Homily 01/29/2023

Grace Chicago Church

Homily Preview: This week we look forward to reflecting together on the Beatitudes during the worship service (Matthew 5:1-11 is our reading right before the homily). The beatitudes are fairly familiar but they are often very misunderstood. Sometimes they are thought of as blessings that are earned - kind of like entry requirements. Other times they are thought of as so idealistic that they only apply to sweet little Sunday School children, while we adults know that the world is too hard to live life according to the beatitudes. We will suggest a different way to think about them. We will suggest that they are gifts given by the king that enable us to bring a taste of the world to come into the communities where we live, work and play.