A Big Appetite
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Thomas Costain's book The Three Edwards describes the life of Raynald III, a 14th-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means fat.
After a violent quarrel, Raynald's younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald, but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not have been difficult for most people, since the room had several windows and a door of near-normal size—none of which were locked or barred. The problem was Raynald's size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.
But Edward knew his older brother. Each day he sent a variety of delicious foods into the room. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years and wasn't released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined that he died within a year—a prisoner of his own appetite.
Appetites are truly a reality. It affects us all to many differing degrees and many different ways. But two specific appetites are just so strong that they cannot be ignored. Hunger and thirst. Its is really hard to ignore hunger. In my opinion, even harder to ignore thirst. It is a driving force and in a way our true power and motivation for our ethics. Our desires, our passions, and our appetites is what causes us to move. Even the idea of the lesser of two evils motivates.
I’m in college watching the broncos in the superbowl, but I neglected to do laundry for the last 2 months. I have no dirty clothes to wear again. All I have left is nasty clothes. I have a hot date after the game. What will I do… miss some of the game to wash clothes or risk smelling bad on your date. The ultimate desire is what is gonna win out. We are all prisoners to our appetites.
Appetites and or desires is a driving force that are difficult to ignore. It is very very natural for us to have them. Essential. What would happen if we never eat? What would happen if we never drink? Our bodies even react negatively to the deprivation of food and water. Headaches, dizziness, abdominal pain, fainting, sickness and so on. It can almost be described as detoxing.
And here is where the rubber meets the road. The problem is not the appetite or the desires. The problem is what the appetites and the desires are for. Where is our prison? What is it that we are chained to? What is it that we are pining for. What are we hungry for? What are we thirsty for? What are we willing to die for? Because deer are famous for being an animal that cannot ignore its thirst it will put itself in risky situations to become satisfied. So… As the deer longs for streams of water so my soul longs after…? Lets take a look.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
Hunger and Thirst
Righteousness
Satisfaction
The first thing we will look at today is the importance of the use of the metaphor of hunger and thirst. Second, we will look at what it is that a Christian yearns for in life. Righteousness. Finally, we will see the incredible beauty of the satisfaction of that is promised now and forever.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world causes us to desire the things and patterns of this world, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the light of the scriptures that will cause us to long for God and the righteousness God in life now and forevermore.
I. Hunger and Thirst
-Starvation.
A. Again, there is something I do not want us to miss concerning this beatitude. Much of the conversation and study concerning this beatitude is primarily focused on the application and understanding of how we are to understand righteousness. This is not actually wrong nor misplaced. However, I think we should spend some energy seeing how and why the metaphors of hunger and thirst is vital.
B. We intellectually comprehend that we are poor in Spirit, we emotionally respond to this truth by mourning, this reality influences our character to meekness, and now we see that our appetites are directed to what is right. Even as christians we see that Christ did not rip from us desires. We still have desires but they are redirected. And the use of hunger and thirst as metaphoric are not foreign to the scriptures…namely thirst.
O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
C. What is being described here is a need, a desire, an appetite that MUST be met. It cannot be ignored without consequences. It is to be pursued to the point of satisfaction. So what is it that we desire in our lives that MUST be satisfied? For a Christian, it MUST be righteousness. We are starving for righteousness.
II. Righteousness
-What do we long for?
A. It is a MUST and the must, must be righteousness. Now there are ongoing discourses, there are endless discourses as to how we are to understand righteousness. Is it general? Is it specific? And here is where it becomes vivid. Most commentators see Matthew Dikiosune is understood simply as a moral standard.
B. To make it a bit more plain. The people that is described here are those who have an appetite and desire to be righteous, to do what is right, and to see others in other places be and do what is right in accordance with what scripture calls righteous.
C. What is it that the starving will do for food? What is it that the thirsty will do for drink? What is it that we will do to be and do what is right and just? Is it righteousness that we long for? Is it justice that we thirst for? If we really are a Christian, not only do we intellectually realize that we are poor in spirit, that we respond to it by mourning, identify meekness as our response to judgement, and now we hunger and thirst to be and do what is right and just and see right and just done by others in other places.
D. If this is a desire that must be satisfied. For a citizen of the kingdom of heaven it must be satisfied by what is righteous. Is this what we see today?
-Dr. Kent Hugues writes, “You are what you eat” is not as simple as it may first appear. It is profoundly esoteric. The tragedy of our time is that the world is hungering and thirsting after sex and wealth, violence and excitement. The church’s tragedy is that many in her are seeking the same thing—and their diets are making them as empty and pathetic as the world.
E. Yes Christian today we are in the world be we are not nor cannot be a part of the world. We do not nor cannot desire the same things.
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.
“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
F. And reason we cannot desire the same things. We have new hearts.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
G. And so it now remains…
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
III. Satisfaction
-We will be satisfied.
A. But the hunger and thirst for righteous is not natural for us. We are all by nature children of wrath. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. And the wrath of God remains and it is real, its coming and it will be terrible.
B. But we can be saved from it. There can be satisfaction for us today. There is salvation today. This is the gospel of Jesus. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised from the dead according to the scriptures. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.
C. And the promises continue. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.
D. And now by the power of the Holy Spirit we are now righteous. By the power of the Spirit we can do what is righteous. Because of our new heart, we desire to be and do what is righteous.
E. And because the Holy Spirit empowers us to proclaim the gospel and make fishers of men, other people will become saved empowered by the Holy Spirit to be righteous and do what is righteous and we will see justice and righteousness by others everywhere. Rejoice today. We will be satisfied.
