“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
Matthew 5:8 (NRSVue)
It is important to remember that Jesus preached these words in the midst of occupied Judea. The Jewish leadership would have capitulated either overtly or subtly with the Roman rulers simply because they were allowed to operate. Those who didn't play were removed.
This would allow the common people to question the motives of their leadership.
Would this leadership be seen as pure in heart or would they be seen as having ulterior motives?
Jesus likely took this from Psalm 73 which starts out with God being good (blessing?) to the pure in heart. It goes on to disparage the wicked who are prosperous. It is also confessional for the psalmist who admits to getting it wrong as much as anyone. It ends with life coming from a nearness to God.
I think this is important in that in every age, it seems that we question the motives of our leadership. As we move through an election year that may prove to be more divisive than anything we've seen in our lifetime, leadership becomes an easy target.
Ironically, to be pure in heart may require us to look more inwardly at ourselves as per Psalm 73 than outwardly toward our neighbor (leader).
While often, we may think of seeing God in the beneficial actions of our neighbors, in this instance, it may be that we find God through our own self-examination. God is present with us in the forgiveness we receive in repentance. God is present with us when we can admit that we need to repent in the first place!
In an age where blame is widely cast and the buck never stops, this may be a discipline that helps us to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Pure in heart may not be a state of being as much as a willingness to acknowledge that we need God's help.
As we move through the Lenten season, where may you need to re-examine your life in your assumption that you have it all together?
Prayer for the day: Loving God, we remember that Jesus once said that "only God is good." We would seek to be pure in heart, but this may really just be an acknowledgement that we have far to go. Help us to see ourselves honestly. Let us be gracious in our reckoning just as you are gracious to us. But let us also not be complacent, understanding that we can do better. Finally, let us see you in the midst of our lives - that you don't abandon us to the work of improvement but rather strengthen us on our way. We pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Photo by Pati Morris via Flickr.com. Used under the Creative Commons license.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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