Dynamic Perfection

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Maybe this isn’t the verse that we would have chosen to reflect on today. According to the dictionary, perfect means “entirely without flaw or defect … meeting supreme standards of excellence … satisfying all requirements.” To which many of us would respond: Really, Lord? I’m struggling just to keep one little Lenten resolution! I’ll never be perfect, no matter how hard I try.

One reason that perfection can seem so unattainable is that it sounds like an either-or proposition: you’re either perfect or imperfect. But as Scripture scholars point out, the Greek word translated as “perfect” in Matthew 5:48 carries a more dynamic meaning. It indicates something you grow into—a process of becoming whole and complete. From this perspective, we can imagine Jesus saying, “Keep moving forward! Keep working on becoming the person I created you to be. Don’t settle for anything less than the holiness of wholeness!” It may seem ironic, but it’s true: the more you become the unique person God made you to be, the more you will resemble Jesus, the perfect One.

So how do you grow into this perfection? Self-improvement programs won’t produce the change, and neither will piling on Lenten disciplines and spiritual calisthenics. It comes as you try your best to use your talents and gifts in a way that glorifies the Lord and lifts up the people around you. It comes as you focus on one or two roadblocks in your life: an unresolved resentment, an unhealthy habit, or a skewed way of thinking about life. Look for the things that keep you from becoming the person you know you can become.

Today, ask the Lord how he wants you to grow and change. Let him shine the light of his love on your heart. Let him show you both the person you’re meant to be and the person you are right now. Then come up with one or two things you can do to help bridge the gap between these two visions.

Blessed John Henry Newman once said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” As you seek to hear and follow Jesus, may you change—and often—throughout this Lenten season!

“Lord Jesus, although it seems incredible, I believe that you are leading me to wholeness and holiness!”

from wau.org

No empty words

My word … shall not return to me void. (Isaiah 55:11)

For thousands of years, politicians and merchants have made claims about what they or their products can do. And some of us have learned, to our chagrin, that more than a few of these claims are wildly exaggerated. Not so with God! He tells us that his word goes out and never fails to accomplish his will—and he’s absolutely right! Think about the word that proceeds from God’s mouth:

The word is creative. Read the first chapter of Genesis. When God said, “Let there be light,” there was light. So too with day and night, earth and sea, plants and animals, and all the rest. All things, St. John says, came to be through that word. When a word goes forth from God’s mouth, it brings into being something that never was—life. It establishes in you what is lacking so that his life in you can flourish, so that your faith and your relationships can deepen.

The word is authoritative. That might suggest notions of government, commands, and obedience. But authoritative also means trusted, true, reliable, and dependable. This is who God is! And he is for you. When he commands, he also offers the grace to obey. Your obedience to him brings you life, because in everything, he works for good with us. His authoritative word never changes or varies. It never deceives or manipulates. It just is—solid, true, dependable, and trustworthy. 

 

The word is near to you. This creative word, which you can rely on and trust and which surpasses everything, is as near as your tongue, as close as your heart. You long for life or peace, joy or patience, and the word, which is close to you, can bring them about. Ask God for what you lack: healing, forgiveness, a new start, or a permanent break with old habits. He will speak the word you need, and as you take it up, it will accomplish his desires for you. 

Finally, the word is alive! Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh, dwelt among us, and overcame death.

Nothing can conquer the word of God. So rejoice in that word today! Read it. Seek its guidance. Invite it into your life, and watch it bear fruit!

“Father, speak your word to me today. I long to be made alive with you.”

from wau.org

Lights on!!

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn. (Isaiah 58:8)

A frail, elderly widow living alone was visited by her son, who had been traveling for a long time. Opening the front door, he was shocked by the disrepair her home had fallen into. Over the years she had accumulated a lot: furniture, clothing, books, toys her children had played with. Since she was no longer able to keep it all tidy, it was piled in every room in boxes and bundles. But worse than the clutter was the darkness. The windows, where he could see them, were covered in layers of dust.

So the man set to work. He organized the clutter, storing much of it in the attic. Then he cleaned the windows and aired out the house until it was once more filled with light.

