Luke Parrott

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Would you take a drink of this glass of water? 

I didn't think so. 

(By the way, 1 out of 6 people in the world drink that kind of water everyday)

Matthew 5:8 says "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God"

There are a lot of things in our culture that "dirty the water".  Lately, I have become overwhelmed with how obsessed our culture is with sex.  Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, the latest CSI: Miami episode advocating a "soccer mom turned prostitute".  Commercials don't sell us products, just sex.  Most movies seem to have underlying plots of the guy trying to hook up with the hot girl.  You find yourself pulling for the guy to win his little chess match. 

How do we stay pure in a culture that exports such impurities?

We dirty our water with gossip, with slanderous words toward others.  Our tongue becomes a forest fire, burning everything around us.  Our eyes become haughty and we think only of immediate gratification.  We use the same impulse with the money in our wallets. 

Then, when it's time to "come clean" we act like the pharisees who "clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence".  It's still dirty water.

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.  Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. 

To be pure in heart is to see God.  To experience his presence.  Foggy water doesn't cut it.  We all need to filter the impurities in our water.  Because when we do this, we can more clearly see who it is we are trying to follow. 

Lord, help me today to take the necessary risks, the necessary sacrifices, so that I can experience you more closely.  Clean not my cup, but the water inside.  Filter out the dirt that my culture constantly exports.

Blessed are the Merciful

What is mercy?  And why do people need it?

That's what I ask first when I hear Jesus say, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."  Matthew 5:7

Mercy.  Helping those who need help.  It's deeply connected to compassion.  To forgiveness.  To not giving someone what they may deserve. 

Mercy is a thread that Jesus weaves through the lives of those who are of his kingdom.  It is mercy that has made us family.  Brothers and sisters.  And when we fail to receive or extend mercy to those who need it, the thread is broken. 

Jesus tells it best (as always) in a story about what the kingdom of heaven is like.  (See Matthew 18:21-35)  It's about a king who goes to his servant to settle an account.  The servant can't pay up so he begs for MERCY.  He needs help.  He needs compassion.  He needs forgiveness of his debts.  And so the king gives it to him.

But the servant immediately runs off to his neighbor and strangles him for a few bucks that is owed to him.  The neighbor begs for mercy.  He needs help.  He needs compassion.  He needs forgiveness of debts.  And so the servant throws him into prison.

The thread of mercy was broken.  The chain of mercy was stopped. 

You can read the rest of the story for yourself but the point I want to draw out is this:

Mercy is necessary for his kingdom to come.  Why?  Because we all need it.  Jesus knows we need it.  He knows the world is not as it should be.  He knows it is broken.  And mercy is REQUIRED in order for "his kingdom to come, his will to be done". 

Mercy.  Helping those who need help.  Congratulations to those who are full of mercy.  They are carrying on the thread of mercy that runs in the veins of those who follow Jesus. 

Don't withhold mercy.  Don't withhold compassion.  Don't withhold forgiveness.  Carry on his kingdom with the thread of mercy today.