Week 12 Tuesday (Year 1)

Readings: Genesis 13:2, 5-18; Psalm 15; Matthew 7:6, 12-14

At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives his listeners the Golden Rule, 'do to others what you would have them do to you'. It is found in other philosophies and religions, sometimes expressed positively, as here, and sometimes expressed negatively - 'do not treat others as you would not want to be treated by them'. If the whole world were to live by this rule we would have heaven on earth, as long as how we want others to treat us is itself morally good.

And there's the rub, or that's what makes other rules for living necessary. Lot, in the first reading, chooses what seems like the better part in dividing up the land with his uncle Abraham - fertile, well-watered land, to be preferred to the part he left to Abraham. But it means Lot now lives close to Sodom, a city notorious for its immorality, and which will do great damage in the long run to Lot and his family.

Abraham meanwhile moves off to live and work in the territory given to him. The fact that they were both so rich is the root of the problem. Their herdsmen were at odds, presumably over access to good pasture.

Abraham's life, though, is being guided by God who renews his promise that Abraham's territory - here hinting at a spiritual kingdom extended across time - will stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction. Where Lot went to live near Sodom, Abraham stayed in Canaan, in the land given to him by God. And so Abraham stayed close to God, building at Hebron an altar to the Lord.

Possessions, envy, rivalry, conflict, greed, power - all these things and more enter inevitably into human relations and make it impossible, without God's grace, to establish the kingdom of the Golden Rule. So, perhaps surprisingly when we first hear the Golden Rule, the way is narrow that leads to life and few find it, the way is broad that leads to destruction and more find that. Again, this is how it will be without God's grace.

Abraham is already a messenger and witness of grace, therefore, in his worship of God and his constant acknowledgment of God's presence. He is a messenger and a witness also in his faith and trust in the promises of God which will continue to sustain him so that he can begin to be that father of a great multitude by coming to the help of Lot when matters come to a head at Sodom.

Abraham is one of the first human beings to realise that a humanitarian Golden Rule will not be adequate. It must become theological - not just do to others what you would want them to do to you, but do to others as God has done, and is doing, to you.