Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Speaking of Faith: Morality


Speaking of Faith: Morality
Matthew 7: 12

Introduction
“If there is no God, then everything is permissible.”[1] 
If there is no God, what is the foundation for moral values?  I would argue that without God, there is no foundation for morality.  Yet, it would be difficult for someone to argue that morality does not exist.
A popular point of view in Twenty-First Century American culture is to claim that everything is subjective.  There is no such thing as objective truth.  Reality is what I define it to be.  Reality for me is not necessarily reality for you.  Leave me alone.  You have no right or authority to tell me how to live my life.
There are several problems with the subjectivist point of view.  The main problem is that there is really no such thing as subjectivism.  On one hand, the people who promote subjective values are doing their very best to convert others to their point of view.  If truth is subjective, then you should allow me to believe whatever I want to believe.  On the other hand, there are Moral Values and Universal Evils that even people who claim to be subjectivists affirm and commit their lives to follow.
For example, we could open up a conversation between Christians and non-Christians in the United States and come up with a very good list of moral values that we could all agree on.  Individual Human Rights; Racial Equality; Respect for All People; Protection of Human Life; Protection of Property; Alleviating Suffering; Feeding the Hungry; and more.  These are positive values we all share.  We also share negative values—or, we might say we recognize universal evils which correspond to our universal values.  Murder; Dishonesty; Stealing; Sexual Immorality; and more.
The best way I know to illustrate this is to quote from the TV show “Judge Joe Brown.”  In one episode, a man was suing another man to recover the cost of stolen stereo equipment.  The defendant admitted that he had stolen the stereo equipment.  The problem was that he had already sold the equipment and no longer had the money.  Judge Joe Brown asked the defendant to hand over the keys to his house to the bailiff.  The defendant said, “Why do I have to give you my keys?”  The judge said, “I’m going to give them to the plaintiff so he can go take some of your stuff to cover the cost of what you stole from him.”  The defendant said, “That’s not fair!”
Protecting private property is a Moral Value.  Stealing is a Universal Evil.  No one—including a thief—wants someone to steal their personal property.
Where do these universal Moral Values come from?  How do we determine right from wrong?  What basis can we use to define murder, dishonesty, stealing and sexual immorality as evil?
 Perhaps Moral Values and Universal Evil are the products of the human conscience.  After all, everyone would agree that one should never willingly disobey their conscience.  But where does the human conscience come from?
There are four choices for the source of the human conscience: Something less than me, Me, Society, or Something greater than me.
I don’t believe the conscience comes from something less than me, because my dog doesn’t have a conscience.  Dogs do not value the property rights of others—especially when it comes to food.  Shauna and I had a dog one time that ate an entire pizza while we were in the other room watching a movie.  (We came back for a second slice, and the pizza was gone!)  I think we are all better (more moral) than my dog.
I don’t believe the conscience comes from me.  How could I ever believe that I am an absolute authority over other people, or even an authority over myself?  It is also problematic to think that I have made the rules I am required to follow.  If I locked myself in, I have the power to unlock the door and walk away.
I don’t believe the conscience comes from society.  What right (or authority) do other people have over me?  Also, we have discovered through racial inequality that millions of people can be wrong.  There may be strength in numbers, but strength does not guarantee that the majority opinion is necessarily the right choice.
This leaves us with only one good source for the human conscience.  It must come from something greater than me.  There must be an objective authority.  God, or something like God, must be the source of the human conscience that helps each of us to discern Moral Values and Universal Evil.
The Christian view of morality is based on the character of God.  This God has revealed himself to us in several ways.  First, he has revealed himself as Creator and has left us clues in the created universe which point us toward God’s goodness.  Second, he has revealed himself through Scripture which contains narratives about the way God continues to work in his creation as well as moral teachings about right and wrong.  Third, he has revealed himself through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  In the Person of Jesus, we can understand (perhaps only imperfectly) the mind of God and God’s desire to have a relationship with us, his special created beings.
There is a place in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where we can find the entire moral teachings of Jesus summed up in one short verse.  We call this verse “The Golden Rule.”

Matthew 7: 12

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

One view of Jesus’ Golden Rule is to say that Jesus promotes an entirely new morality over what we might find in the Old Testament.  Some people like to point out Old Testament references like Exodus 21: 23 – 25, “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise (NIV).”

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is often interpreted as the basis for a barbaric society…But that is not the case at all…Believe it or not, this is actually GRACE…
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth actually limits the punishment that can be carried out when someone commits a crime against you.  For example, if someone knocks your tooth out, the law allows you to knock his tooth out…Nothing more…The punishment cannot exceed the crime.
Also, notice the high value placed on the human life.  A human being has intrinsic value as one who was created in the image of God, and there is no compensation sufficient to repay for a lost human life.  If a man is guilty of murder, then an eye, a tooth, even a hand cannot repay for the loss of another human life.  Of course, the opposite of that is also true—Human life is too high a price to pay for the loss of an eye or a tooth.  Imagine how barbaric the ancient world would have been without these kinds of limits…
Another view of Jesus’ Golden Rule is to say that it really wasn’t original to Jesus.  Some people say Jesus took a familiar proverbial saying and used it in his Sermon on the Mount.  Over time, we forgot about the familiar proverb and attributed it to Jesus as an original quote.
The closest we can get to the Golden Rule before Jesus, comes from a story about the rivalry between two Jewish rabbis, Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel.
One day a certain heathen approached Rabbi Shammai while he was working and inquired about becoming a Jew.  He said, “Make me a Proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah (Law) while I stand on one foot.”  Rabbi Shammai chased the heathen away with the ruler he had in his hand.
The same heathen made the same proposal to Rabbi Hillel.  The gracious Rabbi responded by saying, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah (Law), while the rest is commentary thereon; go and learn it.”
Many scholars have noticed that Rabbi Hillel’s Rule sounds very similar to Jesus’ Golden Rule.  It is close, but not quite what Jesus said.  Rabbi Hillel’s Rule is often referred to as The Silver Rule. 
It is Silver, because it is Negative—Do Not Do Hateful Things…
It is Silver, because it can be kept by doing virtually nothing.  If you do nothing toward your neighbor, you are sure not to do anything hateful.
By contrast, the Golden Rule is a positive command—Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.  And, the Golden Rule cannot be kept by doing nothing.  It is wrong to withhold the good from other people you hope they will extend to you.
It is interesting to me how Jesus lays the groundwork for his Golden Rule.  Jesus does not offer us this teaching on morality by itself.  It appears in a context.  In fact, Jesus gives us three reasons to believe the Golden Rule is a good way to live our lives.

