Shift Week 4
THE STARVING THAT SATISFIES
MATTHEW 5:6, John 6:35
INTRODUCTION: (:33 intro) {Play 45 seconds of “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”}
Every time I hear that song by I think, “Wow, our music in the 60’s was so much deeper than the music today...” Okay, maybe not but I do believe that the reason that song was a hit was that the words expressed accurately the condition of our culture and is still relevant for our society today. Satisfaction seems to be so illusive for us. When I talk to people I hear it said in terms like: "My life seems so empty." "I’ve got so much and yet something seems to be missing." "I’m bored with living." "Is this all there is?" Mother Theresa once said, "People in India are physically hungry. People in America are spiritually hungry. That makes people in India better off, because American’s don’t realize why they are starving." And there continues to be this gnawing inside for contentment, for a filling that really satisfies. So many people, including those who claim to be Christians, still echo Mick Jagger’s words.. "I can’t get no.. satisfaction." Why? Well, God says the reason we suffer from dissatisfaction in life is because we are looking for it in the wrong places.
In this 4th beatitude, Jesus continues the progression that will build a happy heart. Remember, these are not just individual pithy proverbs. These "Be-happy attitudes," come in sequence and provide the keys to genuine joy. Once we have recognized our need, (poor in spirit) have repented of our sin, (mourn) and released our lives over to his control, (meek) we are then, and only then, ready to seek genuine and lasting satisfaction. The first three beatitudes taught us the need for depending completely on God, that we had to empty ourselves. Now, Jesus says, "Now that you’re empty, here’s the starving that satisfies; here’s how to be filled:" "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled or satisfied." Now, a correct and deep understanding of what Jesus’ is saying here is essential, so let’s dig in....
I. THE DEFINITION:
What exactly does Jesus mean when He says, "hunger and thirst?" You know, most American’s don’t know what it means to be really hungry. We think hunger is a "Big-Mac Attack," or thirsty is defined in what people will experience to do the “Dew.” But we don’t know what it means to be without food or drink for days on end, and to long for just the tiniest bit of nourishment. But that’s the kind of hunger & thirst that Jesus is referring to. The sentence structure here denotes an abnormal desire for food and drink. The words He uses are the strongest that can be employed to describe hunger and thirst. And you know what? When we are hungry and thirsty in the way Jesus describes, it changes our perspective.
One of the stories told about the sinking of the Titanic is about a wealthy woman who was about to get on a life boat and said, "Wait, I forgot something!" The mate told her she had 3 minutes. She ran back to her state room, past the money strewn about in the casino, past the antique glassware in the dining room, she reached over her diamonds and gold jewelry on her dresser and ran back to the life boat clutching four oranges that she had saved from lunch. That’s the kind of longing Jesus is talking about. The kind that changes our perspective and position. Our longing for righteousness is to be as a starving person desires food, and as someone perishing for drink. This is not a casual desire, or stomach "growlings" between meals, this hunger and thirst is the kind that comes from desperation.
And that "something" that we are to be desperate for, is righteousness. What exactly is Jesus talking about? What does he mean by “righteousness?” Well, the word Jesus uses here can have a couple of meanings, one I would think is a secondary definition and one a primary one but both have relevance.
The first definition for this word righteousness would mean right living or living rightly. In the Greek culture the word Jesus used here, described a man who constantly observed his duty to the gods and to men. It was a word of passion... passion to do the right thing no matter what. It describes someone who will take great risk, even do what some might think wrong or crazy in order to keep the wrong thing from happening.
{Video Clip: National Treasure - Start - Chp. 3 0:24:11 - End - Chp. 3 0:28:03 = 3:52}
Is stealing the right thing? No. But what if that was the only way, like in our clip, to keep something from being stolen by the wrong person for the wrong purpose? Is it stealing then or is it protecting? That’s the kind of passion Jesus is talking about here. In it’s simplest sense, righteousness is absolute obedience. We are to hunger and thirst for our lives to be in line with God’s design no matter what. James 4:17 tells us to know the right thing to do and not do it is just as wrong as doing the incorrect act. So, here righteousness means doing right living or doing the right thing.
The second and I think primary meaning of "righteousness" is one that we do not think about often and it is this meaning that we so desperately need. For "dikaisoune" the Greek work for righteousness that Jesus uses here has to do with more than doing the right thing but rather emphasizes having a right relationship. We are to be intensely longing for a relationship with Him. The verb form of the word means "to justify." It means to recognize that God has justified us, or accepted us into a relationship with Him even though we do not deserve such a relationship. This new relationship was offered at the cross, where Jesus sacrificed himself for our sin. You see as long as you see your relationship to Jesus just as a commitment of obligation, as just doing the right thing, living a life of duty, you will never find the satisfaction that is promised here. Jesus doesn’t just want right living, He desires a right relationship. The problem with only looking at doing the right thing is when we fail we see God as a stern law giver. And as long as we think of God as the stern law giver, there can be nothing between us but distance, estrangement and fear. But once we know God is ready to accept us and to love us and to forgive us just as we are, the distance is replaced by intimacy, the estrangement by love and the fear by grateful trust. Do you long, passionately, desperately, intensely for a right relationship with Jesus? Yes, flowing out of a right relationship is living rightly. But that becomes cold commitment and obligatory obedience if we do not have a real and vibrant relationship with Him.
