Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Going through my journal this week I found an entry that I wrote after I attended a church many months ago. It was a good experience. The church was packed with people of all ages; it had a better measure of racial diversity than many churches; the folks were friendly; there seemed to be a strong education program; the music was great. The sermon was biblical and well delivered. Everything was good. In fact, it was too good.
I left the service feeling that somehow I was not quite living up to the expectations of the preacher or the church. The more I thought about the experience the more I realized that I didn’t believe that the church or the preacher was living up to the standards that had been set either. No one could be quite that good. So, if the person or group asking me to live in a certain way, doesn’t seem to be living that way or able to live that way, then how hopeful is the message? How honest is the message? It is every preacher’s dilemma!
Jesus set the goal high—even higher than the church I visited. He said, “Be perfect . . .” (Matthew 5:48) The difference between Jesus and all other preachers is that he was perfect, and only in him, can I be made perfect.
The essential element in the message of the New Testament is that I cannot make myself perfect. No matter how much I want to be or how hard I try, I cannot reach perfection. (1 John 1:8-10) My standing before God is based on Jesus’ perfection, not mine. He takes away my sin, and in him I am made righteous. At the same time, the goal is there, and I am called to grow in faith and good works toward that goal of perfection. Every preacher’s dilemma is to point toward the goal while making it clear that we live by grace and not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
The Resurrection reminds us that we are dying. We will be dead. All of us, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. The wages of sin is death, and death comes to all of us. The good news is that God has come in Christ to die with us, and Christ is risen from the dead. In him we have the promise of resurrection. In him our sins are removed. In him we are made perfect. In Christ we can stand before God and enter eternal life. Somehow on Easter Sunday the preacher will find a way—if he or she preaches the Gospel—to make it clear that our hope is not in ourselves but only in Christ.
