Sermon 04 Blessed Hunger and thirst

Transcription

1 1 Beatitudes 04: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness INTRODUCTION (270) Ludwig Feuerbach wrote in 1863, man is what he eats. When Feuerbach wrote this, he wasn t thinking of dieting or the plethora of cooking and food programs on TV at the moment or the bulimia riddle world of ramp models. There is a fair amount of physiological truth to the statement: junk verse healthy food; too much versus enough will affect your health! But spiritually it is even more true: if you fill the eyes of your heart with a diet of sensuality, fantasy, materialism, and power plays it will direct your life. Your appetite and desires determine your diet and the shape of your life. Many years ago Jesus said that a full, peace-filled, stable, balanced life (BLESSED) is characterised by eight traits. We are looking at the fourth of them this morning: READ Matt 5:5. Jesus says that a proper menu and the right diet lead to a life that is filled the word is satisfied. What a wonderful promise in a world where we are told all you need is just a little bit more... HUNGRY AND THIRSTY An uncommon experience are among our strongest human impulses. Hungry people get hangry the irritable state of being hungry. For most of us it is not a common experience to be hungry and thirsty: we have food in the fridge and water in the tap. But for the average Palestinian he was always a couple of weeks away from starvation, but for us it is a nonthreatening thought. When you read hunger and thirst don t think, Gee, I really could do with a lovely afternoon cup of tea and a biscuit would be great! It is not the Sunday evening question after a huge-family-lunchtime-braai, are you hungry. At least not the hunger that Jesus us talking about! Think: desperation, starvation, and life threatening a terrible picture of the most dire human need. Echoed in the Psalms Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? This is not Bambi! David is being pursued by his enemies like a deer is chased by a predator desperate to stop, drink and rest

2 2 Psalm 63:1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. The desert is dry and parch land life is like a desert and God is the water that keeps the soul hydrated Psalm 107:4-9 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Something that I am learning, that I did not know about the beatitudes, is their foundation in the Psalms! RIGHTEOUSNESS John Stott mentions three ways in which righteousness could be used here in this passage. When you look at the passage it becomes clear which one fits. Justification (union) This is righteous in the legal sense. It is the once-off act by which God accepts the death of Christ on our behalf as completely covering over our sins forever. We are declared not guilty in God s sight forever. This is our unbreakable union with Christ: we have been united to him in his life, death and resurrection. We were a destitute, in-debt sinners and Jesus righteousness is put into our account to we have a forever-positive balance. We are wholly acceptable to God. This is the church parking lot righteousness And this is the wonder of the gospel. As important as this righteousness is, it is not what Jesus is referring to in this beatitude. Sanctification (communion) Jesus is talking about what Stott calls moral and social righteousness; changes us personally and changes our relationship with society. If the first kind of righteousness is union with Christ this righteousness is communion with Christ. The best way to understand it is in the context of marriage (which is the biblical picture we are given). I am married to Joanne. We have a union. This union establishes the relationship I cannot get more married (and this is where it would break down because God never intended for divorce) or less married. If I am a rotten husband, if I

3 3 neglect to spend time with her, listen to her, care for her needs, give her gifts, or support her dreams then our relationship will not flourish. The legal union may still be in place but there will be no life-giving communion of lives and souls. And, the benefits that are meant to be experienced out of the union will be dismal. If I was like this I would not only be hurting my wife, but I would also be hurting myself. A healthy marriage is one where you are looking for ways to love your spouse deeper and better. You never stop working on improving your relationship! A healthy Christian is one who, no matter how much of God she has, desires more: she is satisfied, but never satisfied; filled but never full; content but never complacent. Later on, in this chapter (5:20) Jesus tells the disciples that their righteousness needs to surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. By this he is not talking about external conformity to a set of rules and laws, but an inner righteousness of heart, mind and motive. And then in verse 21 he launches into 7 different ways the Pharisees and teachers of the law keep the letter of the law but miss the heart of God: murder versus not speaking in anger but in peace; adultery versus not stealing lust-filled looks; divorces versus honouring marriage commitments; oaths versus being a person of your word; seeking revenge versus turning the other cheek loving your friends versus loving your enemies. (we ll come back to this at the end). FILLED This is the test of a vital relationship with Christ: a healthy, enthusiastic spiritual appetite. Christian: looking at the wrong menu We started with a saying so let s end with one: you eat with your eyes = that which is visually appealing is more appetising and desirable. It is the reason that food magazines have pictures. What use is the picture? You page through the magazine, first you see the appealing dish, then you scan the recipe, then you buy the ingredients, make it and eat it (and then sometimes it looked better than it tasted!)

