PEA RIDGE — I'm thinking today of the Golden Rule, which Jesus gave us in Matthew 7:12, "So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them, for this is the law and the prophets."
As I reflect back on my 47 years as a preaching minister, I discover that I have never preached a sermon on that text. I may have thought that the Golden Rule didn't need explaining, or that it was so obviously valid that no one would fail to appreciate it, or that it was too simple and basic to call for elaboration in a sermon.
Sometimes, though, Biblical truths are not so much in need of explanation as they are illumination and application. This simple, basic principle shines brightly with the light of God's eternal truth.
Jesus points out that this golden rule is fundamental to all the law and the prophets. It is at the root of thinking morally and caringly about other people. There may be many statements of rules and guides, but the principles involved are rooted in the one rule. It is a rule anchored in loving God and loving neighbors.
Many of us love to talk.
Talking implies that listening is going on. Otherwise talking becomes meaningless sound and fury. But, many of us find it hard to listen when others speak.
Rather than listening with understanding as someone else speaks, we may be just using the time to think of what we want to say next. What an emptiness it is to talk when there is no listening. When we talk, we like to think that someone is hearing us and understanding appreciatively what we have to say. The talking is not complete in and of itself, it is completed by the hearing and the responsiveness of the listener.
Freedom of speech is one of the basic liberties we cherish. We cherish our opportunities to have a say in shaping the life we share in common as a people, as decisions are made which affect the way we relate together, and as courses of action are negotiated and adopted. We believe that better decisions are made for the community, state and nation when more than a single voice and viewpoint is involved. We are convinced that better decisions come when different viewpoints are heard, considered and debated in the effort to reach mutually beneficial decisions, policies and regulations. The idea is not only giving persons the opportunity to say what they want to say, but to have people contributing ideas and listening toother's ideas, weighing impacts, discerning basic principles involved, building awareness of how other people are affected, so that not only self-interest is being pursued, but that the interests of others are protected and advanced as well.
It seems important that we speak as we wish to see others have the opportunity of speaking, and that we hear and consider others even as we wish to be heard and considered.
Watching some recent public forums on the national scene has been troubling. Some people were seen asserting their right to be heard, their right to have their say. Some seemed to be speaking as though they not only had a right to speak and to have their viewpoint heard and considered, but that they had the right to command that their way be followed.
They seemed to be forgetting that freedom of speech is not just an opportunity for one individual to speak out, but is a liberty to be secured for others present as well. By trying take control and to dominate the discussion they were denying others in attendance the opportunity of speak and to become informed about the varying viewpoints that were relevant to the discussion.
Just as we personally do not like to be interrupted, shouted down, insulted and called names, so we can understand that the same applies to others.
What a loss for our common life in communities, and in the life of our nation, if we lose the capacity to discuss and debate issues civilly, respectfully, with mutual understanding and responsiveness. What a tragedy if people leave out Jesus' principle in the Golden Rule to treat other people as we would wish to be treated. What shortsightedness occurs, if in asserting and exercising our right to express our views, we forget that we are to be a people committed to protecting the same right for all our fellows, not just for ourselves. If I wish to have the right to speak and be heard, let me be about helping assure that others have their right to speak and be heard and to be considered.
Church, Pages 2 on 09/23/2009