Be Perfect?

Gen 16:1-18:15, Matt 6:1-24, Psalm 7:1-17, Prov 2:1-15

I am going to cheat today, and go back to something I have been thinking about from yesterday.  (Today’s readings are loaded, so happy reading.)

Included with the whole love your enemies thing is a conclusion that says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Be perfect?  And on the same week that includes New Year’s resolutions?  I have already disappointed myself by not working out every day.  I already have not been as patient as I promised with the kids.  I am working on being a better husband, but didn’t listen very well to my spouse’s concerns last night?  I have enough trouble with perfection with those closest to me, and then I am supposed to give a stranger my coat, and love my enemy, and go another mile?

As I have wrestled many times with this ‘Be perfect’ thing, maybe the wrestling is exactly the point.  What in your life are you striving to improve?  I recall how much I practiced on saxophone.  I was pretty good at it.  But this was not without a great amount of effort.  And the more I practiced, the better I became.  The better I became, the more I enjoyed playing.  The goal was perfection.  But this was always nuanced with the reality that perfection is impossible.  The journey was better combining the enjoyment with the goal.

I believe this is what Jesus is talking about.  Being a great sax player? Not.  But striving for our perfection in a vital and alive faith.  One where our practice is focused on loving God and loving neighbor in all we do.  Other than the master, no one did this perfectly.  But with this goal in mind, our desire leads us to improvement.  And as we improve, we find life has more meaning and we become more fully alive.

So this New Year, let us strive to be perfect.  Even though I fall short, I am thankful to have a community surrounding me that helps encourage me to be better and picks me up when I fall.  Being perfect is something we work on together. Faith is a team sport (or a marching band).  And it is worth it because we have a heavenly Father who created us perfectly, loves us perfectly.  One who is perfect.

Happy New Year!

Pastor Rob