Beautiful Heart
(Video clip – Beautiful Mind)
Graham used to have make believe friends – Gary and Gerry. One made good choices
and the other did not.
How many remember the film “A Beautiful Mind”? It won four Oscars including Best
Picture. Russell Crowe plays John Nash, a genius in mathematics at Princeton University.
Initially the movie looks like the story of a man, who because of his mathematical skills,
becomes immersed in all sorts of secret service, code-breaking national defense activity. But as
the movie progresses, it becomes clear that what John Nash sees - what’s driving him, isn’t really
real. He’s sick, he’s got a mental illness, and so he sees things.
That guy that we saw him talking with on the roof in that clip, his room mate? You find
out later in the movie (spoiler alert!) that John Nash didn’t even have a room mate. He was
seeing things that weren’t real!
You know, Jesus talked about seeing things. Jesus talked about seeing… God. How
does that sound to you, the possibility of seeing God? Jesus said it’s possible to see God. He
said “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
A kindergarten teacher was walking around the classroom as all the little kids were busy
drawing pictures. She got to one little girl’s desk. She seemed to be working particularly hard,
and so she asked the little girl, “What are you drawing?” The girl little girl says, "I'm drawing
God." The teacher said, "but honey, no one knows what God looks like." The little girl says,
"They willlllll in a minute!"
When Jesus said, the person who is pure in heart “will see God”, he wasn’t saying that a
person would literally see what God actually looks like. But he was saying that a person with a
pure heart will see God . . . Would you like to be somebody who sees God?
Think about it this way: Most days, what do you see? Who here when you look at your
day you see meetings to attend, errands to run, and tasks to complete?
What do you see when you look at your schedule? Responsibilities? Deadlines?
Pressures? Hopefully, some fun things to do. When you look at your schedule, what do you see?
Jesus said there’s people who are living beautiful lives, blessed lives, and these people,
when they look at their lives, they don’t just see the many things they have going on and need to
accomplish; they are people who amidst all the “many” things, see the “One Thing” – God. And
He says these people are the pure in heart. “…the pure in heart…see God.”
(Not sure we want to do this?) In your program is a heart…symbolic of the pure heart
that sees God. Take that heart and put it over your physical heart…(go ahead). And for the rest
of the service we are going to explain how you can experience this pure heart that sees God.)
Now, here is the biggest struggle I think most of us have when we hear that the “pure in
heart” are the ones who will “see God.” If you’re like me, I think,: “Do I really have a chance?”
I mean who would consider themselves “pure”? Don’t we all think, feel, and too often do
things that aren’t pure. Are you with me . . . or is it just me?
There’s all sorts of stuff going on in my heart that I wouldn’t want anybody else to know
about. Or am I the only one? How would you feel if we could somehow scan your heart and put
all the stuff you think, feel , and desire up here on the screen for all of us to see? I wouldn’t want
that. It sort of makes being “pure in heart” seem pretty unattainable, doesn’t it?
Well, if “pure in heart” sounds out of reach, don’t count yourself out just yet, because
being pure in heart doesn’t mean what you might think it means.
We’re gonna lay out what it means to be “pure in heart” using words that start with each
of the letters of the word PURE, ok? But we’re not gonna start with the P, We’re gonna start
with the U.
U = UNDIVIDED (HEART)
David was a guy who wrote a good part of the book in the Bible known as the Psalms.
It’s a collection of prayers and writings that give us an inside look at his heart. We also know a
lot about David from other history books in the Bible that give accounts of his life.
And while David was an amazing writer, king, and warrior, history tells us that his life
doesn't necessarily fit what we might think of as someone with a “pure heart.” He had an affair
with a woman while her husband was on the front lines of battle. And if that wasn’t bad enough,
he had this man killed in an attempt to cover-up the affair. Yet years later, David is remembered
to be a “man after God’s heart.” (reference)
In spite of his shortcomings and failures, David was considered a man after God’s heart –
a man who could see God, and he wrote this prayer in the book of Psalms: “Teach me your way,
O Lord and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart.” (Psalm 86:11)
A “pure heart” is an undivided heart.
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What does that mean? “Undivided”?…
One of the great philosophers of all time, a guy by the name of Soren Kierkegaard, father
of modern existentialism, who was a Christian, wrestled with this “pure in heart” idea.
He explained it this way: “purity of heart is to will one thing.”
