The Blessing of Being Hungry

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they shall be filled"

Matthew 5:6

Has this ever happened in your home?  One of you searches the refrigerator, and then complains to everyone, “There’s nothing in here to eat.”   “Sure there is,” comes the answer.  We have apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, carrots and broccoli.  We’ve got leftovers from dinner.”  “Ok,” you answer, “I mean there is nothing good to eat in here”  The problem isn’t that there’s nothing to eat.  It’s the fact that you aren’t hungry for healthy food. You want junk food – candy, cakes, and cookies.

Is that ever the case in life?   Do you ever look at the life God has given you and complain, “There’s nothing good here.  Nothing good ever happens to me!  God has forgotten me! God doesn’t love me… doesn’t care about me!”  Yet in truth God has given you plenty of good.  Physically He has given you your daily bread, all that you need to support this this body and life, your family, your friends.   Spiritually He has given you  His love, His forgiveness, His family, His Son, His Spirit, a home in heaven.  The problem is with us not him.  We’re just not all that concerned about hungering and thirsting for righteousness.  We look at ourselves and think, “I’m pretty good. God can’t be too unhappy with me.  That’s enough for now.  Anyway what good will righteousness do for me?  Oh it will get me into heaven but that’s a long way off.”  Our hungers are more immediate.  We think, “if only I could get that promotion…”  We think, “If only I had a new car or home or made more money.” If only I had a new spouse…” “If only more people liked me…” If only… If only… If only… The list of what we think we’re hungry for is as long.  

Have you ever noticed that when all you do is snack on junk food you never really get full?  By the next commercial you going back for another snack.  In the same way trying to satisfy these hungers will never satisfy.  Your real  hunger is not for a new job and your enemy is not the other guy up for a promotion.  Your hunger is not for a new spouse and your enemy is not the one you are married to.  Your enemy is the devil and your own sinful flesh.  They have convinced you that you are just fine spiritually...  that its all these other things that will make your life full.  that unless you chase after all these things, you’ll never be happy.  That’s a lie.  The truth is as long as these are the hungers that drive your everyday existence you will never be satisfied.  Enough will always be more than you have.

The real hunger of your life is for God.  The real hunger is to know that He is pleased with you.  All those other things will never give you that assurance.  You will always be left hungry. You’ll be left with the suspicion God is not happy.  Only faith can overcome that suspicion.  Today’s beatitude is the very definition of what faith is.  Faith is to hunger and thirst for righteousness…  Faith is to look to God for that which we can not achieve ourselves – to be made right with Him… Faith is the desire for the assurance that He loves us… Faith is to find joy, peace, security and dignity in know beyond doubt that you and I are His Son’s and daughters.  So Jesus promises us,  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Don’t get me wrong.  Faith is not the big thing.  Jesus compares it to a very tiny thing – a small mustard seed.  The person invited to a friend’s house for dinner doesn’t say to him, “Aren’t you glad I came?”  He says, “Thanks for inviting me.”  After all, the big thing is not that you accepted the invitation. That’s faith. The big thing is that you were invited.  That’s grace, God’s  undeserved love for us.  The big thing is what God did – that His Son was given… that Jesus lived the life we can not live – a life that was fully pleasing to God… The big thing is that on the cross Jesus then offered that life in your place and mine… as payment for our sins and failures… as the sacrifice to make us right with His Father in heaven. The big thing is that on Easter morning Jesus rose from the dead opening the way to a whole new life... life as God’s Sons and Daughters… life lived with the eternal purpose of serving and praising Him… lives bound for heaven!

The hunger for such a life… for such a relationship with God is the deepest hunger of our souls.  It is the hunger of faith.  Jesus here promises that hunger “will be filled!”  That hunger after all is satisfied in Him.  It is the hunger He has filled in us when He made His death and resurrection to be our death and resurrection in Holy Baptism… Its a hunger He satisfies here tonight, at this table.  Every time we come to His supper, He fills us once more, assures us of His love for us by feeding us with His body and blood “given and shed for the forgiveness of sin!”  What a gift!   In answer to every accusation of guilt or doubt or unworthiness that screens across our minds, God has given us this answer – I am baptized into Christ Jesus.  I am invited to feast at His dinner table.  Because of His forgiveness I am His child!  Every day, even on the most difficult days,  He sets a table for you and me, a table that overflows with His good gifts. That’s the blessing of faith… That’s what Jesus promises here.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Amen!