Jesus expects me to be………….perfect

For the past several weeks I’ve been focusing on the gospels during my quite time with the Lord. I’ve been really paying close attention to what Jesus both said and taught. To be transparent the reason that I have focused on the teachings of Jesus because I’ve had this feeling that my idea of what it means to be a God follower are different than what Jesus actually taught and to be honest my suspicions to some extent were correct.

Not sure what goes through your mind when you think of the word perfect, but I can tell you what thoughts of grandeur go through my mind. Perfect to me means: flawless, no mistakes and unblemished you get the picture. I can’t tell you how many times in my mind that I have rewrote a sermon or relived a moment again and again because things didn’t turn out “perfect” meaning the way I envisioned that they should.

However, in my reading this morning I ran across a conversation that Jesus was having with a group of folks and Jesus used the word “perfect.” Jesus used this word to describe what God the Father expects from us as God followers. Check this out Matt5:48“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Ok, did you see that? Now I know context is everything but there is also another part of reading the bible that is as important as context and that’s “language.” So, before you throw your hands up in desperation and say that infamous phrase “nobody’s perfect.” Let’s get the context first and then will look to language.

The context of the statement that Jesus makes is really setup in verse Matt5:43-44 check it out, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Now the reason this is the context is because Jesus wanted his listeners to become or be the person that Loves his enemies and prays for the person that persecutes them.

So then, what twisted kind of individual loves their enemy? Oh hang on, I’m not done yet, what sick or demented individual loves that person who is trying to hurt them on purpose. Well the answer to that question is found in verse 48 where Jesus says “Be ye therefore perfect.”

So then If your like me, your wondering if I road the short yellow bus when I was in school. Well I didn’t, because if I did I wouldn’t know Greek. Let me give you a language lesson in Greek. The word “perfect” in Greek is translated “teleios and the meaning of this Greek word is similar to the English word mature.” So, the people listening to Jesus didn’t hear perfect what they heard was “be ye mature.” I’ve been having a lot of fun making up list, so I’m not going to disappoint you today either. So let me leave you with six things to look for and work toward as you are on that road toward maturity.

· A mature person has learned that they don’t always have to be right

· A mature person is ok with saying “I’m sorry I was wrong”

· A mature person will listen, hear and understand another person’s perspective even if they don’t agree

· A mature person knows how to give Love when what they would rather give is Hate

· A mature person will always seek out Wisdom

· A mature person understands the value of the word “NO”

Now that I have a better understanding of the word perfect, I can honestly say that I am moving toward perfection every day. Are you?