Pure

SLIDE 1 Turn with me to the fifth chapter of Matthew. We are in the Beatitudes again this morning. I hope you have been learning from them as much as I have. Even though I’ve read them and even preached from them I know that God is teaching me some new applications. So I pray that God is using this series to draw you closer to him as well.

Even though we are now on the sixth of the eight Beatitudes, I want to start with verse 1 and read them all. I’m doing that’s because, as I’ve made mention before, each beatitude is built on the one that precedes it. So we can’t forget the first five if the sixth is to make any sense. So we read all of them to remind us of what has come before.

Additionally, reading them all each week is helping me to finally memorize the Beatitudes. Although, time will only tell how long they stick in my mind though.

1Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them. He said: 3”Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:1-8)

8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

For me this beatitude sounds a little discouraging. With the previous beatitudes we might be able to say that we can do it. We could say that we can come to God poor in spirit, confessing we have nothing good in us. We could say that we can mourn over our sin. But can we say that we are pure in heart? Does anyone here think that describes them? So what we need to know is that this is possible. If it weren’t possible for us to be pure in heart Jesus would never have listed it among the beatitudes. So what does it mean to be pure in heart?

Let’s start by defining some terms and we’ll start with the word heart. What does Jesus mean by heart? We think of the heart as the seat of our emotions and the mind as the seat of the will. The heart is where we feel and the mind is where we think. However, that separation of the heart and mind wasn’t always true for the biblical writers. These two (the mind and heart) are put together in this proverb: SLIDE 2

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7)

So when Jesus talks about a pure heart he isn’t simply talking about that place where we might feel love, but that place where we decide right from wrong and where we decide what we want to do and why.

SLIDE 3 In his book Just Like Jesus: A Heart Like His, Max Lucado asks this question: “What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you?” He says:

What if, for twenty-four hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lives in your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes his boss, your mother becomes his mother, your pains become his pains? With one exception, nothing about your life changes. Your health doesn’t change. Your circumstances don’t change. Your schedule isn’t altered. Your problems aren’t solved. Only one change occurs.

What if, for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior.

What would you be like? Would people notice a change? Your family – would they see something new? Your coworkers – would they sense a difference? What about the less fortunate? Would you treat them the same? And your friends? Would they detect more joy? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christ’s heart than from yours?

And you? How would you feel? What alterations would this transplant have on your stress level? Your mood swings? Your temper? Would you sleep better? Would you see sunsets differently? Death differently? Taxes differently? Any chance you’d need fewer aspirin or sedatives? How about your reaction to traffic delays? Would you still dread what you are dreading? Better yet, would you still do what you are doing?

Would you still do what you had planned to do for the next twenty-four hours? Pause and think about your schedule. Obligations. Engagements. Outings. Appointments. With Jesus taking over your heart, would anything change?

“What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you?” That suggestion may seem a little strange, but consider these verses. SLIDE 4

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)

In other words, God wants us to “think and act like Christ Jesus.” The goal isn’t that Jesus would become us, but that we become like Jesus. God wants us to have the heart of Jesus. How does that happen? Lucado suggests that:

If you were a car, God would want control of your engine. If you were a computer, God would claim the software and the hard drive. If you were an airplane, he’d take his seat in the cockpit. But you are a person, so God wants to change your heart.

God’s plan for us today is nothing short of a new heart – a pure heart.

8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

SLIDE 5 So what is a pure heart?

First, the word “pure” implies being clean and unpolluted. We all like that. We want clean air and unpolluted water. Additionally, the Greek word implies that which is now pure wasn’t always pure. It refers to something that once was dirty and now has been washed out and cleaned up. In that way the word was used to describe dirty clothes that had been washed clean. So pure refers to something that once was dirty but has now been cleaned. That’s important when we think about our hearts being pure.

Second, the word pure also carries the idea of being “unmixed.” We might think of pure vanilla or pure olive oil. The word was used to describe metals that had been refined by fire until they were free from impurities or grain that had been carefully sifted to remove the chaff and all the impurities. Again, something that wasn’t pure but was mixed with other things is now made pure.

