Buy a cup of coffee from any fast food restaurant and somewhere on the cup you will likely find these words, CAUTION: CONTENTS MAY BE HOT. What you need to wake you up can also scald your tongue. So beware, say the makers, and keep us all out of court.

Something similar could be said about the Beatitudes of Jesus. These formulas for bliss are also bombshells for life. They are flashes of lightening across the landscape of our ordered lives. As William Barclay says, “The Beatitudes of Jesus turn standard values upside down.”

So, now that you have been properly warned, here we go. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”

I. The Freedom of Poverty

Blessed are you who are poor. On the surface, the …