The Golden Rule
On Easter Sunday afternoon, our neighborhood had an Easter parade. I might say more of this in another forum, but suffice it to say, it was a delightful, unprecedented event in which many of us left our homes and walked through our streets…six feet apart, of course…greeting those who chose not to walk but were grateful for the entertainment.
It was really a delightful time and I had a lot of conversations with a lot of people that I do not know…well, or at all. In fact, one man apparently felt comfortable enough with me to wade into a little neighborhood politics. He was torqued that a neighbor across the street had planted the trees they did. They had promised to plant dwarf trees, but it was already obvious that they weren’t very “dwarfy.” Which meant that his view would be impacted, a perennial sore point among neighbors.
He said, “They don’t care. They’ve got their view.” And I replied, “Wouldn’t it be great if every neighbor lived by the Golden Rule? If they imagined how they would feel in the other’s shoes and acted accordingly.” He almost jumped on top of my comment. “Yes! Exactly! That’s the way we ought to treat each other!”
This Sunday we kick off our post-Easter sermon series called, “Elevate Others.” The truly gifted among you will remember that this phrase, “Elevate Others,” is the second part of our new mission statement: Chapel Hill exists to exalt Jesus, elevate others, and launch disciple-makers.”
Of the three parts, this is the one that requires a little extra explication. And frankly, the longer we are in COVID-19 lock-down, the more we will need to be reminded to put others first, to be generous to others, to treat others as we’d want to be treated.
I am already hearing stories of how you are living out this call to “elevate others” and I am excited to share them with you in the coming weeks. We will begin with a deep dive into a very short verse, perhaps the best-known of all of Jesus’ teachings. But, maybe not as well understood as you might think! We can’t wait to “See” you Sunday at 10:00 am!
And for a little extra credit from last Sunday, “Shalom a lechem!”