Here is a link to our Gospel reading for today from Matthew:
http://bit.ly/1bVvmkh
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Wow. That is quite a statement. Taken at face value in English, that is a pretty overwhelming and scary statement. How on earth can we be perfect as God is perfect? Now, I don’t know about you, but I am far from being perfect and this verse from the Bible leaves me feeling like I should just give up now. Why even try when I know I can’t achieve perfection?
Well, when I have this kind of reaction to a passage from Scripture, my first inclination is to preach on some other reading, any other reading, but I also know from experience, that when I have this kind of negative reaction to a passage from Scripture, that God is calling me to stick with the passage and go deeper. So that is what I did. The way that this verse is translated into English sounds like a command to a kind of moral perfectionism, but that’s not what the original language, Greek, actually means. “Perfect,” in this case, stems from the Greek word telos. Telos is the Greek word for “goal,” “end,” or “purpose.” The sense of the word is more about becoming what was intended, accomplishing one’s God-given purpose in the same way that God constantly reflects God’s own nature and purpose. I think Eugene Peterson’s translation of this passage in The Message gets closer to the real meaning. Peterson translates it: “You are kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity.”
Well, when I have this kind of reaction to a passage from Scripture, my first inclination is to preach on some other reading, any other reading, but I also know from experience, that when I have this kind of negative reaction to a passage from Scripture, that God is calling me to stick with the passage and go deeper. So that is what I did. The way that this verse is translated into English sounds like a command to a kind of moral perfectionism, but that’s not what the original language, Greek, actually means. “Perfect,” in this case, stems from the Greek word telos. Telos is the Greek word for “goal,” “end,” or “purpose.” The sense of the word is more about becoming what was intended, accomplishing one’s God-given purpose in the same way that God constantly reflects God’s own nature and purpose. I think Eugene Peterson’s translation of this passage in The Message gets closer to the real meaning. Peterson translates it: “You are kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity.”
So what is our God-created identity? Well, we were created by God to love not hate, to forgive rather than begrudge, to embrace rather than protect, to share rather than hoard, to heal rather than wound. But so often we chose to cover up our God-created identity. So often we choose to hide the light of Christ that is in each of us. So often because of our own pain and woundedness we hide our God-created identity, we behave in ways that diminish the light of Christ within us. So often our more extreme or negative behaviors come from this pain and woundedness. As a wise friend once said to me, “Heal yourself and you heal the world.”
So, what gets in your way of being the kind of person that God created you to be? What wounds or pain do you carry around with you that diminish the light of Christ within you? What is holding you back from living fully and totally into your God-given identity of being a loving, giving, light-bearing and generous human being?
So, what gets in your way of being the kind of person that God created you to be? What wounds or pain do you carry around with you that diminish the light of Christ within you? What is holding you back from living fully and totally into your God-given identity of being a loving, giving, light-bearing and generous human being?
I invite you to take a moment in silence to turn inward and to think for a moment about yourself. Think for a moment about the things--fear, memories, hurts, resentments—that keep you from embracing and becoming the person God wishes you to be. What is it, what wound, pain, or hurt are you carrying around within in you that diminishes the light of Christ that is in you? What part of you is afraid that you might not really be the beloved God-created person that God knows you to be?
Now I want you to imagine that you are placing this pain, this hurt, these wounds, your fears on the altar and offering whatever it is that diminishes your light up to God. Imagine that God is taking your wounds, your pain, your suffering from you. Imagine that God is taking those things from you that diminish your light so that you might live fully and totally into your God-given identity.
Now on a slip of paper write: “You are God’s beloved child. Be what you have been called to be.” Perhaps you could carry this slip of paper with you throughout the week, pulling it out when it seems particularly hard to follow Jesus in the way of love. Perhaps you could read this slip of paper when you find yourself falling back into a place of fear, hurt, and woundedness. Perhaps this slip of paper could be a reminder to you that the light of Christ is within you too.
Now on a slip of paper write: “You are God’s beloved child. Be what you have been called to be.” Perhaps you could carry this slip of paper with you throughout the week, pulling it out when it seems particularly hard to follow Jesus in the way of love. Perhaps you could read this slip of paper when you find yourself falling back into a place of fear, hurt, and woundedness. Perhaps this slip of paper could be a reminder to you that the light of Christ is within you too.
And maybe as we approach the season of Lent, a season when we often give something up or take on some discipline you could consider another possibility for the season. Perhaps this Lent you might consider taking on some practice that might help you live more fully into being the person that God created you to be. Or maybe this Lent you will give up some action, some way of thinking or way of being that is getting in the way of you being the person that God created you to be.
You are a beloved child of God. Let the Light of Christ that is within you shine forth. Be the person that God created you to be. A person who loves, gives, heals, nourishes, embraces and shares. For when you heal yourself, you heal the world.
You are a beloved child of God. Let the Light of Christ that is within you shine forth. Be the person that God created you to be. A person who loves, gives, heals, nourishes, embraces and shares. For when you heal yourself, you heal the world.
Let us pray,
O God of Love,
Look kindly upon the flame that is in each of our souls.
Thou it glows like a tiny sapphire,
Barely visible in the dark,
It contains the light of life.
It is precious to us,
For in this infant flame we know you dwell;
And as you choose to dwell in each of us,
So also must we be precious in your sight.
In your patience, Lord, never allow these flames,
however small, to be extinguished.
Let us nurture it in stillness,
Giving it ample room to breathe;
And grant us patience as we watch and feel it grow,
Slowly, imperceptibly,
Into the Light of Life. Amen.
“You are kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity.”