SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

In our Gospel reading today there is a sentence which sounds horribly like some demanding parents: “ be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’.” 

“Be perfect? How can I be perfect?”

For many people  that is how they see God  as some kind of demanding parent, analysing everything we do – noting every mistake, and demanding that we perform perfectly.

This view of God, which is very pervasive and deep-seated, makes us feel deep down that we will never really be acceptable to God because of the mistakes we’ve made, or because of the sort of person we are.  

The dictionary defines ‘perfect’ as “entirely without flaws or defects: flawless.”

Be perfect, says the scripture – be entirely without flaws or defects – flawless – help!

 I think I was about 16 or 17, being powerfully moved by hearing read the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Here was a young man who seriously messed up his life by some very wrong choices. He’d really gone to a very far country. When he made that decisive choice to turn around and come home, he was expecting his Father to punish him,  and his every move monitored.  What really moved me in the story though is that was not how his Father acted. He ran out to greet his lost son, threw his arms round him, and showered him with love and joy. Yes, he’d fallen, yes, he’d made a big mistake, but his Father picked him up gently and loved him back to life.

I thank God that this is the image of God which has most guided my own life and growth into adulthood.

This is what God is like, and that is reflected in the true meaning of the phrase “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” For the word translated as perfect is the Greek word teleios. And what that really means is “whole, complete, mature.” Be whole, be fully and completely the you we are called to be.  

The word ‘perfect’ in English sounds static. You either are perfect or you are not. In the Greek of the New Testament it has a more dynamic sense of something you become.

So “be perfect” is more “Grow up and mature and become fully and completely the person you were made to be.”

 I think it is a great image for what God wants for us, too. God longs for us to reach our full potential. Be perfect: become that wonderful person I created you to be, in whom I delight. When God looks at us with loving eyes, he sees the person who we can become. He longs to bring the best out of us – longs for us to become fully who we were created to be. Fully mature, like seed sown on good soil, putting down our roots into the life of God, and truly living life abundantly.

When we make mistakes, when we fall – when we get choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life and make the wrong choices – God does not judge us harshly, but gently picks us up and puts his arms around us and forgives us and sets us on the road again that leads to life and maturity. We become mature by living life fully – embracing life – taking risks – making mistakes and learning from them. That is how we become perfect.

“Be perfect.” These are not words from a harsh task master – but words from the loving heart of God.

But  living the Christian life demands that we be very honest with ourselves and acknowledge where we have compromised our ideals, where we have made choices which are not good, where we have settled for second best – or even given up. It is never too late to make a new beginning – to take stock of my life so far – and to grow up.

 So perhaps ask yourself today. How might God be encouraging me to reach out beyond my grasp? Reach out for the life which God has set before me. With St. Paul, forget what lies behind and strain forward for what lies ahead. Reach out to become the man or woman God has wonderfully and fearfully made in God’s own image.

“Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”