Well, the past few days sure have been eventful! What did we ever do before we had electricity? You’d think all those episodes of the "Little House on Prairie" would prepare us, but they didn’t. I couldn’t find a lantern and didn’t have a place to build a fire. Our neighbors a block over from us had power the entire time. That first night we were without power, all cold and miserable and without internet, we drove by and they had all their Christmas decorations in their yard turned on in full glory. It’s great that they had electricity, but as one person said, "You don’t have to flaunt it." Let's have a show of hands. How many of you are still without power? How many of you had power the entire time and were out in your yard making snow angels?
"Blessed are the pure in heart."
Well, this morning we come the sixth beatitude in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.Jesus says in Matthew 5:8 (NIV), "Blessed are the pure in heart." That phrase, “pure in heart”, would have really struck a chord with the crowd. They were accustomed to a religious culture that wasn’t too concerned about the heart. They spent their lives learning rules, reciting laws, and going through the motions of religious ceremonies. For them, religion wasn’t a heart thing. It was behavior. It was duty, obligation, external obedience, and outward conformity!
You go to synagogue every Sabbath. You go to the temple to make your sacrifices. You give your tithe. You pray. You fast. You celebrate the same feasts year after year. These are the things devout Jewish people did, and doing them was all that mattered. But here Jesus is pushing into some uncharted territory, the heart! Isn’t doing these things enough? Isn’t being here enough? Isn’t going through the rituals enough? Isn’t it enough that I conform to the religious expectations that are foisted upon me? The crowd would have only been parroting the Pharisees, the religious leaders.
The Pharisees were known for pompous acts of outward righteousness.
In Matthew 6:1-4 (NIV) Jesus warns, "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
In Matthew 6:5-7 (NIV) Jesus warns, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."
In Matthew 6:16 (NIV) Jesus says, "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." In all these examples, what is Jesus is describing? He is describing people who go through the motions of religion outwardly, but who in their hearts are far from God.
So what happens when religion becomes more exterior than interior?
What happens when religion becomes more about appearances than inner realities? What happens when giving, prayer, and fasting are done for the audience of many rather than for an audience of one? What happens when religion becomes conforming one's body to standards the heart absolutely resents? Well, what happens is that religious-looking people become some of the most spiritually lost people in the world.
This is what Jesus was alluding to in Matthew 7:15 (NIV) when he said, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Jesus also warns us in Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV), "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
There is often a disconnection between "doing" and "being."
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus makes a rather gutsy move. He begins pointing out the disconnection that often exists in our lives between doing and being. In Matthew 5:21-26 (NIV) Jesus takes on the topic of murder. "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."
The religious person looks at these verses and says, "I’ve never murdered anyone." And Jesus essentially says, "You haven’t murdered anyone, but you’re an angry person. You insult people you don’t like with name calling. You condemn people who cross you. You go through the motions of worship while harboring resentment. You refuse to forgive people. You are engaged in escalating court battles. You're unmerciful."
In Matthew 5:27-30 (NIV) Jesus takes on the topic of adultery. "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."
The religious person looks at these verses and says, "I’ve never committed adultery." And Jesus essentially says, "You haven’t committed adultery, but you look at women lustfully, committing adultery over and over with them in your heart, in your thoughts, in your imagination, and in your dreams. You’re not disciplining your eyes and you’re not disciplining your body. You’ve all but opened yourself up to temptation."
Jesus tells us that it is possible to look religious without really giving your heart to God.
If you’ve read the Sermon on the Mount, you know that Jesus doesn’t stop with murder and adultery. He goes on to talk about divorce, taking oaths, revenge, loving your neighbor as well as your enemies, giving, praying, fasting, storing up wealth, and worrying. In all these examples Jesus is essentially illustrating that you can make a life of looking religious without ever truly giving your heart over to God.
