Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What madman spoke those words? What visionary would even in his wildest dreams suppose that you and I could be perfect? What is this raving?
It is the word of Jesus, at the end of a series of challenges. Love your enemies. Give to those who ask of you. Turn the other cheek. Take off your very clothes and go without for others. Who can live like this? Who even wants to live like this? It’s easy to see why various interpreters have put Jesus’ words on the shelf and have refused to think that anyone might actually live this way!
There is a reason why we are pretty sure this can’t be done, this thing of being perfect as God is perfect. It has to do with the kind of world we live in. We think it’s impossible because the world is in such a mess and it drags us down too. This world is in a mess, and so are we. Sin is real, and it’s in us as well as everywhere else. No argument about that. I am reminded of the little boy whose big brother was in medical school. The younger boy got to looking in his brother’s anatomy textbooks. He saw with astonishment the layouts of bones and muscles. He gaped at the complex system of arteries and veins. He got slightly sick looking at pictures of internal organs. His verdict at the end of the book was, “It sure is yucky. But it is inside us.” That’s the way to think of sin. “It sure is yucky. But it is inside us.”
So how are we ever going to be perfect? How can we possibly dream of being complete? In a world of unlimited ills, who is going to make it to perfection? In a world of corruption, where wrong is forever on the throne and right forever on the scaffold, who can even dream of achieving this perfection thing?
The answer is: we can grow up into Christ. We can grow up into Christ. Grow up, mature. That’s what the word “perfect” really means – to be mature, complete, finished. And we can grow into Christ. If Christ grows in us, we can move toward being complete.
I want to acknowledge my indebtedness for the outline of this message to the late and sainted Clarence Jordan. Clarence Jordan was the founder of Koinonia Farms in Americus, Georgia. He and Koinonia Farms did a great deal years ago to break down the walls of racial segregation and to attack the foundations of intolerance. Out of Clarence Jordan’s work as a preacher, a scholar, and a visionary came many books, including The Cabbage Patch New Testament, and many good works, including some of the basis of Habitat for Humanity. Clarence Jordan was also part of the circle of influence that touched the heart and mind of President Jimmy Carter. So his little book, Sermon on the Mount, pointed me to something I want to share with you this morning.
Clarence Jordan sees in Jesus’ teachings four stages. They are the baby stage, the childhood stage, the adolescence stage, and the mature stage. He shows that when Jesus teaches us about dealing with the world’s problems, Jesus shows us that we can choose the baby stage – that’s unlimited retaliation; or the childhood stage – that’s limited retaliation. Or we can choose the adolescent stage – that would be limited love; or the mature stage – and that would be unlimited love. If you want to deal with conflict, you have several ways to do it: unlimited retaliation, limited retaliation, limited love, or unlimited love. Let me try to lay this out.
I
First, you can take the baby’s way, the way of unlimited retaliation. Unlimited retaliation. What’s that? When they hit you, give them everything you’ve got, you spare nothing, you blow up, you explode, you wipe them out. That’s the baby stage. Throw a tantrum and get your way. Unlimited retaliation.
Now don’t tell me you don’t know about that. Most of us have tried that at one time or another. If you don’t get your way in a dispute, one very effective approach is just to go off. You have a hissy fit. You intimidate everybody around you into doing what you want because you threaten to make life totally miserable if they don’t.
Babies, on whom I am taking a refresher course, are the most self-centered creatures in the world. If they are hungry, they let you know about it and will not stop until you satisfy them. If they are tired, they get cranky and do the exact opposite of what they should do. Instead of going to sleep, somewhere down in their tiny brains, they decide to stay awake and keep you awake too. Self-centered! And if they are wet or dirty, well, somebody has said that babies are unsatisfied hunger at one end and total irresponsibility at the other end. Completely self-centered.
That’s all right as long as you are a baby. But some of us keep it up forever. Some of us, when we do not get what we want, splatter everybody in sight. We call people nasty names if they don’t agree with us. We stalk out of the room if the family doesn’t give us what we demand. We threaten to leave the church if the saints do not do as we want. Unlimited retaliation tries to deal with unlimited ills. But the results are horrible. A few years ago the nations of the world were preparing for mutually assured destruction. They built nuclear arsenals that would kill every human being ten times over. Well, if you are stuck in the baby stage of behavior, you will destroy not only your enemies. You will destroy yourself as well. There has to be a better answer than unlimited retaliation to managing the unlimited ills of this world.
II
So what about the second stage? What about the path of limited retaliation? Limited retaliation. Not unlimited, but limited.
If you knock out one of my teeth, I’ll knock out one of your teeth. No more than that, but I will get that one. If you insult me, then I insult you. If you hurt me, then I hurt you. What stage is that? That’s the childish stage. Anybody who has ever hung around a school playground knows about this. He pushed me! So I pushed him. She snubbed me. So I ain’t talking to her. Childishness.
The Old Testament law was built around this. It said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It decreed “a life for a life”. Now I want you to understand that this is a step above unlimited retaliation. This is not wide-open hatred. This is a step toward justice. It says that if you knock out my snaggly tooth, I am entitled to take out one of yours, but only one. No more than that. If you punch out one of my eyes, according to this, I am entitled to punch out one of yours, but only one. No more than that. It’s not explosive. It’s controlled. The question is, is it effective? Does it really deal with conflicts?
