The Hungry Ones

Greeting

Isaiah 2:3 ESV

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

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Grabber

During WWI Britain split its war effort between the fighting with Germany and an expeditionary force marching through the deserts of the Palestine to capture Jerusalem and cripple the Ottoman forces allied with Germany. Major Vivian Gilbert, of General Allenby’s force wrote about the march: The brilliant moon lit up a land that had been stripped and starved for so many years that its very bones seemed to protrude and its hills to rise from sterile plains in all the nakedness of their bald patches—a carcass of a land…. a heavy pall of dust that hung over the long lines of infantry obscured all those save the men immediately to one’s front…our faces became caked with yellow dust, our nostrils hot and burning. We could not relive our thirst…. The day previous we had had half a bottle of drinking water each, the following day our bottles hung empty at our sides. That day turned out to be one of the hottest of the year…. [After three days] our heads ached and our eyes became bloodshot and dim in the blinding glare reflected from the sand. After a time our tongues began to swell so that they seemed to fill the insides of our mouths…our lips commenced to swell; they turned purplish black and burst; sand blew in the open cuts and flies persistently settled on the wounds.... We all knew of the wells Sheria contained, and that unless we captured the place before night fall, many of us would die of thirst. We fought that day as men fight for their lives.

That’s a thirst many of us will never know. We have instant water flowing from a faucet, yet many people are so discerning, they will not drink it unless it is filtered, flavored, or bottled. Yet, those soldiers marched on, not in spite of their thirst, but because the only relief for it was on the other side of a battle. Imagine that kind of thirst.

When Jesus said Matthew 5:6 ““Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” that is the kind of hunger and thirst he had in mind.

Introduction

In the introduction to his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus opened with eight blessings for Kingdom Living rooted in humility. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, and the meek. Once we embrace this smallness of self, we begin to desire help. We look for hope. We long to be lifted up.

That becomes our spiritual hunger, and the food we seek is the righteousness of God.

Let’s give our attention to the Hungry Ones who seek God.

Discussion

The Character: Hunger and Thirst (Matt 5:6)

Matthew 5:6 ESV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Gilbert offered a vivid description of thirst, marching through the desert without water—swollen tongues, cracked lips, bloodshot eyes. Then to face an entrenched enemy in order to get a sip of life.

After the fall in Gen 3, the earth became a hostile environment. Where once no disease was known, plagues appeared. Where once no calamity threatened, natural disasters appeared. Where once no hunger or thirst existed, starvation and dehydration appeared. Hunger, thirst, and fatigue, became the telltale signs of humanness. The more we ignore them, the more urgently they call.

Now Jesus tells us there is a new hallmark for the children of God—a hunger for righteousness. Just as bread and water keep our bodies alive, righteousness keeps our spirits alive. The picture is of “hungering” and “thirsting” people (pres. act. part.), indicates an on-going insatiable desire.

Jesus understood this in the desert Matthew 4:4 “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”” (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3)

Job desired God’s presence and righteousness Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food (necessary food-NKJV).” He desired God more than his human survival!

That is what Jesus is calling us toward. A deep desire for God that outpaces even our desire for food and water. But what is it about God that we should desire? Righteousness.

Seeing our spiritual poverty and mourning over our sinful state, we see God in his infinite holiness and righteousness. Initially traumatic, but then inspiring.

Then we desire to be like God through godliness.

This becomes our only goal—be like him.

The Consequence: Satisfaction

Here is the blessing: We CAN be like God, by receiving his righteousness and following his righteousness.

First, we receive the righteousness God through faith Romans 4:5–8 “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.””

This is salvation—rescue form the peril of our sin.

This is righteousness that we cannot earn, buy, or trade for. It is not in our power to give or demand. It is the gift of God. It is justification from our sins that humble us before God. It is only available because of Christ’s sacrifice.

Second, we follow his righteous nature. This is sanctification. Like Moses who experienced the glory of God in the burning bush, the deliverance of God from Egypt, the guidance from God in the wilderness, the sustenance of God in the mana and water from the rock, then he asked Exodus 33:18 “Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”” He always longed for more of God. He hungered for God.

This is a deep desire for more holiness in our lives. More purity. More compassion. More sympathy. More humility. More love. More self-control. More goodness. It expresses itself in leaving the world further behind with its carnal goals, lustful ways, selfish desires, and living more closely to the example of Christ.

It is the desire for a new life, lived differently, outwardly. A hunger to be more and more like Christ. We stick out in a crowd. Our language is different. Our clothes are different. Our recreation is different, 1 Peter 4:3–4 “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;”

Romans 6:4 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Finally, at the end we gain our satisfaction. It is another of those already/not yet ideas. Yes, we can have our salvation now. We can conform our lives to the image of the Son now through sanctification, but we have not yet obtained the full satisfaction of being eternally in the presence of God. That part is future, but it only comes to those who hunger for God without satisfaction now.

Application

How can you tell if you are hungry for righteousness?

Are you satisfied with where you are spiritually? If so, you are not hungry.

Is there something you pine for daily other than God? House, clothes, job, relationship, family, popularity. If you think any of these will help you to be happy, you are not hungry.

Do you find internal peace is the midst of external turmoil, stress, and trial? If not, you are not hungry.

Do you long to spend time in the Word of God as your necessary food? If not, you are not hungry.

Do you seek Christ and something else? Christ and my sin? Christ and my pride? Christ and this illicit relationship? Christ and my cute clothes? Christ and my materialism? Christ and…Christ and? If so, you are not hungry.

Does it pain you to miss the mark, fall short, or cross the line? If not, you are not hungry.

Are you hungry?

So, What?

Hungering for righteousness is a choice of the spirit to deny the lusts of the flesh. Get hungry.