"YOU CAN BE PERFECT AND NOT DRIVE YOURSELF CRAZY"
Matthew 5:43-48
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 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.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors
do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?
Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus said some pretty shocking things during the course of his ministry and this was one of them.
“You therefore, must be perfect,” Jesus said, “as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (RSV)
Perfection, the German conductor Otto Klemperer believed in it. Because of that, he always expected
the very best from himself and his orchestra. It also meant that he didn’t praise his orchestra very often. On one occasion,
however, after a particularly inspiring rehearsal he did congratulate the orchestra with an enthusiastic, "Good!" Upon hearing
the compliment the orchestra burst into applause. It didn’t last very long though. Klemperer's smile quickly turned
into his more familiar scowl, and he growled, "Not that good."
In putting the standard of perfection out there, Jesus seems to be suggesting that half-hearted
efforts and slip-shod results just aren’t acceptable. Apparently, you have to know it all and be able to do it all. Interestingly enough, a lot of people seem to have bought into standard of perfection. You see it in the long hours that people work. You see it in the hectic schedules
people have when they’re not at work. You see it in the kids who are shuffled from one activity to another, day after
day after day. We’ve created a society that is obsessed with winning; a society where people are driven to succeed no
matter what the cost. After all, perfection means that only those who are #1 can truly be honored.
I might add that ministers aren’t immune from this standard of perfection. In fact, a lot
of times the expectations are even higher. That’s why you have to smile at an article that appeared in a church publication
some time ago. After announcing that the perfect pastor had finally been found, the article went on to describe him. According
to the article, “He preaches exactly 15 minutes and then sits down. He
always condemns sin, but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works from 8 in the morning to 10 at night and doing everything
from saving souls to moping the floor in the church’s kitchen. He makes
$200 a week and gives $150 of it back to the church. Then uses the rest to drive
a new car, wear nice closes, and buy lots of books. The perfect pastor is 36
years old and has been preaching for 40 years. He has a burning desire to work
with the youth and spends all of his time with the elderly. He makes fifteen
calls on parishioners each day, spends all his time visiting potential new members and is always in his office for those in
need of a little counseling. Unfortunately, the perfect pastor burned himself
out and died at the age of 32.”
That’s the way it is for a lot of people these days. No wonder people are so stressed out.
Maybe you feel that way yourself at times. You keep doing more and more but no matter what you do it’s isn’t good
enough because it isn’t perfect. You can be a super parent, a pillar of the church and a volunteer for any number of
charities and still be miserable because it still isn't good enough. In spite
of all your hard work, you didn't get a 4.0 grade point average in college. You
didn't break the sales record at the office and you still loose your temper every now and then at home. You may be the closest thing on earth to a living saint, but you're still not perfect.
Perfection is a standard that can only make life difficult for you. If that’s true, then
why did Jesus say, “You therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect?” If Jesus was so kind
and compassionate why would he insist that you have to be something that you can’t possibly be? Before you can answer that question you have to remember that the New Testament was originally written
in Greek. That's important, because the Greek word for perfect means something
very different from what we usually mean when we talk about something being perfect. In English, something is perfect if it
doesn’t have any faults or flaws. The Greek word for perfect, on the other hand, is teleios, and it applies to anything
that serves the purpose for which it was created.
What that means, for example, is that a pair of sunglasses is teleios if it adequately protects
your eyes from the sun's ultra-violet rays. Sun glasses that look good, but don't shield your eyes from those ultra-violet
rays would not be considered teleios. This understanding of perfection would
also say that a Timex watch is just as perfect as a Rolex, as long as it keeps accurate time.
A little over a year ago there was an article in the church newsletter about Edna Ferrell and
Planned Giving. The article brought you back to the service that was held to celebrate Edna’s life after she died. That was before my time. So, the service was led by our pastor emeritus, the Rev.
Dr. Hal Fohlin. In the service, Rev. Fohlin talked about Edna’s life using these words from the Sermon on the Mount. “You therefore must be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” People were surprised since Edna was far from perfect. Because of her stroke she did
a lot of things imperfectly. She dropped things and forgot things. When she lit
the Advent candles she couldn’t read the written words in front of her. So,
she just stood there and wept for joy. “Edna,” Rev. Fohlin said,
“was perfect.” Then he smiled and said, “She was perfect at being Edna.” (Hilltop News, December 2003)
When you understand what the Greek word for perfect really means, you realize what Jesus was really
getting at when he spoke those challenging words. When Jesus said you have to
be perfect, he wasn't suggesting that you have to push yourself to be a super human being.
What he really meant is that you have to serve the purpose for which you were created and sent into this world.
If you're wondering what your purpose is in this world, you’ll find the answer to that question
in the verses leading up to the challenge to be perfect. Jesus said, "You have
heard it said that, 'You should 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."
You were created to love and to be loved. So, your
perfection lies not in striving to be better than everyone else, but in finding the best way to use your gifts so you bring
a little more love into the world.
What that means is the perfect boss isn’t the CEO who gets a new contract with an $18 million stock
option. The perfect boss is the CEO who looks out for his employees. The perfect cook isn’t the person who graduates from the prestigious Cordon Blu in Paris. It’s the person who bakes some slightly burnt cookies for the family next door that just moved
into the neighborhood. The perfect athlete isn’t the baseball player who
makes it to the hall of fame. The perfect athlete is the baseball player who goes to the hospital to bring a few smiles to
the faces of some sick kids.
Jesus knew that perfection will not be found in your grandiose achievements, but in the simplicity
of your love.
So, if you want to be perfect the way Jesus wants you to be perfect, you have to stop trying to
be perfect the way society says you have to be perfect. You have to accept your limitations and your imperfections that really
don’t matter. You need to do what a homeowner was told to do when it came
to the dandelions in his lawn. The homeowner took great pride in his lawn. He spent hours weeding it and watering it and fertilizing it and mowing it. Despite all of his hard work though, he couldn’t seem to get rid of the dandelions. Finally, in his frustration he wrote a letter to the Department of Agriculture. After explaining the problem and everything he’d done to correct the problem he asked, “What
should I try next?” A few weeks later he received a reply that suggested,
“Try getting used to them.”
There you go. Try getting used to them. Try getting used to your limitations and your imperfections
that don’t really matter.
There's a story about a mother who was asked by a therapist which of her children she loved the
most. The mother said, "I love all three of my children the same." The therapist
didn’t believe her though and ended up challenging her. “Come on now," the therapist said. "It's psychologically
impossible for anyone to regard any three human beings exactly the same." At that point the mother said defiantly, "All right. I don't love all three of them the same. When
one of them is sick, I love that child more. When one of them is confused, I
love that child more. When one of them comes to me in pain, I love that child more.
And when one of them is really bad, I love that child more. Except for
that, I love all my children about the same."
That woman was closer to perfection than her therapist.
He may have had a bigger bank account and a lot of degrees on his wall, but she knew how to love. “You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Amen.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
June 5, 2005
