Beatitudes: Hunger and Thirst

How do you act when you are hungry or Thirsty? Does it affect the way you treat others?

This is a truly difficult one i think for us to grasp or understand as americans. Not many of us have expereinced true hunger. I think about the last time I fasted and how painful it was. It was something that was very difficult in my spiritual walk. I felt discomfort the first day but it wasn’t true hunger. It was day two when the real pain started to settle in. The longing for food. It is hard though when we don’t experience it often. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t see its affects we do after all have the term hangry for a reason.

Matthew 5:1–12 NIV

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:6 NIV

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

What does Righteousness mean to you?

When we think of righteousness we think of a quality, state, or characteristic of being or doing what is right. Or in other words we often think of it as simply doing what is right.

The problem that comes with that is that many different people have a view of what is right.

This has resulted in some very different views and at times hard views on what is right and wrong. That led me to this question.

What are some “Rules” you were expected to follow in the name of being Righteous?

Legalism is a harsh reality that has been a constant struggle within the church. We face a stance of trying to do what is right and to follow after God but in many ways the problem with a legalistic attitude is that it becomes a sin unto itself. It becomes a matter of pride.

This made me think to shift my attitude about how we think of righteousness as more than just doing what is right to how we live in relationship with God.

Can righteousness only be having a right relationship with God?

It is not as simple as a yes no answer here. That is the problem that we face today. Many people want to tell us that if I have a good relationship with God that Everything will be as it should be. That is all I need. Is I need to feel right with God. Yet, they will ignore some of the most clear moral standards that we can find in the BIble. There are things in the BIble that are black and white. They are things that we must maintain.

It isn’t just about having a good relationship with God and it isn’t just about following some set of rules it is more nuanced than that. I like how Paul addresses this.

Philippians 3:4–14 NIV

4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s focus is not jsut on all the right things that he has done in his life. He has a lot of the right boxes checked after all that would make him Righteous. IT is about how he lives his life. It is lived in faith and is centered on Christ. This does mean that he pursues living a path that is toward Christ and i guarantee it also means that he holds himself and others to a moral standard that he maintains. Yet, he is not so arrogant to think that he has it all figured out. He is thirsting for more he is pressing toward the goal.