FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
REV. JOHN BURTON
MARCH 8, 2015
SERMON: “BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART”
TEXT:
MATTHEW 5:8
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.”
When I was about 19 I went to the YMCA of the Rockies to spend the summer on their
staff and climb Rocky Mountains. Upon arriving I had the need to purchase some
appropriate clothing, including a few red flannel shirts for hiking. I must confess that
in those days I did laundry as seldom as possible but eventually those shirts had to be
washed and I carefully read the labels – “Color Fast.” Therefore I threw them in with
the rest of my sweaty, nasty clothes. And set the washer on “hot” because I figured
that got out more dirt than cold.
Perhaps you can imagine:
 The look on my face when I opened that washer;
 The color of every pair of underwear I owned, but one, and every pair of long
johns;
 And the comments my dear friends offered.
Even the words “color fast” on the labels were stained bright pink! As pink as my face
anytime I had to wear those stained clothes!
In the Bible there is a lot about the stained condition of humanity and the need for
purity. Indeed, Jesus offered this beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will
see God.”
Pure. I don’t know about you but it is not a word that I feel comfortable using about
myself. Pure means, without stain or blemish. That certainly cannot be said about me.
I know that better than anyone.
I used to have this beautiful yellow shirt. It fit good. I felt good when I wore it.
People commented on it. Until the day I spilled spaghetti sauce all over the front
pocket. It must have been homemade sauce because it would not come out. I could
not wear the shirt anymore – except when I wore a sweater or a coat that would cover
the stain. For several years I wore a lot of sweaters – for that reason. The shirt finally
died along with a whole generation of sweaters. You do what you can to hide your
stains! We know what our stains are and how they got there – but we don’t want
anyone else to know about them! Do you? In fact, we get pretty good at covering up
our stains!
Unfortunately, it’s not just our clothes that get stained. If it were then life would be so
much simpler and Christianity so much easier.
When it comes to purity the Bible directs us to consider:
 First, sexual purity
o Menstrual purity
o Marital purity
o Extra-marital purity
In the Old Testament there are chapters and chapters on sexual purity – some of
the rules are common sense and some will raise the hair on the back of your neck.
So will a lot of the things that you (or your children) can find on the internet!
 Then there’s moral and ethical purity
o Not lying
o Not killing
o Not stealing
o Giving to the poor
o How you respect creation
 Physical purity
o What you drink
o What you smoke
o What you eat
o How you treat your body
Your body is God’s Temple
 Social purity
o How you treat family
o How you treat friends
o How you treat strangers
o How you treat enemies
 Spiritual purity
o Prayer life
o Stewardship
o Responding to God’s love and God’s expectations.
There are lots of places that stains and corruption can stick to us – as if we were
covered by Velcro – and lived with dogs that shed a lot! So unless we take care to get
properly and thoroughly cleansed then we can really become offensive – to God and
others.
If we consider the issue of purity in just that way – in categories – that might be
helpful. Rather than saying “I am one nasty mess and I cannot ever hope to get
clean.” One can say, for example, “Look, I have my sexuality under control, I am a
pretty moral guy (not perfect but quite respectable), I treat people honorably and
compassionately for the most part, and I have a good spiritual life – but I have to
admit that I really need to work on my physical purity – I have not come anywhere
near respecting my body and treating it as God’s temple. This is the point where I am
most in trouble. This is the area on which I will work hardest right now to purify my
life.”
That was just an example, but each of us can make a unique list of our strengths and
weaknesses – purity wise. You can be honest with yourself without telling the world –
just admit where you have the most trouble – and then put all your efforts to
conquering that one area – sort of like St, Patrick who supposedly first drove the
serpents out of Ireland before turning his attention to other challenges to faith and
justice.
Taking things one at a time can work!
Of course, there are some stains that one cannot cleanse by one’s self.
After the laundry fiasco, a call was quickly made to my mother in Kilgore, who had the
good manners not to laugh hysterically when I told her about my pink underwear – at
least she didn’t laugh while I was on the phone. That next day I mailed all my pink
clothes to Kilgore and they came back about a week later. When they came back they
were pure white again. It was magic!
Most of us started life lily white and color fast, but we didn’t stay that way. Its not just
our hair that gets grey! Thankfully, when the stains in our life get beyond our control,
we don’t have to call my mother in Kilgore. Jesus came to earth not so much as to die
horribly, but to make the ultimate sacrifice by which our sins are purged, cleansed,
wiped away forever. Not only that but Jesus completely forgets our sins after they are
washed away – unlike my mother who I suspect still chuckles about my pink
underwear.
When you put your life in Jesus’ hands, your stains will disappear and you will be
whiter than new fallen snow. AS it says in Isaiah 1:48: “Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as the
wool [of a newborn lamb].”
This is Jesus’ promise – “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.”
How wonderful to be pure again!