The Most Difficult Thing

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Matthew 5:48, Psalm 14:3, 1 Peter 1:18-19

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Hitting a baseball is said to be one of the most difficult things to do in all of sports. The ball is coming at you at 95 plus miles per hour. It’s moving, it’s dropping, it’s curving. And the surface area of a baseball bat, they say there’s less than 5% of the bat is the sweet spot, the part that’s going to make contact and result in a hit. Even after that, that hit might just be a pop up. It might be hit straight back to the pitcher, who knows? But hitting a baseball, one of the most difficult things to do in all sports.

In the year 1941, a player named Ted Williams, he had a batting average of .406. Call it .400. What that means, though, at .400, is that six times out of every ten times he was at the plate, Ted Williams got out. He went down swinging. He popped up. He didn’t get on base. Six out of ten times. That was 1941. And since then, no one has had a batting average better, a season average better, than Ted Williams .406. Most modern players would be thrilled to be batting .300. That means they’re failing seven out of every ten times that they get up to the plate.

Well, Jesus said in Matthew five, verse 48,

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

If this were baseball, perfect means you’re getting on base every single time you’re making contact, you’re getting a base hit, or you’re even hitting a home run. But a 1.000 batting average. If we were talking about baseball, if our Lord was talking about it, but he’s not. He’s talking about life. He’s talking about us and our behavior. Be perfect. Not three out of ten, four out of ten, not even nine out of ten times. What the law demands from us is perfection. That means in everything we do, in everything we say, even in everything we think, in every little temptation that comes along that we don’t entertain it. We don’t think about it, but we’re too chicken to do it. Even that is sin. That is imperfection. And that condemns us.

Now, Adam and Eve, there was a time when they could have been perfect, but they chose not to. And because they did all of their offspring, you and me, we can’t do it. Psalm 14 verse three says,

There is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3)

No one. No one but Jesus.

Jesus was perfect. And if it were baseball, what that means is that Jesus got on base every single time he was up to the plate. He never failed. He never went down swinging. He never struck out. He never got to the base late, the ball getting there before he did. Jesus, if it were, baseball would have a 1.000 batting average. A sure thing, but it’s not about baseball. It’s about our life. His life and our life. Because he was perfect for us. He came and he fulfilled the law. Doing what we can’t do. So that someone would have a perfect record, a perfect average. And he applies that average to you. He gives it to you.

Saint Peter, who knew a thing or two about striking out, right? Three denials. Saint Peter later on in life, Peter wrote this.

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

So, my friends, the next time you go down swinging, the next time you fail, the next time you fail miserably to be perfect. Remember your Savior who was perfect for you, who stood there for you to do what you cannot, and who has ransomed you from that futile ways that we’ve inherited from Adam and Eve ransomed us with his precious blood. I pray that’s a comfort to you. I’m Pastor Pittenger, and until we see each other again, God bless and keep you. Amen.