Perfect by the Father's Heart

Good morning, everyone.

Our Bible reading this morning is from Matthew 5, verses 33 to 48.

Matthew 5:33–48

We're going to be picking up Jesus' Sermon on the Mount partway through, starting from

verse 33.

Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old,

you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.

But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great

king.

And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply yes or no.

Anything more than this comes from evil.

You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.

But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven.

For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

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, what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.

Heavenly father, you have given us so many good examples through your son of what it is to live as people of your kingdom,

as imitators of who you are and what you want for us.

I pray that as I go through the word today, that you will open our hearts and guide my words,

that my words can be your words and speak into our hearts for what you want for us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, why is it that we are constantly measuring ourselves against the people around us?

How we define ourselves creates a lens that we use to define our worth.

If I define myself by my work, I constantly have to check how good I am at my job by measuring against other people doing the same thing.

If I define myself by my sporting ability, I need to know who I am beating to know just how good I am.

Now, we're in the midst of the Olympic Games.

Athletes have been training for years, decades even, to get to this point.

And for some of them, all that hard work, all those dreams are smashed in an instant.

Imagine you're an Australian swimmer on the Olympic team.

You've worked your butt off for most of your life.

4am starts, six days a week, from your early teenage years.

Perhaps moving your family halfway across the country to have a better coach.

You have made it to the Olympics.

You have qualified.

Now, by this definition, you're one of the top two athletes in this country for your event.

Top two.

It's a pretty high standard.

Now, you get to the Olympics and you swim in your heat.

But you don't qualify for the semifinal.

That's it.

All that time and effort you have invested, done.

In only a matter of seconds, your dream is finished.

But it doesn't just end there.

As an Australian swimmer, the standard of qualifying has been upgraded to winning.

You know that you've not met the standard that you set for yourself.

No matter what standard you achieve, the world will always have a higher standard.

You are one of the top two athletes in your country for your event.

You're an Olympian.

But that is no longer enough.

So if we need to constantly meet a standard in order for our sense of who we are and our worth to be recognised,

then failing would be personally devastating.

But as people, we're not that bad, are we?

I mean, we're not able to compete in an Olympic event.

That's a very small portion of the population.

But that doesn't mean that the world has not set a standard for us.

Now, the world is divided into two general categories.

Good and bad.

Now, while these seem like absolute terms, we can find that they're actually a sliding scale.

When we try to understand what the right thing to be doing in any situation is,

where do we look for reference?

We gauge what the accepted behaviour is by seeing what the majority of the people around us are doing.

Do we speed down the highway?

Do we use our phones while driving?

We look to the world to define what acceptable behaviour is

and what level of performance defines a good person.

Now, to the world, the laws that Jesus talks about here in verses 33 to 48

are not usually considered bad.

Lying? Who doesn't lie?

Justice? Justice should be done.

Make them pay for what they've done.

And no one will think less of you for wishing ill on your enemy.

We're not murderers. We're not thieves.

We're not bad by the world's standards.

In fact, we're quite good.

We give to charity.

We look after people who need help.

We only slightly resent those who need something from us

when we're just not quite ready to give.

We pay our taxes.

We obey the road rules, mostly,

except there's no one around and no one's going to get hurt.

We work hard all week

and then give up the rest that we deserve to come to church

because we are good people.

As Jerry Bridges states in his book, Respectable Sins,

we who are believers tend to evaluate our character

and conduct relative to the moral culture in which we live.

Since we usually live at a higher moral standard than society at large,

it is easy for us to feel good about ourselves

and to assume that God feels that way also.

Now, to Jesus' audience here in Matthew,

the Pharisees and scribes were the good standard of their time.

No one was closer to God than them.

They were the best of the best

when it came to being good people.

They were known for their obedience to the law.

They gave to the need.

And they usually made sure that everyone knew

just how godly they were.

Jesus gives us some examples in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

They were such a high standard

that in verse 20,

Jesus uses them as the example

that must be surpassed to enter heaven.

Now, to compare that to the analogy of swimming,

Jesus has just said the equivalent of

you must be a better swimmer than Ian Thorpe

or Ariana Titmuss

or Susie O'Neill

or Dawn Fraser

or Kieran Perkins

or Murray Rose.

Now, I'm pretty sure that I've given a good swimmer

from every generation we've got here at church.

To beat these people

who are defined as the best swimmers of their time

would make us good at swimming.

But we don't sit here

and think that being a better swimmer than these people

is an easy task.

Now, can anyone honestly say

that we can be more righteous

than the scribes and Pharisees?

Can we meet that standard?

But that's what Jesus is asking us to do

so that we can enter the kingdom of heaven.