We’re calling this the childhood stage. Kids are incredibly invested in what they think is fair and just, as long as it benefits them! Anybody driven anywhere with two kids in the back seat of the car? What happens about fifty miles into the trip, with, Lord have mercy, five hundred more to go? Mom, his foot is on my side of the seat. Dad, it’s my turn to play with the cards. Mom, he got more French fries than I did. Dad, she’s looking at me. If we focus only on what we want, on what’s ours, we will leave every conflict unsettled and every heart unsatisfied. Limited retaliation focuses only on punishing people. It is not interested in helping people. Limited retaliation focuses only on stamping out bad behavior. It does nothing to cultivate good behavior.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life.” By the way, doesn’t it strike you as sad that in our society we resort to warehousing people in prison instead of working to develop them? Doesn’t it strike you as seriously wrong that certain groups promote the death penalty to deal with the ills of our time? What exactly does it accomplish to take a life? What exactly does it do to destroy someone and foreclose forever on his eternal soul? I don’t get it. I don’t see it. It seems to me to be nothing more than a childish petulance, focused only on getting even. There has to be a better way than retaliation, even limited retaliation. Jesus seems to think so. He says,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.”
III
So limited retaliation doesn’t get it either. Let’s find another possibility. What’s next? Where do we go from here? If it isn’t unlimited retaliation or limited retaliation, what about limited love? Limited love. It doesn’t really work, when you are dealing with the profound conflicts and unlimited ills of this world, to stay babyish or to act childish.
Then how about limited love? Limited love is the adolescent way. Limited love is the way of growing up. I love my friends. My friends are so cool. My friends are so wonderful that I say good-bye at school and hurry home so that I can get on the phone or the computer chat room with the same folks I just said good-bye to. I love my friends.
But I hate those nerds, I dislike those jocks, I can’t stand those uncool kids, who are not like me. I love those who love me. I consign to the lowest contempt those who don’t do anything for me. Limited love means I do some good things for some people, but not if they don’t do right by me. I am positively passionate about the folks who show me a good time. But I am definitely turned off by the people who aren’t with it. That’s limited love. That’s adolescence. And that’s fine, as far as it goes. It’s learning to love.
Trouble is, some of us who left adolescence behind chronologically never left it emotionally. Some of us confine our love only to a small circle, and in that circle are our old friends, our long-time buddies. Limited love means we get tribal. We’ll take care of those who are on the inside, but reject those who are on the outside. We’ll share the goodies with our own, but there’s nothing for anybody else. Like the old fellow prayed, “God bless me, my wife, my son John, and his wife, us four, and no more.” Limited love.
Limited love is the basis of racism. It means we take care of our own kind of folks, but the Devil take the hindmost. Limited love allows us to pray abstractly for Africa and Asia and Latin America, but to frown on living next door to Africans and Asians and Hispanics.
Limited love is the basis of selfishness. It means we keep all we can. Limited love allows people to build beautiful homes and pleasant surroundings, but never to lift a finger about the squalor in which others live.
Limited love allows churches to carpet their sanctuaries and improve their lighting but choke over sending money out for missions. Oh, I am so proud of you, for over the last several years, you have said, “Cut what you must, but do not cut missions”. And we have found we can do what we need to do in here if we give priority to what we need to do out there. But I know of many churches who first feather their own nests and then, from the scraps, feed the missionaries. That’s limited love. That’s very limited. And it will choke you.
Limited love won’t really with what ails this world. Limited love will not resolve conflicts, limited love will not tame your enemies, it will not satisfy God’s heart. There has to be something better than adolescent limited love. Jesus seems to think that there is,
“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?”
IV
People of God, the way of Christ, tough as it is, is the only effective way to deal with conflict. The way of Christ, the grown up way, the mature way, is the way of unlimited love. Unlimited love.
If babies scream to get attention; if children punch each other out, trying to achieve justice; if adolescents love only those who love them; none of these work. None of these achieve anything. None of these deal with the ills unlimited of this world. So what else is there? What else but the way of unlimited love?
“But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go a mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. 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.”
Unlimited love for the unlimited ills. Listen to the insult, and just sit there silently and wait for more. Be cheated and be ready to give some more. Somebody needs help; give it. A few weeks later, they need help again, and we want to say, “Been there, done that.” But unlimited love tries and tries again to help.
If we expect to see people change; if we expect to see the ills unlimited of this world dealt with, there is one and only one answer: unlimited love. Unlimited love is caring so deeply that we will give and give and never stop giving. Unlimited love is believing so profoundly that we will never give up on anyone. Unlimited love is knowing so thoroughly that the love of God is able to life the fallen, to change the hardened, and to restore the most terrible.
Unlimited love looked down on a nation, Israel, a nation which had been disobedient from the beginning, and said, through the prophet Hosea, “I cannot let you go. I will bring you unto myself.” And unlimited love was love almighty.
Unlimited love looked down on a people, Judah, who had gone into exile, and said, “Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain.” And unlimited love was love almighty. It was done.
Unlimited love looked down on a dry and dismal world and, “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His son … to redeem.” Unlimited love looked down one day on a stark skull-shaped hill outside a city hill, and there Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us. There He took into Himself all our sin, all our wrong, all our hatred, all our hostility. He who deserved only to live died. No greater love has anyone than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. And Jesus has called us his friends. We who were enemies, he has made into friends. We who shoved him aside, he has drawn close to his heart. Love almighty has defeated ills unlimited.
We who sought only what we wanted, like babies, crying out for unlimited retaliation, he has changed. We are no longer babes, but we are growing up into Christ. Love almighty and ills unlimited.
We who should have had only justice, who like children thought we wanted what was fair, limited retaliation – but for our sins we ought to have paid the price of forever being separated from Him – He has brought us near, never to leave His side. Love almighty and ills unlimited.
We who thought that love was just for us, just for our kind of folks, just for nice people, just for church members, just for our little circles – now great love is being shed abroad from our hearts, and we do not contain it, but it grows and grows. That love is changing the world through lives yielded to Him. His is, without question, a love almighty for ills unlimited.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Grow up into Christ.