Jesus put it this way. He said: “I have come not to do My will but the will of Him who
sent Me.” (John 6:38).
The people in Jesus time understood the heart to be the center of our emotions and our
will. And the one thing that the pure in heart wills above all other things is simple but incredibly
profound. It is to will whatever God wills. And it’s not a performance thing, it’s a commitment
and longing thing. It’s a directional thing. To be pure in heart means to say to God…
 “Whatever You want for me, that’s what I want, too.”
 “Whatever Your will is, that’s my will.”
 “Whatever is Your agenda, that’s my agenda.”
That’s an undivided heart!
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So how does a person become pure in heart?
He becomes Single-minded?
She becomes God-focused?
Undivided? Solely focused, that’s what it means to be “pure in heart” – that’s the type of
person who can see God. So, how does that happen? How do we go about becoming pure in
heart?
It starts by understanding what the apostle Paul understood: “You are not your own, you
were bought with a price.” (I Cor 6:20) The pure in heart person is not somebody who is good
at being good, it is someone who realizes that their sins – what we think, feel & do that are not
inline with God’s will are paid for by Jesus…and they are pardoned!
The P stands for pardoned. The pure heart is the heart that knows it is first of all,
pardoned.
P = PARDONED (HEART)
Harold Morris is the author of a best-selling book, Twice Pardoned. At the age of 28 he
was convicted of a murder that he didn’t commit and was sentenced to life in prison. After 11
years in prison, the truth came out and he was pardoned and released. And obviously that
changed his life because it took him out of Georgia State Prison, which is considered by many to
be the worst prison in the country.
But Harold Morris says it was another pardon that changed his life forever. In a cold,
roach infested cell in Georgia State Prison for a crime he didn’t commit, he found his way back
to God and received forgiveness for his sins. It was then he says, “I was pardoned for the things
in my life I HAD done wrong”. It was when he said..
 “Whatever You want for me, that’s what I want, too.”
 “Whatever Your will is, that’s my will.”
 “Whatever is Your agenda, that’s my agenda.”
That pardon, brought about an undivided heart – a pure heart. He could then see God.
Let me pause right here and ask you, “Have you ever accepted God’s pardon?” Many of
us are a lot more like Harold Morris than we may realize. We’ve been pardoned for our
missteps, the stuff that stands between us and God, but we have yet to receive his pardon. We
have yet to say yes to following Jesus and saying “Whatever you want for me, that’s what I want,
that’s what I’ll do, Your agenda is my agenda.” And so you might say that we’re still imprisoned
to all that stuff that stands between us and following Jesus.
Here’s the truth: God wants to give you freedom. And so I want to ask you a question
before we go any further: Will you accept his pardon and receive his freedom? Will you?
Today? How about right now . . . (could pause and pray for people to receive God’s forgiveness
right now before we move on).
P = PARDONED (HEART)
U = UNDIVIDED (HEART)
R = RELENTLESS (HEART)
One of the great stories of all-time…it’s about a guy who was relentless in clinging to
God; to a point that most of us would just say is unreal. The guy I’m talking about is a guy by
the name of Job.
Job starts out as a wealthy man, the wealthiest guy around. He had money, but he had
more than money, he had 7 sons and 3 daughters. He loved them and they loved him. He was
well respected in his community. He had lots of friends. But if you read his life story, by the
end of the first chapter in a series of incredible catastrophes, he lost it all:
 his business was destroyed, he lost all his earthly possessions.
 then one day when all of his kids were together having a party, this great wind struck the
house. They were all there and it just caved in on top of them and they all died , every
single one of them.
 Then to top it all off, he was struck with some terrible illness, and these boils broke out
all over his body. (Ever have a boil? Brutal!)
 And if that wasn’t bad enough, the people in his community assumed all these things
happened to him because he was being punished by God, so they turned their backs on
him.
 And His wife even asks him, “Why do you still trust God?” and then she offers some
wonderful spousal advice, “Why don’t you curse Him and die?” (Job 2:9)
Put yourself in his place: you’ve got no money, you’ve lost all your children, everyone
has turned on you, you have boils all over your body, you’re a repulsive sight to anyone who
passes by and your own spouse is encouraging you to disown God and just end it all. And the
Bible tells us, “In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.” (Job 1:20)
Job was not a perfect man. Job was not a sinless man; he had doubts and misgivings. But
Job was pure in heart because he relentlessly clung to his God no matter what. The pure in heart
aren’t good at being good, they just relentlessly cling to God!
