George Buttrick

George Buttrick was (for many years) pastor of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. One week he had been off on a speaking engagement and was flying back to New York City. On the plane he had a pad and a pencil and he was making some notes for next Sunday's sermon. The man seated next to him was eyeing him with curiosity. Finally, the curiosity got the best of him, and so he said to Buttrick:
"I hate to disturb you-you're obviously working hard on something-but what in the world are you working on?"
"Oh, I'm a Presbyterian minister," said Buttrick. "I'm working on my sermon for Sunday."
"Oh, religion," said the man. "I don't like to get all caught up in the ins and outs and complexities of religion. I like to keep it simple. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' The Golden Rule, that's my religion."
"I see," said Buttrick. "And what do you do?"
I teach at the university."
"Oh yes," said Buttrick. "Astronomy - I don't like to get all caught up in the ins and outs and complexities of astronomy. Twinkle, twinkle little star, that's my astronomy."[1] It probably was not one of Buttrick's finer pastoral moments, but I imagine it felt like a pretty good comeback at the time. There is, of course, nothing wrong with the Golden Rule. It is found in the Sermon on the Mount, too.. But Canadian pastor Edwin Searcy is right, I think, when he says,
It is little wonder that it is common to summarize Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount with one verse, the "Golden Rule." I have a hunch that this is a strategy that conveniently enables us to shift our attention away from verses that portray the hellfire to be faced if we are angry with a sister or brother....[2] Looking at our Scripture lessons today, Searcy says, "This is not a Sunday for soft-pedaling the gospel. [Both] Moses and Jesus portray the life of faith as a ‘yes' or a ‘no' to God with lives that obey or that