Yep, the Sermon on the Mount continues…
So,
Let’s talk a little bit about perfection!
Have you found the perfect place to live?
Do you have the perfect job?
Have you been blessed with the perfect spouse and the perfect children…
[You children] – obviously have the perfect parents…right?
For the record, I am not trying to cause any problems here…just asking’ the hard questions…the tough ones…
Have you ever achieved perfection on a “major-major kind of examination?” Like the A-C-T?
You go to the perfect school and have all the perfect teachers, right?
You obviously have perfect grades! And perfect attendance…
How many holes in one have you made lately? How about that “300 – game” in bowling?
Are you driving the perfect vehicle?
And of course, you have the perfect bank account, checking and savings account.
Life is perfect, right?
Pefection … is pretty much elusive…at least for most of us…
Perfection is not all it’s made out to be. It is hard to be at the top of your game, day after day after day, if not impossible…
What about with the Decalogue…or the “Ten Words” or the Ten Commandments?
You keep them all perfectly right? And, always have…
Never breaking any?
You’ve obviously have read the Bible many times over – and are familiar with it forwards and backwards.
You know the law well and keep it perfectly.
All 613 Hebraic laws, right?
So, in our Gospel text for this weekend, we find Jesus upping the ante…just a “wee little bit.”
If the laws were not tough enough already – well then, I am here to tell you Jesus has just cranked up the tension.
In high jump lingo, for those of you who may have cleared 4’11” on “the righteousness scale” – the bar has just been raised up to 7’6”. Good luck, with that one, by the way!
Talk about your “hot button issues” of the day…murder…adultery…divorce and oaths…they all suffice.
Jesus is deepening or expanding the law. He says it is not only this and this…but so much more…
Jesus was calling people to a new way of living…a new way of life.
You have better things to do…then to be occupied with the issues of anger. You have better things to do …then to be occupied with issues of lust….and adultery.
We are supposed to be reconciling ourselves to one another…making peace…and living in peace…
We are to be about affirming one another…we are supposed to be about honor and dignity…
Life is supposed to be safe for everyone and we are supposed to make sure that it happens…
We are supposed to love one another, trust one another…and trust each other’s word…reconciled people speak the truth.
Jesus was raising the stakes on everything! On EVERYTHING!
Don’t be angry…don’t have affairs…make your word be good…always good…don’t lie…or tell stories…don’t swear or make oaths…
Practice self-discipline…make peace with all those with whom you are having conflicts.
Whoever “relaxes” one of the least of my commandments and teaches other people to “relax them,” shall be called least in the Kingdom of God.
There is no such thing as ala carte Christianity…you do not get to pick and choose what you like…
It’s kind of funny. The word “relax” comes from Latin word “laxari.” We get the word laxative from it…it means to loosen something up. Well there is no loosening up on the 10 commandments….
There are no laxatives where the law is concerned…Treat it with respect…
Practice it daily. When you fall into error, correct yourself…make it right. Forgive yourself…and move on! And simply try to better the next time!
Perfection – yah, right!
Thank God, there is grace…