Like the widow’s home, we also house two potential blockages to the light of Christ: clutter and dust. Clutter is what happens when your human treasures—material possessions, habits, hopes and dreams, old memories—take priority over the Lord. They aren’t necessarily bad things, but they need to be reorganized and put in their proper place. The dust is the sin that can build up on the windows of our hearts, keeping us in shadows and darkness.

We can consider fasting as a way of dealing with the clutter and repentance as a way to clean off the dust. By fasting, we reorder our lives so that Jesus gets top priority, and in repentance we let his light shine in us—and through us—more brightly. Fasting is like spring cleaning, as we spruce up our spiritual lives and put away some unnecessary baggage. Often, as we take up the call to fast, we get a better view of the sins that have been blocking the light in the first place.

So try to put aside a few things—time on the computer, a favorite food, a fun activity that is swallowing up too much time—so that you can focus better on window washing. Make it your goal to let in as much sunlight as possible. As you do, you’ll discover how much joy there is in choosing a simple, clutter-free life. 

“Lord you are my light! Come and break forth like the dawn in my heart.”

from wau.org

Insider

The man … began to publicize the whole matter. (Mark 1:45)

Have you ever watched a movie in which two characters trade places? Perhaps a mother and daughter mysteriously switch bodies. Or a pauper is mistaken for a prince. Usually, chaos ensues as the characters try to get used to their new roles.

In today’s Gospel reading, another kind of switch occurs, only this time both characters are very comfortable in their new roles.

First, there’s the man with leprosy. He had been living in a kind of exile from society because of his disease. But after Jesus heals him, he is set free from his isolation. He is so excited, in fact, that he spreads the news about Jesus far and wide.

Then there’s Jesus. He had been at the center of a renewal movement in Galilee, a kind of toast of the town, visiting every synagogue he could and receiving a warm welcome wherever he went. But all this changed when he met the man with leprosy. As a result of his healing the man, Jesus is the one who has to stay in “deserted places” (Mark 1:45). By touching this man, Jesus took the man’s uncleanness upon himself instead. 

In a way, this switch is a foreshadowing of the cross. Jesus became an outsider, despised and rejected, so that we could become insiders in his heavenly kingdom. Can you imagine? First, the infinite and eternal God became a vulnerable, helpless baby. Then, throughout his life, he endured exclusion, misunderstanding, and ridicule. Only the purest, most sacrificial love could accept all of this for the sake of redeeming a people lost in sin. 

Take a moment, and imagine Jesus standing before you. As he did with the leper, he wants to switch places with you. He wants to take your sin and your isolation. He wants to welcome you into his kingdom. Let him show you how much he loves you, accepts you, and rejoices over you.

“Lord, thank you for becoming an outsider so that I could be accepted.”

from wau.org

self-giving, not taking

This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. (Genesis 2:23)

Aren’t weddings beautiful? One thing everyone can see at a wedding is the joy on the face of the groom as he sees his bride walking toward him down the aisle of the church. But no smile down through the ages has been bigger than that of Adam, when he set eyes on the woman God presented to him. Gazing on her beauty, he finally understood who he was and the purpose of his life!

Up to this point, Adam was all alone. Yes, the other animals made engaging companions, but Adam knew that he was different. After all, do animals ponder the night sky or ask why things are the way they are? What’s more, only Adam had the desire and capacity to interact with God. Now there was another—a woman—who shared all of this with him. As different from Adam as she was, Eve was still a suitable partner for him. Together, they learned that they were created with a unique purpose—and to be a unique and exclusive gift to each other.

At retreats and youth conferences around the world, young women are learning about the dignity they have as daughters of God. Their hearts lighten at the message that the men in their lives are called to treasure and honor them. They are relieved to learn that they don’t have to settle for a lesser way of relating, one based primarily on physical attractiveness or sexual performance. For their part, young men are learning of the high calling they have to honor, protect, and cherish women. They are learning that they are created to give of themselves, not to use people for their own pleasure.

So it’s all about self-gift, not self-gratification. It’s about treasuring the gift that we are to each other. The question is, “How can I become more self-giving?” Here’s one easy way to start: make it a point every day to tell your spouse how much you love and treasure him or her. Start with that, and God will bless everything else.

“Father, you created me to love and be loved. Help me to break out of patterns of isolation and selfishness so that I can know deeper communion with you and those you have placed in my life.”

from wau.org