There’s a common phrase that I’ve heard many, many times over the years; I know I’ve used it often enough. I’m sure everyone here has heard it and probably even used it yourself. When someone makes a mistake, does something wrong, maybe even in a sinful way, there is a tendency to say to that person, or about that person, or even about ourselves: “Well, after all, you’re only human.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve really come to dislike that statement. It’s demeaning. It speaks only of our fallen nature, and not of who we were created to be. And we use it as an excuse, almost as a license to do things wrong, even if in a sinful way. “Well, I am only human, you know.”
But all we need to do is to look at who we believe is the perfect human. Jesus. This is what being truly human looks like, talks like, and acts like. When we mess things up, when we sin, we actually become less human. When we say “I’m only human,” we don’t completely grasp who God is calling us to be.
Well, the Scripture Readings for today give us a pretty good idea of what it really means to be human. God speaks to the Israelite community and says, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” And Jesus tells us to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus gives us several powerful examples of self-giving that would lead us to this type of perfection. We are called to turn the other cheek, to give our clothes away, to lend freely, and to love our enemies. He even tells us to offer no resistance to one who is evil. Not only does this seem to be impossible, it’s also really hard to accept.
A typical response to this might be, “Are you serious?” In much of our world today this would be unthinkable. It runs completely opposite to much of what we hold in our hearts concerning how we relate to others. We feel we have the right to retaliate when we are wronged; we feel justified in seeking revenge. It reminds me of the phrase, “I don’t get mad, I get even.” And we oftentimes don’t want to just get even; we want the payback to be worse that what we experienced. Obviously, Jesus didn’t have this in mind when he was speaking to his disciples.
But the examples Jesus uses here are not threats to a person’s life. The examples he gives are insults and claims to a person’s property. Striking someone on the right cheek requires a back-handed slap, which is an insult to the person being struck. To turn the other cheek, then, would be to make the person strike you with a forehand slap, or to strike you with the left hand which would place the shame on the other person instead. The goal of turning the other cheek, then, is to kind of shame the aggressor into a change of heart. And the other examples Jesus uses in this passage do exactly the same thing.
But why do we need to do these things? Why do I need to be holy? Why should I be perfect? Well, the answer is given right in the Scriptures: “Be holy, for the I Lord, your God, am holy.” And Jesus says, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In other words, we are to imitate God. He wants us to be like him. But what exactly does it mean to be holy?
The Hebrew word used for “holy” in the Old Testament is qadosh, which means “to be separate” or “set apart.” The high priest would wear a pendant on his forehead inscribed with the worlds qadosh L’adonai, meaning “holy to the Lord.” So Moses is calling the people of God to be separate or set apart; set apart from sin and set apart for God. But Jesus takes it a step further. He doesn’t want us just to be holy. He tells us to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Can we really do this? Are we meant to be flawless? The Greek word that Matthew uses for “perfect” is teleios, which means “complete.” The root word, telos, means a goal, or an end. So we are called to meet our goal. What is our goal? It’s to be who God meant for us to be. Think back to the beginning of creation: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, make and female he created them” (Gn 1:27). So from the very beginning, he wanted us to be like him. This is what the call to holiness is all about. And it’s not just for a select few. The call to holiness is for everyone; it’s universal.
The Church discusses the Universal Call to Holiness in Lumen gentium, The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from the Second Vatican Council (LG V, 40). It says:
…all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; … They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor.
So all of us—not just the ordained and consecrated religious—are called to imitate Jesus—do what he did—for the glory of God. The Council went on to say:
The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consumator of this holiness of life: “Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48.); Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all (people) that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength (Cf. Mk. 12:30.) and that they might love each other as Christ loves them (Cf Jn. 13:34; 15, 12.).
Jesus tells his disciples (which include us) that not only should they love their own national or religious group, but even their enemies. This demand is based on the example and love of God. We’re meant to imitate him. It is human nature to love those who love you. But Jesus demands that we not limit our love to a select group, but to everyone. In this way we work toward becoming perfect, toward our goal, as our heavenly Father is perfect.
In our treatment of one another—those we love as well as those who might be our enemies—we are being challenged to go beyond what is expected, beyond what we think is reasonable, and beyond what we might even think is possible. We are to go beyond what is our fallen human nature to what is divine. “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” On our own, this is impossible. But because of God’s love for us expressed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and our response to others with this same kind of love, with the grace of God, it is possible.