Do You Want To Be Perfect?
Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday at the early service our family played a musical offering on handbells. We had practiced the piece working through our errors and it paid off and the congregation received it with applause. But it was not flawless. Ruth Bell Graham once said, “Christianity is like good music, in that it is written better than it can be played.” And so, it is in how our life is played out too and perhaps why God takes our imperfections and, in the end, makes them righteously imputed and what is remembered. So, along the way, when life takes a loved one…when we are asked to do something very hard… like Ezekiel, we should not expect the Lord to be easy on us in those moments but only to be with us on the journey helping us to get better. Friends, sometimes the events of life are hard. Perhaps when you are confronted with such problems you might confront questions like the one Jesus asked of a young man. Do You Want To Be Perfect?
Scripture: The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners. So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded. Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting this way?” Then I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me: Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and your heart’s desire; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and groan to one another. Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; you shall do just as he has done. When this comes, then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
Ezekiel 24:15-24 (NRSV)
Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Matthew 19:16-22 (NRSV)
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48 (NRSV)
Message: There is a story in Matthew 19 about a rich young man who wanted eternal life. He had kept all the commandments but still was not perfect. And the thing is that we can learn something from him related to our quest for life. For the thing is that we are engineered as humans missing something. Everyone lacks something. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So, part of the task here is to face up to the reality of what we are lacking and what we are willing to do and the reality that we cannot do it alone. We cannot buy it. We cannot afford the price of eternal life. Only Jesus can save us. Good works, not matter how good cannot save us. Money did not save the young rich man in the story. The only way to be saved is to cry out to Jesus who is perfect. Perhaps you get the impression the Lord wants something from His followers we are constitutionally unable to give. If so, you are spot on right. So, I am not exactly sure why Jesus commands us to be perfect knowing that we will fail, but he does.
Ezekiel, in contrast to the rich young ruler in the Gospel message, did not go away from God grieving but pressed on to obey God, even to the point where obeying God put him into uncomfortable situations. He was asked to do many difficult things. But Ezekiel did not sit hopelessly brooding when his wife died. He obeyed the imperative call of duty. Ezekiel does not question God but shows himself as a man of faith, fortitude and courage who can bear sorrow because of his faith. He endures and triumphs over things that make others bitter, cynical and rebellious. His faith could not be conquered even by sorrow. Maybe he would never be the same, but life would go on because he had matured in the faith.
So, this brings us back to what it means to be perfect and moreover perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. And here friends, I would suggest to you that we as Christians are not to place the cruel burden of perfectionism on ourselves and others but are called to press on. We are not perfect now and can never be aside from God transforming us at the end of time. So, perhaps something is lost in the translation in our understanding of the word perfect. Perhaps it is about the purpose of life that matures in its ending to reach a greater potential that God understands, and we do not. Indeed friends, we need constant reminding that God is Holy, and we are not. It is true that in Christ, we are perfect, that God looks at us and sees Jesus. But even though we have been forgiven this is not fully imputed to us now. Perfection is a characteristic bestowed on mortals, not in this life, but when Christ returns, and we see the Lord in all the glory intended from the beginning.
Pray we keep practicing until we can practice no more. Pray we realize that obeying the Lord is not always comfortable, but it is always the right thing to do. Pray we be comforters of the broken-hearted and encouragers to others despite the cost. Pray we ask Jesus for help. Pray we be a sign of great faith to others. Pray we endure. Pray we realize that we are never going to be perfect on our own but only when we realize that we can take nothing with us into the next life aside from our love relationship with God. Pray we always live in God’s mercy and depend on God’s strength. Pray we keep trying but also discover a maturity in believing differently.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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