Kingdom of Heaven Economy: Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Intro

Economy - the wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services

Beatitudes 1-3 = Perspective of God/man relationship. There is a hopeless need.

The poor in spirit recognize their spiritual bankruptcy which leads to mourning their hopeless sin situation. The only response is meekness before God and man that there is no pride in themselves but only humility and lowliness remains.

Beatitude 4 = A genuine desire for righteousness will result in satisfaction.

Pursuing Satisfaction

We have a missing connection in our hearts and desire companionship with God because it is foundational to our existence. We are made to glorify God by living according to His Will. His Will is fellowship between Him and us that begins and ends with glorifying God.

In an effort to find satisfaction for our unsatisfied hearts we pursue our hearts desires. But remember following our hearts desires is what put us in the situation of dissatisfaction. General and aimless pursuit in counterproductive.

Hunger is not satisfied by junk food.

Thirst is not satisfied by Coke.

A simple study of man will prove that happiness is not found in money, popularity, sex, grades, or championships. There are so many people who have as much that his world has to offer yet do not feel satisfied. There is always more needed and desired.

James 1:17 tells us “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Good and perfect gifts are not bad and shouldn’t be avoided. However, they will never provide the satisfaction we seek.

Jesus is not the pathway to a better life of happiness. Happiness is not the destination. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones writes, “There are large numbers of people in the Christian Church who seem to spend the whole of their life seeking something which they can never find, seeking for some kind of happiness and blessedness. They go around from meeting to meeting, and convention to convention, always hoping they are going to get this wonderful thing, this experience that is going to fill them with joy, and flood them with some ecstacy. They see that other people have had it, but they themselves do not seem to get it.… Now that is not surprising. We are not meant to hunger and thirst after experiences; we are not meant to hunger and thirst after blessedness. If we want to be truly happy and blessed we must hunger and thirst after righteousness. We must not put blessedness or happiness or experience in the first place.”

Dissatisfaction is only a sign of a problem not a problem itself.

Warning lights in a car are only showing another problem. The goal is not to get the light to turn off but to correct the problem is symbolizes.

A bandaid over a broken arm makes the problem worse.

Jesus doesn’t say “Those who hunger and thirst will be filled,” but rather, “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.”

What is Righteousness?

Righteousness is a high standard of a heart condition

Matthew 5:20 “20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:48 “48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

God and man were in perfect fellowship before sin. Man was created to walk with God in unity and companionship. Sin severed the connection between God and man therefore the separation of holy and unholy, righteous and unrighteous was started. This never changed the original purpose of man but only changed the born heart condition. The purpose of man was and still is to be in perfect harmony with God.

Righteousness/Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is not doing but being

Matthew 7:21-23 “21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

“Didn’t we?” vs. “Didn’t He?”

Finding Righteousness

We have a God-shaped hole in our hearts that cannot be filled by anything else.

St. Augustine spoke of this hunger when he wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” (Confessions, I, 1)

Most all people have a loose or vague desire to please God or at least do good things. Even a murderer has some level of mercy and a thief has some level of honesty.

Our desire for righteousness can’t be for a little goodness but must takeover our whole being. Very few of us have experienced true hunger or thirst. Yes there have been times we are very hungry or have moments of extreme thirst but nothing that is threatening to our health. Jesus’ message of hunger and thirst would have been very real and personal to the people in his context. There is a desperation that Jesus implies when he says “hunger and thirst”.

Our desire for righteousness should lead us to action. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Luke 15:11-32 The prodigal son looked for satisfaction but ended up eating with pigs. In his desperation he did what no son would want to do and returned to his father. To his amazement he found a waiting father, a mended relationship, and a welcome home party when he humbly returned to his father. His return was not intended to be as a son but a servant. His father wouldn’t have a servant but a son, one found righteous in his house. Our hunger and thirst for righteousness should but based upon our hopeless situation and a willing, waiting Savior.

The opposite of love is not hate but indifference. When we live a dull and apathetic life in Christ it shows a lack of love for Jesus. His righteousness means little to us because we do not have a proper perspective our relationship with God.