So to the world,

we're not bad people.

But how good are we?

Well, that depends on whether we're defined by God,

not others and ourselves.

So measuring ourselves

against the example of the laws

that Jesus leads us through in Matthew 5

shows us how good we really are.

Look with me at verses 33 to 37 on oaths.

Now, we can summarize these verses by

do not take an oath and all.

Let what you say simply yes or no.

Now, have you ever made a promise backed up with,

you better believe I will,

or even cross my heart and hope to die?

Now, to Jesus' listeners,

the only time they had to be believed

was when they were making such a promise.

When our truthfulness is questioned,

we fall short of God's standard.

Do we speak truthfully?

Do we live with integrity?

If we live our lives

so that our yes and no are believed,

what fine examples we would be

of the kingdom of heaven?

If we are to proclaim the gospel

to the people we meet,

do we steal something from the words

if we have a reputation for lying?

If we are known for honesty and truthfulness,

there can be no doubt

that the gospel is truth

when we speak it.

Moving on to verses 38 to 42,

these confront us with a different perspective

on our sense of justice, of fairness.

Now, we extend through to chapter 7, verse 12,

the command of do to others

as you would have them do to you.

Do we take that command

as the opportunity to treat other people

the way they treated us

instead of turning the other cheek

and ending the issue?

Instead of treating the people,

instead of treating people

the way we want to be treated,

we demand something back.

Now, this makes me think about my driving.

I consider myself to be a good driver

for the most part.

I bring my focus and my attention to the road

and the other people

who share the road with us.

Now, I have had accidents,

but I can justify riding off two cars

because they weren't my fault.

There was a mechanical failure on one

and the road was wet

and I was not even in second gear in another.

But there are times,

and here I take a page

from Rob Patterson's sermons,

where my driving stresses out

my beautiful wife.

There are times

when another road user

does not treat me

the way that I wish to be treated on the road

and the way that I feel

that I am treating them.

Instead of continuing on,

I find myself thinking,

if that's how you want it to be,

so be it.

I no longer treat them

the way I wish to be treated,

but treat them the way

they've just treated me.

Someone swings into my lane

and a little bit

and I drive right to the edge

to make sure that they know

that this is my space.

Someone doesn't indicate

that they're turning in front of me

and I just keep going

as if they're not,

getting closer and closer.

All the while,

Jess is sitting next to me

wondering if this is the moment we crash.

You see,

when we demand justice

or fairness,

what is it that we really want?

Is it according to the law

that someone is punished

to the exact measure

of their hurt that they've caused?

Literally,

an eye for an eye?

Or is it that we want the world

to recognise

and acknowledge that

I was somehow wrong?

Our retaliation,

our demand for justice

appears to be a righteous act.

The wrongdoer should be made

to pay for what they've done.

But the root of that demand

is our own recognition,

elevation,

being the focus of events.

We crave the glory for ourselves.

We want to be in the place

that God has set aside for himself.

We want to be in the place

of God.

We want to be in the place

of God.

We want to be in the place

of God.

Moving on,

verse 44 calls us

to pray for those

who persecute you.

Now,

can we honestly say

that we pray for our enemies?

Even preparing this sermon,

I'm typing out automatically

P-R-E-Y,

not P-R-A-Y.

Now,

praying on our enemies

seems like a natural thing to do.

We don't know

what they're up to.

They'll get the jump on us

and they'll hurt us

and defeat us.

We end up

with the inevitable

pre-emptive strike.

So we retaliate so well

that we get in there

before they can do us harm.

But praying for our enemies,

not for their destruction,

but for their good,

can we take this huge leap forward?

It is easy to let our friends

get away with an injustice,

maybe even a family member,

although it seems that

friends can get away

with a lot more than family,

doesn't it?

But someone who's actively

seeking my pain,

my downfall,

Jesus wants me to do what?

Jesus shows us

that the world's definition of good

is vastly different to God's

and that our hearts

are not in line

with God's heart.

We cannot live up

to his standard.

We need

a totally new heart.

Adam and Israel

were unfaithful sons of God.

They were not able

to be obedient,

not achieving the example

God has made them to be.

Now, Adam had one simple rule.

Don't eat from that tree

and he couldn't obey it.

When Israel had

all the rules,

the physical signs,

the explicit instructions

on how to live

as obedient sons of God,

they had the living God

bringing them up

out of slavery in Egypt,

going before them

in a pillar of smoke and fire.

Exodus 19

gives us the scene

at Mount Sinai

where God

is sitting on the top

of the mountain

in a cloud of fire

in front of them.

Israel's response?

Build us a statue

of our God

so that we know

who our God is.

