August 6, 2000 - LESSON: Ephesians 4.1-16, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: The Perfect Person

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Matthew 5:43-48, NRSV
    1. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] 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. [46] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? [47] And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
    2. Perfect is
      1. Complete in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.
      2. To set out for a definite point or goal
      3. The point aimed at as a limit, i.e. the conclusion of an act or state, the result
  2. Is there anything that human beings can produce that can be called perfect?
    1. I suppose it would depend on your definition of perfection.
      1. We have contests.
        1. Miss America
        2. Mr America
        3. The competitors in the upcoming Olympic Games
        4. The Oscar's, the Emmy's, the People's Choice Awards
        5. You could add contests and occasions of recognition.
        6. They are endless.

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      1. We offer prizes
        1. They are offered to the best
        2. This is not perfection
    1. What is needed is a particular point of view.
      1. You can look at perfection from two points of view.
        1. Personal definition
        2. God's definition.
      2. Ultimately which one is going to prevail?

MAIN BODY:

  1. Matthew records the story of a rich young man who came to Jesus with a question:
    1. (Matthew 19:16-22 NRSV) Then someone came to him and said, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" [17] And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." [18] He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; [19] Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [20] The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I still lack?" [21] Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." [22] When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
    2. If you would be perfect?
      1. Jesus is not asking him to become a pauper.
      2. Jesus is asking him to change the orientation of his life.
      3. Jesus is seeking to help the young man find a "why" to live for.

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  1. Do we also need a why with which to live?
    1. Friedrich Nietzsche has said, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." (1)
    2. Victor Frankel commenting on Nietzsche's observation writes:
      1. "What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking ourselves about the meaning of life, and instead think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life--daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find right answers to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual...These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. This it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statement. 'Life' does not mean something vague , but something real and concrete, just a life's tasks are also very real and concrete. They from man's destiny, which is different and unique for every individual." (2)
  2. This brings us to the lesson for this morning for this is what is being asked of us.
    1. The Apostle Paul is setting forth the "Why" of fellowship with God and with one another.
    2. There is no better way to achieve the perfection, the maturity and end result to which we are called.

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  1. Let us move through the verses of the lesson and learn the What and Why of Ephesians 4.1-16, NRSV
    1. 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
      1. I beg you.
      2. He does not demand
      3. He does not require
      4. He is holding up the ideal.
        1. Life a life worthy
        2. Of the calling that has been accepted and entered into.
    2. 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
    3. 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
    4. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,
    5. 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
    6. 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
    7. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.
    8. 8 Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."
    9. 9 (When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
    10. 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)
    11. 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
    12. 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
    13. 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
    14. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
    15. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
    16. 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

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  1. To assess where you are in this process ask yourself the following questions:
    1. -- Does love of God overwhelm and overcome your heart, making every heartbeat keep pace with God's love for you?
    2. -- Does love of God inform your mind, making love the mainspring of all your thoughts?
    3. -- Does love of God penetrate your soul, making your every prayer a plea not for yourself and your own desires, but an offering formed and normed by love?
    4. -- Does love of God flow through the strength of your body, making your every step a step toward love in action? (3)

CONCLUSION:

  1. If it does not then perhaps there are some confusion as to method as you are seeking the perfection of God
    1. Barry P. Boulware, First United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri provides a closing illustration:

Some years ago, a young man who wanted to change his life went into a church and sat down in the sanctuary for awhile. He took out a piece of paper and a pencil and began writing down a long list of things that he promised he would do to change his life - a whole page of things - and he signed his name at the bottom and took it up and placed it on the altar, and sat down again in the sanctuary.

As he was sitting there, however, he began to sense the voice of God speaking softly in his own soul. And the more he listened to it, the more he heard God saying to him, "You've done it all wrong. I want you to go back up there and get the piece of paper and tear it up. And then I'll give you another instruction."

So, the young man got out of his pew and walked up to the altar and did as the Lord told him. And then he went back to sit down in the pew and waited for the Lord to instruct him. It did not happen immediately, but finally the message came through. The Lord said to him, very gently, "Now take a piece of paper and sign your name to it at the bottom and let me fill in all the rest!" (4)

    1. It may be that this is a slight oversimplification.
    2. God will help us fill in the rest.
    3. Let us give god the opportunity to fill in the rest.

1. Quoted in Man's Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl, © Washington Square Press, New York, 1984, p 97.

2. Quoted in Man's Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl, © Washington Square Press, New York, 1984, p 98.

3. November 2, 1997, Mark 12:28-34, The World's Fittest Human (©Holiletics Magazine, Communications Resources, Used with permission)

4. From Barry P. Boulware, First United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri, who got it from Norman Neaves, a colleague as quoted in the sermon dated February 3, 1991, Mark 1:21-28, Body Sculpting and Self Shaping (©Homiletics Magazine, Communications Resources, Used with permission)

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