For
the last five weeks, we have been studying The Beatitudes: those sayings
of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps it is worth
reminding ourselves what the word “blessed” means in Scripture.
Quite often, the term “blessed” is explained as “happy.” The Preamble to
the Declaration of Independence states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Constitutionally, the pursuit of happiness is a guaranteed right. But the
achievement of happiness is not.
It
may be that the pursuit of happiness is the most vigorously exercised of
all of our constitutionally protected rights. In the pursuit of
happiness, people have:
·
Jumped motorcycles over canyons.
·
Drunk themselves into stupors.
·
Fried their minds with illicit pharmaceuticals.
·
Gone into debt up to their ears.
·
Defied every law of God and every rule of morality.
·
Neglected their responsibilities.
·
Broken their vows.
·
Worked themselves into early graves.
·
And cast themselves into Christless eternities.
All
in the name of the pursuit of happiness.
But
are they happy? Well, that depends on the definition of “happy”. They’ve
had thrills and spills, ups and downs, highs and lows. But are they
happy? One glance at the number of people on antidepressants would tell
us, “no.” One look at the suicide rate would tell us, “NO!”
Lots
of people are having fun but very few are happy.
Jesus intended for us to be fulfilled, joyous and content. He wanted us
to be blessed. So at the very beginning of his public ministry, he told
people how to be blessed; how to be fulfilled, joyous, content and…happy.
He
gave us eight keys to unlock our full potential for fulfillment. It is
astounding the number of us who know this, ignore these keys, pursue
happiness in ways of our own devising and then blame God because we lack
joy in our lives.
Today we come to the sixth key to deep and abiding joy: the bliss of the
pure in heart.
Some
of the previous beatitudes have seemed undesirable. Poverty of spirit,
grief or mourning and meekness are not immediately appealing. But if some
of the beatitudes seem undesirable, this one seems unattainable. In fact,
the author of the book of Proverbs wrote:
9
Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure;
I am
clean and without sin”? (Proverbs 20:9)
Obviously, the expected answer is, “no one.”
But
if this beatitude seems unattainable, its necessity is undeniable. Psalm
24:3-4 reads:
3
Who may ascend the hill of the
Lord?
Who may
stand in his holy place?
4
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does
not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear
by what is false.
So if
purity of heart is indispensable and yet it seems unattainable, don’t you
think this warrants further study on our part?
The
word that Jesus used for purity does not mean morally perfect, spotless
and without sin. If that were what is required for people to be blessed
and fulfilled, none of us would ever be blessed. None of us could ever
find real joy because none of us are morally perfect; none of us are
sinless. Rather, the word that Jesus used refers to a single-minded
sincerity.
Oh
what we could accomplish if we were singleminded.
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch expressionist painter. For the first several
years of his life, he worked for art dealers, he was a teacher and,
briefly, was a lay minister with the Dutch Reformed Church. By the age of
27, he had not painted a thing and had failed at everything he had tried.
At the age of 27, he began to paint and he told his brother, Theo, that he
was going to satisfy himself that he was the greatest painter in the world
and that he would do nothing but paint until he was the best. Theo asked,
“Until you are the best and can sell your paintings, how will you support
yourself?” Vincent said, “I guess I’ll starve.” So Theo said he would
support his brother until he could support himself. Between November of
1881 and July of 1890, Vincent van Gogh painted almost 900 paintings. Yet
in the span of his entire career, he was only able to sell one painting, a
picture he called “The Red Vineyard” and it sold just a few months before
his death. But today, almost 120 years after his death, Vincent van Gogh
is regarded as one of the greatest painters the world has ever known and
his paintings and drawings include some of the world's best known, most
popular and most expensive pieces. His career stands as a testament to
what single-minded determination can accomplish.
Jesus
says that when we are that single-minded about having our hearts right
with God, we will be blessed. So will you allow me to take just a few
minutes to develop this theme with you?
Jesus
didn’t say, “Blessed are the pure.” He said, “Blessed are the pure in
heart.” The site of this purity is the heart of a man. The purity that
Jesus was talking about was an inner reality and not just an outward show.
If we
do not realize that Jesus was talking about inner purity, we may very well
fall into one of Satan’s traps. If we fail to recognize that Jesus was
teaching us about inner purity, we will become one of three types of
people.
A.
We may become arrogant people because we think this
is all about the externals. Arrogant people believe this is all about how
they behave and they think they have succeeded. They live the right way;
they talk the right way, they associate with the right people and they
shun the wrong people. Most of all, they do religious acts just the right
way…in every detail. That is what has made them arrogant: they believe
Jesus was telling us to act pure and they believe they’ve got it down
perfectly.
B.
If not arrogant, we may become angry people. Angry
people are the ones who think all of this is about the way we are supposed
to act and they know they’ve failed to get it right. Oh, they’ve tried.
They’ve tried harder and failed more miserably than most of us will ever
know. And their repeated failures have led them to become angry because
no matter how often or how hard they’ve tried, they just can’t act pure
enough.
C.
If not arrogant or angry, externalists just become tired
people. They find it all so very oppressive. They try and try
and try again but they just can’t seem to be good enough and now they are
worn out with the trying.
But
Jesus did not say, “Blessed are the ones whose behavior is pure.” He said
blessed are those whose hearts are pure.
There
are different ways to see. We see with our physical eyes and for many of
us, we require corrective lenses to improve our eyesight. But that is not
what Jesus was talking about when he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.”
We
see with our mind’s eye. We can visualize what we cannot see with our
natural sight. We can see in our memory or in our imagination. We can
see with comprehension: do you see what I mean? But that
also is not what Jesus was talking about.
We
can also see with our heart: the way a poet, a painter or a parent can
see. We see beyond what is to what can be.
But
it is true that what we see depends entirely on the state of our heart.
The dirty heart sees a vulgar joke in everything. The suspicious heart
sees a conspiracy in every act. Perception depends on perspective.
Dorothy Law Nolte has written:
If A Child Lives With. . .
If a child lives with criticism, he
learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he
learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear, he
learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with jealousy, he
learns to feel guilt.
If a child lives with tolerance, he
learns to be patient.
If a
child lives with encouragement, he learns to
be confident.
If a child lives with praise, he
learns to be appreciative.
If a child lives with acceptance, he
learns to love.
If a child lives with approval, he
learns to like himself.
If a
child lives with recognition, he learns that
it is good to have a goal.
If a child lives with honesty, he
learns what truth is.
If a child lives with fairness, he
learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he
learns to trust in himself and others .
If a child lives with friendliness, he
learns the world is a nice place in which to live.
Perception
depends on perspective. So it is that:
A
heart that is bitter sees an unfair, unjust God and responds with
resentment.
A heart
that is guilty sees a judgmental God and responds with shame.
A heart
that is timid sees an intimidating God and responds with fear.
A heart
that is hard sees nothing and does not respond at all.
And a heart
that is pure sees God as He is and responds with love.
