Be Perfect

Epiphany 7, Year A, 2011

Text: Leviticus 19: 1-2, 9-18; 1 Corinthians 3: 10-11, 16-23; Matthew 5: 38-48.

Let us bow our heads in prayer -
Loving God, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing. Pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love. Amen.
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For me the key to this passage is really right at the very end where Jesus says ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ Here Jesus is really calling us into right relationship with God, with others around us and with ourselves, and he’s summing up what he means in the rest of the passage and the proceeding passages that we have been hearing over the past few weeks in chapter five - as part of his Sermon on the Mount.

The purpose of our whole existence here as human beings is to be in relationship with God. That’s why we were created. Ultimately there can be no other purpose to our lives. When everything from this world has passed away only our relationship with God will remain.

Many of us who are open to this truth recognize this deep down within us and we too want a relationship with God. That’s why we are here today. We hear God’s call and feel God’s love for us, surrounding us.

Whilst we want this relationship often we can only see ourselves as islands, isolated by our egos and our own sense of specialness. We see ourselves as separate to God and to those around us, and because of that we fear God, we fear life, we fear those around us and we fear even ourselves. And the scary thing is that we fear so deeply we may not even recognize this within ourselves.

And it’s this fear that blocks us from understanding what life is really about. We trick ourselves into believing that the purpose of life is to gain for ‘me’. To gain that big house, that nice car, that world trip, that promotion.

It actually really doesn’t matter what we do in life. What is important is how we respond to the relationships we encounter in our daily lives, moment by moment. And it’s through these relationships that God has placed all around us that we are healed and in turn move into a deeper relationship with God.

A lot of people have talked to me recently about the lack of meaning in their jobs, maybe this has in part has be brought on by the stresses of the recent economic downturn. They say to me that I’m lucky as a Priest because of what I do. It’s true, I am lucky, and I do find a lot of meaning in what I do. But that meaning is found not in what I do but in the relationships within it.

Many people judge others by what they do for a job, and a lot of people define themselves by what they do for a job. But in the purpose of God and in the big picture of life, death and the universe there is no difference between the Prime Minister and a Rubbish Man. God sees no difference what so ever between them. It is not what we each do in life that is important but how we respond to the relationships we encounter in our daily lives. It’s only here that we will each fulfill God’s purpose for themselves and find true meaning in our lives.

Over the years I’ve taken a lot of funerals and found that the ones that have left a lasting impression on me have not been the ones that have focused on what the person did, but rather emphasized what the person was like. Where the children stand up and say what a great Dad or Mum they had. Funerals that emphasise only what a person did can be very sad as they often show that the person never truly lived.

Ultimately of course the issues and problems we face in our relationships are not so much about other people but about us. (I can feel some of you squirm as I say that).

This was brought home to me during the week, you might be surprised to learn, when I was sitting at the traffic lights. Lately I’ve been using my driving experiences as a form of meditation. I can thoroughly recommend it as it totally changes the way you drive.

Anyway, as part of my meditation I was reflecting that being in your car is a bit like being in your own little bubble in life. You’re travelling with others around you in the same direction. But then someone suddenly cuts in front of you, or speeds up on the inside lane at the light to get in front of you (which is one of my own personal pet hates), or smokes you out with their exhaust fumes, or speeds up in the passing lane when your wanting to pass. How do you feel? Do you suddenly think that the person is personally doing this to annoy you? Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. Most of the time of course you have no idea. But mostly I think not. We can feel enraged by other peoples driving and in some situations we can even let our egos get the better of us. But when you are confronted by such a situation on the road is what you’re feeling about the other driver or about you?

In our Gospel Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He also tells us not to resist an evildoer giving a number of examples ‘…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.’

So how do we overcome these situations? We surrender. This does not mean that we are supposed to be doormats for the sake of our faith. Jesus is not recommending that our calling card be ‘mistreat me’. This would be contrary to what Jesus says elsewhere in the Gospels where he calls us to love ourselves. If we can not love ourselves how can we love another person? Jesus calls us to see the truth about our relationships with others, God and ultimately ourselves. He’s calling us to look at the bigger picture for the purpose of our lives. Amen.