When this definition is used of people it refers to having a singleness of heart and purpose. It describes a person of integrity. Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and theologian in the 1800s, wrote a book about this beatitude and defined being pure in heart as “to will one thing.” A pure heart is a heart that desires only one thing. Jesus speaks of this in this way later in the Sermon on the Mount: SLIDE 6

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:33)

Jesus wants us to have a pure heart. He wants us to be single-minded in our devotion to him and to his kingdom. We cannot seek to please him and please our friends. To try to do so will only drive you crazy.

A pure heart will have nothing to do with falsehood, it has only one focus, it is not split in its devotion to God and to the world, and it will not operate out of false motives.

That sounds good, but is it really possible? Is it possible for us to have pure hearts? The standard is very high. Solomon thought the same thing. He asked: SLIDE 7

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? (Proverbs 20:9)

We know that answer to Solomon’s question. The answer is “no one!” The disciples, when confronted with the high standards of Jesus asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ answer comes back now just like it did to the disciples. SLIDE 8

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

In other words, it is who God creates purity for us. God makes it possible for us to be pure in heart by what Jesus did on the cross and overcoming death. However, there is still something we must do. James writes: SLIDE 9

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)

We need to be like David who says: SLIDE 10

Create in me a clean heart, O God. (Psalm 51:10a)

Is your heart pure? Do you live with a singleness of purpose striving to please God? It’s difficult. We need to pray with David: SLIDE 11

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)

Make my heart one. Unite my heart. Give me a oneness of purpose.

What is that one thing we need to be seeking? Jesus says to pursue his righteousness and his kingdom. In other words we need to be pursuing Jesus. Even after we have come to him in faith we continually need to make him the one thing we seek in our lives.

8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

So let me ask you this morning, do you want to see God? The answer may seem obvious, but I don’t think everyone wants to see God. Some would rather live for themselves. They don’t want to see God. Some enjoy their sin. They don’t want to see God. Some refuse to believe there is a God. They don’t really want to see God. Do you want to see God? Is that your goal? Are you single minded in that pursuit? Do you want to see God? Paul wrote: SLIDE 12

13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, SLIDE 13 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Paul had a singleness of heart and purpose. He wanted to see God.

So how do we see God? There are two aspects to our seeing God. There is the promise of seeing God one day and then there is the reality of seeing the evidence of God now.

In Revelation we are told that we will one day see God. The promise we have is that one day we will live God, or that he will live with us. SLIDE 14

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. SLIDE 15 4’He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

One day we will see God face to face. But until then we are left with this: we see can the evidence of God. The truth is we usually see what we are looking for. Paul wrote: SLIDE 16

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

God tells is that we can see the evidence of him all over the place if we are looking for it. Some people deny the existence of God because of the suffering they see in the world thinking a loving God would never let anything bad happen. But what about the beauty of creation all around us? We can also see God in the people of God. And don’t we see God in the scriptures? If you read the Bible without faith and with a closed heart I’m not sure if you are going to see God in the written word. But if we are open to what God has for us in his word he tells us what he is like and we will see him.

The Message paraphrases this verse like this: SLIDE 17

You're blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. (Matthew 5:8, The Message)

Let me close with a story. I don’t know who wrote it. I received it in an email from a friend who received it from a friend. The author tells about his brother Kevin.

I envy Kevin. My brother, Kevin, thinks God lives under his bed. At least that’s what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, “Are you there, God?” he said. “Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed. . . .” I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room.

Kevin’s unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.

Kevin was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he’s 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?

Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.

He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.

He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day’s laundry chores.

And Saturdays – oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That’s the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. “That one’s goin’ to Chi-car-go!” Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn’t know what it means to be discontent.

His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be. His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.

He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.

Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And, he trusts God.

Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God – to really be friends with him in a way that is difficult for an “educated” person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.

In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God’s care.

Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God. And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I’ll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed. But Kevin won’t be surprised at all!

Blessed are those who aren’t worrying about cares of this world. Blessed are those who aren’t distracted by the commercialism of the world around them. Blessed are the ones who give themselves fully and wholeheartedly to God. Blessed are those whose single focus is on God and his kingdom. Blessed are the pure in heart for they are the ones who will see God.