Rev James Armpriester
16 November 2020
B efore pursuing a call to ministry, I was a molecular biologist. For 10 years, post-graduate school, I worked in a lab designing and performing all sorts of genetic engineering experiments. My focus was to “improve” enzymes used in detergents to clean clothes, and program organisms’ biochemical pathways to make a desired “product.” I know what you are thinking, and, yes, it is true; I am a science geek.
It was a cool time to be a scientist. Recombinant DNA technology was in its infancy and many challenges, now solved, such as clarifying the DNA sequence of the human genome, still needed to be accomplished. Unlike today, where you can buy reagents, specialized restriction enzymes, and necessary DNA polymerases from a catalog, I often had to purify them from a mixture of cellular components. Sounds intense? It was. Although it was labor-intensive and required several methodologies to obtain a pure starting material, I learned the purity of the starting material made all the difference in reaching the defined objective. Without purity, the contaminants would mess up the results. It was worth the effort!
Jesus, in His teaching on soul-satisfying happiness in the Beatitudes, tells us that true happiness comes from a pure heart. He tells us that when our heart is pure we will achieve our greatest goal — we will see God. Wow! What an exciting promise!
So how do we go about getting a pure heart? Good question. Fortunately for us, Jesus has just delineated the process in His previous sermon points:
- First, we recognize that spiritually we are destitute; we are “poor in spirit”.
- Second, we mourn over our propensity to break God’s laws; we “mourn” over our sinfulness.
- Third, we humbly submit ourselves under His control so that He may direct our actions; we are “meek.”
- Fourth, we seek God and His righteousness above all else; we “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
- Fifth, we practice compassion and meet the needs of others; we are “merciful.”
Photograph via Canva
Through these “filters” we remove the impurities that keep us from the soul-satisfying happiness Jesus promises to those who are part of His kingdom. These steps remove the evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders that defile us. (Matthew 15:19)
These steps allow us to live and operate from a pure or godly perspective. We become loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. With our heart/soul/mind purified, we live the way God intended for us to live — happy and blessed. Our lives become substantive, full of purpose. Not only that, Jesus tells us that this kind of living assures us of seeing God — living forever in His presence and love. It is the promise and hope of every person who, with God’s help, submits to His purification process.
If you are a person who desires a pure heart, I have good news for you! You are the kind of person God is looking for. Before you see Him, understand that God has already searched and found you. Allow Him to remove the contaminants from your eyes so you can see Him, too. He is worth the effort and worthy of the process.
Helpful Resources
Tim Chester, You Can Change, Crossway, 2010.
James Montgomery Boice, The Sermon on the Mount, Zondervan Publishing Company, 1972.