Life Project Blog

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

Matthew 7:12

Ah yes, the “Golden Rule”; everyone knows this one…

The main body of the Sermon on the Mount runs from 5:17 through 7:11, and is summed up here in verse 12 with the “rule” that fulfills all of “the Law and the Prophets”. Who can argue with it?

Yet for us to really understand what Jesus said here, we must recognize that it is much more than a summation; it is a radical call for every man and woman to turn upside down the way we view everything. If we really stop to consider the ramifications of this… wow! Oh yes, dear reader, it is a very simple and straightforward notion; treat everyone the way you want to be treated, you were probably taught this from early childhood… but who really does it?

Oh well, I treat my friends that way; but what about those other people, those who aren’t “nice”?

“Well, obviously hat’s different.”

Did Jesus say that? I don’t see it, do you?

If I am having a bad day, I would like you to be understanding and be nice anyway, but when you’re having a bad day, I think I can be a jerk right back.

When I need a helping hand, I want you to help me out, but when you need a hand, I must check my schedule; I might be too busy.

I’m guessing you get the idea…

This verse is a radical statement about putting love into action, and it isn’t worded as though it were a suggestion. This is how people were to recognize the Kingdom of Heaven when they saw it; its people were to be quite different from everyone else, in fact, it is the very definition of being “like Christ” which, it may interest you to know, is the sign of the New Covenant, theologically speaking. People would know who the descendants of Abraham were, for they bore the sign of circumcision, people would know who the Jews were, for they observed the Sabbath, and they would know who the followers of Jesus were, because they acted like Jesus.

So, how are we really doing with that?

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“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, 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!

Matthew 7:7-11

These verses emphasize prayer and our relationship with God. Notice the present imperatives in verse 7: ask, seek and knock; as present tense imperatives, they are commands that demand a persistent action. They are found next to the passive “will be given” and “will be opened” that anticipate God’s response. Verse 8 provides a balance in which the present participles “asks, seeks, knocks” are balanced with three verbs, “receives, finds, and opened” which demonstrates God’s responsiveness to the persistence we show in seeking His presence. If you stop and think about this, Jesus is telling us something wonderful here: Not only is it possible for us to enter into God’s presence, but God is expecting us to seek Him out, as though He might see us there and say something like, “Well there you are, welcome!”

Verses 9-11 amplify this with the example of a human parent who will do what is beneficial for their child, using the simple logic that if a fallen and imperfect human will see to the needs of a child, God, who is neither fallen nor imperfect, can be trusted to bless His children to the fullest extent.

When I was a child, my impression of God was of a God who was inapproachable, and everything I saw in church reinforced that notion. There was a great deal of bowing and kneeling going on, the preacher never prayed in any manner that seemed “normal” to me, it always seemed like he was afraid, saying things like “our gracious and most merciful Father” at the beginning of a prayer as though he was afraid of being struck dead at his audacity to even address an Almighty God who was never pleased by anything. Even as a little kid, I wasn’t especially fond of this God; He was just too scary!

I don’t know about you, but I am sure glad that this is not the kind of God Jesus is telling us about here!

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.

Matthew 7:6

This is an interesting little verse, don’t you think? I’ll let those who are smarter than I am debate whether this verse is part of the discussion in verses 1-5 about judging others, or a separate, stand alone verse; I’m dealing with it alone simply for the sake of clarity.

“Dogs” and “pigs” were two rather uncomplimentary ways of describing Gentiles back in the day, but I really don’t see anything in the verse that limits this teaching to any one person or group, so for the purposes of this discussion, let’s just agree that the person or persons Jesus is referring to is (are) “unclean” in the old Jewish ceremonial sense.

I don’t think that it would be news to anyone if I told you that there are people out there who simply will not listen to anything related to the gospel, just as there are people who will talk about God all day long, and then freak out at the mention of Jesus… unless it is used as an expletive. Some may even react with violence. I suppose there may be many reasons for this, and again, I’ll let others try to make a list, because I doubt that such things were in Jesus’ mind at the time He taught this.

What He is telling us here is that we need to be discerning when we discuss the gospel with others; another word we might use for this is “sensitive”, we must be sensitive to where the other is in their life when we approach them…

But how can we be sensitive or discerning in this way; shouldn’t we just walk up to complete strangers and tell them (in a loud voice) that they are evil worthless sinners and that they are going to fry in hell if they don’t accept Jesus this very minute?

Hardly; did Jesus ever do that?

The answer is to develop relationships with people, to get to know them, to develop mutual trust and respect; that is how we gain a hearing. Notice that in the gospels, Jesus is usually in a conversation with one or more people, and is seldom making a speech to a mass audience. By following this example, we can better discern who is ready to receive the gospel and who isn’t ready yet, and in the process, avoid doing a considerable amount of damage both to our relationships, ourselves and to the gospel. After all, most of us are aware of the fact that there have been times in our own lives when we were not receptive, and barring something unusual, we didn’t receive the message during those times.  I would have to conclude that Jesus is giving some very solid advice here, particularly when you consider that sharing the gospel is not a completion, but rather the beginning of a life-process.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Matthew 6:25-27

Jesus tells us right off that He is giving a summation to this section, by beginning with the word “therefore”. As always, “therefore” is used to indicate that the writer or speaker is drawing a conclusion from what has just been written or spoken; in this case it is the discussion of treasures.

Jesus’ words here are very simple and to the point: worrying is pointless.

“Yes, well that’s all well and good but…”

If you are thinking along those lines, please check the verses once again, and let me know where you found “but” in what Jesus said; I can’t find it.

Jesus continues:

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:28-34

Jesus moves on from food to clothing here, making the same point again: Worrying is pointless. Yet here, He does an interesting thing, He expands the context from the section immediately following from His remarks about money into the larger context of 6:1, which you will recall is a Kingdom context, in verse 33, and then restates His point: Don’t worry!

Notice also that in this chapter we began with three illustrations each dealing with spiritual practices (6:2-18), after which Jesus moved into money, possessions and wealth management (6:19-27) and finished on the very practical note of placing our trust in God and putting His Kingdom first. Now comes the hard part: In “real life” what do we actually do?

I can’t answer that question for any of you in particular, but my observation of Christians in general over several decades tells me that what most of us really do is everything Jesus is telling us not to do, especially worrying about things.

We worry about what others think of us, about whether we are the most “righteous” or the most “spiritual”. We worry about money, finances, jobs, paying the bills, retirement, essentials of life… and frills and entertainment; these are even the things we pray about most often, along with health concerns. Yet Jesus is telling the people that in His Kingdom, this is not how His Kingdom people should arrange their priorities.

“But Don, it’s just too hard!”

Please remember that I am also living in this world along with you; I get that this can be difficult, but as is true with most aspects of the Christian life, it is usually not as difficult as we make it, for what it really is, is counter-intuitive more than anything else.

I am a work in progress just like everyone else, and I have a long way to go before I am “just like” Jesus was; a very long way indeed. However, I have discovered that for me at least, a recognition that this is all simply counter-intuitive, rather than overly difficult, simplifies the process quite a bit. The result, at least for me, has been that I have come to see Jesus’ teaching in this area as liberating and empowering, rather than hard and severe, and that most of the cares of this world are a waste of time and energy.

Of course, I might just be crazy…