That’s the Spirit

Breathe on me, breath of God;
so shall I never die,
but live with you the perfect life
of your eternity.

How do you measure perfection.  I am sure that many of us with recall the scene in the children’s film Mary Poppins where the script show’s Mary saying…. 

“By the time the wind has blown
The weather vane around I’ll show you, 

if I can No matter what the circumstance
For one thing I’m renown
My character is spit-spot spick and span
I’m practically perfect
In every way.”

But what is Perfection in Christian terms. A summary of Wesley’s sermon on Christian Perfection shows how he described this  ‘as having "purity of intention", "dedicating all the life to God", "loving God with all our heart", and as being the "renewal of the heart in the whole image of God". A life of perfect love meant living in a way that was centred on loving God and one's neighbour.’

Our Hymn writer clearly shows that it is the breath of God within that enables the Christian to live a perfect life. And what is the essence of this perfection. 1 John 4:18 tells us, ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.’

“To be a saint,” says Frederick Buechner, “is to live not with hands clenched to grasp, to strike, to hold tight to a life that is always slipping away the more tightly we hold it; but it is to live with the hands stretched out both to give and receive with gladness.” He goes on to say, “[God] wants each one of us to have a loving heart …  When all’s said and done, perhaps that’s the length and breadth of it.” 

Let’s read that verse once more,

Breathe on me, breath of God;
so shall I never die,
but live with you the perfect life
of your eternity. Amen