WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
A CLEAN GETAWAY
In May of 2019, Nate Roman, 44, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, arrived home and noticed immediately that something wasn’t right. After looking around his house, he called the police. What was wrong? The place was too clean.
“You could smell the cleaning products,” he told reporters, and the house was spotless but nothing was stolen that he could tell.
“My son’s room has never looked better,” he said.
The police were just as dumbfounded as Roman was. Their theory: a professional cleaning service went to the wrong address, and got in through the unlocked back door. That would explain the toilet paper origami roses that Roman found in his bathroom.
He admitted that the experience was unsettling…but he was so impressed with the work that he would like to know how much the intruders charge to come do it again. Authorities have no leads in this case and no suspects to question.
Roman added, “There’s a chance they will be back tomorrow. They didn’t clean the kitchen which was a little disappointing.”
In this case, someone likely had good intentions to clean a home but got the wrong one. Their hearts were in the right place, but they made a mistake and cleaned the wrong house. This makes me think of our beatitude that we are reading this morning in Matthew 5:8. By the way if anyone wants to ever make this mistake at our house, we will leave the doors unlocked.
MATTHEW 5:8
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
As Jesus continues to preach these different beatitudes, he spells out the different virtues of what makes a disciple close to God’s intention for mankind and how we can be blessed by God. This beatitude in particular is a special one. Using the last beatitude as a springboard, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” We begin to see Jesus telling the hearer what they need to be in a right relationship with God. Receiving mercy from God is the beginning step that a disciple needs here on earth. We need that mercy. Now, we hear that the pure in heart shall see God.
This beatitude has roots in the song David writes in Psalm 24. We read this in our scripture reading this morning. Let’s read this again and look at what David writes in his 24th Psalm.
PSALM 24:1-10
1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah
David writes this song reminding people that the earth, the world and everything and everyone in it are God’s. He created this world. It is His. His question then comes in the form of “Who can ascend to God? Who can stand in his holy place? The answer is he who has clean hands, a pure heart, the one who doesn’t lift his soul to the false and does not swear to deceitful living. He will receive blessing.
This encapsulates the beatitude of Matthew 5:8. The earth is God’s and only those who have clean hands, a pure heart and lives in the truth can stand with God in his holy place. If we think to those in scripture who were able to do this, who do you think of?
DAVID
Before David was even made King, he was called a man after God’s heart. His desire to please God, to worship Him and serve Him, to praise God in everything, to know that God would protect and guide his people even in the midst of scary times like battling the Philistines. David was this man. Even knowing the mistakes and sins of David’s life now, we also see a man who desired to please God. His heart was God’s. That is why when looking for this future king, the Lord said in First Samuel 16,
FIRST SAMUEL 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
How often do we judge people on appearance rather than who they are inside? God looks at the heart. Are our hearts pure? And also said of David,
FIRST SAMUEL 16:18
“…I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”
David had a heart for God and God rewarded this. But this isn’t the story I want to parallel with our beatitude this morning, though David does have qualities spoken of in our beatitude and he wrote the Psalm we referenced.
ELIJAH
How about Elijah? Elijah saw the false teachers and prophets of Baal and many other false gods. He prophesied and confronted King Ahab who had adopted many other idols and false gods. Elijah was so pure in heart that he was seen as the purest that he could speak to God on a mountain. He heard the voice of God in a whisper and then wrapped his face with his cloak because even in Elijah’s purity, he could not face God…not yet. But Elijah also didn’t see death. He was taken up to God in fiery chariots and then got to see God’s face.
But Elijah isn’t who I really want to focus on this morning. No, David and Elijah definitely were pure in heart and would see God. And there were others that we could parallel this morning, but who I really want us to see is Moses.
MOSES
Moses was a man who had a pure heart.
When we read of Moses’ life we see someone who was favored by God in his service to the Lord. I especially want us to see that Moses mirrors not just this teaching here in Matthew 5:8 and Psalm 24, but also has factors of the life of Elijah and David and even Jesus.
After Moses delivers the Israelites out of Egypt, he is given opportunities to show the power of God as the people traveled and then when God delivers the commandments and the law to them.
After the people forget God’s leading and forge idols from their gold jewelry in habitual practice from their days in Egypt, Moses intercedes for his people. He met with God in person.
Let’s read from Exodus 33:18 and following:
EXODUS 33:18-23
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Moses meets with God, but God tells Moses, you cannot see my face. But, we do see that Moses sees God’s glory pass by. That must have been an amazing sight and an amazing feeling. We know that every time Moses met with God in person, God’s glory was so powerful that his skin would glow from being in God’s presence.
