If someone has the reputation of being a “perfect” person, would you expect their room to be neat or cluttered, clean or dirty, organized or messy? Yes, you’re right. Neat, clean, and organized are associated with perfectionists.
Now think about a forest. Dirt everywhere, floor covered with broken branches, rocks, and decaying leaves, and God’s animals there ignore litter boxes. God’s forests are not perfect, yet they are beautiful.
In today’s gospel, we read (Matthew 5:43-48):
“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Visiting a forest convinces us that God’s works are not perfectly neat, clean, and organized. By our conventional meaning , God is not perfect. So, then what is meant by “perfect” in this gospel passage?
Let’s look at what precedes this statement.
“…your heavenly Father …makes the sun to rise on the bad and the good and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”
Our perfect God pours out sun and rain abundantly. None of his creatures are excluded from his provision. He doesn’t deprive his mercy even from those who do not deserve it. This is what God’s “perfect-ness” means.
“For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that?”
Tax collectors are imperfect because they restrict their love and friendliness only to those they love. They turn a cold shoulder to everyone else. Jesus says that if we restrict our love and favor to those whom we like, then we are just as “imperfect” as are the tax collectors. If we are perfect the way our heavenly Father is, then we love the way he does, which means we love even our enemies.
So, now we have a definition of perfect. It means extending love to everyone including our enemies. It is not about staying carefully inside expected behavioral bounds, being politically correct, or never falling asleep in church. The more we are able to show love for and pray for those whom we dislike, the more perfect we are.
When we are told to “strive for perfection,” it is not about following rules and regulations to a tee; rather it is about trying to love as generously as God does. Perfection is about forgiving, excusing, and showing mercy especially to those who rub us the wrong way. Maybe we can think, right now, of someone we don’t like, perhaps someone who has done us wrong, and pray for that person. More than likely we will still have negative feelings when we see or think about that person, but love is grounded in action not feelings. The more we are able to forgive and pray for our enemies, the more we are “perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.”
During this Pentecost season we continue to pray for more of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ command to love even our enemies is impossible unless the Holy Spirit within us gives us the power to do so. Will power alone is not enough; we need to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so that we can be more fully children of the heavenly Father. As we are changed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we become empowered to love the way God does.
“I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34).
