On a hillside 22) B6 The best part

 

The heart is where Jesus does his primary work.  Instead of a negative outflow there is a gloriously POSITIVE outcome.  The tragedy of the Pharisees is that they were face to face with the one person through whom there can be inward birth, heart renewal.  All the hopes of David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel about new hearts are met in Jesus. Through him alone, on the Cross, can we be forgiven, cleansed and a new a right spirit put within us. Only when Jesus lives within me can I begin to taste his purity for he says: Whoever believes in me, streams of life-giving water will pour out form his heart.  Jesus said this about the Spirit (John 7:38).  The Christian revolution begins inside and works outwardly. 

I love contemporary stories of God at work, but there are also great stories in Christian history, one of which is Augustine’s. In his confessions he tells us how he was in the garden wracked with sin. With immense sorrow he cried out for forgiveness: 'How long O Lord will you be angry with me?' And from next door the voice of a child chanted: 'Take up and read. Take up and read  Take up and read'.  He wondered what kind of play this was. It seemed so odd. Then he realized it might be God and he took the Bible opened it and read where his eyes fell: 'Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus and make no provisions for the flesh. No further would I read; nor needed I; For instantly, at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away'.  Later he was to write: To my God a heart of flame, to my fellow man a heart of love, to myself a heart of steel.

Jesus by his spirit works in our hearts outwardly.  The inner me drives the outer me. The two belong together.  If I am serious about God in my thoughts and emotions then it will show.  And that’s what makes me uncomfortable when I remember in the past how serious my outward behaviour was. I don't think the commitments like marking Sunday as God’s special day or total abstention were hypocritical though they could lead to judgementalism. But looking back I think it sometimes majored on minor things.  Why was total abstinence such a big deal?  Why was wearing a tie to church important?!.  John Stott once accused evangelicals of micro-ethics, of being bothered about small issues when the world was in need of mission, social action, and justice. Of course it was a different culture back then. We are more relaxed about everything today.  But if my heart is a flame to God I know it should show outwardly. I don’t ever want to appear casual about God.  What God means inside should show on the outside.  That’s why this is a tough beatitude.  Blessed are the pure in heart means a seriousness of commitment to God inside that shows on the outside.