Who God created us to be
There is a passage in Matthew’s Gospel that I didn’t like until recently. It's in the middle of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and reads, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It’s the “be perfect” part that I struggled with. It always felt impossible, as if Jesus was setting me up to be a disappointment. God perfect? Of course. Me? Not so much. Then, this week, as I was reading a devotion, I discovered that the word translated as “perfect” is “telos.” Telos is a Greek word that means “to reach one’s intended purpose.” The author says this understanding makes that verse mean something different: “Be the person you were created to be, just as God is who God is supposed to be.” We are invited to become the people God created us to be, the people God wants us to be, and the people that God’s world needs us to be. I believe this applies both to us as individuals, and to us as a congregation. Paul uses the metaphor of the church as “the body of Christ,” a powerful image. We come together as individual members woven together into something larger, a community that celebrates together when things go well, rallies together when things are challenging, and uses our hands and feet to care for our neighbor in need. As we share ourselves with others – in fellowship, learning, service, and worship – we grow in ways simply not possible alone.
In the spring we celebrated 70 years of being the body of Christ at Midvale. 70 years of gathering in growth and grace. I love this theme, because it reminds us that, even as we have done some pretty amazing things with God’s help over the last 70 years, we are not finished yet! We are still growing, still on this journey to becoming the people and congregation God hopes us to be. And each of us and our gifts are important on this journey!
Martin Luther, who accomplished incredible things but also struggled with major shortcomings and setbacks, put it beautifully when describing the Christian life. He placed deep trust in God’s promise to draw us to the purpose and telos for which God created us. Luther writes, “This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.” At Midvale, we are indeed a people who have received God’s grace and who are committed to growing into the people and church God created us to be. Thank you for being a part of Midvale! I look forward to continuing the journey with you!
