Today’s word is sort of centered around those questions.
Do you ever have those days that you have your complete agenda lined out, and then “poof” it was gone? Nothing went as planned?
Monday as I was leaving work, I had planned everything I was going to accomplish when I got home.
As I pulled into the driveway, my phone rang and the conversation (and although it was an important one) took about 20 minutes.
Got into the house and the 1st item one my list, didn’t go as planned. This was my fourth attempt at closing out that task!
One of the items on my list was to do a load of laundry, I took Tristan’s load out of the dryer and the lint filter was about “yay thick” Fairly new dryer, y’all.
Well, I calmly expressed to him, the result of his actions should I find that again!
Then the phone rings again! Understand now my frustration was building!
It was my bride, very politely (no seriously, VERY politely) asking me about the status of something she had asked me to do. I assured her it had been done, that I had even verified from an email I had received.
She assured me that something was wrong and the task had not been completed.
In my frustration I exclaimed “I don’t know what to do about that”!
We said our goodbyes, not the usual lovely dovey kind.
Almost as soon I hung up, I realized what MY problem was:
I was HANGRY!
I had fasted that day, and my body had began a conspiracy with my emotions!
I stopped everything and prepared me something to eat.
After looking into the situation, I realized that I had indeed NOT completed the assignment, completed the assignment and called Lisa, and delivered a bouquet of roses over the phone.
OK, I ate crow!
HANGRY
Today’ message is found in:
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
I hope y’all understand my hangryness, was not what Jesus was talking about!
This passage is found in what is considered by many as the greatest sermon ever given.
Commonly known as “The Sermon on the Mount”
This section of Sermon on the Mount is known as The Beatitudes.
Years and years ago, when I first read that word, I read it as BEATitudes. You know, like the Beatles with an attitude! A new rock band! The BEATitudes.
It is derived from a Latin word that means Blessed.
A couple of months ago, I listened to a podcast that spent 40 minutes breaking down that word! 40 minutes! It was an incredible podcast.
Today, I think I can explain it in about an hour and a half!
The Greek transliteration from the Hebrew word Baruk (barrack), is HAPPY. But without a doubt it is much deeper than our English word happy. Just another one of those words that gets lost in translation.
Some translations actually read “Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...”
-Ask others what their bible says- 3 different ones
Throughout the years, I have tried to express to my kids, that my greatest desire for them in life (outside of their salvation), is that I want them to be happy.
It wasn’t until I began studying the word “happy” in the biblical sense, did I even begin to understand what I was saying! I know, scary right?!
When someone is asked what do they want out of life, a common response is “to be happy”.
Which in all likelihood really means they want to be blessed! Think about it.
I know I do.
I fact, I can intentionally make myself sneeze, just to have someone say “bless you”! JK
Although Jesus was speaking to the multitudes in this sermon, Matthew 5:1 “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.”
His intended audience was His disciples.
As though He were saying to them in this verse "in order for follow me, you must hunger and thirst a right relationship with me, and thereby a right relationship with others.
In a couple of different studies I’ve done with The Beatitudes, I’ve come away with these 4 things:
They are a code of ethics for the disciples and a standard of conduct for all believers.
They contrast Kingdom values with wordly values. When you read the Sermon on the Mount, you walk away thinking, wow we’ve got this all wrong!
We see a contrast of the superficial faith of the Pharisees with the real faith that Jesus teaches.
The Beatitudes must be taken as a whole, not a pick and choose. When you string them all together, it is mind-blowing to me.
Hunger and Thirst
I’d like to take a couple of minutes to look at those words.
John Piper said:
“The weakness of our hunger for God is not because He is unsavory, but because we keep ourselves stuffed with other things”. (repeat)
Hunger in this context means “crave”.
Crave and thirst for righteousness...
It is one thing to be hungry, to me; it is an entirely different thing to “crave” something.
Here’s the way I look at it. I don’t even have to be hungry to “crave” a family size bag of tortilla chips and salsa.
That’s how we need to be seeking God. A craving that only He can satisfy.
Blessed are those who crave and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
I am inclined to believe that this hunger and thirst is not initiated by us, but rather it is activated by the Holy Spirit.
In fact, I believe; this Spiritual enlightening, is a pre-requisite.
Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.””
Listen to Jesus’ response:
Matthew 16:17 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
Blessed are you, Simon…
A person who is not Spiritually enlightened, may not have this hunger and thirst...
I’d like us to consider this:
Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are the righteous”, as He did with the other Beatitudes:
Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are those who mourn
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are the merciful
He doesn’t say “blessed are the righteous”.
He said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. See the difference?
In fact listen to what He says in:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Theirs was a “self-righteousness”.
We’ve all seen those Pharisees right?
The Holier than thou crowd
The ones who think in their heart
Well I do this or that, they should too.
Jesus says “by no means will these people enter the kingdom of heaven”. Wow! Chew on that a minute...
Jesus is saying you’ve got to have a hunger and thirst to know Him:
John 6:35 “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
John 4:14 “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.””
Church, we stand in God’s favor and under His blessing because we are His followers.
I believe this hunger and thirst that Jesus speaks of, is not inherently in our nature.
That’s why I believe we receive this as conviction from the Holy Spirit.
Righteousness
A month or so ago, I listened to a pod-cast on the word righteousness, as well as much research in other biblical resources.
So, I’ll boil it down to this, as it relates to the passage we are examining today.
Righteousness:
Desiring a right heart relationship with God.
This desire naturally transfers to a desire for a right relationship with others as well.
I really had to challenge myself to understand and accept that second part.
Here’s the main reason I say this about needing a right relationship with others.
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
We must have that hunger and thirst for righteousness in our relationship with God, in order for us to have the right relationship with others, Jesus is commanding us in John 13:34.
When I was hangry, my hunger and thirst was for a right relationship with food, and be filled!
But in my hunger and thirst for God, I desire to be filled with Him!
Challenge
Here’s my challenge to us today church:
Know that I if I step on your toes, I am aiming for your heart!
Consider this:
A person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness would never be satisfied or filled with:
Only going to church on Sundays
We need weekly Bible study and times of prayer
Sunday mornings- See Dan or me
Wednesday evenings-See Karol Ann
Reading our bible only when we get in the mood- We need a daily devotional time with God
Become involved in Kingdom work only if it is convenient- It will never be convenient
We will only be fulfilled when we do God’s work.
See me for ways to Outreach, and what Outreach Ministries we have at CPC.
Jesus had a hunger and thirst for us!
Two quick illustrations:
Woman at the well-
Jesus said “give me a drink”
Because of cultural clashing, the woman was reluctant to even speak to Jesus, much less give Him a drink.
His answer to her was this:
John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.””
John 6:35 “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
He is telling us how to be filled or satisfied as described in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
As we approach Resurrection Sunday, naturally I’ve been thinking about the Cross, and what it means to me personally.
Jesus on the Cross
Although I have no definitive explanation as what this means, I think of Jesus’ last words, and two of those last words were “I thirst”.
What if His thirst is to spiritually bless me with His righteousness?
Happy are those who crave and thirst a right relationship with Me, so that I may spiritually fill them.
Church, do you crave to read something new in God’s word today?
Do you thirst to see a familiar passage with new eyes?
My prayer is that you do!
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