Sermon
Rolf Jacobson, one of the commentators on the podcast from Working Preacher, tells of a story in the Talmud – books that tell the history of the Jewish religion, and their laws and beliefs.1 Here is the story as taken from a site called Aish (the full name is Fire of the Torah).2 Shammai and Hillel are two first century Jewish scholars.
“The Talmud tells the story of a gentile who came to Shammai requesting a quickie McConversion to Judaism. He asked to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot. Shammai had no patience for the ridiculous and disrespectful request and chased him out of the study hall.
Undaunted, the fellow then proceeded to visit Shammai's colleague, Hillel with the same request. Hillel instructed him, "Whatever is hateful and distasteful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary. Go learn."2
The Talmud is the written version of ancient Jewish oral history. Compiled during four centuries after Jesus' death, (~100-500 CE) the Talmud consists of many volumes. “Talmud” means teach, or learning, thus the purpose of the Talmud was to interpret and teach the laws and customs of the Torah and Jewish culture.
As a Jew, Jesus would have been familiar with the Torah of course, but not of this story of the gentile coming to scholars with a request. Jesus would however, have been familiar with a basic tenant of Judaism that reflects that story from the Talmud. It says, “All of Judaism depends on the ability to view another person as real as one views one self.”1
The ability to view another person as real as one views oneself. That sounds like it would take a lifetime to understand and master. Here's something else that takes a lifetime to understand and master. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” What we think of as the Golden Rule is something easier said than done.
First Jesus describes the easy way to reciprocate in kind. It's easy to love someone who also loves you. It's easy to do good to someone who does good to you. It's easy to lend to someone from whom you will receive. Jesus explains the extraordinary meaning of his rule, by following up with situations in which one might not want to be generous. Jesus wants us to go beyond easy, and be as generous and merciful as God would be. If someone takes something from you, give them more. If someone begs from you give them something. If someone steals from you don't ask for them back. Love your enemy.
Now here is why it is so difficult for me to write a sermon. I became really interested in a paper in a peer reviewed academic resource called The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, titled “The Golden Rule.” It was a lovely distraction, but a distraction nevertheless. It's a 40-page paper! I had to stop myself from reading all of it! The author takes the view that the golden rule is a description not a prescription.3 Philosophy, by definition is a study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence.
It's fascinating to apply the golden rule to morals and virtues. But as I was reading the paper, I kept getting frustrated. Jesus wasn't trying to describe something that was real or already existed. Jesus was not describing. Jesus was prescribing. Be more than what is real now; do more than the way things already are. Do to others. Not do to others if….
This is the beauty and the danger of the golden rule according to Jesus. Jesus says we should do more than what we see around us; more than what already exists; more than what is real. To love your enemy, one needs to see them as a person as real as yourself.
The danger in this passage is when it is used to keep people in unsafe circumstances. Pray for your abuser? That assumes that you survive the abuse, find a way to escape, and do the work necessary to integrate and distance yourself from the experience. Then, maybe, from a physical, emotional and temporal distance, we would be able to pray for our abuser. Do good to those who hate you? Think of the emotional gymnastics one would have to do to live that way? These texts are not to be used to maintain one's pain. We can't forget other primary messages of Jesus – to love your neighbor as yourself. To love yourself as you would want others to love you. That can't be done if we simultaneously think that praying for our abuser means to forgive and stay put.
Remember that the text from Luke today is the second half of the Sermon on the Plain. Before Jesus even spoke, “the power came out from him” and “he healed all of them.” Then he listed the blessings and woe's.
Jesus' next words, “But I say to you that listen” could more accurately be translated as “I declare to you who are still listening.” The blessings and woe's were promises to turn those unfair places in life on their heads. Woe to those who are rich, those who are full now, those who are laughing now. We are approaching Lent in about 10 days, leading to six weeks of study and remembering events that will culminate in the death of Jesus. This text today, is a reminder of why they killed him. Luke's message about Christ is that he will change the world dramatically, and in a way like never before. When we celebrated Christ's birth on Christmas Eve, we read about Mary singing about the upside down future about to begin. We read about the changes this baby would bring about. During epiphany, we have been looking for revelations inside of ourselves about what that birth has revealed inside us.
We've seen Jesus nearly run off of a cliff for preaching in the synagogue, and it turned out to be threatening to those who were there. We've heard Jesus call disciples and have seen them follow despite all that they would lose. We have seen crowds gather and long to be healed. Here on a plain, on a level place, where there are no cliffs, Jesus preaches again about specific realities to a world where God's plan is in place. I'm sure many who didn't like what they were hearing had gone away. This promise isn't for me, they might have said. This promise is too difficult for me, we might have said. This promise will require me to give up too much, we might have said. But Jesus declares to those who are still listening, how this new world will come to be. It will come to be with us. Those of us who are still here, praying, trying, asking, searching, wondering. Why are we still here? What is it that keeps us coming to worship, talking to God, offering ourselves and our resources to the work of God in the world? Why are we still here, following, listening to Jesus?
I suppose the reason why is different for each of us. The reason Jesus was sent was love. God's love for us. Jesus' love for us never ends, and Christ never stops seeking us, patiently waits for us, hoping we will let him fill our hearts and minds, no matter how much our worlds are turned on their heads.
I'll close with a wonderful poem that some of you have heard before. It's called “Covenant” and it's written by Franciscan nun Margaret Halaska.
Covenant by Margaret Halaska…
The Father knocks at my door
Seeking a home for his son.
Rent is cheap, I say.
I don't want to rent. I want to buy, says God.
I'm not sure I want to sell,
but you might come in to look around.
I think I will, says God.
I might let you have a room or two.
I like it, says God. I'll take the two.
You might decide to give me more someday.
I can wait, says God.
I'd like to give you more,
but it's a bit difficult. I need some space for me.
I know, says God, but I'll wait. I like what I see.
Hm, maybe I can let you have another room.
I really don't need it that much.
Thanks, says God, I'll take it. I like what I see.
I'd like to give you the whole house
but, I'm not sure…
Think on it, says God. I wouldn't put you out.
Your house would be mine and my son would live in it.
You'd have more space than you'd ever had before.
I don't understand at all.
I know, says God, but I can't tell you about that.
You'll have to discover it for yourself.
That can only happen if you let me have the whole house.
A bit risky, I say.
Yes, says God, but try me.
I'm not sure –
I'll let you know.
I can wait, says God. I like what I see.
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1 The Talmud contains the history of the Jewish religion, as well as their laws and beliefs. It is the basic tool for learning the ethics behind the customs of their religion. Torah, on the other hand, is the Hebrew word for “instruction.” The Torah is most widely known as the five books of Moses.
“Understanding God's word cannot begin without the realization that the person next to me is just as real as me; that another person travelling through life has the self-same experiences of love, pain, hurt and joy from the ups and downs and curveballs in life that I experience so intensely and seriously.”
2 “In 1974, after meeting five backpackers at the Western Wall, Rav Noach Weinberg founded Aish HaTorah (The Fire of Torah), a Jewish education center in the Old City of Jerusalem. His goal was simple, but bold: train students to take responsibility to inspire the Jewish people and change the world. Within a few years, these very students went around the world opening Aish branches and campus centers.” https://aish.com/judaisms-golden-rule/
3 “Finally, a radically different perspective is posed, depicting the golden rule as a description, not prescription, that portrays the symptoms of certain epiphanies and personal transformations observed in spiritual experience.”
Bill Puka, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (no date noted)