Not very long ago there was a fad that was sweeping the country like a wild fire. People where doing it everywhere. In the cities as well as in the country.
I mean it was so wide spread that if you were 100 miles from nowhere and you happened to encounter someone driving by chances are you’d probably see them doing it too.
The craze that I’m talking about is that of bumper stickers. You can still see them around today. In fact I’ve got two on my car and I know that some of you do as well.
Let me just read to you a few of the more interesting ones that I have come across.
“Age is a matter of the mind, if you don’t mind it doesn’t matter.”
“Give without remembering, take without forgetting.”
“Some people are discovered others are found out.”
“A mistake not corrected is another mistake.”
“There is no right way to do the wrong thing.”
“Opportunity is disguised as hard work.”
“Be what you wish others to become.”
“God is only a prayer away.”
But of all the bumper stickers which I have come across, I have yet to find one that says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied.”
And I believe that if someone were to print up a bumper sticker with those words on it, it would not be a big seller. I just don’t think it’s an idea that a lot of people would really want to buy into.
And the reason for that is because we just can’t see how one could consider someone to be Happy / Blessed, if he is hungry and thirsty.
You see, being hungry and thirsty , , at least in this country , , is seen as a problem, not as a blessing or something to be happy about.
We think that hunger and thirst are a social dilemma that needs to be eradicated. When we see people of other countries on television who have to live with hunger and thirst everyday of their lives, we feel sorry for them.
At times we may be so overwhelmed that we have to turn the channel to keep from being upset. It is sad to know that people live like that.
When you see on television or in the streets people who are hungry and thirsty, do you see it as a problem or is it something to be happy about/
What about when the person who has had nothing to eat or drink for days, comes knocking on your door, do your feelings suddenly change?
Is it your comfort zone or your compassion that begins to stir? Is it security you begin to worry about or the service you can provide this stranger.
You see, from a distance, hunger and thirst can stir up within us feelings of pity, compassion and sympathy.
But when it comes a little closer to home , , when we can actually reach out and touch it , , we would rather not have to deal with it.
Hunger and thirst are only words. But Words are powerful. And that is why Jesus chose to use these two words in Matthew 5:6 where he says:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied.”
Hunger and thirst are words which can seem very strange for many of us who live in a country that is abounding with left-overs and a surplus of everything that we could want.
Just to illustrate this fact, did you know that every Tuesday morning at 6:00am Doug Davis goes to the Houston food bank at collects, at least a couple of hundred pounds of surplus food, for free. It’s given away.
Or
Did you know that in this city of 20,000 inhabits there are over 150 establishments where you could walk in on any normal business day and purchase food or something to eat?
Hunger and thirst are words which we often use to describe what we do not want to be. And maybe the reason for that is because we know what the words hunger and thirst mean.
But if you didn’t, all you would have to do is look up hunger and thirst in a dictionary and you would be able to find out their definitions and if you did that, you would end up with a pretty good idea as to what they mean.
But you see, there is a world of difference between defining a word and experiencing a word.
For instance the word pain can mean something very different to a person who has never suffered harm or injury a day in their lives , , than it would for a person who has passed through a furnace of physical agony.
Even the word love will mean something different to a ten year old child than it does to a forty year old man. All words have a basic definition and you can find that in a dictionary.
But it is only human existence that will determine what degree of intensity that definition will have for you in your life.
Hunger and thirst are words which need to be experienced to the degree of wanting to know what they really mean.
When Jesus used the words hunger and thirst in Matthew 5:6 what he had in mind was for us to experience them, not simply to define them.
Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. In Matthew 6:25 are written these words: Life is more important than food.”
Now for a long time I struggled in trying to understand that text, because I asked myself, how in the world can that be right?
I mean, you need food to live, if you don’t eat you’ll die, so how can life be more important than food, at the very least both of them are on the same level. You see what I mean?
You see I was struggling with trying to define what Jesus meant, when he said: “Life is more important than food.” Until one day, when I experienced what he said.