Even with God

right in front of them,

they are unable

to be the obedient

sons they are called to be.

And like Adam and Israel,

we are unable

to be the obedient children

that we are called to be.

but we have an example

of someone who is.

We don't need to look

any further than Jesus

for the example

of living

as a kingdom son.

Jesus did not need

oaths to back up

his statements of truth.

In Matthew chapter 27,

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

when Jesus is questioned

by Pilate,

he did not respond

with many words

and grand statements

to convince people

of his answers.

He speaks a simple sentence.

You have said

that it is so.

Even at the point

where he is about to die,

when we would think

that there is nothing

left to lose,

Jesus' simple statement

of the truth

greatly amazed Pilate.

Earlier in that night,

Jesus shows his disciples

that retaliation

is not the answer.

In chapter 26,

when Judas betrays Jesus

in the Garden of Gethsemane,

one of the disciples

defends Jesus

with the sword,

cutting off the ear

of the temple servant.

Jesus rebukes his disciples,

tells him to put away

his weapon,

heals the temple servant

and provides calm

in the midst

of two groups

of armed men

ready to go to war.

Jesus leaves calm

and turns the other chair.

And who can provide us

with a better example

of loving and praying

for our enemies?

The obvious act

of a sinless man

dying for sinful creation.

While hanging on the cross,

listening to the criminals

in the crowds,

mocking and demanding

that he proved his power,

Jesus prays,

Father,

forgive them.

In the midst

of his greatest suffering,

Christ prays not

for his own relief,

but for forgiveness

for those

who are caught up

in this act.

Now,

to me,

the clearest example

of Jesus' obedience

is in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26,

Matthew 26:39

verse 39,

Jesus prays,

My Father,

if it be possible,

let this cup pass from me,

but nevertheless,

not as I will,

but as you will.

in full knowledge

of what was about

to occur

and all the pain

that was associated

with what was coming,

Jesus begs

for there to be

another way,

yet concludes

God's way is best.

You see,

Jesus is the only

faithful son,

the only one

who can live up

to the command

of verse 48,

you therefore

must be perfect

as your heavenly

Father is perfect.

In this command,

Jesus commands

his followers,

us,

to be perfect,

to reorient

our hearts

from the world's

standards,

to be in line

with God's standards.

But how do we

take part in that?

How does Christ's

perfection

become ours?

Because our Father

calls us

to share

in his Son's heart.

God loves

all of his

creation

and that love

is concentrated

in his Son.

And through

his Son,

we too

can call God

our Heavenly

Father.

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8:14–17

verses 14 to 17

tells us that

we are given

the spirit

of adoption

by whom

we cry

Father.

Now,

as Beth alluded to,

consider the enormity

of having a direct

personal

family relationship

relationship with God,

the creator

of everything.

The relationship

between a parent

and a child

is particularly

intimate.

The parent

loves and cares

for the child,

providing all

that they need

and more,

regardless of

the child's

behavior.

No matter how

much a child

rebels against

the parent,

the parent will

always have a place

ready for them.

Think of the story

of the prodigal

son.

A man tells

his father

that he can't

wait for him

to be dead,

so the father

gives him his

inheritance

and his blessing.

The son

squanders

everything

and at the

lowest point

of his life

remembers the

love his father

shows for his

servants.

The son

does not expect

anything more

than that

of the hired

hands,

but a father's

love overcomes

all the rebellion

that has been

thrown his way

by the son

to run,

embrace,

and welcome

home his

child.

Children are

completely

dependent on

their parents,

but only for

so long.

As a child

grows,

they become

less physically

dependent.

They can feed

themselves,

dress themselves,

and eventually

even get

themselves where

they need to

and want to

go.

But as this

physical dependency

wanes,

they grow in

emotional

dependency.

Even when we

become parents,

we seek the

affirmation of

our parents

that we're

doing a good

job.

As children,

we imitate

our parents

to learn about

the world

from their

eyes.

And so

that's what

God wants.

He wants us

to imitate

him.

He wants us

to turn to

him for

affirmation of

what we're

doing is

right.

He wants

to provide

for us,

to look

after us,

Mark chapter

Mark 10 · chapter mention

10 tells

us that

he wants

us to

be fully

dependent

on him.

Doesn't

that give

us hope?

That the

unchanging

standard of

perfection is

measured against

our creator

who wants

to care for

us,

who calls

us to an

intimate

personal family

relationship with

him,

and who lifts

us up to

that standard

with his

call.

God.

1 Peter

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

reminds us

that we

are called

to be

holy because

God is

holy.

We are

reminded that

as children

of the

kingdom of

heaven,

we are

showing the

world what

it means to

be part of

that kingdom.

Not the

good people,

only the

same.

