20Something 11-16-05 (Jen Austin)

The 6th Beatitude – The pure in heartHere are the Beatitudes:
Matthew 5
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The sixth Beatitude is our focus for this week. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

What does it mean to be pure in heart?

How is purity different from innocence in this case? Or is it the same?

Have there been times in your life when you’ve felt more “pure in heart” than others? Give examples.

Hebrews 10:22-25

22…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for the One who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Many people can be accused of having impure hearts, but in religious circles it seems that gay people usually take the brunt of the condemnation. It is by faith that we know our hearts are pure and that we are right with God.

Although faith means we don’t always have evidence for the things we believe, is there evidence to go with the pure hearts in this room? If so, what is it? Think fruits of the Spirit. Goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, etc. Name some things that you notice about the hearts of other 20somethings.

In the Bible, the "heart" is most-often used as an analogy for the center of emotions or character. A pure heart was used as an analogy for the righteous:
"Who shall ascend into the hill of God? Or who shall stand in God’s Holy Place? The one that hath clean hands, and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:3 KJV)

In the Messiah's parable of the sower, those with a good heart were like seed planted in good soil. Matthew 13:3-9 says:

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Those who have ears, let them hear."

In what ways is a good heart like good soil?

How can we be certain the good soil will never go bad?

Paul talked about the virtues of a heart that has been purged of carnal behavior, and is pure in God’s eyes.

2 Timothy 2:22-25 says:

22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on God out of a pure heart. 23Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, you must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose us we must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant us repentance leading us to a knowledge of the truth…

Maintaining a pure heart is an active process. The more we seek God the more pure our hearts will become. How can having a pure heart empower us and change us for the better?

When we discussed the third Beatitude—Blessed are the meek—we talked a lot about the inner peace that is able to ground us and keep us content even in the midst of challenging circumstances and chaotic surroundings. Jesus seems to be reiterating that sentiment with the sixth Beatitude—Blessed are the pure in heart. Meekness and numerous other positive qualities are born out of a pure heart.

Having a pure heart is a matter of setting the right priorities in this temporary physical life, so we can become empowered with the Spirit of God and so we can grow closer to God through all that we do.

What distractions can threaten a pure heart?

How can we reinforce the purity of our hearts?

Matthew 6:19-21
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

A pure heart is a heart that is one with God. Psalm 51:10 says,

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

God works to rejuvenate us, and create pure hearts in us, no matter what stage of life we’re in and no matter where we are on our journey of faith. We just have to return to God as a matter of faith and discipline and we will be sustained. The ability to be one with God and have a pure heart is a privilege that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s a lifelong project that requires the initiative to seek God continually and the strength to maintain the relationship even when the going gets tough. God is good and God is pure. In God we will become pure in heart.

Go in peace, and with purity.

Pray and dismiss.

20Something 11-9-05 (Scot Pankey)

The 5th Beatitude – Have Mercy on Me!

Here are the Beatitudes:
Matthew 5
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Fifth Beatitude is our focus for this week. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. "But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy." "But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied. "Sir," the woman cried, "It would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for." "Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son.

What does Mercy mean to you?

Mercy is compassion on someone based on their need. It is not justice, for mercy extends compassion on others in spite of their deserving it. The Bible tells us that God’s people should extend mercy to others and then be able to receive mercy in turn.

How does a heart or person become Merciful?

If we look back on the past couple of weeks studies, we have seen the first three beatitudes in verses 3-5 describing the emptiness of the blessed person: verse 3: poverty-stricken in spirit, verse 4: grieving over the sin and misery of his condition, and verse 5: accepting the hardships and accusations of life in meekness without defensiveness.

This condition of blessed emptiness is followed in verse 6 by a hunger and thirst for the fullness of righteousness and then comes Mercy. So the answer to the above question is that mercy comes from a heart that has first felt its spiritual bankruptcy, and has come to grief over its sin, and has learned to wait meekly for the timing of the Lord, and to cry out in hunger for the work of God’s mercy to satisfy us with the righteousness we need.

The mercy that God blesses is in itself the blessing of God. The key to becoming a merciful person is to become a broken person. You get the power to show mercy from the real feeling in your heart that you owe everything you are and have to sheer divine mercy. Therefore, if we want to become merciful people it is imperative that we cultivate a view of God and ourselves that helps us to say with all our heart that every joy and virtue and distress of our lives is owing to the free and undeserved mercy of God.

Another illustration of mercy is found in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.
And behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the law? How do you read?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all you mind; and your neighbor as yourself.' And he said to him, 'You have answered right; do this, and you will live.'

The man asked Jesus how a person should act who may expect to find mercy at the judgment day and inherit eternal life. And Jesus answers that the persons who will receive the mercy of eternal life are those who have loved God with all their hearts and their neighbor as themselves. In other words, "Blessed are those who are merciful now to their neighbor, for they shall receive the mercy of eternal life in the future."

