[First Things]
Greetings and welcome back to the Presence Weekly!
For the past few months, our team has been hard at work on a rebranding project and consolidating all of our content from Substack onto our new web platform. Starting with this edition, you can expect a new Presence Weekly every Tuesday around noon.
At our website you can also catch the latest installment of the Faithful Presence Podcast and our delightful interview with Christian recording artist, producer, and film director, Steve Taylor.
Each Presence Weekly will feature a long form devotion aimed at servants and leaders in the public square. It will also contain a prayer guide, articles you may have missed, events calendar, and maybe even a review on movies, shows, music, books, or places to dine.
This week, we dive back into the Sermon on the Mount, and what Jesus intended by “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” We focus on The Agenda of a Pure Heart and what implications hidden agendas have for servants and leaders in the public square, as well as those who send them there.
[The Devo]
The Agenda of a Pure Heart
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Popularity and Purity of Heart
If the Incarnation of Jesus had occurred today, in the United States, and we hit pause on the ministry of Jesus at the end of Matthew 4, every political operative and campaign manager would have been flocking to Jesus and begging to run his campaign, for whatever office he was seeking.
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:23–25
His favorables are massive. He has a royal lineage. The current party in power has off-the-charts unfavorables. The majority of people are suffering from all sorts of physical and spiritual ailments, religious and political exploitation and oppression, and are on the weak end of both power differentials — and neither group in power seems to care. The populace is looking for someone, anyone, to make them feel like it’s morning in Israel again, to proclaim the audacity of hope, to offer change people can believe in, and maybe, to go so far as to signal that he has the ability to build Israel back better and even make Israel great again.
At this moment, Jesus has massive popularity and grassroots support. This guy is a literal God-send for anyone making money through promoting candidates for service and leadership in the public square. The only thing he could do to mess this up is to start directly questioning his followers by asking them to examine their real agenda.
Enter Jesus.
Paradoxically, he is also the worst client ever for any public relations or political consulting firm. Why? Because that is exactly what he does when he says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Jesus is saying, in other words, “What is your real agenda?”
The crowds following Jesus were absolutely drawn by his miraculous ability to undo the effects of the Fall and to offer foretastes of the coming kingdom, even if those foretastes were temporary. Jesus was drawing people who were fallen, finite, fragile, and fragged (hurt by the events of life and the actions of others), and he was checking all their boxes for a Savior and Redeemer. These are people who want to see God and his rescue. Yet this is the pressure point that Jesus pushes on.
For the attendees of this talk — which may have had the feel of a campaign stop — this passage would have triggered a strong echo of Psalm 24:1–6,
24 A Psalm of David.
1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 For he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
Notice that the LORD God is not presented as someone on a rampage, but as lovingly seeking a couple who were motivated to hide out of shame and fear. In response, this act of mercy is met with the couple’s obfuscation and blame-shifting. Despite their banishment from the Garden, the couple is mercifully promised a redeemer (Gen 3:15) and allowed to continue their original charge to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.
Cain and Abel, Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah and the Flood, and the Tower of Babel follow. Each episode demonstrates that man’s relationship with God is built upon God’s steadfast love and commitment to mercy.
It’s no wonder then that mercy is not only at the center of the grand narrative of redemption but is also at the center of God’s personal name. After mercifully rescuing the people out of slavery in Egypt, God gives Moses the terms of the Law at Mt. Sinai. After a lengthy series of conversations, Moses asks to see God, and God obliges, declaring his true identity
34 5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O LORD, please let the LORD go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. Ex 34:1–10.
In these words, Jesus is saying that the blessed person is the one whose heart only has one agenda, the same agenda that Moses commended to the people of God as they entered the Promised Land.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. Deut 6:4–6
Priorities and Purity of Heart
In order to understand what Jesus is doing here, it’s important to review where this message comes in Matthew’s gospel story. Jesus has just endured an extensive and grueling testing of the purity of his own heart that sought to uncover and exploit any hidden agenda or secret idols.
Before Jesus began drawing massive crowds with his teaching and miracles, Satan tested the heart of Jesus with power and fame. The tempter’s approach is one repeated every day to servants and leaders in the public square: Let me see if I can uncover your real agenda — the real desire of your heart — by offering you what you think you should have.
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the LORD your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Matthew 4:1–11
The final answer of Jesus sums up what purity of heart means. Yet, the message of the Sermon on the Mount is not about whether or not Jesus is pure in heart, but about whether those following him are pure in heart. He is asking them why they are really drawn to him. And this is where our priorities, and especially our public square priorities, come home to roost.
For many Christians, our engagement with the public square is about getting what we want on a wide range of economic and cultural issues. We see candidates as a means to an end for our vision of the political utopia. But the reality is that the utopia we seek cannot be ushered in by political operatives, but only by Christ, and only fully in the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Those hearing Jesus were being asked if their hearts were focused on embracing “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve,” or on returning Israel to its past perceived glory. Further, they were challenged to examine whether the full desire of their heart was to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” or to regain the upper hand politically and culturally.
