Messy Perfection

June 15, 2020

Scripture

“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. (Matthew 5:43-48 NRSV)

Messy Perfection

It’s often said that “perfect is the enemy of the good”. Initiatives for moral, social and political change get bogged down in negotiating calculus. Everyone has to get something in return for compromise, but generosity is not at the heart of it. It is then this phrase is applied to the quagmire of inaction. Perhaps we need to modify our picture of perfection.

Jesus was raised in a culture that had a relational calculus based on only giving to the good, loving only those who loved you and giving to the wrong people will only lead to multiplied problems for you. (check out Sirach 12:1-12) We have a lot of this in our culture, but Jesus’ picture of perfection is messy and seems to have a fuzzy calculus.

His picture of perfection is messy and makes no sense to our understanding of a safe way to navigate our world. He challenges what has been said traditionally by saying be perfect like your Father – he gives to good and bad, grateful and ungrateful – yikes. This is risky stuff and makes perfection hard to define.

I often wonder what is going through Jesus’ mind when he is giving his thoughts to the crowd around him. Does he have a clear understanding that in many ways he is laying down markers for understanding his behaviour during his arrest, trial and crucifixion. And that perfection produced redemption and reconciliation. The perfect was the enemy of the “good”, because good wasn’t enough.

A Prayer for Today

O Lord, who has mercy on all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of your Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore you, a heart to delight in you, to follow and enjoy you, for Christ's sake. (Ambrose: c.339-97)