Matthew 5:43-48

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

 This evening’s Bible passage is Matthew 5:43-48 (Contemporary English Version):

⁴³ You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.” ⁴⁴ But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. ⁴⁵ Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. ⁴⁶ If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for that? Even tax collectors love their friends. ⁴⁷ If you greet only your friends, what’s so great about that? Don’t even unbelievers do that? ⁴⁸ But you must always act like your Father in heaven.

I’ve chosen this version because it avoids the frequently misused translation of v. 48: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” So high a standard of undefined perfection leads some to the foot of the cross for forgiveness but, in my experience as a pastor, I’ve also known it to lead true Christians to something very close to despair. We might manage “good” some of the time, but perfection is beyond even the best of us.

Happily, the context shows this reading of the verse to be misguided. The example set by our “Father in heaven” in this passage is not one of undefined perfection (although, of course, God is perfect) but of an all-embracing love, a willingness to bless good and bad alike: “He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong.” Jesus says we are to be like God in this respect, showing love to our enemies and praying for those who mistreat us.

The Greek word teleios, used here by Jesus, can certainly mean “perfect,” but it can also mean “whole,” “complete,” or “all-embracing.” The context, I believe, requires “all-embracing” or “all-inclusive.” If our love is at all like God’s, it will extend beyond our friends and those who treat us well. It will include even those whom we call our enemies. Anyone on whom the sun rises or the rain falls warrants the loving kindness of a Christian.

If we’re honest, though, loving like that can seem almost as difficult a goal as perfection. But, at least, with love we know what we’re aiming at. Most of us know something of what it is to love and be loved, and we know what it is to fall short of an expansive love. We’ve experienced God’s patient and forgiving love. We know that his Spirit is bearing fruit in as and that the first characteristic of that fruit is “love” (Gal 5:22). We’re not there yet, by any means, but we’re on our way.

By contrast, undefined “perfection” is so vague as to be in danger of leaving us hopeless. Unlike his love, God’s “perfection” seems a very distant concept. It’s not something we experience directly, the way we experience his love. Nor is “perfection” listed as an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. To aim at perfection would be to aim at the unknown.

So, we can relax. We’re not called to be perfect. Christ has already been perfect for us. But we are called to love others as God loves every person on whom the sun rises or the rain falls. We live at a time in great need of such all-inclusive Christian love.

Your brother in Christ,

Max