Most people have heard of the Sermon on the Mount and are aware of some of its contents yet it is often a miss-understood sermon; people see the 'niceness' of Jesus' words and are not aware of the radical nature of what he taught. It is a description of the kind of life that is to be lived by Jesus' disciples. It is a call to live for the things of heaven rather than the temporary satisfaction of worldly things. It is also a call to abandon any dependence on earthly status or riches and instead develop a life dependant upon God and concern for others.
It was designed to shatter our self-confidence and lead us to repentance. It is the opposite of modern self-ishness and a call to godly self-lessness, it tells us to get up and start changing our lives to conform to the quality of life demanded by our master and teacher, Jesus.