With this mission trip slowly but surely approaching, I've definitely done a lot of thinking about what I'm going to see and experience next year, and I'm sure most of it is not going to pretty. There's nothing pretty about young girls being sold into sexual slavery, or young boys being forced to kill people. By nature, I'm a cynical person. The world is ugly, and life sucks. Why? Because sin and death has entered into it. Well, thank goodness I no longer live by nature, but by Spirit. And by Spirit, I'm a hopeful person. Recently I received the opportunity to teach in one of the youth fellowships at my church, and this was my sermon on "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8
"When you say something is pure, you mean something is clean and free from impurities. A pure substance is composed of one element through and through. A pure heart is similarly made up of one thing – God. One who is pure hearted sees with the eyes of God in this world, understands with his wisdom, and loves with the unconditional love of his heart – a love that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
But seeing as how this world is so impure, how can one have a pure heart? It's hard. And we're told that without a pure heart we will not see God. The abundance of impurities in this world then, probably explains why most people in this world don't see God. But still, we're told that God is here. So maybe if you can't see him, the problem is not with our eyes, but with our heart. Every second there are too many impurities, thoughts, worries, things, getting in the way of you seeing God in your life, in the lives of others, in this world. You might have friends who say, "If God were to come down right now, and show himself to me, I would believe." The thing is, even if God were to do so, your friend would never see him. I don't think it would be because something is wrong with his eyes. It would be his heart. How do I know that? Because God did come down. Two thousand years ago, God came down and He showed himself to a lot of people. He did better than that. He not only showed himself to a lot of people, he performed miracles – water into wine, deaf hear, blind see, lame walk, dead are raised, demons cast out. And did people believe? Well, some did. But from his own people group, many didn't, and nailed him to the cross. Even amongst his closest friends, one betrayed him, one denied knowing him three times, and the others scattered. God came down as a baby, lived like us for thirty years, showed us how to live for three years, and died. Alone. God came down and showed himself to us. And we didn’t see him! Again, was there something wrong with their eyes? Maybe you think, “Well, if I lived during the time of Jesus, I would have believed in him!" Really? Think again, because even his closest friends and family had trouble. Again, nothing wrong with their eyes. Just maybe, it was their heart. Or you might have a friend who says, "My mother is dying of cancer. Where is God? I don't see him." Of course God is hard to see in situations like this, when all your friend could see looking into her mother's eyes was suffering and death. How could she look beyond and see life and resurrection? How can any of us look beyond and see life and resurrection? Forget about one person having cancer, and one family struggling. What about the millions of people out there who struggle with disease also? Forget about just disease. When there are wars, earthquakes, slavery, diseases, children dying from hunger, girls sold into sex slavery….where is God? Is he still here? Or how about a question that seems more relatable to you guys. You guys say "I believe in God. I know he's there, and I think I'm a Christian because I've prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I grew up in Church, my parents tell me that God is real and I need to trust in him. But why can't I see God in my life?" Where is God in your life? Where is God in the lives of others? Is God still in this world? Is God even still in this church? That was my question. And it's been everyone's question. If you have been a human being living on this world, you have asked “Where is God?” Even Jesus. Jesus himself on the cross, with the weight of the sins of the world upon him, asked this question, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" God, where are you? Why did you leave me? But, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8
I was kind of like you guys. I went to Christian school, and I knew that God was "there". It wasn't until I went to college that I knew more about this God, eventually realizing that he had saved me from hating myself. Then I got excited and wanted everyone to realized that God saved them too. But then I became frustrated. I became frustrated with sin still being so powerful and prevalent, not only in this world, but even in this church. I remember crying before my youth pastor Jason, being so frustrated that people were still living in sin and death. And the crazy thing was that even though I preached that God was alive, deep down, I lived like God was dead because I couldn’t get over the fact that reality was so horrible. It was so hard for me to see hope and to keep moving forward. Jason said I had a critical spirit. My first reaction was, “Uhhh, what? Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” He was seeing what I was seeing. Nothing wrong with my eyes. Everything wrong with my heart. The difference between my view and Jason's was that my Gospel was not complete. It stopped where Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins. Jason’s Gospel was complete. It continued to where Jesus rose from the dead, and is still continuing to today where he sits on the throne. I was so proud and thought I was so wise for “seeing things for what they really were”. But in reality, I was just so scared and I told myself that I would never be disappointed because I had no expectations and set my bar so low, but really, my bar should have been raised to heaven. There have been more disappointments since then in regards to my question, “Where is God in church? Where is God in the world?” But through various people God has brought into my life (people who thank goodness are not cynical and proud of it), and through the truth of Scripture being preached into my heart, my understanding of the Gospel has changed not my eyes, but my heart, for “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)
So where is God? God is here. God came as a baby, lived as a man, worked as a slave, died as a criminal, and rose as a King. So where is God now? Sitting on the throne, the forces of sin and death, crushed beneath his feet. Now he is king. This is the Gospel. The Gospel is the key to seeing God, the Gospel is the key to being pure in heart. Because the Gospel presents the reality of this world.
Yes, life sucks. People suffer. People get lonely. People get hurt by words and actions. People are mean. People are not fair. People get sick. People hate people. People kill people. People die. And by people, I don't just mean “bad” people. I mean all people, because not one of us has been unaffected by sin and death – from the very old to the very young, from the singles to the couples, from the rich to the poor . Regardless of your age, background, health, wealth – sin and death gets everyone. It's the only thing that you can be sure of in this world – that you’re going to get hurt physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and that eventually, you’re going to die. The Gospel actually presents this entire reality with Jesus on the cross, down to the part where Christ, expressing the heart of this world, in pain, loneliness, suffering, and death, asks "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Down to the part where Jesus actually dies. But that's not all of the Gospel. Is it? Thank goodness that’s not all of the Gospel. What am I missing? The Gospel also presents the reality that rises above this reality of sin and death. This second reality is greater, stronger, and even more powerful than the reality of sin and death. It is the reality of the risen King after the reality of the cross. It is the final reality. It is the reality of the happy ending even though there is a sad middle.
