The Reading
Jesus said, “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, so 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
Reflection by Tom Nicolson
Be. Perfect.
Stop what you’re doing, and think, for a moment. Did you ever have a place in your life where you could go, and just…be? Is there a place that calls to you, emotionally, spiritually, a place where you have felt a sense of peace, a sense of wholeness? What comes to mind? Is it a physical location, perhaps a favorite place from your childhood? Is it a relationship? Is it an interior state of being, like what you might experience while meditating, or praying, or listening to music?
Take a few moments, close your eyes, and imagine yourself in that place. And just let yourself…be. Let everything go, and just…be.
And when you have returned from that place, I invite you to read Songs of the Soul, by John of the Cross.
Songs of the Soul
On a dark night,
Inflamed by love-longing—
O exquisite risk!—
Undetected I slipped away.
My house, at last, grown still.
Secure in the darkness,
I climbed the secret ladder in disguise—
O exquisite risk!—
Concealed by the darkness.
My house, at last, grown still.
That sweet night: a secret.
Nobody saw me;
I did not see a thing.
No other light, no other guide
Than the one burning in my heart.
This light led the way
More clearly than the risen sun
To where he was waiting for me
—The one I knew so intimately—
In a place where no one could find us.
O night, that guided me!
O night, sweeter than sunrise!
O night, that joined lover with Beloved!
Lover transformed in Beloved!
Upon my blossoming breast,
Which I cultivated just for him,
He drifted into sleep,
And while I caressed him,
A cedar breeze touched the air.
Wind blew down from the tower,
Parting the locks of his hair.
With his gentle hand
He wounded my neck
And all my senses were suspended.
I lost myself. Forgot myself.
I lay my face against the Beloved’s face.
Everything fell away and I left myself
behind,
Abandoning my cares
Among the lilies, forgotten.
—John of the Cross, translated by Mirabai Starr
Starr, Mirabai. Dark Night of the Soul (pp. 23-25). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
The English word “perfect” is a loaded one for us. It conjures up notions of perfectionism, of judgment, of always striving, always falling short of the mark. Is that what Jesus means, to rub our noses in the fact that we always will fall short of the mark? Is Jesus commanding us to do something, reach some level of achievement that we can never hope to attain? What kind of loving God does that?
If your gut says that’s not what Jesus is saying or doing here, but you’re not quite sure why, consider that more information may be needed.
To get at what Jesus is saying, it helps to consider that the New Testament was written originally in a form of Greek. The Greek word for “perfect” used here is “teleios”, a word that conveys the sense of being: intact, complete, whole, undivided. Jesus, of course, didn’t speak Greek. But there is a closely-related Hebrew word or Aramaic variant that Jesus may have used, one that may be more familiar to us—and that is “Shalom”(Shalem). Shalom has many nuances to it, but among its attributes are peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare, tranquility, safe, unharmed. Shalom comes from the root Shin-Lamedh-Mem, which also conveys a state of being: wholeness, safety, being intact, unharmed, to go or to be set free, without blemish.
In this instance, Jesus is letting us know that to be “perfect”, to be teleios, to be Shalom, is to be in a state of union (love) with ourselves, with one another, and with God—completely, wholly, undividedly, unabashedly—leaving no one out, because God leaves no one out. Everyone is within the sweep of God’s loving embrace. This union is what we long for, whether we realize it or not, this union of the Lover and the Beloved of our souls that John of the Cross evokes so beautifully. It is what God longs for, whether we realize it or not. It is, ultimately, what makes us whole. When we are Shalom with one another, we are the peace of God, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that guards our hearts and our minds.
Jesus is not issuing a mandate when he says “be perfect”; Jesus never compels us, because that’s not the kind of relationship he offers or desires. Jesus is extending an eternal, loving invitation for us to join him in God’s work of reconciliation: to reconcile us—to ourselves, to one another, and to God. We choose whether to accept the invitation.
“Be Shalom, therefore, as your heavenly Father is Shalom.” Be set free. Be whole. Be at peace.
-Tom Nicolson
The Collect
O God, by your Word you marvelously carry out the work of reconciliation: Grant that in our Lenten fast we may be devoted to you with all our hearts, and united with one another in prayer and holy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.