The Golden Rule
Jesus said, “But to you who are listening I say, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-use you. Luke 6:27–38
Today’s Gospel follows what we read last Sunday. Jesus was speaking to us of true happiness: today he develops this topic, which is very dear to his heart, for he came into the world to teach us about nothing other than the happiness of Heaven, and to show us the way to achieve it.
One of my earliest memories is my mother telling me to remember “The Golden Rule”, do unto others as you would have them do unto you!
There is no commandment of Jesus which has caused so much discussion and debate as the commandment to love our enemies. But before we can obey it we must understand what it means.
The English language leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to translations. For example if I spell a word w-o-u-n-d, what do you think of? It could be wound, as something wound around a spool. Or it could mean wound which means an injury to the body such as a cut or breaking of the skin. And. What about the word up? If I use it alone you may think of the direction. But if I use it with the word round it takes on an entirely different meaning, like roundup of cattle. Or what about write-up, it now becomes a noun like “Did you see the write-up about Father in this months “Spirit Magazine”?
In Greek there are three words for to love. There is eran, which describes passionate love, the love of a man for a maid. There is philein, which describes our love for our nearest and dearest, the warm affection of the heart. Neither of these two words is used here; the word used here is agapan, which needs a whole paragraph to translate it.
Agapan is an active feeling of benevolence towards the another; it means that no matter what that person does to us we will never allow ourselves to desire anything but his highest good; and we will deliberately go out of our way to be good and kind to him. This is most suggestive. We cannot love our enemies as we love our nearest and dearest. To do so would be unnatural, impossible and even wrong. But we can see to it that, no matter what a man does to us, even if he insults, ill-treats and injures us, we will seek nothing but his highest good.
One thing comes out of this. The love we have for our dear ones is something we cannot help. We speak of falling in love; it is something which happens to us. But this love towards our enemies is not only something of the heart; it is something of the will. It is something which by the grace of Christ we may will ourselves to do.
This passage has in it two great facts about the Christian ethic.
(i) The Christian ethic is positive. It does not consist in not doing things but in doing them. Jesus gave us the Golden Rule which bids us do to others as we would have them do to us. This rule exists in writers of many creeds in its negative form. Hillel, one of the great Jewish Rabbis, was asked by a man to teach him the whole law while he stood on one leg. He answered, “What is hateful to thee, do not to another. That is the whole law and all else is explanation.” Philo, the great Jew of Alexandria, said, “What you hate to suffer, do not do to anyone else.” Isocrates, the Greek orator, said, “What things make you angry when you suffer them at the hands of others, do not you do to other people.” The Stoics had as one of their basic rules, “What you do not wish to be done to yourself, do not you do to any other.” When Confucius was asked, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” he answered, “Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Every one of these forms is negative. It is not unduly difficult to keep yourself from such action; but it is a very different thing to go out of your way to do to others what you would want them to do to you. The very essence of Christian conduct is that it consists, not in refraining from bad things, but in actively doing good things.
(ii) The Christian ethic is based on the extra thing. Jesus described the common ways of sensible conduct and then dismissed them with the question, “What special grace is in that?” So often we claim to be just as good as our neighbors. Very likely we are. But the question of Jesus is, “How much better are you than the ordinary person?” It is not our neighbor with whom we must compare ourselves; we may well stand that comparison very adequately; it is God with whom we must compare ourselves; and in that comparison we all fall short.
(iii) What is the reason for this Christian conduct? The reason is that it makes us like God, for that is the way he acts. God sends his rain on the just and the unjust. He is kind to the man who brings him joy and equally kind to the man who grieves his heart. God’s love embraces saint and sinner alike. It is that love we must copy; if we, too, seek even our enemy’s highest good we will in truth be the children of God!