On to Perfection

I just came back from two Bioethics courses at Asbury. One was Sickness and Disability and the other was Death and Dying. We covered some pretty heady topics as far as the meaning of life, the value of life, what constitutes life, who decides and on what basis when to "pull the plug", etc. We also talked about how within each of our cultures we value some things above others and this in turn informs what we might label as sick or disabled or even life. One thing we had to read amongst a whole lot of reading, was a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne called "The Birthmark". It is the story of a scientist married to what Hawthorne describes as an incredibly beautiful woman whom he loves dearly. However on her face she has a birthmark, that although he still sees as a part of who his wife is he longs to remove so that her perfect face might be completely flawless. I won't tell you the end of the story. You can actually find it on line if you look. Anyway I tell you all this to say that it got me to thinking about the human condition in conjunction with the perfecting and sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.

A leap? Maybe. What strikes me is this...our culture seems to be awfully caught up in perfection. Perfect hair, skin, body, so much so that we will pay thousands of dollars on surgeries to "enhance" or "perfect" what we perceive as flaws. What I started wondering was, where does this desire for perfection come from? Why do we try so hard to acheive it? What I know is that God created us with many desires and drives that He intends for specific purposes and because of the fall and the sin in this world many of our God given drives and desires have been misdirected. I believe that God created us with a desire for spiritual perfection that can only be found in relationship with Him and as a coworker with the Holy Spirit. Instead we have taken this God given desire for spiritual perfection and misdirected it to physical or temporal perfection. Once we make Jesus Christ the leader of our lives the gift of his Spirit in us becomes the perfector of our souls.
I am not against taking care of the bodies God gave us, don't get me wrong. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and wherever we walk is hallowed ground!

Matthew 5:48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus says this and what the original Greek points to as far as this perfection is one of completion and we can only be made complete when we are joined once again in relationship with our Creator through the saving blood of Christ.

On to perfection...

God's Economy

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. So many people are out of work. So many people are hurting and trying to figure out what to do next. A lot of people suddenly have a lot of time on their hands so why don't we see more people out serving? Serving in our soup kitchens and churches?
This is what I know. God is the GREAT economist. Whenever and whatever we give in His name He multiplies and we get so much more in return. I keep waiting for people to wake up and look around and realize that there is something they can do, there are people that need help, that we all truly do need one another. God created us for relationship, with Him and with others. When we hunker down and hide and never cease from licking our wounds we all lose, none of us benefits, I don't even know what is going on in your life so that I can pray with you, comfort you, offer you a helping hand. So many of us are just waiting, hoping, for things to change, for things to get better.
I was thinking about this today and it brought to mind some in the early church. They were so ready for his second coming that they quit working or doing much of anything and were just waiting. Check out 2Thessalonians 3:6-7. This is a warning againsst idleness and a call to live lives after the example of Christ.
What do you think?