One of our challenges for 2014 is to learn and live
all 50
commands of Jesus. Jesus told us that following his
commandments is a way to love him and a way for his love and his joy to fill
our lives (John 15:9-12). In his Great Commission, Jesus tells his
followers to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything he
commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20). So each week in this year we are
learning and living one command of Jesus. Here is our command for this
week...
Week 17:
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect,” (Matthew 5:48).
Application:
You have probably heard people say, “Nobody is perfect.” Maybe you have said it yourself. Yet Jesus makes an incredible demand with
this command. He says, “Be perfect.”
This comes after a challenging string of teachings from
Jesus. It starts with the Beatitudes –
blessed are the poor in spirit, the merciful, the pure in heart, the
peacemakers, etc. Then, Jesus lifts up
some familiar commandments and raises the bar.
Not only should we not murder, but we should not hold on to anger at
another person. Not only should we not
commit adultery, but we should not look at another person with lust. Don’t just love those who love you; love your
enemies. By the end of the chapter, we
are reeling from the staggering call to holiness. That’s when Jesus throws in one more
stunner. He says, “Be perfect,
therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
What are we supposed to do with this command? Before we focus on what we should do, a
better place to start might be with what God does. Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.” So the perfection Jesus identifies in this chapter is descriptive of our God. We could start by marveling at what an
incredible, loving, merciful God we have.
This should drive us to our knees in wonder and worship.
In light of God’s perfection, we cannot help but notice
our imperfection. Maybe this is the
point of Jesus’ command. When we try to
be perfect, we realize we are not. We
realize we cannot do it on our own. The
Good News is we don’t have to do it on our own.
I’m reminded of the story of the rich young ruler (Mark
10:17-31). The man asked Jesus, “Good
teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life.” Jesus rehearsed the Ten Commandments with the
man who said he had done all these since he was a boy. Jesus looked at him with love. Jesus asked the man to sell everything, give
to the poor, and follow him. The man
could not do it and walked away sad, indicating that his possessions were more
important to him than God. This violated
the first commandment: have no other idols/gods before me. Jesus said that it is hard for the rich to
enter the kingdom of heaven. His
disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?”
To this Jesus replied, “With human beings this is impossible, but not
with God; all things are possible with God.”
On our own we cannot be perfect. We sin.
We hurt. We fail. We fall short. That's why we need God's grace and God's help. God looks at us with love. He offers us forgiveness and grace through
his Son. And then God’s Spirit offers us
the power we need to live life the way God created us to live. Our imperfection is not an excuse to keep
sinning, but on opportunity to recognize our need for God’s help and to rely on
God's power to transform us. We
may never be perfect, but God can be perfecting our life.
- Take a moment to marvel at the perfection of God and worship God.
- Admit your own inability to be perfect.
- Identify an area of your life that needs perfecting. Receive God's grace. Rely on God's power to follow his will and his ways.
Share your comments and application ideas…
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