1-23-2016

Good Morning All!!   

         Matthew 19:21; “Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

     When I was first dating my wife, I tried to impress her parents by making supper one night.  I made spaghetti, garlic bread and a vegetable.  I had hoped that it would be perfect; it was close but it was only “ect.”  The spaghetti didn’t have enough sauce, the garlic bread was definitely garlic and the vegetable was pretty much mush.  I tried, failed, but tried.  Yet I really wanted it to be perfect. 

    Most of us have times in life when we hope it is perfect.  Most people want their wedding to be perfect.  Most want the birth of their child to be perfect.  We want the perfect house, perfect car, perfect job; we want a perfect life.  The rich young man wanted the perfect life; what he got was not what he expected.

    This man went to Jesus and asked him what he needed to have eternal life.  He thought he had it all.  He was sure he was keeping the Law.  He would go through them in his head and heart and probably actually tried to keep them.  Yet, much like my spaghetti, he knew something was missing; something was just not quite right.  Now as we read this story, some think that the young man was just trying to make himself feel good but it is possible that this young man was sincere.  He wanted to be perfect, a word that is more precisely read as complete.  His life was good, even real good by some people’s measure, but not complete.  Something was missing in his life.

    So the young man goes to Jesus and asks, “What do I need to do?”  Jesus looks at him and says sell what you have, give it to the poor and follow me.  The young man went away sad because he was rich.  Did you ever wonder why?  Did he love his possessions or was it that he saw his possessions as part of his strive to perfection; were his possessions supposed to make him complete?  So what about our life, do we love our possessions or do we see them as part of what it takes to be perfect?  Yet all the stuff is life leaves us incomplete and empty.

    It is interesting to see that the word used here for “perfect” is the same word Jesus uses when he dies on the cross, “it is finished.”  That word is teleios; it means perfect, complete, finished; sort of like drawing a circle and coming back to where you started.  This is what life in Christ gives us; we have the wholeness of his grace and mercy.  Yet we find it, not in stuff but in the complete sacrifice which Jesus offered for us.  We find our totality of being in God’s mercy and grace.  Everything else, if we cling to them, will leave us empty and incomplete.  We find our completeness in Jesus.

Gracious Lord Jesus, in you we have our perfection; in you we have the completion of our being.  The brokenness of sin is filled by your grace.  Heal us so that we may see our true happiness is in you alone.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret