THE BLESSED HUNGER
WE ARE CONTINUING OUR THOUGHTS ON JESUS’ TEACHING IN THE BEATITUDES. THE FIRST THREE, THE POOR IN SPIRIT, THOSE WHO MOURN, AND THOSE WHO ARE MEEK, ARE DEALING WITH THE RECOGNITION OF OUR OWN SPIRITUAL CONDITION AND HOW IT SHOULD MAKE US FEEL. IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE NOTED THAT WE ARE NOT LEFT IN ANY OF THESE STATES, BUT THERE IS A WAY OF ESCAPE GIVEN BY OUR LORD.
TODAY WE EXAMINE THE FOURTH OF THE STATEMENTS, CONCERNING HUNGER AND THIRST. THESE ARE VERY DESPERATE STATES IN A PERSON’S LIFE. THIS TAKES US IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION FROM THE OTHER THREE AS IT ASSUMES A CHANGE IN THE PERSONS SPIRITUAL LIFE.
I CAME ACCROSS THIS STORY OF A MAN WHO IS CRAWLING THROUGH THE SAHARA DESERT WHEN ANOTHER MAN RIDING ON A CAMEL APPROACHED HIM.
“WATER...PLEASE...CAN YOU GIVE ME... SOME WATER?” THE MAN ON THE CAMEL REPLIES, “I’M SORRY. I DON’T HAVE ANY WATER WITH ME. BUT I’D BE DELIGHTED TO SELL YOU A NECKTIE.” THE OTHER MAN RESPONDS, “I DON’T NEED A NECKTIE, I NEED WATER.”
BY NOW THE MAN HAD LOST ALL TRACK OF TIME, AND CRAWLS THROUGH THE DESERT FOR WHAT SEEMS LIKE DAYS. FINALLY, PARCHED WITH THIRST, HIS SKIN PEELING UNDER THE RELENTLESS SUN, HE HAPPENS UPON A RESTAURANT. WITH HIS LAST BIT OF STRENGTH HE STAGGERS TO THE DOOR AND GRABS ON TO THE HEAD WAITER. “WATER....CAN I GET....WATER?” THE WAITER SMILES AND SAYS, “I’M SORRY, SIR. NECKTIES REQUIRED.”
JESUS USES COMMON FEELINGS OF HUNGER AND THIRST TO TEACH HOW A REGENERATE PERSON SHOULD BEHAVE. THE BIBLE USES THESE ANALOGIES SEVERAL TIMES, AND IN FACT WE DO AS WELL. HOW MANY OF US HAVE SAID “I WANTED IT SO BAD I COULD TASTE IT.”
NO ONE WANTS TO BE HUNGRY OR THIRSTY. WE FEEL TERRIBLE WHEN WE SEE THE ADVERTISEMENTS ON T.V. OF STARVING CHILDREN OVERSEAS, AND WE TRY TO DO OUR PART SO THAT CHILDREN ARE NOT HUNGRY HERE.
JESUS WANTS US TO LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL APPETITES AND ASK IF THEY ARE BEING FILLED. ARE WE DOING WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO NOURISH OUR SPIRITUAL SOULS.
HUNGER AND THIRST ARE A PART OF OUR LIVES RIGHT FROM THE INFANT STAGE AND THE SAME IS TRUE FOR OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES.
1 PETER 2:2-3:
LIKE NEWBORN BABIES, CRAVE PURE SPIRITUAL MILK, SO THAT BY IT YOU MAY GROW UP IN YOUR SALVATION, 3 NOW THAT YOU HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GOOD.
NOTE TWO THINGS FROM THIS VERSE, FIRST, WE ARE TO CRAVE SPIRITUAL MILK. I’VE BOTTLE FED MANY BABIES, AND ONE THING I FOUND OUT IS THAT IF YOU GET THAT NIPPLE CLOSE TO THEIR MOUTH, THEY WILL FIND IT. TEASE THEM WITH IT AND THEY GET MAD.
