Pure Purity

"Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God."
                              --Matthew 5:8


We like thing pure, don't we.   Here are just a few:  pure romance, pure silk, pure cane sugar, pure water, pure gold, pure chocolate, pure joy, pure oxygen, pure organics, pure dog food, pure laughter, pure imagination...and I'm sure you could add many more.  So, what are we looking for when we're looking for something that is pure?  We are looking for something that is ALL one thing with nothing else mixed in with it.  As He does throughout the sermon on the mount, Jesus is placing a very high standard when he says to be pure in heart.

Think about it, He is asking our hearts to be centered all on one thing with nothing else mixed in.  Zero impurities, zero focus on anything but righteousness, zero sin!  These are the ones who will see God.  As we see elsewhere in scripture, nothing impure will be allowed into the presence of God.  Sin, even the smallest sin, is intollerable to God.  No one with any sin in them will see God. 

Wow, do you feel as dejected as I do at this moment?  If I am to be free of impurity in order to see God, I'm in trouble.  I've been aware of my sinfulness for a long time.  I am very aware of the gap between my sinful self and the incomparable holiness of God.  The older I get and the more I grow in my faith, the larger I realize that gap really is. 

Matthew 5:8 is echoed later in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:48 when, after raising the standard of righteousness well beyond what the teachers of the law had taught, Jesus says "therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

As we are all very fond of saying "nobody's perfect."  Jesus went so far as to say nobody is good except for God.  So how are we to "be perfect."  Some might say He meant for us to become perfect, as in move toward a state of perfection.  But that is not what the scripture says, it says be perfect; as in live now in a state of perfection.

So, how on earth are we supposed to do this!  Ah, how on earth indeed.  There is no way on earth, but there is a way in heaven. 

We will always be sinners while we live.  As the apostle John says "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)  But Christ has made away. Martin Luther is often attributed as using the simile that we are like "snow covered dung." It's a funny picture, but a strong one as well. We are sinful, broken, gross if you will, but we are covered by the purity of Christ.  By His sacrifice on the cross, we are covered with His righteousness, His purity, His perfection.  Since He lived a life completely satisfying to God's law, He is the only pure sacrifice (there's that word pure again) for us, and He was happy to do it so that we may see God.