“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” – Matthew 5:8 NRSVUE
Here are some questions to think about before we wonder about what Jesus was teaching:
What distracts or derails us from being our truer, better selves? What helps us stay centered and grounded?
How are our truer, better selves differentiated from cultural norms and paradigms?
When have good things gotten in the way of better things?
What do you think it means to be pure in heart? What might Jesus mean when he says the pure in heart will see God? It may help to know that in ancient psychology, the heart was a person’s core, the location of thoughts, feelings, and decisions. A pure heart, then, is the opposite of deceit or trickery, but refers to integrity and sincerity.
Sometimes other translations of the text help flesh out the meaning. The first three below are ways to interpret the Aramaic version which Jesus would have spoken, versus the Greek language of the written text (Prayers of the Cosmosby Neil Douglas-Klotz). Take time pondering each of these:
Healthy are those whose passion is electrified by deep, abiding purpose;
they shall regard the power that moves and shows itself in all things.
Aligned with the One are those whose lives radiate from a core of love;
they shall see God everywhere.
Resisting corruption are those whose natural reaction is sympathy and friendship;
they shall be illuminated by a flash of lightning:
the Source of the soul’s movement in all creatures.
You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. – Eugene Peterson, The Message
I like how all these together help us see, yet again, that Jesus was stating something obvious from his experience that is profound yet simple. For his hearers then and now, I believe this was good news. As we stay centered and grounded, tied into the flow of God, we will be more likely to recognize the flow of God around us.
How do we stay grounded? What informed Jesus? When he was asked what the greatest commandment was, he surely remembered the following passage (Deuteronomy 6:4-10 CEB) that would have been familiar to Jewish people everywhere:
Israel, listen! Our God is the LORD! Only the LORD! Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol. Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates.
Clearly, the writers recognized that focus was required to foster such enduring, holistic love for God. Apparently, without focus, our capacity to stay grounded even on something we care deeply about can get swayed. Love of God, I think, goes beyond feeling, but represents a passionate allegiance. The experience of being connected deeply to the Divine, and thus our truer, better selves, is powerful. I don’t think we’re just simply called to sing worship songs all day and call it good. It’s not easy to stay in that God-centered pocket, which is why we are instructed to remember using various tools. We can be tempted away from God as well, which happened to Jesus immediately following his baptism:
Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and afterward Jesus was starving. The devil said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread.” [Note: this was a temptation to live life led by our physical cravings instead of from a more thoughtful, centered space.]
Next the devil led him to a high place and showed him in a single instant all the kingdoms of the world. The devil said, “I will give you this whole domain and the glory of all these kingdoms. It’s been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. Therefore, if you will worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” [Note: this was a temptation to gain power or get what we think we want using a shortcuts that derail us from our grounding in God.]
The devil brought him into Jerusalem and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here; for it’s written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”
Jesus answered, “It’s been said, Don’t test the Lord your God.” [Note: this temptation was to manipulate God, which is an act of usurping or being God.]
After finishing every temptation, the devil departed from him until the next opportunity. – Luke 4:1-13 (CEB)
Jesus faced these temptations as he prepared to enter his public ministry. How different would his ministry have been if he gave into his off-centered passions as a very popular speaker and healer! How different if he had chosen to gain greater power through force! How different would his story have been if he had chosen not to honor God’s vision, which led to suffering and death at the hands of those in power whom he challenged. Nobody would remember that Jesus.
We are still talking about him and trying to follow him because he maintained his connection with God, which allowed him to see God everywhere and in everyone and everything. Seeing with such eyes changed how he engaged everything: he couldn’t help but do life differently, taking the path of love for all. Perhaps that’s why, when asked about the greatest commandment, he offered up a second: to love our neighbor as ourselves. Being centered on the love of God leads to loving others.
Jesus wasn’t the only one tempted. His friends, Mary and Martha, sisters of his dear friend Lazarus, were faced with an interesting situation that isn’t as trivial as it might first appear:
While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his message. By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So, Martha came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.”
The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42
Poor Martha gets painted in such a terrible light, doesn’t she? Everyone reading it is saying, “C’mon, Martha! What’s your problem?” Yet the story is more complex than that.
In sitting at Jesus’ feet to listen, Mary was committing a social foul. Women were not allowed to be in that context, which was reserved for men. She chose a seat that was supposed to be for disciples only, who were also always male. Did she do the right thing?
Jesus said nothing, which tacitly endorsed her behavior. Did he do the right thing?
Martha knew the custom and knew that Mary was out of line. Mary was supposed to help with hospitality – wasn’t she as shirking her responsibility? Wasn’t Martha right to call her out?
I think what we see here is faced by people in myriad ways throughout life. We come into complex situations where we must determine what the better option might be. Mary discerned that listening to Jesus was worth breaking the tradition, risking pushback. Jesus didn’t challenge it, which meant he agreed and endorsed Mary’s decision. Martha, instead, remained committed to a good course of action, but not the better.
Martha wasn’t an awful person in this story. She leaned into a perfectly predictable and socially approved way of thinking. We don’t know a lot of the details of this story – we are left only with broad strokes. It is possible that Martha’s personality really thrived in hospitality, and not in listening to a lecture, which may have fit Mary perfectly well. Her question betrays her heart, however – she apparently had attitude. She asked Jesus a question that first should have been directed toward Mary. Plus, the question she asked was more of a statement than and inquiry, more accusatory than inquisitive. Whatever her logic, she was not in the flow. Her frustration got the best of her. She missed seeing the divine because she was focused on a good thing more than the better thing.
We face the same challenge every day of our lives. Cultural influences would have us simply follow our cravings, grab more for ourselves with shortcuts and bad deals with the devil, usurping the guiding presence of God. Yet if we don’t pay attention – and foster the paying of attention – we will easily give in and miss the opportunity to see that we are swimming in the flow of the Spirit all the time. In missing such a sight, we also might miss opportunities to experience the better and settle for less.
Considering Jesus’ Beatitude which offers so much hope and promise, consider again the following questions:
What distracts or derails us from being our truer, better selves? What helps us stay centered and grounded
How are our truer, better selves differentiated from cultural norms and paradigms?
When have good things gotten in the way of better things?