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The Impossible Imperative?

February 11, 2001

TEXT: MATTHEW 5:43-48

My wife and daughters love to watch ice-skating on television. My son and I love the women in our lives so we endure ice-skating on television!

It was 1993, and my oldest daughter and I were watching the Winter Olympics and keeping a close eye on the women's figure-skating events. Nancy Kerrigan seemed to have overcome her knee-bashing incident and was now skating for the gold.

The tension was high as Nancy went through the routine she had practiced literally hundreds of times. The international judges were scrutinizing every move she made. The pressure was mounting. And evidently the pressure became too much, because suddenly, without warning, my daughter threw her hands up in disgust and said in an exasperated voice: "I hate the Olympics!" I looked at her somewhat surprised and asked: "Why?" She said: "Because they expect you to be perfect - and you can't be!"

We can all relate to her frustration, can't we? We use phrases with our kids: "Practice makes perfect." But as soon as we do we smile a little inside because we know that "perfect" really only applies to things like math problems and test scores.

We hear someone say: "I've got the perfect marriage," and we nod approvingly, but we smile a little inside because we know that nobody really has a perfect marriage.

It's because deep inside we know that "perfection" can be applied to the sciences and formulas, but never to human behavior. Even the best of the best are not perfect. Michael Jordan still misses an occasional lay-up - Tiger Woods still slices an occasional drive - Monet didn't always paint exact water lilies - and Albert Einstein didn't come up with atomic principles every time he put pen to paper.

Baseball is a good example of that. Nobody expects perfection in baseball. The best baseball players in history can be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for having a lifetime batting average of .300. In fact, only one time in the modern baseball era has anyone ever hit over .400 in one season. Ted Williams holds the record for the best single season batting average in the history of baseball at .406. That means the best hitter of all time only got a hit 4 out of every 10 at bats. To expect anyone to get a hit every time is ludicrous. It's impossible!

Why? Because even the best of the best are not perfect! "Nobody's perfect," we say. "After, all we're only human. Nobody has perfect behavior! Nobody has faultless living! Nobody has perfect judgment! Nobody is free of mistakes! Nobdy! Why, only God himself has THAT kind of perfection!"

And yet into that kind of disillusionment, Jesus comes making another statement - and not just a statement, but a command. "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Can you believe Jesus said that? What a preposterous command! What an impossible imperative! I think I would have felt a little better if Paul had said that, or Abraham, or even Moses. But they didn't say it. Our Lord said it!

What exactly does Jesus mean by that? Think about it! For Jesus to espouse a life-style based on the assumption that we mere mortals are to act like God borders on the absurd. How is it possible for human beings who are vulnerable, finite, and mortal to be perfect "even" as God is perfect?

It's at this point that the church across the ages has tried to step in and interpret this verse in a way that takes some of the sting out of Jesus words. We have heard it said: "Holding high an expectation like perfection, that we all know is impossible, will only cause undue guilt and frustration. And so Jesus must have meant something different than it appears he said!"

It has been said: "Surely the language of Jesus here is metaphorical, and not to be taken literally. Jesus was only speaking for himself. He was the only perfect person to have ever lived. He never intended for us to follow this way literally."

It has been said: "No, that's not it. What Jesus is really referring to here is certain special people - heroic Christians like Mother Teresa and Billy Graham - ethical phenoms - super-saints. But it was never meant for the average Christian."

It has been said: "Jesus isn't talking here about a present reality at all. He's only talking about a future promise to be fulfilled in the life to come."

And the debate rages on! And yet none of the answers seem to be quite adequate, because what is so obvious about the Sermon on the Mount is its attention to the nitty-gritty details of everyday life.

Jesus appears to be giving very practical, very explicit directions for what to do when someone has done you wrong, when someone attacks you, or when you're married to someone. It seems very obvious that Jesus believed he was giving practical, everyday guidance on how to live as his disciples.

Which brings us to the second problem with the interpretations we have all heard. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is directed toward his disciples - common, ordinary people just like you and me. People who made mistakes, people who messed up, people who had a hard time getting along with each other. Those are the kind of folks that Jesus was addressing his sermon to. People just like us!

Which means that Jesus' teaching is not simply addressed to a few select individuals - it's addressed to the community of faith. He's not picking out certain individuals because it's precisely when we try to live our lives alone that we're most apt to fail as Christians.

What is Jesus really saying here? Is he calling us here to a morally flawless life? Is he calling us here to a life of no mistakes and no imperfections? What is this Christian perfection all about?

The word here that Jesus uses for "perfect" is an interesting word. It is the Greek word telios. It's a very commonly used word in the New Testament. And the word has several different meanings. But in regard to human beings it never is intended to mean "morally flawless" or to have "impeccable judgment."

It literally means mature, complete, and full grown. The Gospel of Luke uses the word to talk about fruit maturing on a tree and of a course being finished. The Gospel of John uses it to describe the fully realized unity of Jesus' followers. The Book of James uses the same word, telios, to characterize our good works as the completion of our faith. And the Apostle Paul used the word over and over to talk about maturity among Christians.

