Perfection!

Yesterday we had a baptism during worship, this was the baptism we were suppose to have two weeks ago which was post-phoned due to the child being sick.  But yesterday went wonderfully with Adele only giving a brief cry during the blessing.  


The gospel yesterday was Matthew 5:38-48 which includes Jesus telling people to turn the other cheek and to love their enemy.  I think it was because of the baptism that I talked about perfection, as the gospel ends with verse 48 stating "Be perfect therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect." Most pastors probably addressed yesterday the ideas of revenge, humility and what exactly Jesus means when he says to turn the other cheek.  And I do love this text because Jesus' meaning is not what it first seems to be.  However with a baptism, especially of a 4 month old, it seemed like perfection was in order.  


Enjoy!

You’ve heard it here, we are suppose to be perfect!  No problem right?!  It’s easy to be perfect.  We all had perfect grades because I know we all made it though elementary, high school and possibly college and grad school with a 4.0 and we aced every test we ever took.  And we all have perfect driving records, because none of us have speeding tickets or parking tickets on our driving records much less accidents or other moving violations. 

We all have perfect credit, making sure that each and every bill is paid off in full and on time, never once being a few days late or a few dollars short.  We also all have the perfect body, not a single extra ounce of fat on us.  Really we all could be on the cover of GQ or the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editions, but we are just modest. 

We all have the perfect memory, always remembering people’s names correctly, and none of us have ever forgotten someone’s birthday or anniversary, much less a to do something that we have promised we would do.

We all are perfect!  Right?! We all are the perfect spouse, parent, child, student, employee, boss.  Right?! 

Okay maybe we aren’t perfect.  In fact maybe it is impossible to be perfect.  Because even the most perfect person we know still has some flaws.  And no matter how hard we try to be perfect, we occasionally make mistakes.  And for many things perfection is in the eye of the beholder, the perfect body, the perfect personality, the perfect date, even the perfect cup of coffee, all vary based on who is describing it.

So maybe Jesus is not really telling us to be perfect here.  At least not in the “conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal” sense.  The word in the Greek is Telos which also translates to goal, end or purpose.  It means more about become what was intended.

I think the Message version of the bible translates verse 48 a little more accurately “You’re kingdom subjects.  Now live like it.  Live out your God-created identity.  Live generously and graciously towards others, the way God lives towards you.” 

And isn’t that less daunting too?   Instead of “be perfect” we are told to live out our God-created identity.  Isn’t that empowering?  Isn’t that awe-inspiring?  Isn’t that…just a bunch of fluff?  I mean what does it mean? 

It means that we are God’s children.  It means that we belong to Christ.  It means that we are God’s temple.  It means that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. 

God has created us and God has called us to use our very beings to do God’s work in this world.  God has created us to be people who care for one another and God has called us to do something about that through our actions.  God has created us to be people full of emotions and God has called us to set aside some of those emotions like vengeance and instead forgive.  God has created us to have a wide variety of abilities and God has called us to use those abilities to live generously and graciously.  God has created us each to be unique individuals with different sets of spiritual gifts and God calls us to use those gifts to love our enemy, pray for those who persecute us, to be hospitable to strangers, to care for those in need and to be God in this world. 

In a few minutes Adele Kristina will be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and she will be claimed as a child of God.  But before the water is poured out upon Adele, her parents Monika and Tyler will promise to help nurture Adele in her life in Christ, by living among faithful people as an example, they will promise to bring her to worship, to teach her the Lord’s Prayers, the Creed, the Ten Commandments and scripture and to pray for her.  And we all will promise to support Monika and Tyler and they raise Adele and to pray for Adele and her parents.  And we do all this so that Adele may “learn to trust God, proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.”  That is what it means to live out our God-created identity. 

God has claimed us as sons and daughters of God’s promise.  And God calls us to learn about God, proclaim Christ, care for God’s creation and work towards God’s goal for this earth.  And when we do those things, when we fulfill our baptismal promises, we are perfect.  And even when we fall short, we hopefully have learned to trust God to make us perfect even when we are not.