And after I tell you of this experience maybe some of you will be able to relate to it as well.
How many of you have ever been on a medical fast. You know where you don’t eat for 8 - 10 - 12 hours so the doctor can check your blood or something the next day?
Isn’t it funny how food smells so good after your told that you can’t have any?
I mean can you imagine how good a nice fresh juicing orange would taste right now?
(Juice running down you neck or a watermelon)
Let me ask you, how many of you have been on a medical fast and have cheated on it? You know fasted six hours instead of eight? or eight hours instead of ten? or ten hours instead of twelve?
Let’s just say that you have. And you go to the doctor the next day and he does an exam, he draws blood, takes X-rays and sends you home. Couple of days later the doctor calls you and says:
“Mr. so-and-so after looking at your test results, we feel that we need to run so more test to make sure that we are not mistaken, we will need for you to go on a fast again, this time it will have to be for twenty-four hours.”
Things sound a little more serious this time. And guess what, you don’t cheat on your fast. You know why? Because you have just experienced, what Jesus meant when he said:
“Life is more important than food”
Those of you who have experienced words like hunger and thirst don’t need a dictionary to tell you what they mean, do you?
But for most of us who have been born in a country, where satisfying the growling of hunger or the quenching of thirst are as easy as turning a tap or opening a refrigerator, may not be able tolerate to the intensity of meaning which the listeners of Jesus day might have.
Back then they did not have a welfare system where if you were hungry you could go , , sign up and receive food stamps for you and your family to buy food.
And at that time if you did not work , , you did not eat. Therefore many of the people who heard Jesus say these words could easily relate to them. Because they knew what it was like to have to go to bed with the pains of hunger gnawing at your stomach.
Back then, children didn’t have the luxury of satisfying their hunger by snacking on something between meals. They knew to a great degree what being hungry and meant.
Being thirsty had a greater intensity of meaning back then also, because people were dependent on wells and streams and both of these would often go dry.
Sand-storms were a normal occurrence in that land and all that a man could do was turn his back to the swirling winds and hide his face, while his throat and nostrils would fill with fine sand which would make him choke with thirst.
The people who heard the words which Jesus spoke on that day knew through experience of the hunger and thirst which had to be satisfied if one was to survive.
Of course, in Matthew 5:6 Jesus isn’t talking about being hungry for food or thirsty for water. When he says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
But he applies the same intense meaning, to someone who is that hungry and who
is that thirsty for righteousness in their lives.
Blessed are those who yearn for righteousness as a starving man longs for food.
Blessed are those who desire righteousness as a man perishing of thirst longs for water.
But if righteousness is what we are to desire with the same intensity as a man starving for food or as someone dying of thirst shouldn’t we try to discover what righteousness is?
If we were to go to a dictionary for a definition of righteousness it was say something like this: “Someone who conforms to the moral law.”
But we know that Jesus had in mind more than just a definition of righteousness when he said that we should hunger and thirst for it.
He had in mind an experience of great intensity when he said righteousness. Righteousness deals with a longing of your soul. It deals with your relationship to God and his son Jesus Christ.
The Psalmist said it best, when he wrote in Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for water , , so my soul longs for thee oh God , , my soul thirsts for God, the living God.”
And if you long for righteousness like that Jesus says that you will be blessed. Blessed are those who’s most intense desire is to be in a right relationship with God.
And my question to you this morning is: “How bad do you want to be in a right relationship with God?”
Do you want it as much as a starving man wants food? or As much as a man dying of thirst wants a drink of water?
Time and time again in the Bible we can read of people who wanted to have a right relationship with God, but they just didn’t want it bad enough.
For example, we can read of a very rich young man in Luke 18:18-23 who came up to Jesus one day and told him that he wanted to be in a right relationship with God all his life.
He obeyed all the laws , , He played by the rules , , and so he tells Jesus , , I have done all the right things , , How can I have a right relationship with God?
He really asks how he can obtain eternal life, but obtaining eternal life can only come by having a right relationship with God. Jesus tells him to: Go sell all that you have and give to the poor.”
