Hungry in the Desert - Part Two

Part Two:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied."
Luke 6:21 (ESV)

While teaching the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to hunger. This is not a physical hunger, but a strong desire for righteousness that is best described by the gnawing ache we have for something without which we cannot live.

The beatitudes are a list of wonderful promises. The poor, the starving, the destitute will have their longings fulfilled in the kingdom that Jesus is inaugurating. There is a promise of satisfaction.

There is a battle between different Christian traditions as to whether the beatitudes refer to material satisfaction (i.e. justice for the poor and oppressed) or to spiritual satisfaction (i.e. for the spiritually poor and needy). I don’t know if we have to choose between the “freedom for the oppressed” interpretation (which usually relies on Luke’s account of the beatitudes) and the “saving our souls” interpretation. With our “now but not yet” kingdom of God, I think there is room for both meanings.

Some have also suggested that the desire for righteousness, or justice, is limited to the poor and oppressed who do not have the power to demand (political, economic) justice in this world. I think, however, that Jesus is referring to our desire for spiritual righteousness, which is also definitely beyond our power to obtain by ourselves. But is that righteousness, which can only come from God, the righteousness of being justified by faith (i.e. the rightness of God received, even though we are not perfect) or is it the righteousness of a totally transformed, sanctified life? I don’t think anyone who has been truly justified can be satisfied by anything less than total transformation – of themselves and of the world.

And this leads us to think about what is meant by righteousness. It is more than just fulfilling the legal code, the Law, as the Pharisees aimed to do. It is more than fulfilling the moral code. Righteousness is about right-relatedness. It is about being in right relationship with God and with each other. To hunger and thirst after righteousness, then, is to hunger and thirst for a right relationship with God – not just to begin the relationship, but a “whole of life” relationship. It is also about being in a right relationship with those around us – which means we must treat them honestly, fairly and lovingly. Who is our neighbour? Jesus’ response is, “Anyone in need”. Therefore it is appropriate to talk about righteousness in terms of political or economic justice in the here-and-now, because it flows out of a right-relatedness with God in the hear-and-now.

To hunger and thirst for righteousness means, then, that we recognise at the core of our being our own unrighteousness, our wrong-relatedness to God and each other, and we set out on a quest to find what we are missing. And as I reflect on my own culture, I see a desperate lack of awareness of our own unrighteousness. The dominant deception is that “I’m an ok bloke” or “she’ll be right”. The quests people are on at the moment are for increased consumption – the fleeting satisfaction that comes from a new TV, or a fancier car, or a better job. They are looking for greater security. Amidst the fast pace of life, it is easier to skip over our failures – our failures to keep our word or to live in healthy relationships or to examine our morals. In Part One we considered Jesus’ model of stepping away from the hustle and bustle and seeking his Father. In such periods of reflection, we should not be surprised to be confronted with our failures and weaknesses and our sin. That is the true “us”. And we should be especially aware when we are in close proximity to the totally perfect and Righteous One. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness must lead us to the Righteous One.

The first time I remember responding to the gospel was when I was 8 years old. I remember standing with a few other children after Sunday School being led in a prayer by a teacher. But as important as that moment was, and has been, there were other times through the years I became aware of my sinfulness. I remember, as a teenager, crying out on my bed to God saying that, if I didn’t really surrender to him when I was 8, then I was doing it now. It wasn’t until I joined Student Life that I was taught about assurance of salvation, and how to deal with subsequent sin in my life. Each time I become aware of my unrighteousness, rather than run from God, I now know I should turn to him, ask for his forgiveness and commit to following him again.

The focus of the beatitudes is on being “blessed”. This picks up the Old Testament theme: from Yahweh’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), and to Israel through Moses (Genesis 27). God’s people were “blessed” by being the objects of God’s affection and favour. Being blessed is more than just being happy. It is a whole sense of well-being that comes from God’s favour.

Blessing comes through having these needs, these longings for right-relatedness satisfied. The promise of satisfaction comes through very strongly in each of the beatitudes. Yet the method of satisfaction is not mentioned.

I should note here that the phrase “will be satisfied” is future tense, passive voice. In other words, it is something that will happen to those who “hunger and thirst”; it is not something they do for themselves. In the context, it is God who satisfies those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. No one can satisfy themselves out of their own resources. Only God, the Righteous One, can give us righteousness and make us righteous. The question becomes, how can we put ourselves in a place where God will cause us to be satisfied?

The beatitudes are not the whole sermon. The whole sermon, known as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, goes for 3 chapters. Its focus is on life in the new reality of the kingdom of God. Jesus talks about his follower’s relationship with the outside world, the place of the Law, spiritual disciplines, dependence on God, relationships with others – especially fellow believers - and finishes with a warning about building to withstand a storm. Luke’s account is briefer, it only goes for one chapter, and covers only some of the material in Matthew – loving your enemies, judging others, and building to withstand a storm.

Is there to be found in these sermons a method of blessing or satisfaction? I think the common conclusion to these sermons is the key. Let’s reflect on Luke’s account of Jesus’ conclusion:

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
Luke 6:46-49 (ESV)

This is the more confronting version of the parable (compared with Matthew’s version). But there are three simple actions that Jesus spells out as being necessary to survive the storm:
1) coming to him;
2) hearing his word; and
3) doing his word.

May I suggest that those of us who want to satisfy a hunger for righteousness follow these three steps?

Firstly, we come to him. We don’t look elsewhere for our needs to be satisfied. We focus our attention on him. We acknowledge his supremacy. We don’t look to others to satisfy our hunger, although we need to be open to whatever God uses to satisfy us. Our attention must be on him. Our first priority is to get our relationship with God sorted out. And that is not a complicated or long process. It simply means that we humble our hearts before him, admit to our failures, brokenness, sin, pride, and selfishness. Our only source of true righteousness is from God the Father through Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God was proven when Jesus died in our place – he dealt with sin once and for all. When we are united with Christ, we receive his righteousness. As Paul says in Romans 5:17,

If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we hear his word. Jesus’ word reveals to us the reality that God created, the reality of the emerging kingdom of God. And as we listen to him speak we realise that he places demands on us – on how we think, what we say, what we do. Our priorities are challenged. We have choices to make. We have to choose to align ourselves and our lives with the reality he reveals to us. This battle for the will is not a once-for-all experience. We need to keep hearing Jesus’ word (by which I mean the whole Bible), keep listening to him, and keep choosing to live in light of his word. As Paul says in Romans 5:15,19:

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! … For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Finally, we do his word. This supernatural life is the normal Christian life. It is only possible because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who seeks to live Jesus’ life through us. Satisfaction comes when we choose to live in light of this new reality, this emerging kingdom. That is when we experience the blessings of being a Spirit-empowered Christ-follower. We learn to side-step the errors of sin which cause us and those around us so much pain. We learn to practice the disciplines that bring healthy bodies, minds and relationships. We experience the blessings in the here-and-now and into eternity. But do not think that such blessing is only comfortable and pleasurable. Take heed of Jesus’ last line in the beatitudes:

"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12 [ESV]

Compare this to Paul’s words,

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5 [ESV]