Imperfection

Jesus said to his disciples: “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, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

Jesus encourages the ultimate test for us who tend to hate our enemies – love them.  Okay, but how?  Sure, the sun rises on the good and bad, and rain falls on the unjust and just.  There’s nothing strange or revealing about that.  It’s far better not to create enemies than to love them after they have turned against us.

More insightful is Jesus’ point about “if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that?” In other words, if we only associate with those who are like us and share our world views we risk making enemies through misunderstandings and failures to communicate with those who are different in faith, race, culture, or economic status.  MSNBC versus Fox News’ viewers is one good example.  It’s us versus them with the gloves off.   Bare-knuckle fighting so it appears.

We’ll never be perfect like our heavenly Father is perfect.  We’re all imperfect and destined to remain so.  Nevertheless, at the very least we can pray for those who persecute us and pray we’ll be more understanding of the reasons why our enemies hate us.  Eyes wide open are better that eyes tightly shut.

Deacon David Pierce