In effect Jesus is saying: “Is having a right relationship with God worth that much to you?” But the Bible tells us that he went away sorrowfully.
Because he didn’t want it as bad as a starving man wants food or a man dying of thirst wants water. Oh, he kept all the rules , , He practiced the right form , , But you see, righteousness is a matter of the heart and not just the head.
It starts way down deep in the soul and it longs to be satisfied. There was another person the Bible tells us about who also wanted to be right with God.
He came to Jesus one day and said: “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.” And then Jesus told him the cost when he said: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to rest his head.”
If this were the price required for you to be in a right relationship with God would you be willing to pay it?
Jesus even challenged his own disciples one day with the same question, when he told them: (Lk.14:26)“If anyone wishes to come to me , , But loves his father or mother, children, brothers or sisters or even his own life more than me , , he can not be my disciple.
What that means is: “Do you want to be in a right relationship with God enough to give him the unconditional first place in your life? Above everything and everyone else?
If you do , ,then you are hungering and thirsting for righteousness and Jesus says that you will be blessed if you act on it.
But if in your mind you are thinking that maybe you would like to give him a try or maybe come to some sort of terms with him that lean a little more in your favor at first.
Then you ain’t hungry enough yet , , because the only way to be blessed as Jesus says you will, is if you surrender yourself completely to him today holding nothing back.
And for those of us who may be thinking that we have attained this righteousness which Jesus speaks of in Matthew 5:6 we must understand that in the original Greek language in which this text was written:
“The words Hunger and Thirst are in the imperfect tense which means that it is a continues action.” In other words, you must always be hungering and thirsting for righteousness or to be in a right relationship with God.
It’s like saying; You eat today and are satisfied, but tomorrow you are hungry again. Even the expression of the word Righteousness in the original language has great meaning.
In Greek grammar there is this thing called the Genitive case and the Accusative case. The Genitive case is expressed by the word “OF” such as when we say; “I would like a slice of bread.” “Of bread” is in the Genitive case.
Which means that we don’t want the whole loaf. We only want a part of the loaf. A slice.
Or if we ask for a glass “Of water”, you know that I don’t want the whole pitcher, just some of the water.
But in the Accusative case, it means just the opposite. It means that the person wants the whole loaf and all of the water in the pitcher.
So when Jesus said: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
Guess what case the word righteousness was in? In the Accusative!
In other words Jesus is saying: “Blessed is the person who is always hungering and always thirsting to be in a right relationship with God in every area of their life.
Not just on Sunday mornings in church or Wednesday nights in Bible class. But they want their whole life to be pleasing to the Lord.
The word “Satisfied or filled” also has a very special meaning. originally it to fatten an animal for the slaughter. But as time passed it began to be applied to people.
And in the Spanish language we still use it that way, we don’t literally say: “I’m so full I can’t eat another bite.” Rather we say: “Esto buen satisfecho” I am satisfied.
And this is what the word meant when Jesus used it. In other words, if a person hungers and thirsts for righteousness in every area of their life, they will be full or satisfied in such a way that only God can give.
He will fill you with complete satisfaction with that longing which your soul desires. And so, the question remains: “How bad do you want it?”
Do you desire to be in a right relationship with God as much as a starving man wants food or as much as a man dying of thirst wants water?
If I had to translate what Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 where he said: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied.”
I would say it like this: “Those who really want to do the right thing , , will be happy , , If the right thing that they want to do , , Is what will make God happy.”
Would any of you like to do that this morning? If you do, Jesus promised that you would be blessed.
What should yo do right now, today, in order to be made Hungrier and thirstier for righteoueness?
In John 4:10 Jesus said: “If you knew the gift of God , , and who it is that asks you for a drink , , You would have asked him , , And he would have given you living water , , And whoever drinks the water that I give , , will never thirst again.”
Will you accept it from him today? Only he can satisfy your soul.
Come to the Lord, Come to him now as together we stand and together we sing.