And Peter

goes on.

If we

call him

father,

conduct

yourselves

knowing that

you were

ransomed from

the futile

ways of

your forefathers

with the

blood of

Christ.

Jesus'

blood shed

for us

is our

sacrifice.

The price

that is

required for

our sin

before God

has been

paid.

We can

now be

seen as

without sin

and can

enter the

kingdom of

heaven.

In

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 31:31–34

chapter

31,

verses

31 to

34,

God

promised

that a

new

covenant

will be

written in

our hearts.

Christ

came to

fulfill the

law that

God might

write him

into our

hearts,

sealing us

to him

and remembering

our iniquity

no more.

God deals

with our

corrupted

heart by

writing

himself in.

God

changes the

story.

In

Ezekiel

36,

God

promises to

give us

a new

heart and

a new

spirit.

With a

new

heart,

we are

children of

the kingdom

of heaven.

We are

now aliens

here on

earth.

And as

Matt

described a

couple of

weeks ago,

we should

now live

as imitators

of our

king,

not conforming

to the

culture of

this world.

God

will

repent.

When we

repent,

and if we

go back

right to the

start of the

sermon on

the mount,

Jesus starts

his call

with repent

for the

kingdom of

heaven is

at hand.

When we

repent,

it is the

changing of

our heart's

orientation.

As Dave

Bott showed

us a couple

of weeks

back,

we need to

empty

ourselves of

the things

of this

world so

that we

can be

filled with

Christ.

We need

to empty

ourselves of

what defines

us by

this world

and be

filled with

the goodness

and identity

that Christ

offers us.

When the

world pushes

back against

us because

we don't

belong here

anymore,

we know

that it is

because we

belong in

our heavenly

father's

kingdom.

We are

made perfect

because Christ

is perfect.

But what

does that

mean for

us?

We know

that the

world's

standards will

always change.

There's

always a

higher

standard.

But God's

standard is

forever the

same.

We are

so willing

to spend

all our

energy chasing

after the

constantly moving

standards of

this world.

So why do

we stumble

when we are

called to

live out

the perfection

that has

already been

given to

us?

Now we

know to

note,

the call

to perfection

is not

saying that

we can

earn our

way into

heaven.

Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

tells us

that many

people are

working out

their lives

in Jesus

name,

attempting to

gain entry

to heaven

through their

personal

righteousness,

their attempt

to achieve

perfection

under the

law.

But Christ's

response to

them is,

I never

knew.

We cannot

demand access

to God on

our terms.

this command

to Jesus

followers is

also not

a call to

strive for

perfect

law

keeping.

In the

context of

the verses

we've just

gone through,

it should be

clear that

this is not

possible.

Rather,

Jesus is

setting that

standard for

his people

to pursue

and being

the example

who can

and will

help his

people achieve

it.

in the

examples of

retaliation

and loving

your enemies,

Jesus

exhorts us

as his

people,

not only

to reject

the normal

standards of

this world,

but to

double down,

turn the

other cheek,

give your

cloak also,

love your

enemies,

but go the

extra mile and

pray for their

benefit too.

When anyone

can love their

friends,

that's why

they're friends.

anyone can

give to

someone who

we know

can pay

us back,

but we

are called

to be

different,

so that

instead of

giving in

to our

nature for

revenge and

self-glory,

we end

the violence.

And after

we've ended

the violence,

we pray and

give of

ourselves for

the other

person's

well-being.

If we

allow ourselves

to suffer

without seeking

retribution,

who are we

seeking glory

for?

Aren't we

showing that

we no longer

live by the

standards of

this world

and live for

something greater,

higher?

Following that,

we see that

our language,

our honesty and

integrity,

should likewise

signify us

as different to

this world.

We should be

known for our

honesty, our

truthfulness,

our integrity.

When we answer

a question, we

shouldn't have to

make assurances.

we shouldn't

have to cross

our heart and

hope to die

that we speak

the truth.

The people we

speak to should

know that we

speak truth

because that's

what we're

known for.

Truth and

honesty are

linked with

our character,

the fibre of

who we are

as citizens of

the kingdom

of heaven,

as sons and

daughters of

our heavenly

Father.

God,

live as

children of

the kingdom

of heaven

and be

holy because

your God and

king is

holy.

Pray with me.

gracious

Father,

help us to

put aside

the things

of this

world.

Help us

to stop

seeking

the world

standard and

work towards

your standard.

Help us to

open our hearts

to you and be

filled with who

you are,

that it

overflows in

this world,

that we can

show the world

your love

flowing through

us.

Help us to

live the way

you want us

to live,

imitating you

in all that

we do.

In Jesus'

name,

Amen.