We have the audacity to preach Jesus’ sermon! What are we thinking! Actually, we have no choice, right, because Luke records Jesus’ sermon on the level place (cf. Luke 6:17). The four “blessed” and four “woe to you” in verses 20-26 are followed up with 8 radical instructions, 1 familiar instruction (Golden Rule), and the reasons why we obey these instructions (verses 32-36). Jesus assumes that some of His listeners have been radically changed into people who have the desire and capacity to love even our enemies. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount or Luke’s Sermon on the Level Place are difficult because they sound like pure moralistic teaching. The bar is raised impossibly high: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Well that’s doable. That’s why some theological camps struggle with how to apply them to the Church age. One key is highlighting that saving faith creates a person who lives distinctly from sinners. Three times Jesus says, “even sinners…” He is reminding us we’re different because we’re “sons of the Most High” (v. 35) and because God is our “Father” (v. 36). As I said in an earlier post, throughout the sermon, Jesus is dividing His hearers into two categories. On Sunday we challenge all our listeners to obey Jesus’ teaching, knowing full well that some can’t (depending on your theology, of course).