And God has always, always emphasized intimacy with him over just obedience to rules. For example. He says, in John 14:15- "If you love me (notice the relationship factor?) If you love me, obey My commandments."(NLT) Eph.2:8-9: "For we are saved by grace, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast." Sometimes people stop there but vs:10 is just as important. "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.." See the relationship factor? He saved us by His grace, and we now serve Him, not purely out of cold commitment or obligatory obedience but because we are so grateful to have been saved by the sacrifice of Jesus. Please remember.. Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship. And Jesus is saying, “If you want to be satisfied, if you want to be filled, then passionately, intensely, above anything else, long for a right relationship with Me."
II. APPLICATION:
Now, you say, "Well, that makes sense, but how can I know if I am really hungering for righteousness the way Jesus says?” Is there some measurement? Well, it’s really a pretty simple evaluation- Just measure yourself by your longings. What are you passionate about? Please don’t misunderstand. There are times you will long for the wrong things, you won’t always do everything right. But Jesus is saying here that an increased longing for him and a decreased longing for the wrong things is what will bring us to the point where we’re being fille. You see our walk with Jesus is not measured by perfection but by progress. Notice Jesus doesn’t say, "Blessed are those who always live right," but rather, "who long rightly." Your relationship with Him should be a growing one. You ought to be able to look back, say, 5 years ago, and say, "I’m closer to Him now than I was then." "I’m finding greater contentment in my life now than when I didn’t know Jesus.” If you can’t say that, maybe you are looking in the wrong places for your satisfaction.
There are a lot of things that will not satisfy that people long for. We could talk about the usual culprits such as power, pleasure and prestige but let me just briefly mention two that I think are the most relevant in our culture today.
The first wrong place where I think we look for satisfaction is in performance. Some of you here labor under the impression that happiness is based on achievement. But those before you that thought that will tell you different. Because they’ve grown old and gray and discovered that all their great performance lies in the dust of loneliness. They have no meaningful relationships, they have lost love and have discovered that with time they themselves have becomes expendable to the company. Ecc. 2:23- "What does a man get for all his hard work? Days full of sorrow and grief, and restless nights." (LB) Here’s one to put on your desk to keep a proper prospective on performance. Read it with me- "You work for something with all your skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn’t had to work for it." (Ecc 2:21 TEV) You see there is this myth that "success produces satisfaction," and that is just not true. There are a great many "successful" people in the worlds eyes.. and yet, they are continually restless, discontented and unsatisfied.
Lasting satisfaction is not found in performance, nor is it found in another false front today, possessions. Today there are more products than ever before and they all say, "Satisfaction" _____ what? "Guaranteed." Do you know that according to the patents bureau that there are twice as many products on the market today then there were 10 years ago? Are people twice as happy? No. Ecc. 5:10- "He who loves money shall never have enough. The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness!”(LB) We may not say it but for many of us deep down we believe that when I get enough money, my problems will be solved. Those that are rich will tell you that’s not true... they’ve got the money and are still not completely satisfied.
III. THE SATISFACTION:
So, what is the key to happiness? The Bible tells us: Psalms 37:4- "seek your happiness in the Lord..." (TEV) You see, this piece of the puzzle is gained when we stop looking for happiness and start looking for Him. Happiness is not found, it’s given. The Bible repeatedly teaches us that happiness is a bi-product of seeking God. One of the great paradoxes of life is this: If you make happiness your goal, you’ll miss it. Genuine joy isn’t found by looking for it, it’s given to you when you find God.
And notice that Jesus promises lasting satisfaction. The word He uses here for filled- "chortazesthai" means to be stuffed to the point of contentment. It’s that word that would describe us when we say, “I can’t eat another bite.”So, this is no temporary filling, Jesus is promising complete and full satisfaction. And yet there are so many people, some right in this room, that are discontented with life, who are not satisfied. I think, for some, that’s due to the fact that they’ve never heard about the radical search that Jesus gives here. For some, who have heard it, they just don’t know how to seek Him So, let’s close today by suggesting three things to do in order to hunger and thirst after Him... so we can be satisfied.
