Clean Hearts and Hands
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Flint Michigan water crisis
City in decline. In 2014, switched it’s drinking water supply from Detroit to the Flint River.
The river had served as a dumping place for factories, meatpacking plants and paper mills. Raw sewage was dumped there along with toxic runoff from farms and landfills.
In short, it was nasty.
[IMAGE] Immediately had major water quality issues. Citizens complained of foul-smelling, discolored and off-tasting water.
Clinics and hospitals started treating skin rashes, hair loss and itchy skin.
It was discovered that the contaminated water supply had caused up to triple the incidence of elevated blood lead levels in children.
There is no safe lead level in the human body. Lead contamination in children impair their brain function and development. Reduced IQ, anemia, hearing impairment, even heart disease result from lead poisoning.
Eventually, access to safe bottled water was provided to all Flint residents while a new water pipeline from Lake Huron is being developed. Along with a massive effort to replace all the lead water pipes in the city.
The national and local outrage is understandable. People need safe water.
Now let’s move into some imagination: Imagine you moved to Flint and immediately started drinking the tap water. Lots of it. Knowing full well that it’s bad for you.
Crazy, right? Who would do that?
Well, we do. All the time. It’s not our drinking water that’s polluting us. It’s potentially anything in our culture.
Review Reboot, beatitudes to this point.
Poor in spirit, mourning, humility, righteousness, mercy.
Jesus now tells us that purity of heart brings God’s blessing.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Blessed = Having the favor and approval of God.
Pure = katharoi. Restored, cleaned up, renewed, pure, unadulterated, restored to its original design and purpose.
Heart = kardia. “The locus of a person’s thoughts, volition, emotions & knowledge of right and wrong.”
God approves of us and is pleased when our head-heart-hands are clean, unadulterated. Then we can experience the world as He does.
God approves of us and is pleased when our head-heart-hands are clean, unadulterated. Then we can experience the world as He does.
Basically, God wants us to be whole and pure because His nature is pure. He wants to completely restore us to His image.
But the problem is that we deliberately continue to “drink the contaminated water.”
We fill ourselves with so many substitutes for the good that God gives us.
It’s easy to interpret this in sexual terms. That’s the easiest way to think of purity in our hyper-sexualized world.
But to think of purity in only those terms is limiting and masks the deeper problem.
It’s as if we were looking at that filthy river water and only focusing on the color or smell without realizing all the invisible dangerous material floating around in it.
The Heart Problem
The Heart Problem
We struggle with choosing the right.
29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”
We go our own way.
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
9 Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart;
I am pure and free from sin”?
Answer? Nobody.
So, wait a minute, Jesus. You’re telling me that God is pleased with me when my life demonstrates purity, an unadulterated love for You. If I’m such a hot mess, how does that work?
Cooperative Purity
Cooperative Purity
Two ways to think about purity:
Moral - Inside out.
Ethical - External actions.
Moral purity is God’s work.
33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
Ethical purity flows out of a restored life. We give evidence of God’s grace and mercy through our actions. We cooperate with God.
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
Reboot
Reboot
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
Let’s imagine again: Rather than continuing to drink the nasty polluted waters of our world, we choose instead to be filled with pure spiritual water.
14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
The woman at the well had tried everything to be satisfied but got nowhere.
Jesus offers her an opportunity to be purified and experience the world in a different way.
39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!”
21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. 22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
Which water will you drink?