Good Morning Friends,
We have a challenge as Christians, and it is in responding to scripture’s call for us to be perfect. And the thing is that most of us get the concept wrong from the beginning. Some think it is about not upsetting the apple cart until we realize that Jesus, the model for us to emulate, created a lot of controversy. We think about the tests we have taken and not gotten a perfect score and conclude that we can never be perfect. We think about the unintentional as well as intentional hurt we have caused others and give up forgetting that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called to God’s purpose. Friends, only when God’s perfect redeeming love fills us to overflowing, casting out all fear will we be transformed by the Holy Spirit… only then will we be able to love our enemies in ways that transform and do not exploit our desire to duty… only then will we know God’s will and act on it in a way that completes us. But I am getting ahead of text for today. Perhaps failing once again but still desiring a time when God brings deliverance and the reality of Jesus becomes our joy. The challenge is to have a perfect and complete love not just of the historical Jesus but also those he tells us to love. And that is not easy until we realize that God’s love changes everything.
The challenge is to be patient enough for God to act in a way that transforms us. And so, we as we approach Lent and evaluate the status of our lives, we ask a question about love. Are Our Hearts Hopeful, Happy And Holy?
Scripture: O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying to me, “There is no help for you in God.” Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people! Selah
Psalm 3 (NRSV)
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 (NRSV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. “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 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. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:38-48 (NRSV)
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 3:16-23 (NRSV)
and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5 (NRSV)
Message: Today we take Sunday’s chosen text from the lectionary. The heart of it is from Matthew and comes from the Sermon on the Mount.
To understand the message, we must hear it with the ears of a first century Jew living in a land under Roman occupation. It is in this context that Jesus gives a sermon about litigation and compensation and why in that place and time it makes sense to be generous with grace, be stingy with hatred…why it makes sense to carry a Roman’s supplies for two miles instead of the required one under Roman law. In today’s message we learn to value Godliness over earthly status. We learn we are neither to be exploited nor to exploit but to take careful aim at the right target. Here we learn that the world’s operating systems do not work in the kingdom to come. They are not compatible. Today we embrace the cornerstone of Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom… about love…about the power of the Gospel message to save everyone, even our enemies. The focus, the target is on the power of love to change us…to change everything. Here the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit creates hope in us to be made whole. Here perfection is completeness. And in this transformation as Christians, though it is difficult to get our head around being perfect, we can nevertheless boast in our hope of sharing in Christ’s glory in heaven while all the while being humble in the reality, we are still sinners. Nevertheless, beginning with the end in mind and it is clear that God in both the Old and New Testaments demands nothing less than perfection.
And So, so without God we are toast in meeting the standard. Still we might resist the doctrine of perfectionism chiefly because we see the record of the greatest saints in biblical history and in church history who to a person confessed the fact that they, to their dying day, struggled with ongoing sin in their lives. Not the least of which, of course, was the apostle Paul, who talked about his ongoing thorn in the flesh. But perhaps the point is to reach a level of maturity in our growth that has spiritual integrity…love. The basic call here is to reflect the character of God. We were created in the image of God and so in a way we can share in the experience of perfection when the Holy Spirit gives us victory over sin and renders us morally complete. So, before you conclude that it is impossible to achieve moral perfection in this world consider that it is unlikely that Jesus would ask us to do that which is impossible. However, that which is impossible for us is possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. But if we get arrogant about this when filled with love, we again miss the mark as well. The New Testament tells us that with every temptation we meet, God gives us a way to escape that temptation. He always gives us enough grace to overcome sin. Even the sin of thinking more of ourselves than we ought. So, sin in the Christian life, is inevitable because of our weakness and because of the multitude of opportunities we have to sin. But on a given occasion, it is never, ever necessary. So, in that sense, we could theoretically be perfect, though none of us is. Still it is good to fight the good fight realizing that there is a peril of perfectionism, not in setting the mark high but in believing we are achieving it. If we think we are becoming perfect, then we are probably further from it than we would like to believe.
Pray we are all in. Pray we reflect the character of God realizing we are not God. Pray we share a love in the Holy Spirit that transforms us and others to act in a way that is like the character of God. Pray that we learn to love with the kind of love that changes everything. Pray that this love consumes us, burning in our hearts with a passion that transforms our relationships and molds our speech and breaks our hearts for those in need. Pray that we pardon as an act of faith, that we set at liberty even our enemies to enjoy peace, fellowship, joy and the hope of God’s glory. Pray that we stand in God’s agape love…in this place of grace…this place of power of believers united and completed. Pray that we in hope of what God makes possible practice responsible generosity and mercy. Pray in the hope of Jesus’ sacrificial love making others whole as well. Pray that our hearts overflow with love, hope and charity as well as purity. Pray we never delude ourselves into thinking we are perfect now but pray in the Spirit that we have hope in this holiness in the life to come. Pray we realize that when we love, God will help fight our battles for us so we too might in time share in the glory of God’s perfection in heaven even as we get glimpses of perfection even now. Pray we have faith in what we see.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 