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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every musician who wants to hit just the right note, every athlete who wants to play the best defense or offense, every student who wants to achieve straight A‑pluses, every teacher who wants every student to excel, every employee who wants to make the greatest contribution possible, and every employer who wants to succeed—all may have some extent of perfectionism. Perfectionism as a personality trait is said to be characterized as one’s “striving for flawlessness and setting high performance standards”, and it can be accompanied by one’s being too critical of one’s self and at times being too much concerned about what others think. Psychologists are said to agree that perfectionism has both positive aspects—such as driving people to great accomplishment and motivating them to persevere to meet their goals in the face of discouragement and obstacles—and negative aspects—such as making people workaholics, depressed, have eating disorders, and be suicidal. (Wikipedia.) Some have called me a “perfectionist”, and maybe some have said the same of you. If so, perhaps we perfectionists can especially relate to today’s Gospel Reading. In today’s Gospel Reading Jesus arguably calls us to strive for flawlessness and so to achieve the high performance standard set long before. This morning we consider that Gospel Reading under the title “Perfectionism”.
In today’s Gospel Reading, which has content at least somewhat unique to St. Matthew’s Divinely‑inspired Gospel account, Jesus is continuing what is called “Sermon on the Mount”, and in so doing He gives the last two of a total of six examples of how the scribes and the Pharisees relaxed God’s commandments and taught others to do the same. Last week we heard Jesus correct the people of His day’s usual misunderstandings about murder, adultery, divorce, and false testimony (Matthew 5:21-37), and this week we heard Jesus correct their misunderstandings about retaliation and love. Even earlier we heard Jesus say that He had not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill those Old Testament Scriptures, and He said that, unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20.) Arguably summarizing the six examples that He gave, today Jesus says we must be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
That is quite a high standard for which Jesus wants us to strive! And, most of us are well aware of how we fall short of it! The man and woman whom God created perfect certainly could have continued in that perfection, but, when they sinned, they kept themselves and us from ever again achieving that perfect standard on their or our own. By nature, we want to exact vengeance from those whom we think have wronged us—if not an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, then at least compensatory if not also punitive damages. Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, we hardly would double the cheeks, clothing, service, gifts or loans to those we perceive as opposed to us. Even as Christians, we hardly love our neighbors, let alone our enemies. We do not earn the heavenly reward God has promised, for the righteousness of the things we do does not exceed that of others who do not believe.
Yet, our goodness or just‑ness (“righteousness”) does not determine whether or not God blesses us! As we heard Jesus say, our Heavenly Father makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust (the righteous and the unrighteous). More than such blessings of the First Article of the Creed are the blessings of the Second Article. In His crucifixion, Jesus was struck on the cheek, gave up all His clothing, was forced to carry His cross, and gave to those who begged from Him. There, on the cross, Jesus loved His enemies and prayed for those who persecuted Him. Jesus not only did all that we fail to do, He also made up for our failure to do it! God’s unconditional love for us in His Son Jesus Christ is more than an example for us, it saves us! While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:10). There, on the cross, Jesus said “It is finished!” (John 19:30). For our purposes this morning, we might paraphrase “All has been perfected!” Truly Jesus is the founder and “perfecter” of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). As Abraham was righteous and blameless (“unblemished”) before God by faith, so are we (see Genesis 17:1; Deuteronomy 18:13; Romans 4:1-25). Even in today’s Old Testament Reading (Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18), the Children of Israel’s ability to be holy as the Lord their God was holy flowed out of the atoning sacrifice made for their sins. As we sang in today’s Introit (Psalm 103:8-11; antiphon Psalm 103:2-3), because of His steadfast love (“mercy”) toward those who fear Him, the Lord does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities. When we turn in sorrow from our sin, trust God to forgive our sin, and want to do better than to keep on sinning, then God forgives our sin. God forgives our sin of retaliation instead of kindness, and God forgives our failure to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. God forgives all our sin, whatever our sin might be, for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God forgives all our sin through His Word read and preached and administered to us individually in His Sacraments, what might be regarded as the gifts of the Third Article of the Creed. In today’s Epistle Reading (1 Corinthians 3:10-23), St. Paul by Divine‑inspiration reminded us that we are God’s temple and that God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us. God calls to be holy, and He Himself sets us apart and so makes us holy (Leviticus 20:26; 1 Peter 1:15-16). Most of us are so set apart and made holy first at the Baptismal Font, where we are created anew by water and the Word in Holy Baptism. When particular sins trouble the baptized, they confess them privately to their pastor for the sake of individual Holy Absolution. And, those who are so absolved partake of the holy food in Holy Communion: bread that is Christ’s Body and wine that is Christ’s Blood, for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Yes, we should be holy and perfect, for the Lord our God, our Heavenly Father, is holy and perfect, and, we are holy and perfect, for, through His Word and Sacraments, our Heavenly Father makes us holy and perfect in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God’s making us holy and perfect in Christ leads to our at least striving towards His high standard—not exacting vengeance but giving double, not hating our enemies but loving them, and any other specific way we should carry out our love of God and our neighbor. Like every musician, athlete, student, teacher, employee, and employer with some perfectionistic tendencies, we will fail to perfectly reach our goals and fulfill our various callings. But, with daily repentance and faith, we live in God’s forgiveness of sins for ourselves, and we extend our forgiveness to others, until, by God’s grace and mercy through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, we are finally and fully holy and perfect in our Father’s Kingdom of Heaven.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +