Going on to Perfection

Going on to Perfection – Today through specific liturgy and acts we remember and reaffirm our own baptisms. We also continue with scripture from Matthew as we work through the New Testament in the coming months. In today’s passage Jesus says that he has come to fulfill, rather than to abolish, the law and the prophets. He challenges his listeners to love their enemies and ends by telling them to “be perfect.” Carol begins her sermon by citing theologian Karl Barth who told people to carry the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, quite a difficult thing for us to do in today’s world. It is difficult to love our enemies, but we know that God loves everyone, and, encouraged by Jesus, we must strive to love everyone, too. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, talked of going on to perfection, and in embracing our baptism we, too, can strive to follow God’s lead to love everyone and thus to walk toward perfection.