The Beatitudes: Hunger and thirst for righteousness

By Joe Byrne    6th April 2003    0 responses

“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEY WILL BE FILLED.”
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is generally seen as the best and most innovative piece of moral teaching ever given and certainly some of his clearest teaching on how his followers are to live. In the classic TV sitcom, ‘Yes Minister’, one of the senior Civil servants remarks that had the Sermon on the Mount been published as a government paper it would have been a “most irresponsible document” for such suggestions that the meek may inherit the earth. In a sense this highlights the very point of the Beatitudes, that they defy human nature and subvert our values; according to our society morality is for losers. Christian values seem to be counter intuitive as they include seemingly ‘weak’ virtues such as humility, putting God and others first, showing mercy rather than ruthlessness and enduring persecution for our faith. Our world tells us to give up, go for the easy life and look after number one.

Even after we have taken that step of accepting God’s work of salvation in our lives and giving ourselves to him, we are still dogged by the remnants of the sinful human nature. We still harbour pride and deceit in our hearts whilst we seek praise and acceptance from our friends and family. This is very much the experience of my early Christian life; I wanted to be praised and accepted by people at Church but also to be seen as cool by my friends at school. In my case it led to me living a double life … being good at Church on Sunday and doing whatever was necessary (within reason) to be accepted at school. I was an emotional and spiritual wreck and it wasn’t long before God pointed out that to me. Even my attempts at Sunday ‘righteousness’ were weak and feeble as I was doing it for the wrong reasons – for the mere perception.

We look back to the Bible and see that one of Jesus’ main opposition groups were the Pharisees and other religious authorities. We’re used to hearing in the media about corrupt Ministers and Church leaders; the Gospel is littered with accounts of Jesus standing up to the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the religious authorities. The problem was essentially that for them, righteousness had become a show – a public relations exercise; as long as the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were seen to be righteousness by society, they commanded immense respect, power and wealth. Jesus saw right through to the heart and saw that beyond the exterior of legalistic obedience, these weren’t men who either truly feared nor obeyed God. We then look forward to the early Church and Paul in particular is battling with legalistic teachings of salvation by the righteousness that comes through the observance of the law (see Romans 3 & 4). The indication was clear; some in the Church had missed the point of Jesus sufficient sacrifice on the Cross that Christ had made up the inevitable shortfall between our unrighteousness and God’s righteousness.

However, there were others in the Church who had obviously missed the fact that God’s grace provides a liberation from the power of sin, not providing us with a permission slip to behave in any way we see fit. Paul states “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31) Jesus himself warns us against this kind of thinking “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” (Matt 5:17) Nevertheless, we learn in Revelation in the letters to the Churches in Ephesus (Rev 2:1- 7) and Pergamum (Rev 2:12-17) that there is a group known as the Nicolaitans who, it is understood, were essentially teaching a very permissive morality and therefore seeking to take advantage of the doctrine of salvation by grace and not works. If we can accept that neither approach is honouring to God nor Biblically justified, how then can we read and apply the Beatitude; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

One of my Christian friends is very keen on the phrase “A text without a context is a con;” and this is particularly applicable here. In Matthew 5 verse 3, we learn of the virtue of recognising our spiritual poverty – after all how can we accept God’s salvation until we recognise our own sin and our need for salvation. In verse 4 we see that part of our spiritual life is mourning our own fallen nature and the sinful depravity of the world that we live in. In verse 5 we understand that the follower of Christ is to be humble, particularly in the light of the previous two virtues. Thus we see, as the tax collector does in Luke 18:9-14, that the importance of approaching God with humility and a right perspective of our own unrighteousness is key. Jesus is clear to say that it is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness who are blessed; i.e. they desire righteousness but have not achieved it. It is something we are to desire and pursue for our own lives, in the knowledge that one day we will be filled. We ask the Holy Spirit to work powerfully in our lives, changing us and conforming us to the likeness of Christ; this is to be the desire of our hearts rather than an outward show for people around us.

It can be all too easy to assume, particularly in the light of Romans 3:10-12, What’s the point? Why pursue something that is not attainable? Why hunger and thirst for something that we can never reach? Perhaps it is helpful to cross reference this verse with Paul’s statement in Philippians 3:13-14 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” Paul knows that righteousness will come in heaven, but nevertheless he presses on towards the goal. His desire is to be with Christ and thus be made righteous. We are promised that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will be filled. Notice the tense used here. We are not passive in the whole process in that we must hunger and thirst for righteousness, but the certainty of us being filled, only serves to highlight that it is not us who achieves our own righteousness, but God who, by his grace and mercy, bestows upon us the righteousness of Christ as those who have become part of his family. (Rom 8:16-17) We hunger and thirst after righteousness as it is the quality befitting God’s children and our new found heavenly citizenship. However, that event is in the future; we hunger and thirst for righteousness now, knowing that when we reach heaven we will then be filled.

So what can we say now – how can we live as people who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness now, in the 21st century? Well reading the Beatitudes and the remainder of the Sermon of the Mount would not be a bad start … Whilst reading, consider the extent to which your values reflect the values of Jesus and the steadfast promise of righteousness through faith in Christ, rather than dismissing the Beatitudes as an irresponsible and laughable moral utopia. As the gap between our own lives and Christ’s values becomes apparent, ask that the Spirit will continue his work in your life, conforming you to Christ’s likeness (Rom 8:29-30) – remember it is God’s work anyway and so it makes sense to ask God for him to do it. Steep yourself in Scripture – it’s by far the best way to fend off spiritual attacks. Encourage your Christian friends and spur each other on to the pursuit of righteousness; be accountable and supportive to one another as it is not easy and there are many distractions. Aspire to the qualities laid out by Paul in Galatians 5:22-26, let them be the benchmark of your Christian character. In all things give thanks, praise and glory to God and do not be ashamed to depend on him in everything, however small it may seem. I leave you with Paul’s words to the Philippians; “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil 4:8-9)

May God bless you as you hunger and thirst for righteousness in your own life.

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By Joe Byrne

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