Christmas Message 2008—A Simple Phrase

I often have wondered what drew me to religion. In fact, for years I merely kept the idea of religion and spiritual growth at a healthy arms length for fear of getting sucked in to a place in which I envisioned having to trade myself for rules and doctrine that I could not abide. Of late, I have begun to understand, however, that religion has been hijacked by those who wish to use it for their own devices; politics; greed; power and such. As an effort to try to find a way to override this misuse of religion, I see my work as a minister as an effort to reduce religion to its most common spiritual elements, and I am beginning to see that there is really a single driving force to all major faiths.

As the story goes, 2041 years ago on this day Jesus was born. After he was born Jesus remained a hope for thirty years, and then traveled for three years as a teacher, showing those whom he taught that action lead to what he called the Kingdom of God, or what we might also call our own most divine self. That hope and Jesus’ teachings were the first time a person had truly spoken of justice for the masses. Not that it had never been spoken of before, rather, Jesus was the first person without religions title, without political title, without power, in fact without much of anything, who actually spoke and acted on the single most poignant element of every religious tradition.

It is a simple phrase, first used by Confucius about 5 centuries before Christ was born. It shows up in the Old Testament as well as in Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament, it has a place in Baha’i, in Islam and the Koran, in Jainism, Hinduism, the Tao and in Buddhism. It is the seat of compassion, the root of empathy. It is the driving force behind forgiveness and the reliever of guilt. When practiced it sustains our faith and heightens our awareness. Were it lived by all people at all times it would eliminate war and poverty. It would assure justice for all people.

Oh, would that it were so simple. Well, truth be known, it is that simple, but it requires action, it requires steadfast commitment and if we can start to see it as a responsibility rather than a possibility, only then can we benefit from what it will do for us. For a spiritual life without action is merely paying lip service to the idea of our most divine selves; without action, we will not see the changes we wish to have in this world.

And what is this simple phrase? Have you guessed yet? It is what most of us have come to know as the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Such a simple statement, but it represents all that religion means to be, all that it strives to be, all that it hopes to be. When the Golden Rule is truly practiced, we step into the shoes of the other person, we lose ourselves—set ourselves aside for the good of another, for the sake of understanding. But to do this we also have to know ourselves, for we can not know how we wish to treat others if we do not know how we wish to be treated.

Perhaps Jesus first heard the Golden Rule from Rabbi Hillel, an important Rabbi who lived at the same time as Jesus. The story goes that he was challenged to stand on one foot and recite the entire teachings of the Jewish Gospels. He stood on one foot and said, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”

Jesus is quoted in the Bible as saying: “And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise.” He also said, in the Gospel of Matthew, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

A bit more than 2000 years ago, hope was born with the birth of Jesus. He was thought to be the Messiah, the savior of the downtrodden, the connection between humankind and the divine. But Jesus knew he was just a man, and he knew that true hope, true union with all that is sacred needs to arise from each individual, from the heart each man and woman, not from God, nor from him.

We dream of a world where peace reins, where greed is a thing of the past, where power is less important than justice and where egos do not get in the way of common ground. But it will require action; not just the action of others, but of each one of us, every man and woman and child must learn that the only viable path to such a world is to treat others as you would be treated. This is the hope for the world; that we learn to love all that is divine within us; that we offer compassion and forgiveness as a matter of course; to live in a world in which justice and equality are honored values. To do that we must learn to live by the Golden Rule.

As Confucius said, “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”

As Jesus Said, “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”

your heart be filled with the wonder. May peace rein on this earth. And may all your hopes be realized.

Peace be with you.

Blessed Be and Amen.