October 29, 2017 Matthew 5:6 VFR Rules: Being Hungry Did you know that the second-largest food consumption day of the year here in the U.S.—after Thanksgiving—is Super-Bowl Sunday? Statistics tell us that on that single day—actually in one 4-hour period—in addition to things like chili and baby-back ribs—Americans eat: 4 million pounds of popcorn TONS of Pizza—in fact pizza delivery is 60% higher during the Super Bowl than any other time. 28 million pounds of chips 25 billion chicken wings, and 8 million pounds of guacamole—that’s a lot of avocados! Now there are two consequences that come from eating all this junk food: First, it leads to tens of thousands of upset tummies. We know this because statistics also show that on this day when stomachs bulge, sales of antacids at 7-11 also bulge by 20%. And the second effect of consuming all these millions of pounds of salt-filled food is that it makes people THIRSTY! I don’t have the stats on this but I’m sure people drink millions of gallons of beverages to slake their thirst after eating all those chips. The reason I share all this with you because this morning we come to a beatitude—or a” visual flight rule” as we are calling them—in which 1 Jesus talks about hunger and thirst. But when our Lord delivered this sermon He was not referring to a physical yearning for food or water. No—Jesus was speaking of another form of hunger or thirst—an inner yearning that all people experience. You see, the physical hunger and thirst that we feel every day, not just on Super Bowl Sunday—our physical yearnings are only a pale reflection of a far more serious yearning. And the interesting thing is that every generation seems to have a song that acknowledges this fact, a song in the top 40 that laments about this emptiness—this longing that we all have for something more in life. For my parents’ generation it was Peggy Lee’s, “Is That All There Is?” How many remember that one? In the ‘60’s it was the Rolling Stones,’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” In the ’80’s it was Bruce Springsteen’s, “Everybody’s Got a Hungry Heart.” Twenty years after that Switchfoot released a song called, “Meant to Live.” Here are some of the lyrics: “We were meant to live for so much more. Have we lost ourselves? We want more than this world’s got to offer We want more than the wars of our fathers And everything inside screams for second life. We were meant to live for so much more.” I read that Switchfoot based their lyrics on C. S. Lewis’ writings—and I think that must be true because in his book Mere Christianity, Lewis wrote: “Creatures are not born with desires unless 2 satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.” Lewis is right. Earthly pleasures don’t satisfy because we weren’t made for this world. We don’t belong here. We were meant to live for so much more. Well, the work of Lewis and all these singers reflects a universal awareness. All people sense that as Jesus told Satan, “Man does not live by bread alone.” (Matthew 4:4) But tragically, foolishly, in spite of the fact that experience proves the things of this earth don’t satisfy, we still keep going back to the things of this earth. We still keep returning to “earthly wells” to try fill our hungry souls. We’re like the people described in 2nd Peter 2:22 where it says: “A dog returns to its vomit, and a sow that is washed goes back to wallowing in the mud.” Years ago I read something Rick Warren wrote in which he reminds us of three basic types of “earthly wells” that we continue to drink from—even though these wells that do not satisfy our longing for more in life. For example, many people try to ease their hunger or thirst for eternal things with earthly PLEASURES. They think things like, “If I could only take a lavish cruise, or retire in 3 opulent luxury, then I’ll be satisfied.” Now, to be sure, attempting to satisfy our desire for more with earthly pleasures can be fun. Pleasures do make you happy, but not for long. And then some people try another “well.” They seek lasting satisfaction in PERFORMANCE. But that doesn’t meet our needs either. No matter how well they perform in their careers, workaholics learn the hard way that, as the writer of Ecclesiastes says, all a man gets for all his hard work are, “…days full of sorrow and grief, and restless nights,” — There’s a myth that says, “success produces satisfaction.” But that’s just not true. Many successful people are very unsatisfied inside. After the thrill of winning, even winning a whole lot, there comes that same old emptiness, that same awareness that something’s still missing. Tom Brady—one of the most successful quarterbacks of all time—with all his wins—all his successes—said in a 60 minutes interview years ago, “There must be more than this.” And then a sometimes we seek to satisfy our inner hunger and thirst with POSSESSIONS. Manufacturers try to cash in on this by giving a written promise that if you buy their product satisfaction is guaranteed. How many times have you heard that? And for the thousands of times you’ve heard or read that promise, has any “thing” ever made you feel satisfied? Take your Bibles now and let’s read our text and you’ll see what I mean. Let’s take a “running start” beginning with verse 1. 1 – “Now when [Jesus] saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, 4 2 – and He began to teach them, saying: 3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 – Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Jesus was saying that the way to be truly happy—the way to have our thirst and hunger for something more satisfied is to be right with God. But that phrase sounds too much like a cliché. We talk about being “right with God” all the time, to the point that I think we’ve forgotten its true meaning. So—let me share with you three things that I believe will help us truly grasp the kind of hunger for righteousness that Jesus spoke of that day. First, Jesus was talking about a HUNGER. That’s what the Greek word we translate as “hunger” means. It’s the word, “peinao” — which means to be ravenous with hunger. In this context, it refers to a hunger to be clean—COMPLETELY clean—pure—before God. Back in October of 2005 in my first full week trip to Pass Christian Mississippi after hurricane Katrina, I and several other people worked, ate and slept in the heat and humidity of the Gulf. We were unable to take showers, no running water, no hotel rooms. For the whole 12 hour trip home, I couldn’t wait for a warm shower, some soap and shampoo. The wet wipes I used on my face only made me feel dirtier. We wouldn’t even go into a restaurant on the way home to eat because we knew we stunk to high heaven. 5 Well, Jesus is saying that the people who have their hunger for God’s approval satisfied— are those people who see the need for a SPIRITUAL cleansing. They realize they are fallen, flawed—STAINED with sin—and they long to be made clean again. They long for—are ravenously hungry for—the sinless state that Adam and Even enjoyed before the fall. Sadly, many people don’t think this way. They content themselves with a partial righteousness. To use my Katrina example—for them just a wipe or two from a hanky is enough. They say, “I’m not perfect, but I’ve never robbed a bank.” “I may not be the best husband or wife in the world, but hey, I’ve never beaten up my spouse.” Well, in this visual flight rule, Jesus is saying that doesn’t do it. There’s no such thing as PARTIAL righteousness. There are not gradients of purity or cleanliness. You’re clean or you’re not. No—to be completely satisfied, to get God’s approval we must hunger for complete righteousness. We must strive not to be happy, but absolutely holy, pure in thought, word, and deed. A second thing I want you to note is that Jesus was talking about a deep, desperate DESIRE. The word we translate as thirst is “dipsao” and that’s what it means—it’s referring to an insatiable thirst.