Our current sermon series is titled, “The Beatitudes: Present Grace, Future Promise,” and is based on Jesus teaching in Matthew 5. During the fall months, we’re be exploring these vignettes of grace and hope. Beatitudes typically pronounce God’s favor on certain human attitudes, circumstances, or actions. They can be viewed as moral exhortations or as words of assurance, and we’ll wrestle with this tension throughout the series.
Here are three things to keep in mind. First, these beatitudes are intended to startle, to arrest our attention, to challenge typical expectations. God’s kingdom is at work in surprising ways and among unexpected recipients and we’re invited to be alert to God’s work. Second, the beatitudes are pronouncements of blessing, not commands. In fairness, it’s possible to hear an implicit call to be peacemakers or merciful in these blessings; but as pronounced, these qualities are seen as an outgrowth of God’s grace, not of gritted teeth and striving. Third, the beatitudes are intended to plant seeds of hope in God’s future. The second part of each beatitude offers a promise. All who live in hope of God’s kingdom are sustained by such promises in the midst of life’s ups and downs.
Recent Comments