4 4 As with our first saying, what is true physiologically is more true spiritually. My concern is that, just as you eat with your physical eyes, you desire with you mental/imagination eyes (the eyes of your heart). It is possible to have this beatitude backfire because we are looking at the wrong menu - filling our hearts and minds and desires and passions with the hopes of worldly satisfaction in money, experience, possessions, sex and sensuality. It s like looking at the steak menu and thinking you re going end up ordering a salad (I know that s a stereo type). How deeply convinced are we that God can satisfy and will fill? When sinful desires and sinful pleasures dominate your life, you go from high to high looking (longing) for the next momentary pleasure. Why? Because sins pleasures are fleeting never lasting. But more foundationally you are robbed of the enjoyment of living in the moment in the normal and everyday parts of life. There is so much pleasure in life that we miss when we are looking for sin to bring us satisfaction. [tarzan swinging from vine to vine versus walking in the forest floor and enjoying the forest. I am saying to you as a Christian, before you will start to hunger and thirst for RIGHTeousness you have to put the RIGHT things before the eyes of your heart. Three things: See the empty promises of satisfaction in worldly pursuits for what they are Look to God and his word for the true and full way in which he will satisfy you in this area Get that menu in front of your eyes and stop looking elsewhere: don t even stick the takeaway menu to the side of your fridge. Sceptic: other things that fill 1 Perhaps you are here this morning and this passage resonates with you: your soul is hungry and your heart is thirsty. The steady diet that you have been feeding you still leaves you empty: scenic vacations, accomplishments of creativity, achievements at work, closing huge deals, sexual exploits, sports excellence, hallucinogenic drugs, escapism of alcohol, a magazine cover or ripped gym body, denialist attempts to control your passions, and acquiring new toys and trinkets. because you wake up in the real world then listen to the Psalmist: 1 Follow some of John Piper,

5 5 Isaiah 55:1-3b "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. If everything turns to ash in your hands, the thrill is fun but not lasting, and the escape is temporary then perhaps the words of C.S. Lewis are truer than you realise: If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Jesus has something to say about the insatiable hunger of the human heart, and about the relentless thirst of our soul. John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. CONCLUSION It is not too late! It is never too late. Are you going to eat tomorrow? Then plan to eat and drink from the righteousness menu.

6 6 QUESTIONS 1. You are what you eat how is that true in a physiological and spiritual sense? 2. Our normal use of hungry and thirsty is very different from what Jesus means. How should we understand it? Read Psalm 42:1, 63:1, 107: Grant mentioned three (two) different types of righteousness: justification (union) and sanctification (communion). Can you explain these two? What are the differences? 4. Read Matt 5:20. What did Jesus mean here? How does Jesus elaborate on it in the rest of chapter 5? 5. Grant suggested that too many Christians may want to desire righteousness, but they are looking at the wrong menu. What did he mean? Do you agree? 6. Discuss the spiritual meaning of: you eat with your eyes 7. What is the right menu and how do we start looking at this menu? 8. Grant said a test of our Christianity is a healthy, enthusiastic spiritual appetite. Do you agree? If this is a fair test, how are you doing as a Christian? 9. Read Isaiah 55:1-3b and John 6:35. Use it to lead your group into prayer.