I love the story about Albert Einstein, who was taking a train to an out-of-town
engagement. The conductor stopped to punch his ticket. The great scientist, preoccupied with his
work, with embarrassment rummaged through his coat pockets and briefcase. He could not find
his ticket. The conductor graciously declared, “We all know who you are, Dr. Einstein. I’m sure
you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it. Everything is okay.”
The conductor walked on down the aisle punching other tickets. Before he moved to the
next car he looked back and saw Dr. Einstein down on his hands and knees looking under his
seat trying to find his ticket. He came back and said, “Dr. Einstein, please don’t worry about it. I
know who you are.” At which, the great Einstein looked up and said, “I know who I am. What I
don’t know is where I’m going.”
A pure heart is a relentless heart – one that in obsessed with knowing where you’re going
and following after God.
P=PARDONED (HEART)
U=UNDIVIDED (HEART)
R=RELENTLESS (HEART), and
E = ETERNITY-MINDED (HEART)
The pure in heart, they know where they are going…they know they are going to see
God and be with God for eternity!
A friend of mine, one of the most spiritually authentic people I know, says that one of the
most formative moments in his whole life came when he was walking into some little mom and
pop store outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, more than thirty years ago. He says he doesn’t
remember where he was going that day or where he had been, but he remembers this little 3” by
maybe 6” inch sign on the door of the little store he walked into.
The sign was red and on it were two words in simple white letters that everybody who
came in that store pretty much had to read. And the two words were, “Think eternity”. And he
said from that day on he has never forgotten that little sign, and it has reminded him that each
day what happens that is most important are the things that are forever. Bible says, “So we fix
our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what
is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
Think about this with me and see if this makes sense. Which is more real: something that
is temporary or something that is forever? That’s easy, right?
The pure in heart have a lot of the same headaches and hassles just like everybody else,
but their lives take on a focus, an emphasis on what is forever. The pure in heart go through
their day looking to do what God wants them to do, because God stuff is forever stuff. And as a
person becomes more and more focused on the eternal, they see God. They become closer to
Him, they know Him better.
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I don’t know what you’re seeing most right now.
Maybe what you see more than anything is financial troubles? There always seems to be
too much month at the end of your check, and you’re not sure how to make ends meet.
It might be a relational challenge that you see right now more than anything else. What
you hoped and dreamed for is nothing like what you’re experiencing and you wonder
where did it all go wrong?
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Maybe what you see ahead of you is more and more health problems. Lately it seems
like one after another and you wonder how it’s all gonna end.
Maybe all you can see right now is loneliness? You never imagined you would ever feel
this alone. But you do . . . way more than you ever thought possible.
I don’t know what you are seeing most these days. And while the pain is very real and very
real right now, we do have this hope that anything this life brings our way is temporary…And
yet God’s plan, God’s will is eternal.
That’s the single best coping strategy for whatever problem! That’s the best way to make it
through anything! You might feel pulled in a dozen different directions today by all sorts of
things that seem really important, but the Spirit of God is here today speaking to your heart
saying, “Hang in there and you be about one thing. Be about My will. Cause in the very end
nothing else will matter.”
P=PARDONED (HEART)
U=UNDIVIDED (HEART)
R=RELENTLESS (HEART), and
E = ETERNITY-MINDED (HEART)
In A Beautiful Mind, John Nash was faced with the daunting task of no longer being
dominated by all the things he saw that weren’t really real. And he felt overwhelmed; He didn’t
believe he could do it; stay focused on what is real, see what he needed to see. Let’s watch what
happens.
(video clip – A Beautiful Mind)
Did you catch what she asked him, “Do you want to know what is real?” (head) Not the
stuff so many of us focus on, not the stuff we are preoccupied with; (heart) this is real. And each
of us need to believe something extraordinary is possible.
Put your hand on your heart. God is speaking to you saying, “Do you want to know what
is real…
 My love for you is real…
 My heart for you is real…
 My commitment to you is real…
 My Jesus is real…
 You are not your own, you were bought with a price, pardoned…
 Give me your heart, an undivided heart, will what I will…
 Don’t give up…but be relentless…I will help you…
 This is what is eternal, this is what is real…
 Something extraordinary is possible…
Communion