Hungering for righteousness

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

Brothers & sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, Every person has a deep hunger and thirst.

First there is the desire for the needs of the body. Most people will do nearly anything to sate the pangs of hunger – think of a hungry baby. Then people will drink almost anything to sate their thirst. Those who have watched Bear Grylls documentaries on survival may well have been grossed out by some of the things he did to sate his thirst and hunger.

The Psalmist speaks of the thirst of the deer. He compares that thirst with His desire for God. A Christians’ ultimate desire is markedly different from that of the non Christian. Those who foolishly say, ‘There is no God!’ spend their life seeking to sate their hunger and thirst scheming and dreaming for things that this world can offer which seem attractive but in the end result in death and destruction.

Jesus said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you… The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” To live out the teaching of Jesus in the beatitudes is possible only as the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see the one true living God as he truly is. He opens our hearts to know the Heavenly Fathers’ love in sending His one and only son to be our righteousness.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. God in His grace lifts up those who humble themselves.

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. The Christian mourns over His sin and unrighteousness and calls to God for mercy. God comforts the repentant sinner with forgiveness. The Christian also mourns over the state of this broken world and the curse but God comforts him with the assurance that He will make all things new.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. The Christian is one who is meek – willing to turn the other cheek. He has a tender heart, not holding grudges. His attitude has been changed from that of self interest and pride, willing to suffer personal loss for God’s sake. Now Jesus continues – building on the foundation already laid to say,

Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied. We live in an age where most people expend their energy to sate their hunger for happiness – blessedness. Today people want their desire for happiness met NOW! Instantly! If we are honest this often is the object of our thirst. We often fall into the trap of the Evil one – making the same mistake as in the Garden of Eden – Selfishness is our objective wanting to be ‘master of our own destiny’. Then doing whatever it takes to get what we want. This can also be our motivation in our quest for God. Going here and there, doing all sorts of things to get that spiritual high – the cloud nine experience. Going to listen to this speaker or that preacher with the motivation to satisfy our desire for blessedness – happiness – searching for what our itching ears long to hear.

Jesus says, the way to blessedness, is to hunger & thirst for righteousness. That is to hunger to be right with God.

This begins with justification by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. But having been justified, we long for, thirst for, hunger for sanctification, to holy as God is holy. That is to be obedient to God, honouring Him above all. Jesus taught His disciples in the Lord’s prayer,

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The righteous seek to not only pray, but do as they pray. So Jesus in the beatitudes challenges us to examine our hearts and consider the out-come of our lives.

“What is it that we hunger & thirst for above all?”

In Amos 8:11 we read that God would send a famine on the land – not for bread or water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord. The reason: that they might seek after God. That they might recognise their need and turn to Him.

Jesus is the bread of life.
Jesus is the living water.

Jesus declared, “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Ps. 42:1,2
O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Ps. 63:1

The object of the hunger & thirst that Jesus speaks of is RIGHTEOUSNESS – to be right with God. Righteousness is found 7 times in Matthew. Matt. 3:15; 5:6, 10, 20; 6:1, 33; 21:32

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. But John tried to deter him, saying,
“I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:10

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:20

“Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.
If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven… Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you… And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt. 6:33

For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Matt. 21:32

‘Righteousness’ is often a synonym for salvation. Righteousness in this beatitude is something received from God – not something which is attained.

They shall be satisfied / filled – God will satisfy them.

Those who earnestly desire the Kingdom to come & God’s will to be done and who are willing to submit themselves to be available to God so His purposes are realised ARE BLESSED.

Consider Ps. 107
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say this–those he
redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands, from east and west,
from north and south. {Hebrew north and the sea}
Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way
to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed
away.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and
he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way to a city where they
could settle.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing
love and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Hunger & thirst may refer to material needs, but most definitely goes beyond – the victims of the injustice of men hunger & thirst for God’s Justice. Consider the saints who are before the Throne of God praying – How long Lord? God’s people long for the day that is coming when they will cry out with a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.” Rev.7:10
The day is coming when, “never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the centre of the throne shall be their shepherd;
He shall lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.“
Rev.7:16,17.

When God reveals His grace, mercy, and freely bestows His love on people, they have a blessing or happiness that is out of this world.

As the Scriptures say, Happy or blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. As for me it is good to be near unto God. That is to be filled with the sense of blessedness that comes from fellowship with Him who is higher and greater than us. The source of every blessing is found in a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The triune God graciously proclaims to His people,
“I am your God and you are my people.”

Hence we can say, Blessed are poor in spirit for God’s grace is sufficient for them.
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied.
How does this hunger & thirst come into our being?
By looking at God.
Look at the person of Jesus.
Seeing yourself and the world through God’s eyes.
The saints have a freedom in the Lord which the world cannot take away.

The world cannot take away the contentment and promise and faith and trust and hope which the blessed/happy believer enjoys.

We have freedom to enjoy with thankfulness all God’s good gifts and look forward to the day when God will be all in all. We know in part, then we shall know fully even as we are fully known.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I Cor. 13

Amen.