You can go to church, go to Sunday school, put money in the offering, go through the motions of communion, volunteer time, be baptized, pray, read your Bible, and fast. And despite doing all these things, your heart can be full of murder, adultery, lust, divorce, lies, hatred, pride, greed, and worry.
I remember going to Denver one year for the North American Christian Convention. The NACC convention is held every year at various locations throughout the United States. It is essentially a preaching and teaching convention for the Christian Churches. I’ve had the privilege of hearing some of the finest church leaders of our day.
That year in Denver there was one particular speaker that stood out above all the rest. He was so passionate. From my vantage point he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of conviction. He talked about a trip he had taken to Korea, to the largest church in the world, and how he visited this prayer mountain where thousands of people gather daily for prayer. During that visit he said that God gave him this vision and that vision. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. The stories he told about how God had used his life and blessed his church and was working in the world were riveting. I never forgot that speech.
But this past November there was profound disillusionment experienced by millions over accusations that this leader was using crystal meth and engaging in unspeakable acts of immorality. From the outside, you couldn’t imagine a person looking much more righteous. But on the inside, he was harboring all this sin, darkness, temptation, and struggle. We can spend our whole lives looking righteous without ever truly giving our hearts to God.
God wants purity in our innermost being.
And yet, what God is seeking more than anything else is purity in our innermost being. God is seeking that singular devotion to being inwardly and to doing outwardly all that he commanded. This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:20 (NIV) when he said, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." In other words, do more than just look religious. Hunger and thirst for true righteousness in your innermost being. Hunger and thirst for that which surpasses the superficial.
This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) when he said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
It is what Jesus meant in Matthew 6:24 (NIV) when he said, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
It is what Jesus meant in Matthew 6:33 (NIV) when he said, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
It is what Jesus was driving at in Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV). "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
What we must guard against is having a distracted and divided heart.
God doesn’t want us to be something outwardly that we have no desire to be inwardly. God wants the outside to match the inside so that there is integrity, truth, and inner purity. That why David prays in Psalm 51:10 (NIV), “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
The futility of outside-inside trasnformation.
In your outline I have referenced the futility of outside-inside transformation. The Pharisees believed that so long as they kept going through the motions externally, everything on the inside would take care of itself. That’s a formula for disaster. Later in Matthew 23 Jesus renounces the Pharisees and the religious leaders for this attitude. For example, in Matthew 23:23-28 (NIV) Jesus says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices— mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law— justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." The lesson here is that transformation doesn’t begin from the outside and get transferred to the inside. Rather, transformation begins from the inside-out.
The joy of inside-outside transformation.
In your outline I have referenced the joy of inside-out transformation. Inside-out transformation is what the entire Sermon on the Mount is about. Inside-out transformation is the essence of true religion. It's the starting point for spirituality.
In Matthew 5:8 (NIV) Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in the heart, for they will see God." Instead of beginning with actions and behaviors and superficial changes, we should invite the great physician to do the deep stuff, the inner heart surgery.
Jesus says, "You are blessed."
What have we seen thus far in the beatitudes? It’s all inside-out stuff. First, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The poor in spirit are those who have reached the end of themselves and come before God utterly bankrupt and surrendered, seeking his work in their lives.
But then Jesus adds, "Blessed are those who mourn." These are the people who in their heart of hearts grieve over their sin, darkness, and junk that lays inches below the surface. Blessed are those who repent and genuinely desire to be changed.
And then Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek." The meek are those who stand ready to inherit the millions of blessings God makes available in Christ.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness." Those whose greatest hunger, more than food itself, is to know and live out the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
And, "Blessed are the merciful." The merciful show others the same mercy that they wish to receive.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8 (NIV)
And now Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in the heart," Blessed are those who want to possess integrity and truth in their innermost parts. In their hearts! And what is Jesus' promise to the pure in heart? They will see God.
Prayer. Inner righteousness. Be our treasure, our master. Help us seek first your kingdom and righteousness. Help us ask, seek, knock. Create in us pure hearts.