Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.
Sometimes I find the Message translation helpful.
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. Matthew 5:8 MSG
An inside job
In the 80’s we traveled from Tucson to a Los Angels suburb for a Conference. Methodist evangelist, Tommy Tyson, was a major speaker. Tommy had a great sense of humor and enjoyed telling jokes and one liners to make a point. He was a large jolly fellow and like Santa he shook when he laughed. The stage floor was wood and old. He bounced a bit as he exhorted us saying “Christianity (pause) is an inside job.”
Transforming
All the previous steps along The Way have been doing their work transforming our inner selves, our souls.
I am reminded of a humorous event from my days at the Church of the Reconciliation in Webster Massachusetts. Eddie Dunham, a good hearted hard
working man “got saved.” at a local revival. A week or two later he came to me after the service. “Isn’t God wonderful,” he said. “The same time I got saved you started to preach better!”
Got answers!
I found the following explanation on Gotanswers.org.
The Greek word for “pure” in Matthew 5:8 is katharos. It means to be “clean, blameless, unstained from guilt.” Interestingly, the word can refer specifically to that which is purified by fire or by pruning. John the Baptist told people that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). Malachi speaks of the Messiah as being like a “refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:2). Jesus refers to believers as being the branches and to Himself as being the vine (John 15:1-17). For a vine to produce fruit, it must be pruned. Those who are truly “pure,” then, are those who have been declared innocent because of the work of Jesus and who are being sanctified by His refining fire and His pruning.
Sanctuary
On of the favorite songs at Kairos is Sanctuary.
Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy tried and true
With thanksgiving
I’ll be a living
Testimony for you
It is by literal trial these men in prison have found themselves, through the mercy of God, to be on the journey of faith. Some have even attended a seminary on the grounds of the infamous Louisiana state penitentiary at Angola. From there they are sent to other facilities as assistants to the prison chaplains. Their lives have been purified in the fires of life and they bless others as they have been blessed.
Thus, as God has been working on my heart for many years, I indeed see him in many places and people. I am an amateur photographer. It gives me pleasure to capture the beauty of creation. I share them on my Facebook page. I have been awestruck at the Grand Canyon and the Sequoia Forest. I have marveled as an Eagle flew over our property in Arkansas. I was blessed to be able to travel to the Holy Land and walk were Jesus walked.
Chariots of fire
One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire. It is the true story of Olympian Eric Liddell. He was controversial at the time because of his faith he wouldn’t race on Sundays. In the movie a reporter asks him what God thinks about his running. Eric replied saying “When I run it gives Him pleasure.” Sometimes I will be asked to sing at a wedding or a funeral. At one wedding in South Carolina, I was asked to sing Ave Maria. On that occasion everything was just right. My voice was clear. My nerves were calm, and my performance was the best. Even as I was singing, I thought in all humility this must also give Him pleasure. At that moment, if never before\ or since, I believe I was a sanctuary.
Tragedy
Sometimes the blessings come in unexpected ways. Our hearts are refined; made purer in ways we don’t expect. Sometimes it is the tragedy of life redeemed by the Grace of God. Not a year after we were married Lily became very ill. Diagnosed with Facial Scapular Humeral Muscular Dystrophy, Scleroderma, and Raynaud’s. Her initial prognosis was only three years. She lived heroically for 29. Three or so years into her illness she developed excruciating abdominal pain. Her doctor suggested she might be pregnant and ordered an ultrasound. We thought this was unlikely as we had not been using birth control for three years. Moreover, we also knew that given the narcotic pain meds she was taking this would not be a good thing for the baby.
As we watched the monitor in awe, shock, surprise, and dread, the tech said, “Look, there is your baby’s heartbeat.” Her doctors, although not wanting to say so directly, made it clear that neither the child nor Lily could survive the pregnancy. The scleroderma scar tissue was preventing her womb from expanding. She had to have an abortion. In post op recovery she lay in the bed screaming. “I want my baby.”
I felt tremendous anguish as I considered myself responsible for the murder of our son. Nothing seemed to help. I even went to another priest for counsel and the sacrament of Reconciliation of a Penitent, the Episcopal version of confession. It didn’t seem to help much.
Healing
Fast forward about 5 years. We had left Rochester, New York for my first position as Rector of my own church, The Church of the Reconciliation in Webster, Massachusetts. During that time, we had become acquainted with Francis and Judith McNutt of Christian Healing Ministries. They invited us to be ministers of music for the Inter-coastal Healing conference to be held in Ogunquit, Maine.
We were staying at a nearby state park in a small, borrowed RV. During a break after a staff meeting before the first event we went back to the park. Lily was tired and took a nap. I went for a walk along a tidal inlet. There I was pleased to see one of my favorite things, a Monarch butterfly.
I thought “Wouldn’t it be great if I could see more than one.” A negative thought followed. “You’re never satisfied.” However, as I wound around a corner there were hundreds of monarchs! I didn’t know at the time they gather before migrating to Mexico.
Later, back at the conference Francis lead us all in a healing exercise. He asked us to close our eyes and picture a person we needed to forgive as he sang in the spirit. However, I miss heard him say “picture a person from whom you need forgiveness.” Soon, with my active imagination, I had a vision that I was back at the inlet with the butterflies. There I saw Jesus with my son Matthew. “Forgive me, forgive me.” I cried. Mathew smiled and held out his hands. In one there was a butterfly and in the other a tiny rainbow. “Of course I forgive you,” he said, “and see I’m alive.” I was healed of my guilt and depression and filled with joy.
Blessings
Blessings unfolded in the hours, days, weeks, and months that followed. First, others at the conference found emotional healing as I shared my experience. Then a week later we were at a Cursillo weekend back in our diocese. I wove my story into a talk. Again, many found healing of their own experiences of abortions and miscarriages. I also received another blessing.
One special part of the Cursillo experience is called Palanca.(Spanish for Lever.) These may take the form of encouraging gifts. Another priest on the weekend gave me a gift of a poster that she brought with her to the event without prior knowledge of my experience. It is a picture of a monarch butterfly with a quote from the Bible. “If the son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.” I had been set free by my son and the Son of God.” My heart had been made pure and I had seen God. Decades later I still have the poster on the wall next to our bed.
Peterson
Another lesson from Jordon Peterson is that life is filled with chaos and tragedy. Our challenge, he says is to overcome with courage and find meaning in the process. It is a refining process that burns away or prunes the dross of fruitlessness in our personality. It can help the divine spark within to become a light to the world.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
To the extent we have a pure heart and can see ourselves as God sees us, we can become reconcilers in our areas of influence. We have moved to the next Beatitude. Peacemakers
Questions for reflection and/or discussion
- What experiences have burned away the dross in your life?
- Who do you admire as someone with a pure heart?
- What in you needs to be pruned?
- How could you be a better person tomorrow?