Does anyone love perfection? That is the question Jesus wants to know. Of course we cannot achieve perfection but yet we must try. This is a tricky task. There are potholes on the road to spiritual perfection. Some of blow a tire with disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa. Others lose a wheel striving for spiritual perfection through fasting. Jesus challenges us to keep our eyes on the road before so we can avoid driving off into the ditch. Another advantage of keeping our eyes focused out the front windshield is that we tend to notice broken stragglers on the sidewalks. They are the people we are called to stop and help.
First, let's explore a few potholes on the road to spiritual perfection. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight, often coupled with a distorted self image and it occurs in females ten times more than males. Persons with anorexia nervosa continue to feel hunger, but deny themselves all but very small quantities of food. Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that swings from starving ones to overindulging in food often followed by vomiting or other methods of purging. Media portrayals of an 'ideal' body shape are widely considered to be a contributing factor to bulimia (Barker, P, 2003, Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing: The Craft of Caring Arnold, Great Britain.). A survey of 15–18 year-old high school girls in Nadroga, Fiji found the self-reported incidence of purging rose from 0% in 1995 (a few weeks after the introduction of television in the province) to 11.3% in 1998. (Becker AE, Burwell RA, Gilman SE, Herzog DB, Hamburg P, June 2002. "Eating behaviours and attitudes following prolonged exposure to television among ethnic Fijian adolescent girls". The British Journal of Psychiatry 180: 509–14 quoted on wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulimia_Nervosa.)
Constant media bombardment reinforces what we lack. According to advertisements our bodies are not the perfect shape and our relationships are not as satisfying as they should. They say our breath stinks and our clothes are out of style. This constant negative input has a dulling and discouraging effect on our spirits. We are not perfect. That is what they tell us. But we can be perfect if we will only buy their product. That is the lie they sell us. Thus, the desire for physical perfection may take an unhealthy turn.
On the other hand, there are forms of seeking perfection that are more spiritual than material. Thomas Keating tells of how when he joined a monastery at the tender age of 18 he found himself in a sort of spiritual duel with an older member of the community. Every time he had a break of 5 or 10 minutes in his busy schedule Keating would run over to the chapel and sit down to pray and meditate. And every time he got there this other man would already be sitting there in prayer. Their spiritual duel played over into the Lenten season one year. This was a time of year when this religious community practiced a mild form of fasting by refraining from certain foods. In his desire to be more spiritual than this other man Keating very nearly starved himself to death before he was taken ill from exhaustion and forced, much to his chagrin, to eat and rest which made him fall behind the other man in terms of time spent in prayer in the chapel and of course he lost the fasting duel as well. Keating looks back on those days with regret since these two monks in a monastery were competing spiritually the way automobile racers compete in a qualifying run in the Daytona 500. And the punch line of the whole story came when a couple of years later Keating found out the other monk wasn't even trying to compete with Keating. The competition was all in Keating's mind. Our mind is where these destructive games are played out.
If we practiced what Jesus recommends we would avoid such imaginary duels as Keating experienced in the monastery. But the problem arises when we take Jesus words literally and start once again focusing on our own imperfections because it is nigh near impossible to do what Jesus challenges us to do here.
I think moving from brokenness to wholeness is the message here. The phrase "an eye for an eye" harkens back to the ancient symbol of "The Eye of Horus" which survives even today in the Rx symbol of the pharmacy. The eye of Horus consisted of different parts of the pupil of an eye divided into fractions such as 1/2; 1/4; 1/8/ 1/16 and so forth. It served as a mental calculator for the ancient Egyptians who established the religion from which we get our own spiritual roots via the Hebrew Bible that we call the Old Testament.
As we dig deeper into this ancient symbol we are rewarded with an understanding of what Jesus is getting at in his 'eye for eye' reference. According to Wikipedia, the Egyptians loved their Falcon-Headed god, called Horus. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Horus). The symbol represeting Horus's eye was called the Eye of Horus or, in the Egyptian language wedjat meaning "Whole One." This was a powerful symbol for protection that conferred wisdom, health and prosperity. The Eye of Horus also represented continuity in life as it symbolized the renewal of the land from pharaoh to pharaoh. The wedjat had the power to restore harmony to the unstable world and to make right things that were wrong in the world.
According to the myth, the rival god Seth tore out Horus' eye. Thoth, the wise moon god, patiently put Horus's eye back in order and healed it. So the Eye of Horus came to symbolize the status of regained soundness.
Such soundness is what Jesus seeks in his followers. Jesus is not expecting spiritual perfection as much as spiritual maturity. As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 13:9-13 ...
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Or, as Jesus says in our text today: "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.
Loving our enemies takes us outside the confines of the sanctuary walls into the wild world at large. This is why Jesus can hang out with tax collectors and sinners. This points us toward the exit sign in the sanctuary. That exit sign is our signal light, proclaiming: "Here is where you need to share your love: Right through these doors and outside in this community."
According to Reggie McNeal in his book Missional Renaissance, the question before this and every church full of Christ followers is this: "How can this church be a blessing to the community?" Your Session is exploring the answer to that question. Pray for us as we continue to seek God's will and Christ's way in finding how we can be a blessing to this community.
Our role as a church is to be a place of healing where broken people can find not spiritual perfection, but spiritual maturity. We are here as wounded healers to welcome anyone who is broken to come get themselves put back together again.
Jesus told a parable about our mission as a church.
"There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.'
"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"
"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same." (Luke 10:30-37, The Message)
All humans have a spiritual hunger that refuses to be filled by anything other than a relationship with God. This relationship with God is one that grows if we water the roots with tears and expose our inner selves to the light of Christ's nourishing love. Our spiritual growth is measured not by how perfectly we keep every law but by how we love our neighbor. And Jesus says even that is not enough. Jesus says, "Love your enemies." That is the true measure of the health of our eye and our spiritual wholness and how well we see. In our own strength we cannot do that. But as Paul reminds us, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Let's give the final word today to Jesus, who says to us:
"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, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)