The lawyer asks, "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho (and so he was probably a Jew and thus hated by the Samaritans), and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'

Which of the three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' [The lawyer] said, 'The one who showed mercy on him.' And Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.'

Mercy has four dimensions in this story.
First, it sees distress (verse 33: "A Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and he saw him").
Second, it responds internally with a heart of compassion or pity toward a person in distress (verse 33: "When he saw him he had compassion on him").
Third, it responds externally with a practical effort to relieve the distress (verse 33: "He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him...").
And the fourth dimension of mercy is that it happens even when the person in distress is by religion and race an enemy (verse 33: "But a Samaritan..."). A half-breed Jew with a warped religious tradition stops to help the Jew who hates him.

Share a time when you showed mercy toward others. Was it a friend or enemy?

Share a time when someone else showed mercy toward you.

How are ways that we can be a Good Samaritan to others?

Pray and dismiss.

20Something 11-2-05 (Jen Austin)

The 4th Beatitude – Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

The dictionary defines Beatitude as extreme blessedness or happiness. When Jesus speaks of the Beatitudes he names situations that seem more likely to produce unhappiness than happiness. He talks about those who mourn, who are persecuted, who are poor in spirit, etc. Here are the Beatitudes:
Matthew 5
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying: 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The fourth Beatitude is our focus for this week. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

What does this Beatitude mean to you?

Name some things you hunger and thirst for.

How do you define righteousness?

{From a 1999 sermon by Dr. B. Clayton Bell Sr. at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas}

Physical hunger is the body's way of making sure it survives. If we never got hungry we would have no problem with weight. But, if you have ever sat by the bedside of a loved one who has lost their appetite, you know what it is to see someone waste away to nothing, and eventually die.Hunger for sexual contact is a built-in guarantee that the race will survive. {Or not. He’s preaching to a straight audience here.}

There is the hunger for affection, the longing desire to know that we are loved, and special to someone else……there is the hunger for significance, the longing to know that we mean something to our family, or community……there is the hunger for security, knowing that we are safe from bodily harm or safe from financial want in old age……there is the appetite for power, having the ability to control people, or circumstances, or social relationships……and on and on.

Laura Dewey Richmond was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on December 21, 1829. She was a bright, intelligent child, but, at two years of age, a high fever destroyed her hearing, her sight, and her smell. When she was ten years old, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe of Boston undertook her care and education at the Perkins Institution for the Blind which he helped to found in that city.

One day her teacher made some reference to the soul. A look of bewilderment spread over the girl's face, and she slowly spelled out on her fingers the question, what is the soul?

"The soul," replied Dr. Howe, in the complicated language used in communicating with hearing and speaking impaired, "is that which thinks and feels and hopes."

A look of rare discernment mantled the blind girl's face. "And is it," she immediately inquired with her eager fingers, "is it that which aches so?"

The ache of the soul is the pain of incompleteness. It is the sense of partiality, knowing that there should be more and wanting to find it. A Laura Richmond or a Helen Keller, born with hearing and sight and then deprived of both at an early age, would carry through life a sense of incompleteness that makes the aching for wholeness doubly intense. This is the kind of desire about which Jesus is speaking in this fourth Beatitude.

Is there a specific time in your life when you have ached for God? Why was this more intense than daily hunger?

Hunger and thirst nag at us continually. We can drink a gallon of water and eat a large meal, but we’ll grow hungry and thirsty again as time passes. Our appetite can never be wholly satisfied. If we stop eating and drinking we will wither away and die. The same goes for our relationship with God. We can journey through a period of intense study and prayer and grow profoundly closer to God in the process, but if we don’t return to that place at regular intervals, our spiritual health will suffer. If we withdraw from God completely and continually deny opportunities to experience God, we will wither away spiritually. The good news is, when we are ready to satisfy our spiritual hunger, God is ready to satisfy us. We don’t have to place an order and wait twenty minutes. God meets us immediately.

Righteousness leads to closeness with God. As you hunger and thirst for righteousness, how does God satisfy you?

No one wants to eat a sandwich every day. Why is it important to experience God in different ways?

Everyone hungers and everyone thirsts, but each of us makes different choices about how to satisfy our cravings. The way that we choose to satisfy those cravings says a lot about who we are, and about the type of person we will become. Wisdom is taking the steps today that will help make you the person you want to be tomorrow.

Are you satisfied with the person you are? What type of person do you want to become?

Jesus is the ultimate example of what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. He was truly righteous. Righteousness does not neccesarily lead to glory or a perfect life, but it does lead to spiritual wholeness. That’s something God asks us all to aspire to.

Go in peace and aspire to righteousness!

Pray and dismiss.