“They Which Do Hunger and Thirst”

Busy day yesterday so I did not get my Wednesday post in. I drove some ladies from our church to the local college to feed students and then home to help with our last Youth Night of the school year, and then finished up with prayer meeting. So here is the next be attitude.

Matthew 5:6 

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

It was a hot, sultry day. No doubt the wind was blowing and there was dust in the air. The sun was beating down on those who were gathered around Christ Jesus on a flat plateau between two small mountains. Those who heard the Sermon on the Mount could well identify with the first three beatitudes. They were certainly acquainted with poverty, and they knew what it meant to mourn. The Roman government had taught them the meaning of control. If some were beginning to lose interest by now, Christ Jesus regained their interest with the fourth beatitude. Perhaps at the very time that He spoke these words, the stomachs of many growled with hunger and their mouths were parched with thirst.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—those who seek God—for they shall be filled. In Matthew 6:1–8 Christ Jesus shows the difference between religious rites and genuine hunger for God. His statement of “hungering and thirsting” reminds us of the words of the psalmist, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, oh God” (Ps. 42:1, kjv). This longing for God is a longing to see God’s kingdom established in His people, who then practice justice themselves.

In May of 1846, 187 men, women and children left from Missouri in a wagon train headed to California. There was nothing exceptional about the group or this journey and we would have never known about them had they not made the decision to try a shortcut. The “Hastings Cutoff”, as it was known, was indeed a shorter route to their destination but it had only been tried on horseback. No wagon had made the journey. This group, now known as “The Donner Party”, would not complete their journey.

This group is famous because of allegations of cannibalism that occurred within the group while waiting for rescue. We find the thought repugnant and disgusting. We like to believe that, no matter what, we would never do such a thing. It would be more accurate to say, “I have not been that hungry yet” than to say “I would never eat that.” The survivors were high in the Sierra Madre for three months with no food at all.

Maybe you have heard people make the observation that, “I wasn’t fed at church.” I guess they mean that they didn’t learn anything useful or that they didn’t feel the presence of God. How about the charge that, “I don’t like doing it this way” or “I don’t like that version of the Bible.” I compare this to Sherry or Orden coming to me complaining that there is nothing to eat in the house. When I point out different foods, they say, “I don’t like that.” My response is always the same, “Then you must not be all that hungry.”

1. The Challenge: Righteousness.

Many are seeking happiness when they should seek righteousness. Those who make happiness the goal of their lives seldom find real happiness. 

A religious sect in Hungary had as its chief tenet that salvation was gained by laughing, so they practiced their religion by laughing all of the time. They laughed long and loud. In fact, they laughed so loudly and boisterously that they were brought into court for disturbing the peace. They were not really happy, because they were too busy doing things that they thought would bring happiness. 

Instead of seeking happiness, one should seek righteousness. Our Lord challenges us to “seek . . . first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Righteousness means getting right with God through Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament, righteousness and salvation are thought of as the same thing (Isa. 46:13; 51:8; 61:10). 

In the New Testament we are told that righteousness and salvation come through Christ Jesus: “Righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ Jesus to all who believe” (Rom. 3:22). Through Christ Jesus we are made “the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4). Christ Jesus never becomes a reality to anyone to whom He does not first become a necessity. We hunger, and He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). We thirst, and He is the “water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). 

Righteousness means living right with God. The verbs used in this beatitude describe the hunger of one who is starving for food and the thirst of one who will die unless they drink. The hungry person hungers for the whole loaf and for the whole pitcher of water. The Christian should takes seriously the warning, “Be ye therefore perfect” (Matt. 5:48). The closer one gets to God, the more sinful they feel. The further they get from God, the more self-righteous they feel. True happiness is found in living right with God.

2. The Comfort. This beatitude is considered by many to be the most challenging and the most comforting of all the Beatitudes. The challenge is righteousness. The comfort is that blessedness is promised to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness — not to those who attain it.

The reason that people reject Christ Jesus is that they do not desire Him enough to become a Christian. When you are truly saved, you maintain this holy dissatisfaction with yourself. There is a holy tension between what you are and what you ought to be. Yes, you’rs is the spirit of the psalmist who said, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:1 – 2). 

Many people hunger and thirst for pleasure, prestige, position, possessions, and wealth. Some people actually join a church because they are seeking these things instead of seeking righteousness. But the true Christian’s attitude is much different. The Christian does not say, “I am interested in Christ Jesus”; they say, “For me to live is Christ.” The Christian does not say, “I would like to come to terms with Christ”; they say, “I surrender all to Christ Jesus.”

3. The Promise. The Christian who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be filled or chortadzo (khor-tad'-zo). This word was used to describe the feeding and fattening of cattle with fodder and grain. Just as the animal is fattened a little bit more at each feeding, the Christian who hungers and thirsts for complete righteousness gradually grows in their Christian life. 

The Christian with a spiritual appetite grows in the Christian life. The Christian with a spiritual appetite receives peace of mind. The Lord is their Shepherd who makes them lie down in green pastures and leads them beside still waters (Ps. 23:2). The pasture and the water correspond to hunger and thirst. 

The paradox of this beatitude is that the Christian is filled yet continues to hunger and thirst. The more they are filled, the more they hunger and thirst. It goes on and on, yet the Christian is filled and fully satisfied in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion: Do you have a spiritual appetite? Is your appetite being spoiled because you are gorging yourself at Satan’s table, or are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness?

In Matthew 5:6, Christ Jesus commends the one that “hungers and thirsts” for righteousness. As Christians we should be ready to eat from whatever it is God lays on the table. To accept whatever condition, correction or assignment He gives us, without hesitation.

When we come to Church and worship in such a way, according to Christ Jesus, we will leave filled and content. So if we leave still hungry and discontent, whose fault is that?