Life Can be Wonderful 4 – When You Can’t Get Enough
Jesus is talking to people who were no strangers to being hungry or thirsty. I wonder if while he was talking and they were listening if stomachs were growling or someone was a little upset about not bringing enough water for the walk home. He tells them to consider themselves blessed when they hunger and thirst for something. Every day they hungered and thirsted. It was always there in the front of their minds and thoughts. But, this was Jesus, take a thing that really bothers you and turn it into a…well, blessing.
I have friends that eat some things that I would never touch. At our church when we have dinner someone always brings green bean casserole to share. I hear that it is a great dish to eat. I have never hungered for green bean casserole. By never hungered, I mean I would rather go hungry than eat that casserole. That being said, I do know what it is like to hunger for some chicken fried steak. It was a meal we used to eat as kids. When I would walk in the house and smell it cooking I was instantly hungry. I mean it was my favorite thing to eat in the world. I still will order it anytime we are back in Texas. Now, I’ve had some in Michigan but it is just not the same. Not sure if it is just my bias but nowhere is the steak better than in Texas. I understood hunger for something then, and how much I enjoyed eating that chicken fried steak. Problem was that the more I ate the more I wanted. I can remember going to the fridge the next day and eat the steak cold. I was hungry for that steak and would look for it whenever I thought it was around.
Now Jesus was not referring to being hungry for some food, but for a state of being. In Matthew 5:6 Jesus talks about being hungry and thirsty for something. Here is how the New King James Version writes his words: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. We are going to take a look at these words and the thing Jesus said should make us hungry and thirsty.
Hunger is always empowered by what it is hungry for. I’m not even sure if that is the right way to write that sentence. So that word “righteousness” is a big scary word. It is a word that makes you wonder just what is righteous. Is it a couple of guys singing some songs, or in the 80’s was it something really awesome? Crap, it can be a tough word to hang with. It is a word that can leave us hungry even after we eat a meal. You know what I mean, so hungry that you grab something to eat and when you are done you are still hungry. Those things drive me crazy. I thought this is what would satisfy my hunger, but nope guess I have to try something else.
So in all of this, righteousness or justice what does it mean. Here you go a nickel answer to a million dollar question. To be right, for things to be settled, for no debt to be owed is what I think that word means. It is for two to be able to stand together on equal ground or footing. To me is the meaning of righteousness. Problem: how do we get there?
Righteousness no matter how you define it is something that is hard to reach. To be on steady ground with life and God is impossible to do on our own. We are sinners and are always adding to our burden. If we are going to be righteous we need to depend on God to help us get there. The big question is just how good do I have to be for my righteousness to fill me up. When we express our understanding that we can be righteous on our own but that Jesus in his death and resurrection provided a way for his righteousness to be ours then our faith in his gift becomes our righteousness. My hunger to be right can only be satisfied by trusting in Jesus and what he has given me. The chance to say I can’t do this on my own, but with you I can be righteous. That hunger grows and is found in our relationship with Christ as he shares his righteousness with us.
The thing that we need to remember is that hunger is a good thing because it pushes us to keep going. It is that hunger for righteousness that leads us to God and delivers us from our sinful fate. It is in filling that hunger with the righteousness of Jesus that we ourselves are filled with righteousness. So embrace the hunger you feel and let it lead you to a fulfilled life in God.