Jesus’ Golden Rule Can Be Proven from Human Experience.
One foundation for the Golden Rule is the way many of us have already experienced the Golden Rule at work in our lives.  The Golden Rule fits with our experience of good and evil in day to day living.
Jesus tells us to think of the way parents have a natural desire to bless our children.  Parents do not normally want to cause harm to their children.  Parents want to do what is best for their children.
Jesus gives us two examples of hungry children.  One child asks her parent for bread.  The other child asks his parent for a fish.  When children ask for bread, parents do not give them rocks.  When children ask for fish, parents do not give them snakes.  Bread and fish are good gifts to hungry children.  Rocks and snakes are evil gifts which can cause harm to a child.  No one thinks it is OK to harm a child.
We know the difference between good and evil.  We know to expect good from other people, and not evil.  And we know how to treat other people in the way we want to be treated.

Jesus’ Golden Rule Can Be Proven from Old Testament Law and Prophets.
Another foundation for the Golden Rule can be found in the Old Testament.  Jesus indicates this at the end of Matthew 7: 12 when he says this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  More than likely, Jesus’ phrase “the Law and the Prophets” is a reference to the entire Old Testament.
Jewish people divide their Bible into three sections: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.  The Law contains the first five books of the Old Testament—the books that have traditionally been attributed to Moses.  The Prophets contains the prophetic writings which span from the Book of Isaiah to the end of the Old Testament.  The Writings contains the poetic writings, the Proverbs, the history, and other books no one knew what to do with.
In the books of the Law, we read the Ten Commandments and the entire book of Leviticus.  There are direct commandments from God about how to conduct worship and practical laws about getting along with other people in society.  There are even some stories with examples of how God’s commandments are to be lived out.
In the Prophets, we read the sermons that were preached and lived out by prophetic spokesmen like Isaiah.  They spoke God’s word to God’s people.  In many cases, the prophets called God’s people to repentance.  God’s people abandoned the teachings of the Law and were chasing after false gods—or even trying to live as if there was no God.
And, Jesus says everything we read in the Law and Prophets is summed up in the Golden Rule.  If you don’t want to be murdered, then don’t murder others.  If you don’t want your spouse committing adultery, don’t commit adultery.  If you don’t want people stealing from you, don’t steal from others.  If you don’t want people to lie to you, don’t lie to them.  If you don’t want people coveting your possessions, don’t covet what other people have.
Wait, that’s not the Golden Rule.  That’s the Silver Rule.  The Golden Rule teaches us to value the lives of all people.  Give respect and dignity to all people.  Make your marriage and your spouse your priority.  Value honesty in all relationships.  Be content with your own possessions and recognize that everything you have is a gift from God.  This sums up the entire Old Testament.

Jesus’ Golden Rule Can Be Proven from the Character of God.
A third foundation for the Golden Rule can be found in the character of God himself.
There are several things we can say about the character of God.  We can use the “omni” words to describe God.  God is Omnipotent—all powerful.  God is Omniscient—all knowing.  God is Omnipresent—all places at all times.  Or, we can talk about God in even more basic terms.  God is Love.  God is Good.
The overarching story of the Bible is the story of God’s Love for his creation, specifically his Love for all humanity.  God created humanity and called us good.  God pursued humanity to be in relationship with himself.  He called Abraham to be a blessing to all nations.  He chose Israel to be the instrument God used to show his Love to all the world.  Ultimately, God expressed his Love through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth—God’s “only begotten Son.”
Throughout the Bible we observe God as the source of all good gifts.  God sends the good sunshine and the good rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.  God is never the source of evil.  Evil is present in our world, but God never causes evil.  Instead, God provides us the resources we need to overcome evil.  The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus have defeated evil once and for all—sin, death and Satan still rage against us, but they have already been defeated.  The Holy Spirit provides us with the presence of God in our lives to walk with us, even as we walk “through the valley of the shadow of death.”
Jesus tells us that we can know the goodness of God by observing the ways we are capable of doing good deeds ourselves.  We are sinful.  We don’t always do what we know to be the right things.  But, we have moments of brightness.  Even an evil and sinful person like me can give good gifts.  If I can give good gifts, how much more can God do?  After all, God is not sinful, not evil, and not motivated by selfish ambitions.

Conclusion
For the past four weeks, I have been emphasizing the fact that Jesus expects all of his disciples to be on mission to share the Gospel with others.  Now, I am giving you some examples of ways you can speak about your faith.  Morality is one way to engage in spiritual conversations.  No one is completely subjective in their view of morality.  There are absolute Moral Values and absolute Universal Evils.  You were created by a Good God.  And you were created to know and discover the objective values God placed in his creation.

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