{"id":296,"date":"2015-09-16T03:46:11","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T03:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/?p=296"},"modified":"2015-12-09T04:54:44","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T04:54:44","slug":"pure-in-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/pure-in-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"PURE IN HEART"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some years ago, to promote Christ Church New York City, we advertised our service times and locations and our website with words drawn from Psalm 24 on small bottles of hand sanitizer: \u2018Clean hands\u2026 Pure heart\u2019. While we received some positive responses we were not inundated with newcomers. Rather, I quickly discovered New Yorkers were not particularly enamored by the idea of a \u2018pure heart\u2019. Pure hands, yes. Pure hearts, no!<\/span><\/p>\n

SO WHAT IS JESUS SAYING?<\/h2>\n

In the light of this attitude it\u2019s tempting to think that Jesus is thoroughly unrealistic. Yet we need to remember that while his primary audience for his Sermon on the Mount consisted of \u2018followers\u2019, vast crowds were present that day when he spoke. Jesus knew that because his words are true and because men and women are made in the image of God, his teaching is beneficial for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the present tenses of his statements that day, tell us that Jesus is saying that purity is something we, men and women, should aim at now. Certainly, those who call themselves God\u2019s people and who look forward to the perfection of the coming kingdom, should already be preparing for it. Life in the new heaven and the new earth should not surprise us by its purity, but be the perfecting of what God has already begun in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

PURE IN HEART<\/h2>\n

In the light of the broader context of the Beatitudes, let me suggest that Jesus is not speaking about an outward conformity to rules or even simply an inward purity or righteousness \u2013 although these elements are certainly biblical. Rather, as New Testament commentators such as RVG Tasker and John Stott have pointed out,\u00a0pure in heart\u00a0<\/i><\/b>here is primarily a reference to\u00a0single-mindedness<\/b>\u00a0in the way we relate to God and to one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

To pick up the theme of Psalm 24, the\u00a0pure in heart\u00a0<\/i><\/b>are those who do not serve false gods \u2013 the gods of wealth, success or self-interest. Nor are their lives shaped by lies and deception.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0pure in heart<\/i><\/b>\u00a0are characterized by sincerity and genuineness. They are without guile, before God and people around them. As John Stott put it, \u2018their very heart \u2013 including their thoughts and motives \u2013 is pure, unmixed with anything devious, ulterior or base. Hypocrisy and deceit are abhorrent to them\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

So\u00a0this Beatitude asks us awkward questions:<\/strong> Do we let our circumstances determine our response in each situation \u2013 what mask we might wear, what half-truths we might speak, what role we might play? Are we known and respected as a person of integrity, someone to be trusted, someone whose\u00a0heart is pu<\/i><\/b>re<\/i><\/strong>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The searching nature of Jesus\u2019 words here<\/b>\u00a0and the promise attached to them are challenging. For they remind us of the attitude of mind and the quality of life we need to work at living now by the grace of God. For as John Stott succinctly put it, \u2018only the pure in heart will see God, see him now with the eye of faith and see his glory in the hereafter, for only the utterly sincere in heart can bear the dazzling vision in whose light the darkness of deceit must vanish and by whose fire all shams are burned up\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 words in his Sermon continue to search us. They challenge us to ask whose blessing do we want most of all? Do we look most of all for the blessing that comes from people around us because they perceive us to be successful? Or do we want God\u2019s blessing above anything else in life?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.\u201d Some years ago, to promote Christ Church New York City, we advertised our service times and locations and our website with words drawn from Psalm 24 on small bottles of hand sanitizer: \u2018Clean hands\u2026 Pure heart\u2019. While we received some positive responses we were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-on-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\nPURE IN HEART - The Anglican Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.\u201d What is Jesus really saying with these words? 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