Right now, we're in this sad middle. Look around you. People sick and hurt, and dying. Jesus has not come back yet. But he is coming because he is alive, and he is here. How do I know that? Because life can be awesome. Some people rejoice. Some people have one other. Some people are restored by words and actions. Some people are nice. Some people are fair. Some people get healed. Some people love people. Some people save people. Some people die, come back to life, and then truly live. And this is possible to see and experience for all who believe that Jesus is king on top of all the “life sucks” stuff. This is possible for all who believe in the Gospel. The question that we have to answer in our own heart is, "Do I believe that this sad world is the end? Or do I believe in the resurrection? Do I believe that Jesus is coming back? Do I believe he is the risen King, or do I believe he is a dead criminal? Do I believe that the story ended in pain, suffering, and death? Or do I believe that it ends in life, celebration, and victory?”
Do you believe that God is dead? That he doesn't care about this world? That people suffer and die, and his heart doesn't just bleed for them? Or do you believe that God is alive? That he cares for this world so much that he sent his son? And that he so loved this world that he sent his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life? Your answer to this question deep within your heart and soul, will determine the rest of your life here on earth, and more importantly, after your life here on earth. This life is but a breath, but after this, it's eternity. Do you believe that God is alive as King, or do you believe he is dead as a criminal? And if you do believe…that a living God sits on a throne, truly believe in the Gospel, all of it, you will have a pure heart free from the impurities in this world. I’m not talking about a freedom and purity that’s just on the surface. Having a pure heart does not mean that you play stupid, and you convince yourself everything’s great in this world and you just need to be positive. Or you just need to keep yourself clean and away from all the bad stuff. That’s not real purity. A person with a real pure heart sees and experiences and acknowledges everything bad in this world (and that’s a lot), but chooses to acknowledge the God who is greater than it all.
King David had a pure heart when he went to fight Goliath, and he wasn’t stupid. He saw how powerful Goliath was and how many people (friends, neighbors, family) that Goliath and the Philistines had killed. Yet David made his bold statement, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David wasn’t a kid living in happy fairytale land. He was a kid born in the time of war and familiar with what war does to people and what people did in war. He was seeing the same things his brothers, other soliders, and King Saul were seeing. But they were scared to go out, because as much as they saw, they didn’t see that God was king. Again, there's nothing wrong with their eyes. It's their hearts. To have a pure heart like David means that you see destruction, but you believe in victory because your God is living.
Jesus had a pure heart, and it wasn’t because he locked himself at home or in church and told himself to be positive, imagining that this world was perfect. No, Jesus’ pure heart embraced all the nasty in this world, and saw victory because he new he would raise himself from the dead. And if you have a pure heart like this, you will see God. Because to be pure in heart in a world like this means that even though you see all the ugly, you believe in the beautiful. You see all the lies, yet you believe in the truth. You see sickness, but you believe in healing. You see death, but you believe in life after death. You see a sinful man who has lusted, lied, cheated, and murdered, yet in this man you see the image of God. To be pure in heart is not to be naive or innocent or blind, or isolated, or stupid. To be pure in heart is to see everything for what it is in this world, but to see redemption, healing, and life regardless. The symbol of Christianity is the cross. And it's hilarious, because most religions think we're probably crazy. The cross is historically a symbol of pain, suffering, blood, and torture. People who don't believe in the Gospel see the cross and they see a dying man. But those who see God, are the pure in heart, and those who are pure in heart look at this cross and see beyond what it is. The pure in heart see not just the pain, suffering, blood, and torture of a dying man, but also the glory that lies beyond this cross. They see the joy, peace, redemption, and love of a living God.
And it is because of this Gospel, that the kid who desires God to show himself will see Him and know that he is not alone, and the girl with the dying mother will see him and know that no matter what happens, she and her mother will spend an eternity together free from pain and suffering, and all the people in this world with all their troubles, worries, sufferings, and injustices, will see God and know that all those things will end. And you guys? Who probably up this point haven’t seen God but know he’s there….you guys will see him too. Because God is faithful to take us all deeper. Because all sin and death was nailed to the cross with Jesus, and he has risen free from these things. And when he comes back, there will be a new beginning, a new heaven and a new earth. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4). So, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) Seeing God rests on a purity of heart, and a purity of heart comes from a deep and personal understanding and experience of the Gospel. And how does someone receive the Gospel like that? What is the first part of the beatitudes? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:3) Be poor in spirit. Be ready to receive from the living God."
Goodness, that was long. So if you read any of it, I'm impressed. If not, the only thing you need to read is this: "BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY WILL SEE GOD." MATTHEW 5:8
Despite the fact that I know my eyes are going to be wrecked with the ugly truth, my heart is going to look to the one who is Truth with a capital T. Otherwise, I would never be able to continue and finish this race. As cynical as I am, the Gospel is actually greater. So as hard as it is for me to see God and have a pure heart in a world as impure as this, I can continue living in faith, hope, and love. Oh, and my name "Katherine" actually means "pure". The Greek for "pure" in Matthew 5:8 is katharos. Hilarious, right? Soli Deo gloria.
