The people who are the most present, the most whole on the inside, tend to be the most merciful on the outside.

An undivided heart is a heart pointed in one direction.

The Beatitudes. Matthew 5.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn.

Blessed are the meek.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Blessed are the merciful.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Blessed are the persecuted.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  Matthew 5:7-8 NIV

“The beatitudes set forth the balanced and variegated character of Christian people. These are not eight separate and distinct groups of disciples... They are rather eight qualities of the same group.”  John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

“Each of these beatitudes is a revolutionary aphorism... together they can, when properly understood, utterly overthrow secularism and radically transform insipid Christianity.”  D.A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount

1. MERCY  •  CHESED חֶסֶד  •  THE LOVE THAT STAYS

Chesed. חֶסֶד. Covenant faithfulness. Loyal love. The love that stays.

Just as the Holy One is merciful and gracious, so you be merciful and gracious. 

• The Talmud, Sotah 14a  Later coined in Latin as Imitatio Dei - imitating God.

You don't extend chesed (חֶסֶד) because they earned it. You extend chesed because when you hadn't earned it, your Father extended it to you.

2. PURE IN HEART  •  LEV TAHOR לֵב טָהוֹר  •  THE UNDIVIDED WILL

Hebrew, the lev (לֵב), the heart, is not primarily where you feel. It's where you DECIDE. The lev is the seat of the will. The control room. The place where your choosing happens.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  Psalm 51:10 NIV

“Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing.”  Søren Kierkegaard

“Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.”  Psalm 24:3-4 NIV

Jesus relocates access to God from a place you climb to a heart that's undivided.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8 NIV

Why They Belong Together

Mercy is the outside. Purity is the inside.

THE PROMISE - THEY WILL SEE GOD

“Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’”  Exodus 33:18 NIV

D.A. Carson notes in summary that this promise runs in two directions: it's eschatological... one day, face to face, fully... and it's present: the undivided heart begins to perceive God at work now.

SO HOW DO WE DO THIS...

1. POINT IT TO GOD FIRST

2. PRACTISE HIM EVERYWHERE

“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”  Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

3. MOVE BEFORE YOU FEEL

“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”  Corrie ten Boom, “I'm Still Learning to Forgive”

THE TWO QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: Where have you received mercy... and withheld it?

QUESTION 2: What is competing with Jesus for the centre of your heart right now?

“We are drowning in freedoms but thirsting for meaning.”  Mark Sayers, Reappearing Church

You don't have to be perfect. You just have to want one thing. And even that wanting... God can create in you.