2307AFC021723 – A Perfect Aloha Friday
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Leviticus 19:18 – 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Psalm 103:12-13 – 12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Matthew 5:48 – 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. These Key Verses today are certainly challenging for us! Here we are just a few days after Valentine’s Day and just a few days before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The Lenten Season is a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is a time when the scripture passages we hear, read, and reflect on are reminders of our sure need for redemption which is supplied for us through the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. It is a time when we ponder our own weaknesses and strive to make some changes in our lives that will bring us closer to each other, and through that, closer to Christ. There is the lingering tradition associated with Lent of “giving something up for Lent.” In the past this meant that for the 7 weeks of Lent we consciously avoided some favorite food or activity – kids gave up candy, adults gave up smoking or drinking, many practice fasting and/or abstinence to varying degrees, all with the idea of denying oneself something that normally is pleasurable. It is still a good practice. I want to challenge you to do something more this Lent rather than something less. Here’s a little tidbit of wisdom to inform our topic today:
James 2:20 – 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person (kενός – kenos {ken-os’})*, that faith (πίστις – pistis {pis’-tis}) apart from works (ἔργων – ergon {er-gōn’}) is barren (ἀργή – (arge) – Useless thoughtless, empty, idle, unprofitable? *This word is shown to be ignoramus in some translations – strong stuff!
This passage from James, part of a treatise on ethical conduct, is one of many exhortations and warnings in this Epistle which is really more of an essay than a letter. It is addressed to the Jewish community that became the Early Church and was probably directed against the persons who claimed that their “immense knowledge” of the life and works of Christ gave them justification and salvation. James gently but firmly puts them down by pointing out the obvious fact that having the facts isn’t at all like having the faith. We see something of the same thing in our own day, often within our churches but more often outside of church communities – not just Christian communities, but all religious communities which advocate for ethical conduct and moral behavior. This errant group of “believers” in the Early Church were classified as the Gnostics, a pre-Christian and early Christian religious movement teaching that salvation comes by learning occult spiritual truths that free humanity from the material world, which they believed to be evil. Thus, in their point of view, knowledge was the antidote for evil. James contradicts this by reprimanding them for their empty-headed foolishness. Good works are insufficient unless they arise out of faith. Faith is insufficient if it is void of good works. We want to know and to Love and to serve God in this life so we can be with him forever in the next. Is that what Jesus means when he says we must be perfect? What we see in this passage from The Apostle James is that there is more to do – good works.
Good deeds, for some, arise out of the goodness of their hearts. How is it that many good things done by people who are irreligious or antireligious are significantly more generous and effective than those done by people who are religious? How can that be? James gives some insight into that. Doing a good deed is always a good thing whether you attribute that motivation to do-good in the Universe, the Force, the Intelligent Designer, or even random chance. It is noteworthy to realize that the motivation for this kind of charity always arises from within the self; it is self-centered and – even though it purports to be done in the service of social justice – it is always self-serving. It is at all times a better thing to serve social justice as an effect of Love, because all good things come from and through God. (See James 1:17) It is just plain silly to take credit for something you didn’t – and couldn’t – do without Grace from God – even if you don’t acknowledge him in any way whatsoever!
Is there any goodness in the World? It comes to us from God through the love of Christ and in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As we approach the Lenten Season, please consider how and why we are stewards of God’s gifts, gifts that cannot be manufactured by us earthlings, and – in the end – glorify God because they begin and end in him. In fact, 
everything – including you and me – begins and ends in God when we acknowledge HE is indeed GOD.
James’ point is this: You can have good works without faith – any fool can do that. BUT you cannot profess to have Faith and refuse or avoid doing good works. That’s not faith; it’s just an air-head’s blather. It’s like having an isolated cogwheel with nothing to engage it.
When we think of good works, we recall the Spiritual and Corporal Acts of Mercy (↔ Learning Link). IF we have faith, but do not engage it to help strangers, love enemies, feed the famished, comfort those who are suffering (the anawim) – if we help only ourselves – we are failing to be perfect BIG TIME! We might need a reminder, so here we have an inventory:
| Corporal Acts of Mercy feed the hungry give drink to the thirsty clothe the naked shelter the homeless visit the sick visit the imprisoned bury the dead |
Spiritual Acts of Mercy counsel the doubtful instruct the ignorant admonish sinners comfort the afflicted forgive offenses bear wrongs patiently pray for the living and the dead |
Instead of only giving up chocolate, or liquor, or some other creature comfort, how about adding some of these Acts of Mercy? Pick one, or two, or a handful and do something, knowing we will be held accountable not only for good what we do, but also for what good we do not do.
