“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8
Our spiritual tree has grown many branches now and is mature enough to bear fruit. Purity of heart is a condition that will determine how we are going to bear fruit. Are we going to bear no fruit, small and few, or large and many? As the fruit bearing time comes near, we enter the stage of purification in order to bear much fruit.
When it comes to purity of heart, most people falls into two categories. Those with low self-esteem would say, “I don’t have a pure heart. I am full of sin. This blessing doesn’t belong to me.” Those with arrogance would say, “I always keep a pure heart.” Most of time, they are speaking from a religious moral standard.
One important concept that we need to be reminded at this stage is that Jesus came to restore the relationship not to establish a religion. We live in a religious and idolatrous world that always seems to pull us to thinking religiously and idolatrously. Religions focus on rules and rituals, but the true Christianity is about relationship—relationship between God and us and relationship between fellow human beings.
With that understanding as the foundation, we will be able to understand purity of heart as a relational condition, rather than a moral condition. No human being has ever passed the moral test of any kind. Abraham wasn’t declared righteous by God for his moral perfection because he wasn’t morally perfect. Jacob was a crook to any human ethical standard of any culture. King David was an adulterer and murderer. All of them were declared righteous by God because of their “relationship” with God. The Bible says, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10)
Purity of heart has two dimensions—single-mindedness and inner moral purity. A pure heart is a single-minded heart with unreserved love for Jesus Christ. A double-minded or multi-minded heart will hinder fruit bearing. James warned, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8)
A single-minded heart also provides a condition for moral purity. When our heart is unequivocally focused on the kingdom of God—that is a fruitful life—we automatically want to chip away and cast out the impurities to achieve the maximum impact.
Another biblical word for purity of heart is holy. Paul said “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14) Again, don’t be threatened by the word ‘holy.’ In true Christianity, it is a relational word. “Holy” means “to be set apart.” It is the same concept as to be pure in heart, to be single-minded toward God, and to stay away from the unclean spirit.
God blesses the pure in heart and their reward is the opportunity to see God. What a deal!
In the scripture that we read today, it tells us how God purifies our hearts. Let us look at a few key messages from this passage.
How do we keep a pure heart?
1. Abide in the Love of Christ
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”
John 15:9
Jesus said he cleanse us with the word he spoke to us (John 15:3). His word is not the word of rules and regulations. This verse summarizes his word, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” (John 15:9). In fact, we can summarize everything he said on earth in three words, “I love you!” Have you heard that?
Every human problem has its root in not heeding these words. We can’t love others because we don’t love ourselves. We don’t love ourselves because we have not really heard or internalize Jesus’ word, “I love you!” The second part of the Great Commandment is very fair, “love your neighbor as yourselves” because we can’t love others more than we love ourselves.
We can’t give away what we don’t have. I love the title of a book I saw in the bookstores, “Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt.” That is what some Christians are like. They try to love others because Jesus asked them to, but they are affectionately naked! There is nothing to give because they have never received.
Love is a reflection of the love that comes from God because God is love. It is like the sunshine that comes from the sun above us and the reflections of the atmosphere and matters keep everything in the world bright, except those places where there is no direct or indirect sunlight. Human beings are not fireflies, we don’t produce light. In the same way we don’t produce love. I have heard that if a baby is left alone with enough food and nutrition except the loving touch of an adult, the baby would die.
The love we give others came from the love we received from our parents, or other adults that we grow up with. Still, they could give us only what they have received. Some people grew up with limited love and that’s how much they could love others. Many criminals received very little love and that’s what they pay it forward.
However, even the most loving parents have limitations. That’s why we all have certain shortage of love. That’s why we see the fights and broken relationships around us and in the world. Human beings are suffering from malnutrition of love. We need to receive the unconditional love that human beings cannot give. Jesus said he loves us as his Father—the source of love—loves him.
On the Good Friday two thousand year ago, Jesus stretched out his hands on the cross and scream, “I love you this much!” Have you heard that and felt that? If not, you can’t move on. Listen to his words until you hear that he loves you unconditionally, even giving you his life. And he invites you to abide in his love. His love will chip away your malnourished heart and make it pure, and then you will bear much fruit.
2. Keep Christ’s Commandments
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love... This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:10, 12)
As we have established the understanding of Christ’s teaching as relationship rather than religion, we continue to meditate on the purity of heart as single-mindedness in relationship. Jesus asks for this single-mindedness by asking us to abide in his love. How? He said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”
As soon as we hear the word commandments, some people start thinking religiously, assuming that Jesus wants us to follow some rules and rituals because the term ‘commandments’ makes us think about the Ten Commandment and the Ten Commandment makes us think about rules.
Graciously, Jesus stated his commandment, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” In this commandment, there are no rules or rituals. It’s all about relationship. “As I have loved you” tells the entire story of our relationship with him and there are no rules and rituals between Jesus and us. “You love one another” does not involve any rules either.
Paul defined love this way, “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
Jesus summarizes all those into one concept, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) When Jesus told the disciples that they were to love one another as he had loved them, he was not yet crucified. But after his death and resurrection these words now have a much more vivid meaning. If we are to lay down our life to love others like he did, there are no rules to talk about.
Let’s take a few steps backward to re-center our mind to purity of heart. To love others as Jesus has loved us is to keep his commandment, to keep his commandment is to abide in him, and to abide in him is to be single-mindedly committed to him, and to be single-minded is the purity of heart.
Jesus concluded his teaching by saying, “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” (John 15:16) “Fruit that will last” means continuous fruitfulness. Again he repeated the promise that God will give us whatever we ask in his name. When we are fruitful, our prayers become more effective!
3. Test your purity with complete joy
“Abide in my love ... I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11
Abiding in the love of Christ results in a complete joy! Since joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), it is an expected result of dwelling in the love of Christ. Jesus intended that his followers’ lives should be spontaneous and happy rather than burdensome and boring. He mentioned that his word has the power to cleanse, purify and bring joy to us. (John 15:3, 1 Peter 1:22)
Jeremiah has articulated poetically his experience with the word of God:
“Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart;
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16
“For I am called by your name” indicates the abiding of him in the Lord. King David also wrote about his complete—fullness of—joy when he was abiding in the Lord:
“You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps 16:11)
Joy is the litmus test of our right relationship with God because when we talk about unreserved commitment to someone, there is a fine line between healthy commitment and unhealthy codependency. The difference is the fullness of joy. Do you read the Lord’s words with joy like Jeremiah eating them like a feast, or do you feel that is something that you must do to please him even though it is torturous to you? The former is pure and healthy relationship, but the latter is unhealthy idolatry.
Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) When we hear Jesus says that we can do nothing apart from him, our tendency is to commit to him with slavish idolatry. However, he doesn’t want that kind of muddy relationship. That’s why he says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:14-15)
Your joy is complete because your heart is pure and you are a friend of Christ!
So rejoice ye pure in heart! May God bless you, Amen!