EXODUS 34:29-35
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Moses’ skin would glow and he would come out and speak to the people what he had talked with God about. God’s glory and presence was so powerful, that Moses had to veil his face because the power of his skin shining was even too much for the people to experience. Imagine being in Moses’ presence with shining face that that was too much and then think about what it must have been like to actually be in God’s presence and experience that.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Moses saw God. What about us? Jesus says all the pure in heart will see God. Have you seen God? We can take this metaphorically and say, “Oh yes, I have seen God in the world around me. The way nature is so magnificent and creatively designed by God.” Or “Oh yes, when I see the innocent heart of a child, I have seen God.” Or even, “Oh yes, This person in the faith has lived a long life and gives wisdom and shows the heart of God. I see God in this person.”
But Jesus is talking about seeing God. In our pure hearts, we are seeing the essence of God; who He is, what He wants for us, the intention of his original creation.
How do we become pure in heart? Who are the pure in heart? How do we know someone is pure in heart? I have 3 ways for us to examine this truth:
1. THE PURE IN HEART THINK AND SPEAK PURELY
People who are pure in heart have found that deep within them in every aspect of their lives, they seek to please God first. In their speech and in their minds. In the way they treat people—it’s all from the purest of motives.
Jesus would speak about this later in Matthew’s Gospel. He was casting a demon out of a blind-mute and the Pharisees accused him of being Satan. Jesus responded:
MATTHEW 12:33-37
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
MATTHEW 15:18-19
18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
We speak out of our mouths what our hearts are filled with. If we are filled with the Spirit, we will speak as God would speak; being pure in heart, we will speak and think purely.
This is why Moses was so angry with Aaron and the Israelites when they made idols of gold while he was literally speaking with God on Sinai. This is why his anger caused him so much grief that he broke the tablets with the commandments on them. How can God’s people follow these laws and commands if they won’t even wait to receive them?
What about us? If we are consumed with the world, we will speak like the world. What do we watch on television? What do we listen to on Spotify? What do we read? Are we allowing friends and family to influence our thinking or our speech? Do we allow social media to influence us to buy certain products or to act a particular way? Out of our hearts will come the level of purity we have inside—whether that be only a little or whether it overflows from our own pure hearts.
2. THE PURE IN HEART ARE VIEWED PERSONALLY
What do I mean by that? If we are pure in heart, people will know. They will see a difference in the kind of person you are. It will show in your actions. Are you a service-minded person who sees the needs of others and acts on it? It can go to what you do with your time. Is your time spent on bettering yourself by reading and growing from what you read? How do you prioritize your time? Do the things of God get your leftovers?
Someone who is pure in heart is seen by our actions. Am I prioritizing Bible reading and worship over vacations and sports? Are vacations and sports bad? No, but do they come before God? There’s more in this but it would take me some time to flesh out…maybe we will hear more about this in a future lesson from the Sermon on the Mount.
But when we are pure in heart, people see a personal difference in the kind of person we are. Not just in our speech and thoughts, but in our actions. Do the people around you know that you love Jesus? Do you talk about God with coworkers, neighbors, and others who don’t know you well? It becomes personal.
It was so personal for Moses, he shone like God. People knew Moses was in God’s presence. We should shine like God in who we are to the extent that people know we have been in the presence of God. It is like what John wrote in his First letter:
FIRST JOHN 3:1-3
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
3. THE PURE IN HEART SHALL SEE GOD
Adam saw God in the garden. As we said, Elijah saw God. Moses saw God. The pure in heart shall see God. People think of this as just some future promise. But Jesus didn’t say that. I love what Jesus said about himself in John’s Gospel:
JOHN 14:8-9
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus said if you have seen him, you’ve seen God because Jesus was God with us. God in the flesh. The pure see the ways that God is working around them every day. People who are pure in heart are focused on seeing the good in creation and in God’s masterpiece. The pure in heart are innocent and can see the world around them the way God intended it to be. The pure in heart see others the way God does…his children and have compassion and empathy.
Have you seen the power of God? It’s time for some self-examination. Are you pure in heart? Are you living out in the world the way God wants you to live and being the kind of person who shines the glory of God out there? Or do we hide behind rocks and in caves and never come out unless it’s convenient?
CHALLENGE
Create a daily calendar for this week as a family. Prioritize time when you will spend it with God—in family devotional, singing, reading the Bible, reading another inspirational book, talking about what God has done in your life each day, praying together. If it’s you by yourself, turn the TV off and make time to talk to God each day. Maybe set a time to have a friend or two to come over and study God’s word together and talk about what God is doing in your life. Get creative. And then shine that glory out into the world this week. If you’ve seen God, you’ll shine.
INVITATION
Moses wasn’t able to see God’s face. He likely couldn’t have handled it. He shined from just being in God’s glory as it was. But guess what…we will get to see God’s face.
REVELATION 22:3-4
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face…
I want you to see God every day. But I also want you to see God face to face with me. If you need Jesus today, we can baptize you and God will give you a new life with a new view. You would be pure in heart washing away your sins.
Or if you need prayer, whatever your need, come while we stand and sing.