Now, giving up those creature comforts is certainly sacrificial – perhaps only mildly so, but still it’s good discipline for the soul. It could be better discipline if “giving up something for Lent” also mean giving up something forever, period. Still smoking? Give it up for Lent and then don’t go out and buy a pack Easter Monday. Tippling a little extra after work? Give it up for Lent and then don’t go out and buy a bottle after Easter Mass. On top of that true sacrifice which we turn into repentance, we can be merciful as Our Father in Heaven is merciful. We know that if we take vengeance or bear a grudge against anyone, we cannot be merciful. What is the command? It is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus called this the second of the Greatest Commandments. In his Good News the Law and the Prophets were summed up in two things: Love God entirely, and Love our neighbors equally well. A great start on that would be to do something GOOD for someone other than ourselves. Recall the “Rich Young Ruler” and his question about being saved in Matthew 19:16-22:
He started off by asking, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus told him to keep the commandments, to which the enquirer responded he was already doing that followed by “I have kept all these since I was a youth; what do I still lack?” Jesus’ response floored the guy: “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.” That young man’s job was to leave comfort behind and follow Jesus. He didn’t, as far as we know. He was looking for “that one thing” we all want to do to get Eternal Life. “That one thing” is to do the right thing all the time. If we want to give up “a little something” for Lent, Jesus challenges us to give up ALL of it. Jesus, ruler of all Nature (↔ Music Link), did. By comparison a box of chocolate or a bottle of wine looks pretty puny. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” seems utterly humongous compared to my small sacrifices. We need a full commitment to Faith, to Love, and to Mercy.
In the passage from Matthew, the Greek word for “perfect” is τελειώσω teleiōsō] (↔ Click Link). This word is closely related to the word for “paid in full” – Τετέλεσται, (Tetélestai) {teh-TEH-les-tie} consummated, completely fulfilled; or to complete a process all the way through the final step which means everything that needed to be done has been done as in Jesus’ final declaration on the Cross “It is finished.” He knew what needed to be done and did it.
God prepared him for that just as God prepared Abram to be obedient and faithful enough to get up and wander across hundreds of miles to the Promised Land. He even prepared Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Perhaps God has prepared us to be faithful and obedient to lesser degrees; nonetheless we still must be faithful and obedient – perfect. The connotation is that we commit to perform all necessary works to consummate the particular goal for which God has prepared us. WE have to make our own spiritual journey “in Faith believing.” Merely believing in Christ Jesus is something that is consequential but not salvational. Having faith in Christ Jesus is salvational, but not maturational. Full faith in Christ Jesus – and therefore in the only One, True, Almighty and Everliving God – is transformational. We come to the fullness of Faith when our lives are lived as a daily sacrifice, wholly holy and acceptable to God, a sacrifice offered in Spirit and in Truth. God’s Love is Everlasting, and it is freely given to us because he wills to do so. He also wills that we give his Love to others, and then return that Love of others to him as our Gift of Love in return. For the sinful, broken, stumbling human beings that we are, that is (to coin a phrase) “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” because if we keep that going, if we add just a wee bit more of all he has given to us to the Gifts we give to others, we are transformed all the more. And what is the result of that transformation?
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” That is why we can pray –
Come Holy Spirit. Enter the hearts of thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy Holy Love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created and thou shalt renew the face of the Earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit has instructed the hearts of the faithful, grant that in that same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Thou, O LORD, shalt open my lips,
and my tongue shall announce Thy praise.
Incline unto my aid, O God.
O LORD, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, … AMEN.
Ah, Dearly Belovéd, what great things might be changed in our lives if we intentionally spent two minutes in prayer for another’s greater need? What if we went to church daily during Lent? What if we read all the daily readings every day during lent, and then continued that until death? What if we read the Bible or the Catechism every day until we read every word, then did it again? What if we visited the sick on a regular basis? What if we gave up on believing in our own perfection and allowed the perfection of the Holy Spirit to shape our lives? What if we just Loved God with our entire being and Loved our neighbors with the same intensity and nonjudgmental Compassion as Our Heavenly Father does does? 12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him
What if God looked at us this Aloha Friday, saw something he Loved, and he said to your heart, “Wow kid, that was perfect.”?
Happy are those who trust in the Lord, for theirs is the fullness of life (See Jeremiah 17:7-8). Let go and let God so that all we have and are we no longer claim to hold. What are we going to lay down for Lent, and what are we going to take up so as to truly follow him? What is in the Absolutely Perfect Plan for us this Lent that we can take with us until Eternity?
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
