use at the time!).
He was also a little bit too permissive. Naturally, a lot of the kids, from
both congregations, had brought friends along with them. But some of
these other kids didn’t know how to act, or how to behave, in a church.
And this young, trying-to-be-hip pastor wasn’t willing, apparently, to
show them.
Long story short… After about an hour the place was completely out
of control. There was foul language and food fights and rough-housing
going on all over the place.
Now one of the few rules we had that evening was that the church nave
and sanctuary were off-limits, for obvious reasons. But, at one point, I
wandered off from the fellowship hall looking for some peace and quiet
when I happened to see some movement in the church. So I went across
the hall to investigate and stumbled upon one of the male guests (a kid I
knew from school) and a female youth from this other church groping
each other and making out underneath the altar. Now I was no goody-
two-shoes myself. But even I found that kind of behavior completely
inappropriate (not to mention rather gross).
Well, it’s that kind of disrespect and trivializing of the faith that I think
Jesus was talking about, and taking issue with here.
Then, immediately, Jesus moves on to the subject of prayer that he had
discussed even more at length in Chapter 6 which is where we find
the Lord’s Prayer, for example, and some other memorable guidelines
for how his disciples are to go about praying. Here, though, Jesus seems
to be focusing less on “how to pray” and more on the persistence of
prayer.
A businessman, who needed millions of dollars to clinch an important
deal, once went to church to pray for the money. By chance, he found
himself kneeling next to a man who, he overheard, was praying for only
a hundred dollars that he needed to pay off an urgent debt.
So the businessman took out his own wallet and pressed one hundred
dollars into the other man’s hand. Overjoyed, the man immediately got
up and left the church. And the businessman then closed his eyes and
prayed, “And now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention…”
Jesus is talking about the persistence of prayer here and the idea that we
really do have God’s undivided attention.
A few years ago, Newsweek magazine conducted a poll on the topic of
prayer and came up with the following results:
87% believed that God does answer prayer.
82% indicated that they pray for health or success for a child or
family member when they pray.
79% believed that God even answers prayers of healing for
someone with an incurable disease.
75% said that they pray for the strength to overcome a personal
weakness, and…
73% believed that prayers for help in finding a job will be
answered.
Prayer, obviously, is still quite important for most Americans, and a high
percentage still apparently believe that it’s effective. If anything, Jesus’
words here seem to be saying, “Don’t ever be afraid to pray or to ask
God for something.” It sort of like one of those rules for living – from
men for women? – that I mentioned at the outset. Jesus himself is
saying, “Ask for what you want. Let’s be clear on this… Just say it.”
Think about it, says Jesus. If most human parents – and even the very
best of them are far from perfect – have enough sense and decency to
give their children what they ask for and need, doesn’t it stand to reason
that God, your heavenly Father will, not only do the same, but go even
further in taking care of your needs? Come on, it’s a no-brainer!
…And then, finally, Jesus adds a piece of wisdom here that covers a
multitude of situations when he says, “Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb
guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you,
then grab the initiative and do it for them (first). Add up God’s Law and
Prophets,” says Jesus in The Message, “and this is what you get.” Or,
again, as the NRSV translates it, “In everything (by the way, don’t
minimize the importance of that word here), in everything do to others as
you would have them do to you…” Otherwise known, of course, as the
“Golden Rule.”
A pretty good rule to live by. In fact, in the late 19th century there was
a man named James Cash Penney who really took this Golden Rule to
heart. I seems that, when he was a young boy, he had heard it in a
sermon. And later, his dad said to him, “Son, if you follow this Golden
Rule, you’ll live a great life to the Lord, and God will take care of you.”
Well, as I said, this simple rule for living – this simple guide for
behavior – had a lasting impact on his life. Years later, he even went to
work for a small chain of stores known as the “Golden Rule” stores.
More than that, he based his entire business philosophy on this verse as
well. A few years later he branched out with his own chain of stores.
And he made sure that he treated both his customers, as well as his
employees (whom he insisted on referring to as “associates”) in the very
same way that he would want to be treated himself. He treated them
with love, respect, kindness, understanding, and encouragement. And
his company grew from the first little general store out in Wyoming,
back in 1902, into a multi-million dollar business with over eleven
hundred stores today.
The name of these stores? Well, even though he still continued to base
his personal business practices on the Golden Rule, he decided in the
end to name the chain after himself: James Cash, or J.C. Penney.
Now following the Golden Rule doesn’t guarantee, of course, that one
will have the personal and financial success of a J.C. Penney. But it
does represent, says Jesus, clearly the very best way we can choose to
approach life and to interact with others. When it comes right down to
it, treating others the same way that you would want to be treated
yourself not only makes good sense – business and otherwise – but it’s
also a pretty good summary of the entire biblical message.
So there you have it, a simple guide for behavior; some simple rules to
live by:
1. Don’t judge or pick on others.
2. Don’t be flip with the sacred or bring dishonor to God.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask God for anything.
4. Do for others the very same things that you would want them to do
for you.
If we did nothing more than just follow these simple guidelines and
rules, we’d probably experience a pretty good life. And that’s why, I’m
sure, Jesus shared them with us.
Amen
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