Meditation for 23 September 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Matthew 5:38-48

[Jesus opened his mouth and taught his disciples, saying] 38 ‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” ³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; ⁴⁰and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; ⁴¹and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴²Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” ⁴⁴But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Maturity, Not Perfection

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Whew!  Do you have trouble with this verse?  Yeah, so do I.  Here are two reactions that I have:  1) What about the old expression, “Nobody’s perfect!”?  How am I supposed to be perfect, when the standard is my heavenly Father?  2) Memories of my childhood come up, especially those times when my parents always seemed to want a little bit more, even when I had done well.  “What’s the story with this A-, Pete?”  Those messages that I’ve carried around most of my life – that I am never quite good enough – get triggered by this verse.  And I can tell you from experience that “never quite being enough” is not a helpful message!

What helps me is to know that “perfect”, at least in the way that you and I tend to think of the word, is probably not the best translation of this verse.  A better translation would be, “Be whole (or complete, or mature), just as your heavenly Father is whole/complete/mature.”  It harkens back to Yahweh’s words to Moses, captured in Leviticus 19:2, which Moses was to pass on to all the congregation of Israel:  “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”  There is a relationship between the word “holy” and the word “whole”.  To be holy is to strive to be whole and mature like God, to know the commandments and to live them out, to do everything you can to hear the Lord’s voice and do what you hear Him calling you to do, to follow Jesus and to make it a priority to try to live as Jesus lived.

To put things in another way, “perfect” in Matthew 5:48 has a context.  And the context is found in everything that leads up to this verse, and in other parts of this sermon Jesus gave when he was on the mountain.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with not seeking revenge.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with thinking about your brother or sister at least as much as you think about yourself.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with not drawing a “love circle” – those whom you love – that is too small.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with telling the truth, and not stealing from others, and not cheating on yourself or others, and not being jealous of what others have.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with putting God first in your life, and not treating anything that is not God as if it were God (money, another person, your country, etc.).  To be perfect or mature has something to do with greeting everyone, and respecting the dignity of every person, and seeking justice for all people, no matter what their race, creed, age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. happens to be.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with responding to the needs of others as best as you can, and being compassionate.  It also has something to do with being compassionate toward yourself.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with loving your enemies as well as your neighbors, and praying for your enemies as well as your friends.  It has something to do with learning that “neighbor” – as in “love your neighbor” – is usually a much broader category of folks than we tend to think it is.  To be perfect or mature has something to do with figuring out what you want or need to say “yes” to, and what you want or need to say “no” to, and following through on the things you said “yes” to.

It’s still very difficult to become mature, to come to “the measure of the full stature of Christ”, as it says in Ephesians 4:13.  But to me, it’s not as daunting a goal as trying to be perfect.  The recipe seems to be this:  keep striving to follow Jesus, keep trying to do the things Jesus did.  And one day, you will discover that God is transforming you into a more complete, whole, mature, and yes – even holy – person.  And instead of hearing how we have fallen short of perfection, we will hear the Lord saying to us, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joy of your Master.” (cf. Matthew 21:14-30)