(1) Recognize your real need. The first thing you need to do is recognize your real hunger. What is it that is missing in my life? Please listen. God made us as spiritual beings. We were made in His image. We were created to love Him and know Him and nothing, absolutely nothing will fill that gap. Not people, not possessions, not prestige... nothing except knowing Him. You must recognize that you are a spiritual being and hunger for God. In fact the Bible teaches that God made hungering for him a necessity of life. Duet. 8:3 is an interesting verse. The children of Israel had finally arrived in their land, Israel. Moses tells them, as they are about to enter, not to forget the Lord now that they are home and comfortable. And then he says: "He (God) humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna... He did it to help you realize that food isn’t everything, and that real life comes by obeying every command of God."(LB) Here’s the story behind that verse. The Jews were led by Moses out of Egypt where they had been slaves for 400 years. He led them toward Israel which meant that had to traverse the desert. When they finally arrived at the doorstep of their new land they saw such obstacles (mighty cities, great armies) that they stopped trusting God who had provided for them the entire trip and they said they wouldn’t go in. So, God said, “You know what? If you won’t trust me after all I’ve done then maybe you’re not ready for my reward. This untrusting generation is not going to enter the Promise land.” Because of their lack of trust they had to turn around and wander in the wilderness for 40 years! And folks, there are no "Micky D’s" or "Taco Bells" in the desert and they got hungry. So God provided a wafer like bread, called manna, to feed them. But what I want you to notice is that verse said, God caused them to get hungry! God allowed them to get hungry so that they would recognize their real need- that they needed Him. God let’s you get hungry too! When someone says to you, "I’m really dissatisfied with my life," " I’m really miserable." You should say, "Good! Congratulations! Now you can find out what God has been wanting you to know all along.. you need Him more than anyone or anything else! God is saying, "Satisfaction is not in performance, pleasure, possessions, or people, it’s in me! I made you with a spiritual vacuum and unless you fill it with Me you will always be hungry."
2) Stop eating spiritual junk food. Stop spending your energies and wasting the majority of your time on things of this world that really don’t satisfy. Isa. 55:2- "Why do you spend money on what cannot nourish you and your wages on what does not satisfy? Consume what is good for your soul!"(GW) In other words, put more energy making your relationship with Jesus good and less on the things of this world. Let me ask you some tough priority questions. What do you read the most? What do you watch the most? Who are those that you go to for advice? If your answers to those questions are not Godly influences, than you’ve got problems. Now, no one is saying to become so spiritually minded that you are no earthly good. But what is the comparison between the worldly influences you are digesting and the Godly influences? In Australia there is the Nardoo plant, an edible clover fern that’s made into cakes. The nardoo is very tasty & sweet but it contains no vitamins, no nutrients, no carbohydrates.. people who eat it like it and feel filled, but eventually those who depend on it, die. The same is true here. No one is saying you have to give up the things you enjoy (as long as they are not destructive or hurtful to others) but just make sure you’re giving proper priority to things like reading the Bible, talking to those who know God well, serving Him, sharing with others, etc. If you will begin to fill your life with positive spiritual things, you know what you’ll find? The more you get spiritually, the more you want. You’ll start longing for it. Stop only eating spiritual junk food, things that fill, but won’t satisfy.
How do you experience satisfaction? (1) Recognize your need.(2) Stop eating spiritual junk food and (3)Start looking to Christ for your satisfaction. Jesus says in Jn 6:35 - "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." That’s what I call wonder bread and wonder water too! Jesus is saying, "I possess the ingredients of genuine life, what you need is me."
You see, there are actually three stages of spiritual hunger. (1) I might want God in my life. This is the stage of the seeker, where you are curious, or you’ve been in the church and you believe in God but your still relying on yourself primarily. You haven’t got to stage (2)- I need God in my life. When you’re here you are poor in spirit- you know that you are not good. You mourn over all the times you’ve broken Jesus’ heart and you are ready, in meekness, to surrender to Him. I’ll be real frank with you. Some of you are not at this 4th beatitude, hungering and thirsting for him, because you’ve never come to grips with the first three. It’s time for many of us to say: “Today is the day I stop calling the shots, today is the day I stop filling my life with all the wrong things,” fall on my face and just say, “God I need You in my life!”
(3) Then finally, you come to the realization, I’ve got to have God in my life. “I cannot survive without Him. I’m on the road to misery and death without God. ” There are a number of people who have been broken by a tragedy or adversity and finally come to the point where they understand their true need. But doesn’t it make sense to grasp that truth without the horrible accident or the devastating diagnosis or the trashed relationships? Please understand. You’re emptiness will not be filled by booze, drugs, money, pleasure or anything else. But Jesus can answer everyone of them. Are you miserable? Are you discontent? Unhappy? Congratulations! God’s brought on that hunger & satisfaction is just a decision away.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, (after Him) for they will be filled(completely satisfied.)"
PRAY
{All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version unless noted otherwise}
