“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48

In ‘Homiletics’ – the study and practice of preaching – I learned that the conclusion is one of the most important parts of a sermon.

The conclusion provides the key takeaways from the sermon, and highlights the ‘call to action’ – basically how the message is to be applied by listener in his/her life.

Additionally, it wraps up the entire sermon – providing a sense of completion to the discourse.

The verse in our meditation today is how Jesus concluded His famous ‘Sermon on the Mountain,’ in which He outlined the attitudes and behaviors expected of His followers.

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” is how He ended the sermon. Wow!

The word “therefore” is important as it associates being perfect with love, mercy and being forgiving in the verses that come before it.

“But you must always act like your Father in heaven,” is how a simpler version renders the verse in our meditation today.

Our Lord Jesus is basically establishing our Father in heaven as the standard for perfection!

The phrase “Your heavenly Father”

emphasizes a personal relationship between believers and the Father.

This highlights the familial bond that believers are expected to imitate.

Indeed, the idea of God as Father was revolutionary because it provided a more personal understanding of God than the formal, distant ideas found in other religious traditions.

And knowingly or not, a father’s behavior is a key determinant of how the children would conduct themselves.

Our Father’s perfection is absolute, encompassing His holiness, love, justice, and mercy.

The perfection of God is seen in His complete and unchanging nature, as described in James 1:17.

As Children of God, we are called to reflect the Father’s character in our lives regardless of the society in which we exist.

He’s without any deficiency or flaw in executing justice; He’s never lacking in mercy and power to bestow love and mercy to anyone however evil one might be.

In Deuteronomy 25:15, the Bible makes this point succinctly clear when it says; “…you must have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure.”

A ‘perfect’ weighing scale is one that has been calibrated against a universal standard.

So, the Father is the ultimate standard of perfection and holiness, whom believers are called to emulate as we’re

conformed to the image of Christ – the first born among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

The call to “be perfect” is ultimately a call to reflect the character of God within us in every aspect of life, relying on His grace and the work of the Holy Spirit to grow us into completeness.

Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children.”

The key word “be” does imply that we can do it – that it is possible to be perfect – regardless of how crooked our generations might be.

The Bible says in Genesis 6:9, “… Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”

Genesis 17:1 adds; “When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be perfect.”

As Children of God, we are called to reflect the Father’s character in our lives regardless of the society in which we exist.

This involves reflecting His love, mercy, and righteousness, like the moon reflects the light of the sun during the dark night.

But achieving perfection is not all about human effort; it requires dependence on God’s grace and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit within us as we walk with Christ.

However evil our generations might be, may we choose to always be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Amen!