THE SECOND IS THIS, THE REASON THEY LIKE IT IS THAT THEY TRIED IT. THEY’VE TASTED IT AND LIKED IT. FEED A BABY STRAINED VEGETABLES AND STRAINED FRUIT, WHICH ONE DO THEY GO FOR, THE STRAINED FRUIT. YOU CAN’T FEED THEM FAST ENOUGH, THEY LIKE IT. THEY SPIT OUT THE VEGETABLES.
WHAT JESUS IS TELLING THE PEOPLE IS THAT AFTER THEY HAVE REPENTED, THERE SHOULD BE A NOTICEABLE CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES. THERE SHOULD BE A CRAVING FOR THE THINGS OF GOD, TO BE AROUND GOD’S PEOPLE, AN INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR GOD’S WORD, AND TO BE IN PRAYER.
I WANT TO CONSIDER THREE PARTS OF THIS BEATITUDE TODAY:
1. THE REQUIREMENT (HUNGER AND THIRST)
2. THE REASON (FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS)
3. THE REWARD (THEY WILL BE FILLED)
POINT ONE: THE REQUIREMENT (HUNGER AND THIRST)
TO HUNGER AND THIRST AS JESUS IS SPEAKING OF HERE IS TO HAVE A DEEP AND DESPERATE CRAVING FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD AND WATER.
PSALM 42:1-3:
AS THE DEER PANTS FOR STREAMS OF WATER, SO MY SOUL PANTS FOR YOU, MY GOD. 2 MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR GOD, FOR THE LIVING GOD. WHEN CAN I GO AND MEET WITH GOD? 3 MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY FOOD DAY AND NIGHT, WHILE PEOPLE SAY TO ME ALL DAY LONG,
“WHERE IS YOUR GOD?
THE DESPERATION THE DEER FEELS HERE IS NATURAL. HE NEEDS WATER AND WILL NOT STOP SEARCHING UNTIL HIS NEED IS MET. THE PSALMIST EMPHASIZES THE DESPERATION BY SAYING THAT HE IS IN TEARS OF ANGUISH BECAUSE OF HIS SEARCH.
THAT BURNING DESIRE IS DESCRIBED BY THE MISSIONARY JIM ELLIOTT:
“GOD HAS HEMMED ME IN TO NOTHING, THAT I MAY HAVE NOTHING, DO NOTHING, WANT NOTHING, SAVE HIMSELF”.
THIS DESPERATION IS A NEEDED ASPECT IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE AS IT PROVIDES DIRECTION AND PURPOSE. THE MAN WHO IS STARVING TO DEATH DOES NOT WANT SOMETHING TO EAT, AND A NEW SUIT. THE WOMAN WHO IS DYING OF THIRST DOES NOT WANT A DRINK OF WATER AND A NEW CAR.
THE STORY IS TOLD OF A YOUNG MAN WHO CAME TO THE FAMOUS GREEK PHILOSOPHER SOCRATES AND TOLD HIM HE WANTED KNOWLEDGE. THE PHILOSOPHER TOLD THE YOUNG MAN TO FOLLOW HIM. HE LED THE YOUNG MAN TO THE OCEAN AND OUT INTO THE WATER.
WITHOUT WARNING SOCRATES GRABBED THE YOUNG MAN AND PLUNGED HIM BENEATH THE WATER AND HELD HIM THERE UNTIL THE MAN STOPPED STRUGGLING. THEN SOCRATES PULLED THE YOUNG MAN OUT OF THE WATER GASPING FOR AIR. SOCRATES THEN DRAGGED THE YOUNG MAN TO SHORE AND RETURNED TO THE MARKETPLACE.