It was the Apostle Paul who wrote in Ephesians 4:13: "It was God who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ might be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become MATURE/telios, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

He uses the word again in three different forms in Philippians 3: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made PERFECT/telios, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do - forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the GOAL/telios to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. And all of us who are MATURE/telios should take a view of such things."

Telios! It's the same word used to describe a person coming of age, or moving from childhood to adulthood. And so it could even mean: "perfectly mature."

Ever since the Beatitudes, Jesus has been describing what his disciples are to look like. The goal is Christian adulthood - Christian maturity - Christian perfection.

From the beginning of chapter five we have learned that mature disciples love obedience to God's Word - that mature disciples keep communication open with the people around them - that mature disciples refuse to depersonalize others by lusting after them or being unfaithful.

Jesus has been teaching us that mature disciples are truth-speakers and promise-keepers - that they don't run around ready to fight at the drop of a hat -- and here in this context, that they are even given the grace to love their enemies.

That is the summary of chapter five. Those seven commands define Christian maturity, and they are all about relationships in the image of God! It is Matthew's way of reminding us that Jesus' call to perfection finds its fulfillment within the context of our relationships!

An example of that can be found right here in this text. Jesus says: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Why would we want to do that? Because our enemies and persecutors are people. And therefore to love and pray for them means more than simply asking God to change their attitudes and behavior toward you. Loving and praying for enemies is a major change of mind-set that sees them from God's point of view. It is to see them as people whom God loves and loves enough to send his Son to die for their sins.

Christian perfection is not about cleaning up, dusting off, and putting ourselves on a moral shelf above everyone else. Christian perfection is about loving relationships! And we are most like our Heavenly Father when we are in right relationship with each other. Which is another way of saying that we are least like God when we are in fractured and broken relationships.

That's the very reason why John Wesley referred to entire sanctification and holy living as "perfect love." Not perfect judgment - not perfect performance - not perfect actions. Perfect love!

You see, telios is not a vertical word. It is a horizontal word. It is not the height to which we climb to God. It is the breadth by which we embrace the people around us in Jesus' name.

Jesus said: "I want mercy and not sacrifice," which is another way of saying: "I want horizontal holiness. I want social maturity, not personal perfection." Why? Because our holiness is not for us - our holiness is for other people. And THAT is what perfect love is all about!

And why are we to strive for that? For one reason and one reason only: "So that we might be sons and daughters of our Father in heaven."

In Jesus' day, to be called a "son" or "daughter" was a figurative way of expressing the idea that a person shared the "quality" of someone or something. It was a way of describing someone's nature.

James and John were known as the "sons of thunder." That tells you a little bit about their personality. Barnabas was known as the "son of encouragement." And so to become a "son" or "daughter" of God, is to participate in his divine nature. And what is God's nature? It is unconditional love.

It's not that our holiness is to be identical with God's holiness. That would be an impossibility! But as "sons" and "daughters" of God the way we love is to correspond with his nature and we are to have his LIKE-ness.

That is the message of the Sermon on the Mount! It's not just some new and more stringent rules for us to try and live out. It is about Jesus trying to give us a picture of the way God is!

We are forever being confused into thinking that God's Word is given mainly as an instruction manual what we are supposed to do, rather than a picture of who God is!

If Jesus were saying that turning the other cheek is a useful way for bringing out the best in other people, then we might be able to say that Jesus was naive about the way the world works. If Jesus had argued that it makes good sense to make peace with someone who has wronged you, because by doing so it will bring out the best in the other person, then you could say that Jesus didn't have a good grasp of human nature. If Jesus guaranteed that loving our enemies would make them our friends, then we'd have to say that Jesus himself failed at that.

But Jesus said nothing of the sort! He is not calling simply to something that "works." He is calling us to the nature of God.

Christ followers turn the other cheek, go the second mile, remain pure in sexuality, and stay faithful to our vows because that's the way God is!

This Sermon on the Mount isn't a strategy for getting what we want out of people. This isn't a way to win friends and influence people. But it is the only manner of life available, now that in Jesus, we have seen what God is really like.

We seek reconciliation with our neighbor, not because we'll feel so much better afterward, but because reconciliation is what God is doing in the world through Christ. Our God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. He makes the sun to rise on the good and the bad. And as his children we also love without partiality or condition.

Christian perfection is looking at every person we meet through the eyes of Jesus and saying: "God helping me, I will never do anything to hurt you. I will not angrily lash out at you, lustfully use you, faithlessly leave you, verbally deceive you, protectively strike back at you, or justifiably hate you."

Christian perfection is saying: "By the grace of God, I will never do anything to hurt you." That's perfect love! And that's what Jesus is calling us to.

We can never be "as" God, but as his children we can bear his "likeness." That is Jesus' promise to us, and because God never calls us to that which he will not also provide, Christian perfection is not only possible, it is realized, whenever our relationships come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."