A Year-End Sermon on a Hard Saying of Jesus: “You Shall Be Perfect”
Year-end has a way of eroding optimism and reclaiming it with honesty. We hear a sentence from Jesus that sounds almost unbearable:
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
We don’t even need to ask the question: “Did I live perfectly this year 2025?”
A Hard Saying to End the Year With
What makes Matthew 5:48 a hard saying of Jesus?
• First, It Sounds Impossible
• Second, It Sounds Like Works-Righteousness
• Third, It Exposes Our Selective Obedience
This is a hard saying, not because it is unclear, but because it refuses to lower the vision of what God intends to do with a human life—your human life.
“You Shall Be Perfect” — The Direction of a Life, Not Instant Flawlessness
The word Jesus uses here, in the original Greek, is teleios (τέλειος): It’s more about something being complete, mature, whole, or having reached its intended purpose. The sense is closer to: “You shall be complete.” He is declaring the direction
and standard God has set for His people.
This Has Always Been God’s Call
In Leviticus 19:2, the Lord says:
“Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Holiness in Scripture was about being shaped over time by proximity to a holy God. Jesus that calls from outward observance to inward transformation, from
visible religion to the heart’s posture, from rules to love.
A Call That Does Not Make Us Passive
Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-13,
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."
In Philippians 3:12-14, he admits he hasn't arrived. But he presses on, forgetting what's behind, straining toward what's ahead. We are to be content with what we have — but never with who we are. There's always more Christ-likeness to grow into.
Learning While Pressing On
Consider Matt 11:29:
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
A yoke joins two together. It means direction, companionship, and shared burden in the work. Jesus is saying that the journey toward wholeness is not carried by discipline alone, but by relationship. And yet, learning still requires effort.
Ending the Year Unfinished — but Moving Forward
How then do we move forward?
• Firstly, Wholehearted Love, Not Selective Love
• Secondly, integrity, Not Image
• Thirdly, Growth, Not Arrival
Where Does This Leave Us?
So the question as the year ends is not: “Have I arrived?” But: “Am I still willing to learn — and to press on?” That willingness is where grace and effort meet. And God honours it.
Speaker: Bro. Phillip Fong