The first thing many preachers and lay leaders may hear is the differences between these beatitudes and the ones we heard this past All Saints Day from Luke (the poor vs. the poor in spirit). And because of this, we may be tempted to talk about which version we prefer (we may find it easier to preach on blessed are the poor and woe to the rich). We may be tempted to pontificate on who wrote them first and who changed them. As R. Alan Culpepper writes, “Did Matthew tilt the beatitude in a spiritual direction, or did Luke tilt it in a socioeconomic direction?”[1] While we can remind people that Matthew and Luke both use this section, we shouldn’t use preference in our preaching here. Both Matthew and Luke use these with a purpose and in aligning our preaching with their purpose, we can open a world of preaching opportunity. But if we preach on our preference and overly compare these two different Gospels, then we give permission to accept one and throw the other out, when in reality they are used for two entirely different purposes.