WHEN THE YOUNG MAN RECOVERED HE SOUGHT SOCRATES OUT AND ASKED HIM WHY HE TRIED TO DROWN HIM. SOCRATES REPLIED, “WHEN YOU WERE UNDER THE WATER WHAT DID YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.” THE YOUNG MAN REPLIED, “I WANTED TO BREATHE, I NEEDED AIR.” SOCRATES RESPONED BY SAYING “WHEN YOU CRAVE KNOWLEDGE LIKE YOU CRAVE AIR, YOU ARE READY TO BE MY STUDENT.”
NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO US? COULD IT BE THAT WE ARE DECEIVING OURSELVES IN OUR WORSHIP. WE CAN SAY THAT WE CRAVE AUTHENTIC WORSHIP BUT IS THAT THE CASE?
MOST OF THE TIME IN SCRIPTURE WHEN HUNGER AND THIRST ARE MENTIONED IT IS SPOKEN OF IN THE GENITIVE CASE. THIS IS A PASSING HUNGER OR THIRST FOR SOMETHING. IT’S LIKE SAYING “I COULD GO FOR A PEPSI NOW”, OR “A NICE JUICY STEAK WOULD BE NICE”. WE COULD EAT OR DRINK IT BUT OUR THIRST IS NOT A DESPERATE CRAVING.
JESUS USES THE ACCUSATIVE CASE FOR THE VERBS IN MATTHEW 5, AND THIS INDICATES A DESPERATE THIRST FOR THE WHOLE THING, NOT JUST A TASTE, BUT A DESIRE THAT MUST BE FILLED.
I WOULD DARE SAY THAT OUR DESIRE FOR WORSHIP TODAY IS BASED MORE ON THE FIRST CASE THAN THE SECOND. WE WILL TAKE A TASTE OF IT, BUT VERY FEW WILL HAVE AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING DESIRE FOR WORSHIP.
THE TYPE OF WORSHIP THAT GOD SAYS WE ARE TO HUNGER FOR, WILL BRING US FACE TO FACE WITH CHRIST, NO STRINGS ATTACHED. IT IS SUCH A DESIRE TO COME INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD, THAT IF WE DID NOTHING MORE TODAY THAN JUST SIT HERE, WE COULD BE IN THE STATE OF WORSHIP.
YOU SEE THE REQUIREMENT FOR WORSHIP IS TO SEEK GOD’S PRESENCE, AND ALLOW HIM TO SPEAK TO YOU. THE THINGS THAT WE DO IN OUR WORSHIP SERVICE ARE EXPRESSIONS OF AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD.
ISAIAH 55:2-3:
WHY SPEND MONEY ON WHAT IS NOT BREAD, AND YOUR LABOR ON WHAT DOES NOT SATISFY? LISTEN, LISTEN TO ME, AND EAT WHAT IS GOOD, AND YOU WILL DELIGHT IN THE RICHEST OF FARE. 3 GIVE EAR AND COME TO ME; LISTEN, THAT YOU MAY LIVE. I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH YOU, MY FAITHFUL LOVE PROMISED TO DAVID.
POINT TWO: THE REASON FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
RAY PRITCHARD DEVELOPED A DEFINITION FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS BASED ON FOUR USES OF THE WORD IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT:
MATHEW 5:10: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
MATTHEW 5:20: FOR I TELL YOU THAT UNLESS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SURPASSES THAT OF THE PHARISEES AND THE TEACHERS OF THE LAW, YOU WILL CERTAINLY NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 6:1: BE CAREFUL NOT TO PRACTICE YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IN FRONT OF OTHERS TO BE SEEN BY THEM. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL HAVE NO REWARD FROM YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 6:33: BUT SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU AS WELL.
WHEN WE PUT THESE FOUR PASSAGES TOGETHER WE GET THAT WE ARE TO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER:
A TRULY CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE, THAT CHANGES US FROM THE INSIDE OUT, SO THAT WE NO LONGER SEEK THE PRAISE OF OTHERS, BUT SEEK GOD’S APPROVAL ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE.
THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF TWO FORMS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS:
IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS IS WHAT IS GIVEN TO THE UNBELIEVER WHEN WE ARE CONVERTED. WHEN WE PUT OUR FAITH IN WHAT CHRIST DID FOR US ON THE CROSS, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS CREDITED TO OUR ACCOUNT. IT IS ALWAYS DONE ON THE BASIS OF FAITH AND NOT WORKS.
GENESIS 15:6: ABRAM BELIEVED THE LORD, AND HE CREDITED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS
THE HUNGER AND THIRST THAT JESUS IS SPEAKING OF IS FOR A RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT YOU CANNOT SATISFY IN YOURSELF. IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED FOR YOU, THEN HE WILL GIVE YOU HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21: GOD MADE HIM WHO HAD NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, SO THAT IN HIM WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
IF THERE IS STILL A HUNGER AND THIRST IN YOUR LIFE FOR GOD, THEN BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, ASCERTAIN WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. DO YOU KNOW BEYOND ANY SHADOW OF DOUBT THAT YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE, AND THAT IF YOU WERE TO DIE TODAY THAT YOU WOULD HEAR THOSE WONDERFUL WORDS, “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.”
THE SECOND FORM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. THIS IS WHAT BELIEVERS ARE TO LIVE OUT IN THEIR LIVES. IT IS THE HUNGERING AND THIRSTING FOR HOLINESS IN OUR LIVES. A THEOLOGIAN WROTE:
“THOUGH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOOD WORKS TO JUSTIFY ANYBODY, IT IS JUST AS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A JUSTIFIED PERSON TO LIVE WITHOUT DOING GOOD WORKS.”
ROMANS 6:18: YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN AND HAVE BECOME SLAVES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS.
JESUS WANTS US TO LIVE RIGHT, NOT AS OUR DUTY, BUT AS AN OUTFLOW OF A DEEP DESIRE AND AN INCONSOLABLE LONGING.
PSALM 119:103-104:
HOW SWEET ARE YOUR WORDS TO MY TASTE, SWEETER THAN HONEY TO MY MOUTH! 104 I GAIN UNDERSTANDING FROM YOUR PRECEPTS; THEREFORE I HATE EVERY WRONG PATH
JEREMIAH 15:16: WHEN YOUR WORDS CAME, I ATE THEM; THEY WERE MY JOY AND MY HEART’S DELIGHT, FOR I BEAR YOUR NAME, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
POINT THREE: OUR REWARD WE SHALL BE FILLED
THE IDEA OF “FILLED” HERE REFERS TO THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS UNTIL THEY WERE SO FULL THAT THEY COULD EAT NO MORE. IT IS THE IDEA OF BEING COMPLETELY SATIATED.
PSALM 23:1: THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I LACK NOTHING.
PSALM 34:10: THE LIONS MAY GROW WEAK AND HUNGRY, BUT THOSE WHO SEEK THE LORD LACK NO GOOD THING.
CONCLUSION:
THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT YOU ARE AS CLOSE TO GOD AS YOU CHOOSE TO BE. IF YOU WANT TO TRULY BE BLESSED IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, YOU MUST HAVE AN INTENSE DESIRE FOR IT. IT IS A DESIRE THAT MUST SHOW ITSELF IN YOUR LIFE.
RICK WARREN STATES:
“INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD IS A CHOICE, NOT AN ACCIDENT. YOU MUST INTENTIONALLY SEEK IT. DO YOU REALLY WANT IT – MORE THAN ANYTHING? WHAT IS IT WORTH TO YOU? IS IT WORTH GIVING UP OTHER THINGS?”
EUGENE PETERSON SUMS IT UP BETTER THAN I COULD EVER DO IN THE MESSAGE:
JEREMIAH 29:13: “WHEN YOU COME LOOKING FOR ME, YOU’LL FIND ME. “YES, WHEN YOU GET SERIOUS ABOUT FINDING ME AND WANT IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, I’LL MAKE SURE YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED.” GOD’S DECREE.
