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Is it possible to live a simpler life that is less worried about what we don’t have and more grateful for what we do have? Is it possible to worry less?

Religious people have become experts at making spiritual practises complicated. They get twisted by our motives as well as the lengths we go to make ourselves look better than we are.

What if we could just keep it simple? More normal? What would be gained?

What does Jesus really mean in the Sermon on the Mount about enemies?

Is this really how we should act towards evil people, structural injustice, and deep-seated enemies? If we think it is unlikely, what is the alternative?

If we do follow Jesus’ teaching, what might it look like today?

How do you keep married love alive? How do you make sure you don’t break other people?

Jesus suggests some radical ways to make sure we keep those promises…

Wouldn’t life be simpler if we just said what we mean, and meant what we said?

Wouldn’t it mean that we could be trusted?

Israel knew that murder was wrong – but Jesus puts his finger on the contempt we can feel for one another when they don’t match up to our expectations.

Think of the outrage on social media at times.

He warns us of the consequences of those reactions, urges us to put things right with one another and uses an everyday example (making a last minute court settlement) to demonstrate how important our relationships are.

Jesus saw himself in the line of tradition of the law and prophets. He was calling his disciples to live righteously – in their everyday lives.

So did the Pharisees.

So how was Jesus different?

The poor, the meek, the merciful etc are the salt of the earth and the light of the world – they influence the world around them.

We might not think we are very powerful, but we can make a difference – as long as we stay true to who we are as disciples.

Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by describing who the blessed are – and they are the last ones you would expect.

He is not instructing us to be poor in spirit etc – he is telling those who are that there is a bigger picture, and he is reminding all of us not to be seduced by what we usually think of as ‘the good life’.