God’s Constitution, Pt 5: Hungry
Matthew 5:6 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Psalm 42:2 1As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Amos 8:11-14 11“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. 12People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. 13“In that day “the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst. 14Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
Isaiah 55:1-2 1“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. 2Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
The Beatitudes are all about be-attitudes which is to say they’re all about personal devotion to God, so certainly this fourth one--hungering and thirsting for righteousness--continues the same thought. Devotion to God is a nice thought but if we think of it in simple intellectual terms, we miss much meaning. Much the same trap--or opportunity--is found in this Beatitude.
In our natural humanity righteous behavior is at best only an occasional thing. We do hear of people described as good, but righteous is deeper than good. Being good is a transitory thing, often based on circumstance, and is very subject to moral relativity, but righteousness conveys adherence to Godly values in the face of moral relativity. So in our 21st Century culture of moral relativity goodness might be easily found while righteousness is rare. To extend this thought most people think of themselves as good people, but those same people might cheat on their income taxes, or engage in routine sex, or lie to achieve some personal or professional goal. Such behavior certainly is not righteous, and worse, it is common practice. And the reason this unrighteous behavior is common is that righteousness is hard work.
Being righteous requires a re-orientation of a person’s basic principles. Do we define ourselves through money? Do our lives reflect adherence to Godly principles? Do we love our opponent? Do we even love our neighbor? These things have to be decided on an individual basis. Humans are said to have seven basic needs: Health and sustenance; Safety; Love and acceptance; Self-esteem and worth; Truth; Self-expression; and Stability. Except for health and safety issues these all are internal issues which involve value judgments. The hard work of righteousness requires that we look at these value judgments and determine if they are still appropriate in our lives. Here is a mild example to think about: In my community parking is insufficient so there is frequent need for a place to park. Outside my condominium is a handicapped space which are even rarer, and it is used as a personal parking spot by a woman in the neighboring building. She has PTSD from the Gulf war and has every right to use the spot. However some of the people who come to my home church group are physically handicapped and would like to use the spot for the few hours a month they are at my home. The neighbor lady refuses to relinquish the space for them to use. In my flesh I am tempted to resort to vengeful responses like letting air out of tires or similar activities. Are those thoughts righteous? Certainly not, so here is an example of a good man who is not thinking righteously.
Hunger and thirst are the basest of our needs and by using this metaphor Jesus is conveying something equally base. He is indicating that the hard work of righteousness is a ‘must do’ but that it will be requited. Looking at that list of basic human needs, can one survive without truth? Yes. Can one survive without love? In some incomplete ways. Can one survive without health and sustenance? No. Jesus is using this metaphor to show us the basic, fundamental level that righteousness must hold in our lives. We indicated before that it is not enough to be good, but just what does it mean to be righteous? We also said earlier that to be righteous is to hold to Godly values but even that does not reach the depth of intent that Jesus seems to be reaching for with this Beatitude. Matthew 22:35-40 says the greatest commandment is to ‘love the LORD God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength’. He’s showing the same effort is required in the search for righteousness. We are to seek it with the same desire and effort that we give to finding food and water.
OK, so that means our need for righteousness must consume us just as much as our need for sustenance. Is that even possible? When you wake in the morning what is the first thing on your mind? Probably the bathroom. But after that what? Probably breaking the fast. If we give attention to it, it is possible to give the same attention to righteousness, but it takes the same kind of effort we give to obtaining food. Occasionally one abstains from food for a period of time (e.g. fasting) but mostly very little time goes by without seeking nourishment.
It's the same effort that is needed for righteousness. The tense in the Greek indicates that this search for righteousness is continuous and ongoing. It’s not as if we can check off a box. If we fill ourselves with food, are we then forever done with eating? Of course not. Similarly, we must continuously pursue righteous living. God is presenting us with a serious challenge: When we face difficulty do we whine, moan, and wail, or do we seek God’s face for understanding?
But God does promise that we will be filled. Some translations say the seeker will be satisfied. We will find righteousness as we submit our will to God’s will and allow Him to shape and mold our lives. We will come to such an intimate relationship with Jesus that righteousness will become second nature. Of course the full manifestation of this won’t be until the Millennium, but nonetheless as we submit our daily walk becomes more and more fulfilling. This does not mean there won’t be struggles; it does mean that daily we have more and more communion with Him.