A Sermon to Change the World

The degree to which the Sermon on the Mount has been ignored by Christians is scandalous. We want Jesus to die for us, but leave our world alone, especially if we are on top of the world. But Jesus has no intention of leaving our world alone- he fully intends to change it! What Jesus preached in his sermons and what Jesus did on his cross are one in the same! In the Sermon on the Mount and on the cross Jesus re-oriented the world from an axis of power enforced by violence to an axis of love expressed in forgiveness. To critique the enforcement of violence in our culture will draw the ire of many. And often, it's hard to be truly compelling about loving and forgiving our enemies when we don't have real and deadly enemies. But Martin Luther King, Jr DID have real, deadly enemies. But he taught, and practiced, the Jesus way of loving and forgiving your enemies. It was a message that would ultimately bring his death, but he changed the world!