Breathtaking

“God never made a better woman than I am, but somehow I just can’t seem to live up to it.” This memorable line from a “Broadway” show is an apt way of describing the problem we have with Jesus’ “Sermon On the Mount.” God never made a better picture of the nature of the fulfilled life than the “Sermon On the Mount.” God doesn’t just leave us to knock about. He has given us this clear picture of what it means to be human, what it means to be alive, what it means to be holy, what it means to be whole. Moreover, because each of us is an unique creation, God never made a better you or a better me. But somehow we can’t seem to live up to it.

“Seeing the crowds,” Matthew tells us, “Jesus went up on the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them saying:

Blessed…