The priorities of our heart determine whether we will do the right things for the wrong reasons, whether we enable leaders to rise up because they promise us what we want, and just how much room we are willing to give duplicity, hypocrisy, and idol worship in our own hearts.
This is a message for followers, many of whom will become servants and leaders. Because their hearts matter. Not just for themselves, but also for those they serve and lead.
Presence and Purity of Heart
Our hearts determine how we act in and interact with those around us and particularly the public square. Therefore, the primary motivation of servants and leaders must be to receive the promise of Psalm 24.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Our hearts must be set on seeking God in and through our worship. Worship that happens in church on Sunday and through our vocations during the week. We must not allow cultural, political, and economic concerns to displace loving the LORD [our] God with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] might.
This does not mean that we cannot and should not work within the public square to bring about the flourishing of our communities in areas of cultural, political, and economic issues. Our purity of heart regarding worshipping God is the very motivation that these concerns require.
What Jesus is encouraging is a self-assessment of his followers. “Are you here because you long to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, or because you are just looking for freedom from political and religious oppression, physical and economic healing, and want someone to deliver that for you now?” For those whose real answer is the latter, anxiety, resignation, radicalization, ends-justify-the-means actions, and the whiplash of triumphalism and despair await because that’s what idol worship does. And idol worshippers will not see God.
But for those who are willing to focus on worshiping the Father “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” in the midst of great personal, social, cultural, economic, and political uncertainty, Jesus promises that you shall see God
Application Questions
If Jesus had asked you, “What’s your real agenda?” what would be your initial and brutally honest response?
What recalibration of your political thought and approach does this passage encourage? How would that recalibration change your standard interaction with the public square or your regular vocational work?
[Faithful Prayer]
- Cabinet Agency: The servants and leaders with the Department of Health, and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, as they move to increase FDA oversight of food ingredients by requiring manufacturers to notify the agency when they determine the substances are “generally recognized as safe,” while also taking steps to address ultra-processed foods.
- Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: The National Center for Health Research, as they continue their scrutinization of medical-device regulation and advocacy for evidence-based standards in health policy.
- Weekly delegation: The servants and leaders with the delegation of the State of Michigan, after a heated and incredibly close Democratic primary election that resulted in the election of Democratic Socialist candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The close nature of the primary, as well as widespread national coverage promises to make Michigan’s senate election one of the most important and divisive in this year’s midterm season.
- News events: The U.S Senate passed a short-term funding bill on August 8, by a 90-6 vote, to keep the federal government funded through December 11 and avert a potential shutdown before the November midterm elections. The bill now heads to the house, where lawmakers will decide whether to approve the measure.
- Personal requests: For two families on vacation. For multiple families sending children back to school. For a senior staff official who is exhausted from a long slog through developing a high profile piece of legislation. For a couple hoping to conceive their first child. For someone healing from surgery. For a former official settling into a new position. For someone awaiting approval of their Top Secret clearance. For someone considering a run for office.
[The Page, The Pod & The Stack]
- LISTEN to this FIRST → The Acton Institute published this thought-provoking article arguing that modern politics, even in secular societies, still relies deeply on theological ideas about authority, sovereignty, crisis, and social order.
- READ this NEXT → The American Enterprise Institute published this piece by Senior Fellow Roger Pielke Jr. about the dangers of scientific institutions releasing public political stances.
- STACK this FIRST → The Washington Post released this article discussing the rise of mainstream conspiracy theories, particularly in response to April’s shooting at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
- The Gospel Coalition published this article about rising political division between men and women in the United States, and how the digital realm has exacerbated this divide.
- Christian Scholar’s Review published this piece discussing how Protestant acceptance of Nicolaus Copernicus’s heliocentric worldview gradually reconciled scientific discovery with biblical interpretation.
[What’s Happening]
This Week
With most of Washington on vacation it’s a great time to have some fun.
- Now through September 7 – As summer comes to an end, the Renwick Gallery invites you to Step right up to the first major exhibition to survey American state fairs’ extraordinary and unconventional crafts from the nineteenth century to the present with State Fairs: Growing American Craft
- Tuesday – Thursday – The Washington Nationals host the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park.
- The Odyssey is still in theaters! So is the new Spiderman movie.
- Friday, August 14, 6 pm -9 pm, The National Gallery of Art presents Jazz in the Garden: American Sounds
- Saturday, August 15, 2 pm – 9 pm, Union Market hosts the Jollof Festival – DC ’26 as West African countries compete for the title of “Jollof Rice Champion.” Sample their unique takes on Jollof rice and cast your vote for the most delicious contender!
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