SIXTH BEATITUDE

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

The first thing we learn from this beatitude is that Jesus is concerned with our heart. It is not enough to clean up our act on the outside. "Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cups and of the plates, but the inside they are full of extortion and evil. You blind pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and the the plate, that the outside also may be clean. (Matthew 23:25-26) The aim of Jesus is not to reform the manners of society, but to change the hearts of sinners like you and me. So for example, Jesus would not be satisfied with a society in which there were no acts of adultery. "You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28) The heart is what you are, in the secrecy of your thoughts and feelings, when nobody knows but God. And what you are at the invisible root matters as much to God as what you are at the visible branch. "Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." (Samuel 16:7) From the heart comes all the issues of life. If we do not act from a pure heart, it does not matter how we present our selves to the world around us. "What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart ... For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft false witness, slander. These are what defiles a man." (Matthew 15:18-19) "Either make the tree good , and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit... For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."(Matthew 12:33-34) So the heart is utterly crucial to Jesus. What we are in the deep, private recesses of our lives is what He cares about most. Jesus did not come because we have some bad habits that need to be broken. He came into the world because we have such desperately evil hearts, which need to be purified! Lets take a moment and let this really sink in. If we are not operating from a pure heart, then how we represent ourselves to the world around us will be of no lasting effect. Certainly we understand that we cannot save anyone , not even ourselves. We are only responsible to present the truth and wisdom of God to those around us, Christ and the Holy Spirit are responsible to save them and lead them into salvation. We must understand that the purification of our hearts is an ongoing process.We must also understand that it cannot be achieved solely through our own efforts. As James says; draw near to God and He will draw near to us. We must daily submit ourselves to Christ and His will for our lives. As the apostle Paul says we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling on a daily basis. With purposeful intention fight to over come the evil of our hearts. We must also place our full faith and trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to provide strength to over come. What is it to see God ? First to see God means to be admitted to His presence. After the plague of darkness on Egypt, Pharaoh exploded to Moses with these words:" Get away from me; take heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the day you see my face you shall die." When a king says, you will never see my face again, he means, I will never grant you admission again into my presence. Second, seeing God means being awestruck by His glory - by a direct experience of His holiness. After God confronted Job in the whirlwind, Job said, "Ihad heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see thee." Virtually all of our spiritual sight in this life is mediated to us through the word of God or the work of God in providence.We see images and reflectios of His glory. We hear echoes and reverberations fo His voice. But there will come a day when God Himself will dwell among us.His glory will no longer be inferred from lighting and mountains and roaring seas and constellations of stars. Instead our experience of Him will be direct. His glory will be the very light in which we move. Finally, seeing God means being comforted by His grace. Again and again David cryed out to God that He not hide His face from Him. For example; Psalm 27: " Hear O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! Hide not thy face from me." So when Jesus promises the reward of seeing God there are at least these three things implied: we will be admitted to His presence. We will be awestruck with the direct experience of His glory, and we will be comforted by His grace. And this we will have - in part now, and fully in the age to come - if we are pure in heart. God is the One who purifies the heart, and the instrument with which He does it, is faith. My brothers and sisters I hope that what I have said to you today will deepen your understanding of having a pure heart. I pray that we all will search our hearts and allow God to help us to root out the evil that lurks there. We must daily submit ourselves to Him. We must strive to be obedient to Him. Christ Himself said he who loves Me will obey My commandments. Always remember that we cannot do this on our own, but through Jesus Christ and the strength He provides we can have a pure heart. The reward for having a pure heart is to see God. My friends I will not fail to mention you in my prayers. May the king of kings, and Lord of lords, our savior Jesus Christ comfort you and strength you. I love you all and God bless you.