Perfect

Go. Go on, get outta here.

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Have you ever met someone who seems perfect? No one is, of course, but it’s a fact that some folks just seem to have it all together. They seem to be patient and kind, generous, helpful, talented, smart, athletic, musically talented, and easy going. They can get things done, but don’t stress. They are humble and magnanimous all that the same time. If you ever point out that they seem to have it all together, they will gracious thank you for the compliment, but then explain how sometimes they eat chocolate on a weekday and can’t seem to grow larger carrots in their raised garden beds, as if these are major character flaws. 

In the gospel this Sunday we hear about a character that no one would call perfect. Jesus is presented with a woman caught in the act of adultery. The crowd wants to stone her because that’s what the law says. Jesus calmly writes on the ground and then invites those in the crowd to feel free to throw stones if they themselves are without sin. In other words, Jesus says if anyone present is perfect then they can judge. 

The irony of course is that Jesus is the one person present who is perfect. Jesus is the lone judge standing before her. When it comes time to pass his judgement Jesus choses mercy. He doesn’t say what she did was okay or normalize adultery, but he choses not to condemn her. Then he sends her on her way commanding her to not sin any more. 

What is fascinating is Jesus’ last line, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” The word that gets me is “Go.” I think this word gets lost in Jesus’ next command to go and sin no more. In fact I think Jesus is giving two commands. 

Jesus commands another group of people to “Go,” at the end of Matthew’s gospel. In that moment it is the disciples who Jesus commands to, “Go, and make disciples of all nations.” What Jesus is say by using the same emphatic, imperative here is that both the disciples and the woman caught in adultery are being sent.

What does that mean? Jesus doesn’t just send perfect people to do his will. Jesus doesn’t just invite perfect people to follow him. Jesus doesn’t call upon the perfect to become pilgrims on the journey towards heaven. The good news of the gospel is that even if you consider yourself a wretched sinner Jesus is calling you. If you’ve ever said, “I’m not good enough to be a church person or a real Christian.” You were wrong. 

Jesus wants to reconcile you. Jesus desires to show you mercy. Jesus wants to send you out. Jesus can and will command you to go. Being a sinner doesn’t preclude you from being close and being called by Jesus. 

Live It: The key to this exchange is that before Jesus sends the woman, he shows her mercy. Before we can be sent, we need God’s mercy. The best way to do this is to head to Confession. Receive God’s mercy and be sent this Lent. 

Sunday Readings for April 3rd.

Absolutely Perfect.

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Two kinds of people inhabit this big blue marble we call home – those who love the Olympics and those who don’t. I for one love the olympics. The grandeur and spectacle of the opening ceremonies. The triumph on the faces of the athlete replete with medals. The agony of the defeat of those who get edged out into 4th place. The celebration of the unlikeliest athletes from the unlikeliest countries just competing at all. It all is exciting to me. 

I much prefer the timed competitions, but there is something exciting about the judged sports like figure skating, gymnastics or diving. That moment when the culmination of years of work has just completed and the athlete is awaiting their scores – wow, high drama. It doesn’t happen often, but when the judges deem that performance to be perfect – exhilaration. 

While perfection is something we think we know and experience in this life, it is quite rare. The perfect morning, the perfect cup of coffee, the perfect kiss – we may say these things, but how do we judge something is perfect. Is it perfect until something better comes along? By perfect do we mean that it couldn’t be improved? How do we know?

That is why this gospel is so difficult to get our arms around. Jesus preaches about our need as his followers to no longer seek to fulfill the bare minimum of the law, but to seek the law’s radical and greatest expression. In the end Jesus says, “So be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Does this seem impossible? I feel totally ill equipped to be perfect. Nothing in my life feels perfect. How am I supposed to be perfect?

In praying with this scripture I found some direction in the second half of the directive, “as your heavenly Father is perfect.” How is God perfect? Of course we could say he is perfect in every way. But I think Jesus is trying to say something specific. 

God is perfect in his LOVE. Each person of our triune God loves the others perfectly. That love spills out into creation and God loves his creation perfectly. God loves us so much that he sacrificed his only son to save us from death. God loves us perfectly. 

If we are trying to be perfect as God is perfect. We must try to love perfectly. The kind of love we are talking about is the love that we choose. It is self-gift. It is the kind of love that is self sacrifice. This is the love that Jesus had for us when he died on the cross. This love is divine love. Since you and I are made in the image and likeness of God, we were made to love in this way. It is the love that God can perfect in us. How should we be perfect? We must seek to love perfectly. 

LIVE IT: Take out your phone and set a reminder for right after your alarm goes off in the morning – ask God to help you love perfectly that day and to give you opportunities to love someone else. Then prepare yourself to love and be giving the chance to love. 

Sunday Reading for February 23rd, 2020.

She said, “Maybe.”

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March 26th Sunday Readings.

When I was sixteen years old, I asked a girl out for the very first time. I didn’t ask herrejected red square stamp friends if it would be cool ahead of time. I didn’t make sure she was open to it. I just went for it.

She said, “Maybe.” Not a good sign. That maybe turned into a “no” the next day.

I was rejected. To be honest, I wasn’t that upset. Mostly I was just proud of myself for having the courage to ask. Have you ever been rejected?

In the readings this Sunday, we are going to hear about two people who have been mostly rejected by their families, cultures, or communities (find  the readings here). In the first reading, Samuel goes out looking for Israel’s next king. When he comes to Jesse’s house, Samuel thinks he’s found the guy in Eliab, but he’s not the guy. Samuel goes through all of Jesse’s sons and doesn’t find the chosen one. Finally he asks if Jesse has any more sons and that is when David, the youngest, the one sent out to do the worst and grossest job-shepherding, comes and is chosen.

In the gospel, Jesus heals a man born blind. This man is reject by his culture because they believe his blindness is punishment for his or his parent’s sin. They see his affliction as a sign of God’s rejection. In actuality it is that affliction that is the reason he is chosen by Jesus for a sign of God’s desire to heal and restore humanity.

In both cases, God choses the rejected. In the first reading we hear, “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” These are two examples of times that God choses someone that maybe we wouldn’t have chosen for that task.

I’ve heard it said that God doesn’t chose the qualified; he qualifies the chosen.

David wasn’t ready to be king immediately after his anointing, but it is through his time as a shepherd that he is being prepared to shepherd the people of Israel. The man born blind doesn’t know who Jesus is, but he know that Jesus healed him. His witness is simple, but powerful.

Could it be that God is choosing you for some task? Maybe you feel like the last person God could use to demonstrate his love. Perfect, that’s just how he likes them.

LIVE IT:
Take out your phone and open up the calendar app. Make a daily, repeating reminder to say the following short prayer each morning, “Dear God, whatever way you choose to use me today, I say yes.” Then pray that prayer everyday for 7 days.