This week we look at Jesus' instruction on how to pray and what to pray. Praying the Psalms is an ancient practice worthy of the follower of Jesus' attention. This past Sunday, we practiced praying through the opening lines of Psalm 51 together.

After finishing chapter 5 last week, we are taking a step back and examining the opening once more to Jesus' explosive sermon on the mount. What does it mean to be blessed? What does it mean to be poor in spirit? On what earth is mourning ever a blessing? These are the key questions we are asking this week, and much like any careful examination of Jesus' teachings, these questions crack open a wider story at the heart of what it means to be human in God's good world.

Loving your enemies seems like a bad idea, but for Jesus, it was central in becoming the kinds of people who look like our Father in heaven. Loving your enemies isn't just a nice thing to do; it's a signifier of the people of God, living under the reign of God, in the kingdom of God.

But, man, is it hard to do.

This week: Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus' entrance as the long-awaited Messiah-King establishing his rule and reign completely turns the world upside down. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus gives his manifesto for what life is like in his kingdom. This often means that Jesus gets into our business a bit to talk about the things we don't want to. This was the case last week with sexual desire and it's the same this week with marriage and divorce. It can seem, at first, like Jesus is overly stiff, but when we dig a little deeper and examine the bigger story behind what he's saying, we might just discover God's heart behind marriage and his ultimate plan to redeem divorce.