Who can declare the
mighty acts of the LORD or show forth all His praise? Psalm 106:2
O God, the protector of all who trust
in You, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply
upon all Your faithful people Your mercy; that, with You as our ruler and
guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things
eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Last week we explored Jesus' familiar exhortation,
most often translated as "be perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect." A much better translation might be "be merciful." Only
God is perfect. But we can participate in God's perfect mercy, God's
all-inclusive and impartial love. -Richard Rohr
Since
this mercy thing is what I am seeking from God so that I may be holy, with
clear undistracted vision as to what is temporal (this world’s systems) and
what is eternal (faith, hope and charity), I went back to the Scriptures looking for context for Jesus’ familiar exhortation.
Short Answer: In context "you are to be
perfect" means "you are to love as God loves: without
partiality"
Justification
First, consider the immediate context:
You have heard
that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I
say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that
you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to
rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do
not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers,
what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Matthew 5:43-48
Here Jesus is
clarifying that (despite popular opinion) the intent of God's commandment was
for His people to love everyone --
even their enemies. He then goes on to provide evidence that God exhibits
this kind of impartial love (by citing His care for the wicked), thereby
establishing the basis for His clarification of God's commandment. Jesus then
clarifies that the attitude that you will "love those who love you"
is nothing special; even the wicked do this. He then concludes with the
following:
"Therefore you
are to be perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect."
In other words,
having just explained how the
Father is "perfect," and instructing God's people to behave
similarly, He is now concluding with a summary statement.
So the flow of the paragraph could be summarized as
follows:
You have heard
"love with partiality" but I say to you "love
impartially" so you can be sons of the Father; for the Father loves
impartially. If you love with partiality, you are nothing special... even the
wicked do that. Therefore, you are to love perfectly as the Father loves
perfectly.
Answering
the critics
Summarizing "perfection" as "love" may
be a shock to modern interpreters, but it would not have been to the
Apostles. For example, Paul wrote:
Owe nothing to
anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has
fulfilled the law. -Romans 13:8
For the whole Law
is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” -Galatians 5:14
James likewise contrasted partiality with fulfilling the
"royal law":
If, however, you
are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you
are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. -James 2:8-9
Jesus Himself clarified that the sign of a true disciple
was his love for others:
(The list goes on, but that should suffice for now.)
So it is not hard to see from Scripture that
"perfection" (or "completeness" / "maturity"),
"fulfilling the Law," and "loving others" are synonymous.
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And
this morning, as I kicked back and forth across Hillenbrand Pool, there was the
most glorious pink and orange and gold billowing sunrise imaginable. Really.
After the dark and stormy and crazy crashy storm last night.
And
Annissa takes amazing sunset pictures, which aren’t the same thing, but they
are still breathtaking.
Awe.
Who could have cast this light?
Which is the point.
Who could have cast this light?
Which is the point.
And
that is one way that God speaks to us, by writing what is true in creation, so
that none are with excuse. It is only through walking in darkness that we truly
can celebrate the light. Those who have sinned most, love most. The dawn is
brightest after the darkest night.
And
as I kicked, my heart sang His praise. And I sang the “Deep, Deep Love of
Jesus” song from the Audrey Assad cd in my car. And I delighted in Him without
whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy,
nothing is perfect.
And
I am still praying every day, that He, the Most Highest and Glorious God give
me perfect charity. Perfect. As He is perfect and complete. That I may be
complete.
May
it be so, O God, as I walk into the day, bombarded from every side by
partiality, that I live in Your mercy. Complete in your love.
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