“As we mirror the life of Christ, we echo God’s perfection”
Toward Perfection
[Jesus continued to teach them, saying,] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But 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.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall 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 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. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
~ the Gospel According to Matthew, chapter 5, verses 38-48, from The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. (Revised Common Lectionary Year A, Seventh Sunday After Epiphany, 19 February 2017)
All right, we know the bar is high, but perfection? “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”? Be as perfect as God? Come on, Jesus—really?
Since we’re obviously not perfect, and can’t get there by sheer effort, something else must be going on here. But we must not dismiss these commands of Jesus—as some do—by saying that they are impossible standards meant only to teach us how badly we fail. If the word “disciple”—that is, “student”—means anything then we are actually supposed to learn something practical from Jesus.
The teaching about loving enemies might be the hardest of Jesus’ commands. An enemy is someone who has it in for me. He has an irrational, incomprehensible, emotionally-driven desire to do me harm. This is the bully at school, the cruel competitor on the field, the irascibly mean co-worker, the family member who badmouths me to others yet refuses to talk to me. Jesus teaches us to love and pray for them. Love here does not mean to like or to enjoy the presence of another. It means to sacrifice self-interest or personal desire in order to bless another person.
How do we do good to someone who only does evil to us?
We remember who we are. In Christ we are beloved children of the living God, and the mind of Christ dwells in us (Philippians 2:5). We have been given the capacity to be better than ourselves. We can emulate the one who showed us how to die rather than seek vengeance. As I wrote about the baptism of Jesus, by the Spirit we have been given the character of God.
With this character we can offer patience and kindness to bullies. We can pray for our competitors, help them up when they fall, and shake hands at the end of a losing game. We can invite that grumpy co-worker over for dinner, and seek reconciliation with the angry family member. We can sacrifice our own pride and priorities to seek peace, just as Jesus has done for us. And in the process, we may discover the wound which causes our enemy to lash out. We might even be of assistance in finding a healing salve.
And through it all, we will tread in the steps of Jesus, who bore death rather than condemn all his enemies. By his sacrifice came new life. As we mirror the life of Christ, we echo God’s perfection.
God our Father and author of love, write love large upon our hearts. Make us ready to pray for, to talk with, and to bless those who do us harm. Fill us with trust that through us you will change bitterness to sweetness, evil to good, and death to life. Change us ever more into the perfect image of Christ. We ask it in his name!
~ emrys tyler