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Pastor Johns Sermons |
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THE IMPOSSIBLE IDEAL Text Luke 6:27-31 Emmanuel Lutheran Church Aug. 30/31, 2008 No. 1289
Some of you will remember this popular song. I couldn't find the exact words, but as I remember them the words go something like this:
“To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To try with my last ounce of courage To go where the brave dare not go This is my quest...”
I like the song because it talks about... the impossible dream. Our text for today from Luke, could also be called the impossible dream. Commonly known as the Golden Rule, these words of Jesus could also be called: The Impossible Ideal. The golden rule could also be called: The Impossible Ideal. The Impossible dream.
The Golden Rule is one of the best known passages of Scripture. I read from the NRSV: "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
It would be hard to find another simple rule that, if followed, would make the world better, faster! It is also hard to find an ethical rule that is so hard to completely follow, and to totally put into practice.
On the surface, and at first reading, the Golden Rule seems to demand our acceptance, even if we are not religious, even if we don't believe in Jesus-- the idea seems to be a self evident foundation for living with others.
So let's talk today about the Golden Rule. What did Jesus really have in mind? Let's see if we can go more deeply into what Jesus meant by this teaching.
The first question to ask is simple: does the Golden Rule apply to groups or individuals? Can we apply the Golden Rule to groups-- businesses, churches, organizations, even to nations? There are some folks who do. They want to apply the Golden Rule, for example, to nations.
If we do this, if we try to apply the Golden Rule to nations, (to our nation for example) we will find some pretty major violations. Our nation has adopted, as national priorities, actions that violate the Golden Rule.
For example when we invaded the Kuwait in the first Gulf war, or when we invaded Iraq in the second gulf war, were we following the Golden Rule? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? Maybe not. When we put together trade policies that help us survive in the rugged competition of global commerce, our nation pursues self interest vigorously- we don't follow the Golden Rule (usually). We went out of our way, during the cold war, to put together a defense policy that did not follow the Golden Rule--- we made sure that we could do it to the Russians before they did it to us!
To some strict moralists and some ardent Christians it is simply a scandal that nations, even our nation (which is supposed to be Christian!) does not always follow the Golden Rule. It looks, however, that nations not only can't follow the Golden Rule, but shouldn't be expected to follow the Golden Rule- as nations.
One of the greatest theologians of the 20th century (Reinhold Niebuhr) made this point very plain. In fact he wrote a book, which I would recommend to all of you who are interested in theology. The title sums up Niebuhr premise: Moral Man & Immoral Society
The idea is that men, that is individuals, are often more moral, or held to a higher moral code than nations are.
I quote Dr. Niebuhr: "...a sharp distinction must be drawn between the moral and social behavior of individuals and of social groups...this distinction justifies…political policies which a purely individualistic ethic must always find embarrassing." |