March 6, 2005

The Things We Wished Jesus Hadn’t Said

Perfect Makes Practice

Matthew 5:38-48

Opening Words: I can give you the theological understanding of this morning’s passage but that will not make the practical any easier. Theologically, God expects us to treat the world the same way he treated us. We are saved by grace and by grace alone. God expects us to treat the world in the same way! Disciples are people who have benefited from God’s generous grace. Disciples are now people who are expected to dispense God’s generous grace in this world. We are nothing more than windows that pass between the world and God. That is the simple theological understanding of the passage.

The practical side of the passage is much more complex. If you actually lived out the passage, the world will reject you because it goes against the grain of our society. My question for you this morning is what are you going to do with these divine words? We are disciples of Jesus. We cannot select the scriptures we like and reject the rest. These are Jesus’ words and he expects us to apply them to our lives. My goal this morning is to help you apply these words to your life.

Introduction

Roger took his discipleship serious. He tried to represent Jesus in this world.  When I knew him, he served a church on the west side of Cleveland. A year earlier he had served a church on the lake in extreme northeastern Ohio. It was a small community. That little town was shocked when murder came to their little corner of the world. A twelve-year-old boy killed a ten-year-old boy on the beach. It was an ugly scene, which scarred the entire community. Both boys went to Roger’s church. On the week after the murder Roger stood in the pulpit and talked about forgiveness. The emotions of that congregation turned on Roger and within a year Roger was gone. If you want everyone in town to hate you then just love everyone.

Body

I am in the middle of a sermon series I have called The Things We Wish Jesus Had Not Said. This morning’s words may be the most difficult words in the entire series. They are words that seem to run counter to our world. We are in the fifth chapter of Matthew. These are difficult words because they deal with the very heart of Christian ethics. Hans Hung calls these revolutionary words. God expects love for enemies rather then destruction, unconditional forgiveness rather than retaliation, ready to suffer rather then use force and blessings for peacemaker instead of hymns of hate. Through the eyes of God this is true perfection but to our world these words seem foolish. These are difficult words. I wish Jesus had not said them.

So this is my question for you this morning. What are you going to do with these difficult words? How do you apply these words to your life? The world would like us to dismiss them but we are disciples of Jesus. You cannot pick and choose the Bible verses that fit in your personal theology and lifestyle. These are Jesus’ words and the Master expects us to live out his word. So how do you apply these words to you life?

Let me give you some help and save you some time. This morning I want to talk about two methods of application. The first method will not work, practice makes perfect. The second method, prefect makes practice will help you apply these difficult words to your life. So if you are ready to apply these difficult words to your life then say, “Amen!”

Method Number One: Practice Makes Perfect! This is a method that just won’t work. That is a difficult thing to hear because we have heard it our entire life. The logic is simple. If you just practice enough then you will become perfect in that task. It plays right into our protestant work ethic. We value people who get up early and stay up later. We value people who try harder. How many times in your life have you used the simple phrase practice makes perfect?

When my children were young I taught them how to ride a bicycle. I would run up and down Oak Avenue at Lakeside, holding the back of the seat. It did not come natural and they would grow frustrated. They would want to quit but I would say, “Practice makes perfect.”

The other night Sarah called me from the university. She is studying music. I asked, “What are you doing this evening? She said, “I am going to eat dinner, study and go to Brice Hall to practice. Practice makes perfect.”

When I went into the ministry, my first District Superintendent was a man named Abraham Brandyberry. He believed all young preachers should serve a multiple point charge. In others words, we should serve more then one church at a time. That way you could preach more then once a week. He said, “Practice makes perfect.”

They tell me down in Florida communities are willing to spend big money to put up baseball fields for spring training games. The games don’t count but they are valuable, because practice makes perfect. Do I have to go on? Practice makes perfect is part of our national ideology. We have all bought into it at one level or another.

When I was young I believed practice makes perfect. The problem is it is not always right. Sometimes practice makes perfect is wrong. Practice and determination only takes us so far. You can practice the rest of your life but if you don’t have the basic skills you will never achieve perfection. I can practice my jump shot the rest of my life and I will never play basketball for the New York Knickerbockers. You can try the rest of your life to love your enemy and turn the other check and you will fail because you don’t have the basic skills to achieve. Everyone here today is spiritually crippled by original sin. Determination is not enough. If you want to apply these difficult words (turning the other cheek, walk the extra mile and giving away your tunic) to your life then you must try method number two. This method sounds strange to this world.

Method Number Two: Perfect makes Practice. It is just the opposite of practice makes perfect. Practice makes perfect emphases effort and determination. Perfect makes practice emphasizes surrender. Practice makes perfect emphases spotlessness. Perfect makes practices emphases intention. In perfect makes practice you do the best that you can and then you turn the rest over to God. It is much more Biblical. Do you really mean to live dispensing generous grace? Perfect makes practice is really not that uncommon in the world.

For most of this life Johann Sebastian Bach lived unappreciated. It was only near the end of his life that people began to marvel at his work. They asked, “How do you do it? How do you bring the notes to life?” Bach would answer with one word, “WORK!” But then he would say, “There comes a point when work isn’t enough. It is at that point that I turn my work over to God and He breathes life into those lifeless notes.”

Has anyone here this morning ever turned their best effort over to God to finish? I do it every week. I work on the various aspects of writing a sermon. I study the passage. I read the commentaries. I listen to other messages on the primary. I write a manuscript and correct the grammar. I do everything humanly possible but there is a moment when I turn it over to God to finish it so it will speak to you. Has anyone here this morning ever turned their best work over to God to finish?

Parents take a lifetime raising their children but there is a moment in family history when the children must become responsible for themselves. Parents turn their children over to God to keep an eye on them. Students study hours for examinations but the moment comes when there is no more time. They have done their best to prepare but the rest is up to God. Patients follow their diets and take their medication but the moment comes when they must turn to God for the final healing. Businessmen have done their best on the project but the moment comes when they can do no more. It is in God’s hands now.

Conclusion

So let me ask you the question one more time. How do you apply these difficult words to your life? You are not allowed to ignore them. They are Jesus’ words and you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. How do you apply these difficult words to your life? Are you going to use the practice makes perfect method, where determination is key, where perfection means spotless. Or are you going to use the prefect makes practice method, where surrender is key, where perfection is defined by intention.

The Second World War was over and Corrie ten Boon was preaching at an evangelistic sermon in Belgium. There were many faces in the crowd but one face stood out. It was a face of a former Nazi prison guide at her camp. His face brought back a mountain of horrible memories. She felt the emotions and the hatred of those dark days. She stood in front of that crowd and told the people about the grace of God. The spirit was moving that evening so she gave an altar call to accept Jesus. People came forward. One of the people who came forward was that former Nazi prison guide. She thought of those cruel days. She thought of the hardness of her life and the harshness of that guide. When he came to her she thought I can’t do it. I can’t pray with this horrible man. Then she felt her arms going out and embracing the guide. She heard a voice that sounded like hers praying for the guide. She felt tears running down her face as she cried for the guide. Someone heard the story later and asked, “How did you do it?” She responded, “I didn’t! God did!”